The Boiling of the Bones

21. Home

"I love Pizza."

I didn't tell her I'd just eaten.

We walked several blocks, and I filled her in on my trip. I told her everything. We each ordered a slice and a drink. She got iced tea; I got soda. We went up a small iron circular staircase to the upstairs dining room and sat down in a quiet corner.

She looked so beautiful. I took in the graceful curves of her fit body and the glowing warm expression in her eyes. I remembered running my fingers through her long dark hair.

"Tell me about you."

"I finished school and made the ballet company as you know. I moved out of the dorms at NYU and now I have three roommates from the ballet company. We've got this really nice apartment in Chelsea. I love it. It's right by the High Line. I love going for walks and getting gelato."

"We should go there some time."

"Oliver, there's something I've got to tell you. I got back together with Brad."

I was stunned. My jaw dropped.

"Brad, from high school?"

"He called me up out of the blue a couple months ago and we went out to lunch. He wasn't trying to get back together, he just apologized for the way he treated me in high school. He said looking back I was the best thing that ever happened to him and yet he took me for granted. He said she was sorry he treated me so badly and he felt really badly about it and needed to apologize and make amends for his atrocious behavior. He's really changed a lot. He's responsible. He's grown up and matured a lot."

"He lives here in New York?"

"Yeah, he graduated from Cornell and moved from Ithaca into the city."

"What about med school? I thought he was going to Stanford?"

"He got into Columbia. He came to New York so he could be with me."

"What happened to the Russian guy?"

"Janosh and I broke up a long, long time ago. It's hard for me to talk about this."

She paused as she took a sip of iced tea.

"Oh my gosh. Where do I even start? It was actually the day you left. Remember your booty call in the middle of the night? I came home, did a lot of thinking, and a couple hours later I called Janosh, and we broke up. I guess I still had feelings for you and thought we could get back together again. You definitely played a big part in it. But I also realized there was a cultural divide that was just too much between us."

My heart sank when I heard that.

"You should have told me. I wouldn't have gone if only I'd known."

"I would have told you. But you never called me. I kept waiting and waiting for you to call, but you never did. You were gone a long time. I waited two years for you. Nothing. Not a peep."

"I didn't plan to be gone for so long. With Covid I kind of got locked down for a year in Africa."

"A hundred guys must have asked me out and I turned them all down waiting for you. Finally, I convinced myself that you and I were only meant to be friends—really close friends. You will always be one of my best friends, but that's all. But it's enough. In some ways I think we have a stronger relationship as friends than we did as a couple."

Tears welled up in my eyes. I rubbed them away. Why didn't I call her? I should have called her. I was gone for over two years, and I never called her once the entire time. She waited and waited patiently for me, and I let her down. If only I'd known. We could've been together, and it was my own fault we weren't.

But it was worse thinking of her with Brad again. He'd caused he so much pain. He'd been such a jerk to her. After another pause, I picked my words carefully.

"Soph, I'm pretty surprised you're back with Brad. If that's what you want, I'm happy for you, but your relationship in high school was not exactly healthy."

"I know. I swore I'd never date him ever again. But he's changed. He treats me like a princess now. At first, I didn't want to have anything to do with him. He's a totally different person. He apologized for the way he treated me in high school. He'd turn into another person--a macho phony jerk, around the football team. At Cornell, he grew up. He became mature and responsible and he's a different guy now. He's kind and thoughtful and always asks for my opinion and he's just a really, really good guy. He's going to make a great doctor.

"Well, then I'm happy for you."

"He proposed to me last week. We're engaged."

She held up her hand showing off a huge diamond. I didn't know how I'd missed that. I almost choked on a sip of Coke. I forced a smile.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks."

We finished up and said goodbye. She wanted my number to keep in touch. I said Rob was coming down for the weekend to hang out and to bring me my old phone. As soon as I turned it back on, I'd call her with my new number. She gave me a quick hug goodbye.

I went back to the hotel room and suddenly felt deflated and very exhausted. Part of me wondered if Brad was simply putting on an act to win her back. Or perhaps he was making an effort, trying to change, but once he had her, he'd resort back to his old ways again. I was tempted to take the cynical view that transformative change is rare because it is so difficult to do.

But I didn't want to be a cynic. It wasn't the new, kind, loving, sympathetic me. I had to give her the benefit of the doubt. He'd gone to a great school and graduated with high enough grades to get into a tough program at one of the nation's most renowned medical schools. He couldn't have done that without a lot of hard work and dedication. If he'd been drinking and partying living the stereotypical raucous college life it would be hard to do that. It was an impressive accomplishment.

Brad and Soph had bothachieved greatness. They deserved each other. Whereas I'd done nothing--literallynothing with my life. Yet. All that was about to change. I was ready to will myway to success. I was ready to put in the hard work and find a way.