Just not Amy from accounting.
***
Mike had never before wished that texting wasn’t a thing. But, there he was, making his first attempt at accepting his spot on Celeste’s designated friend list, and he’d spent the whole night getting texts from her.Friendly texts, but a lot of them. There wouldn’t be any distance between them to make giving up his pursuit any easier.
Amy had been good company that night. Her husband was at home with a sick child, so she’d come alone. They’d spent most of the party talking about childhood illnesses and injuries, and his hope that he’d eventually have grandchildren to spoil.
“Is everything okay?” Amy asked.
“Have you ever tried to break up with someone you weren’t actually dating?”
Amy did a double-take. “What?”
“The woman I usually bring to these parties, Celeste. I think I need to break up with her, but we aren’t actually dating.”
“Then what are you breaking off? Friendship?”
He shook his head. “I guess I’m breaking up with the possibility of being more than friends. I’ve been hoping for a while, but I’m finally admitting to myself that she isn’t interested.”
“That sucks.” Amy was an enthusiastic listener. She reminded him of his daughter-in-law. She was about the same age and of a very similarly energetic disposition. “And you’re sure she’s not interested at all?”
“She’s my best friend, but every time I even hint at anything more, she—”
“Panics.”
He was going to say “rejects me” but “panics” actually seemed like a more accurate description. “She certainly changes the subject fast enough.”
“My husband tried for three years to move things between us from friends to something more. He tried everything from being the friendliest friend in the world to asking me out every chance. Neither approach worked.”
That sounded horribly familiar. “So whatdidwork in the end?”
She held up a finger and dug into her purse. She pulled out her cell phone. “I think you should ask him.”
Mike had only interacted with Amy’s husband on rare occasions. He hardly knew the guy. “Are you sure?”
Amy nodded, the phone already to her ear. “Hi, honey. Can you do me a favor?” A quick smile and she continued. “Mike Durham, from IT, is here at my table and I want you to tell him how much of a disaster your attempts to win me over were at first.” She laughed. “No, I’m serious. There’s this woman he is basically desperately in love with and he can’t get himself out of the friend zone.” She made a sound of acknowledgement. “So will you?”
This was embarrassing.
Amy held her phone out and smiled as if she was offering him a very welcome gift rather than forcing him to have an awkward conversation with her husband.
“Hi,” he said.
“Is this as weird for you as it is for me?” Mr. Amy asked.
“Yes.”
Mr. Amy— Mike was having a very personal conversation with someone whose name he didn’t even know— laughed in commiseration. “I don’t really have any good advice. I got out of ‘the friend zone,’ as Amy calls it, by getting out of the friendship. I called it quits.”
“You gave up the entire thing?” Mike didn’t like that suggestion. He’d been backing away a little, giving himself some space to breathe. But ending their friendship entirely was a more drastic step than he was ready to take.
“I told her that I loved her and wanted her to be happy. I told her I respected her decision not to be anything more than friends, but that being her friend would never be enough for me.”
“You told her straight out?” Mike had only ever beaten around that bush.
“She wasn’t getting the message any other way. I told her to call if she ever needed anything and that I’d see her around. And then I walked out of her life.”
Mike couldn’t imagine doing that. Just thinking about it turned his stomach to lead. “For good?”
