My Ex's New Girlfriend (gxg)

Part 11

The whole time I was with Tristan, I always wondered if I was enough.

Pretty enough, entertaining enough, sexy enough, outgoing enough.

As a person in general, I get wildly insecure. I was overall an introverted person, dating an extrovert.

Tristan, however, would reassure me that I was enough.

And now he was dating someone who was the complete opposite of me.

The image of Katie up on that bull in the middle of the bar, with her hips rolling, kept replaying in my mind.

That is something I would have never done. And she went up there and did it like it was nothing.

The day after the country bar, I was feeling down about myself.

Kim seemed to take notice as I was making myself a late breakfast.

Kim doesn't work. Ever since I was young, she hasn't. She sometimes helps out at my dads Orthodontic office if needed, but otherwise, she doesn't work at all.

"What's wrong?" she asked me, "You look upset."

"I feel upset," I said, breaking apart my eggs as they cooked on the stove.

"What's going on?" Kim asked me, standing next to me by the stove.

"Last night I went to the country bar with some of my co-workers, and Katie was there. She rode the mechanical bull like it was absolutely nothing, which is something I would have never done. I just keep thinking about it all along, Tristan wanted a girl like her. Extroverted, super fun, and out there. All things I'm not. I hate that it's bothering me, but it is," I explained.

Kim put her hand on my shoulder, "Oh, Cameron. I so wish you wouldn't compare yourself to another girl. Just because she is outgoing, doesn't mean that you are lacking. You're different than her, not worse than her in any way."

"I keep trying to tell myself that, but it's just tough."

"I get that it is. I truly do. Is it hard for you to be around her still?"

"Yes and no. It is at times like this, where I go and compare myself to her. But when she's super nice to me and we're just talking, no. It's not hard to be around her. I just hate feeling like this."

"Maybe you should try to be around her less, at least for now," Kim suggested, "I know you don't want to feel this way."

"How do I do that? I work with her, and she's been at a lot of hangouts with my friends that I work with, she's becoming close with them as well."

Kim sighed, "Try to talk to her less. I know in group settings that can be tough, and I don't want you to avoid them. But distancing yourself from her might help."

"You're right," I said, "I know that she's been nice to me, which I very much appreciate. But I have to stop talking to her as much as I do. It's not doing me any good."

I wondered if I would have to tell her that I couldn't talk to her as much anymore, or if I could distance myself without saying anything.

I got my answer at work that night.

I was at the server station putting in my first table's order when I saw Katie coming up to me.

Oh no.

She stopped by me and smiled, "Hi, Cameron."

"Hey, Katie," I said back, looking at her.

"Last night was a lot of fun. We should all totally go again to the country bar. Even Devin looked like he was having a good time."