Chris left me. There were a whole lot of things happening at the time that were just general life struggles - you know, whatever the struggle, it usually boils down to money or the lack of - but they had been taking a toll on us. Enough of one so when the proverbial "fly in the ointment" came 'round, it was enough to give Chris pause. Then, when that fly wore all the right kind of clothes, and laughed at all Chris' jokes and just plain thought that .... No. No no no... I'm gonna leave it right there. This is NOT that kind of story! Besides, I have to leave something for the sequel, right?

So... Chris left me.

Then one day, I was walking home from work, feeling pretty blue, just watching the sidewalk as I trudged forward. I didn't raise my head the entire walk home. You can just see it, right? Looking tragically pitiful!

Walking up to my house, I looked up and saw her. Facing away from me, I watched for a second as she took care of some much needed tending to my lawn and flowerbed. She wore faded 501's with a hole in one knee and a white oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up a few turns. Her tousled hair made her look like she'd just thrown on her play clothes and ran out the door to... to come see me?!

I had stopped walking. She must've felt me there cuz she stopped what she was doing, stood up and turned toward me. It was Chris' ex-girlfriend, Randi. God, she looked cute! What in the world was she doing here?

Randi and her girlfriend, Lightning were two of the girls I met at Floyds. We had gone to their apartment a few times after the bar closed for a little after hours party. But I wouldn't have said we were friends.

I did like Randi. She had this way about her that was so... well, strange. She would say things that no one else would dare say and never be embarassed by it. For example, she would talk about her problem with irritable bowel syndrome and how she'd had an accident on the bus the other day and even while the people around her were cringing in disbelief, she would be standing tall and laughing about it! I would be laughing my ass off! Still... I wouldn't have ever believed that she would be the one to show up in my time of need. But here she was. When I looked up at her, clearly confused, she looked at me with a sort of shy half smile and said,

"I thought maybe you could use a friend.."

Then she moved toward me and closed the gap between us. She put her arms around me in a hug that squeezed me just enough to feel... safe. And if you'd asked me, I'd have sworn that she was the reason that, right then, the sun came out from behind the clouds.

So began a time of healing for me and at the same time, I became a source of strength for her - or, well I thought so anyway. Randi was in need of a distraction. She was in love with Lightning. But their relationship was terribly volatile. When they fought, they threw punches not just words.

So, while Randi was with me, we spent our time pampering each other. We made love all night. And, for Randi, that was the way sex had to be. There was none of the sport in it that I had had with Chris. It was all about tenderness. Breakfast in bed. Watching movies all day. More making love in between. It was like a holiday. I could feel myself falling for this girl and yet I knew better. Even though she told me she wanted to love me. That she needed of the relationship with Lightning. That she wanted to think of anything but her. Just long enough to let go of her! I knew better...

We had spent a week like that together. Nobody knew where Randi was, so we might as well have been on an island. But eventually Lightning figured it out. Then there she was, on my doorstep.

"Hi" she said. "I just wanted to be sure Randi was okay. I'm not here to step on anyones toes."

"Yeah. She's great." I said. Looking back at Randi as she was standing in the hallway. She was just out of Lightnings' view. I wanted to be her rock. Just like she'd asked me to, when she had cried and grabbed me by the shirt and pleaded, "Please! Don't let me go back to her!"

"Can I just talk to her for a minute? Then, I promise, I'll leave you alone."

I turned to Randi, walked out of Lightnings' view, put my arms around her and whispered into her ear, "You remember what you asked me? You told me not to let you go with her!"

Randi shook her head, yes, and was cluthing my shirt the same way as before even as she pulled away from me.

"Randi... You don't want to go with her!"

She said, "I know. I'm not going to. I'm okay. " Then she smiled, nodding to me that it would be alright as she took my face in both her hands and kissed me.

"I'm just going to talk to her."

And she moved around me in the hall and walked out to join Lightning as they got into her car. I watched... They were just talking. She needed to do this.

Then the car started, and they drove away.