Unexpected Encounters [B.H.M.]

45

Brian called me on Wednesday, after I had returned home from work. Of course I asked him about our plans for the following day when he confirmed them, he mentioned that he had worked out the details with the surprise. He was being very secretive, he was having fun with it, but I tried to get some details out of him nonetheless. Only that didn't work, he didn't tell me a thing, no matter how much I asked. He wanted the surprise to be a real surprise, and as frustrating as that was, it was also adorable.

After we had sorted out the details for the following evening, I could tell he got a little absentminded. He did ask me about how my week had been so far, and even though I knew he did care, he was a little distracted. When I asked him why, it immediately became clear to me why that was the case - he had plans to meet with Anita soon. And that explained a lot. It was so adorable, he sounded excited like a teenager, he was so happy about being able to get to spend time with her. Hearing him so happy meant a lot to me. He cared about her a lot, it was wonderful.

The one thing I realised during that conversation which was so relieving was that I wasn't jealous at all. I wasn't constantly questioning if I had made the right choice by setting them up, I knew I had made the right choice. Yes, maybe I was a little sad that we wouldn't have worked out, because it would have been wonderful had our lifes been different. Nonetheless, I was happy for him. He deserved a fulfulling relationship. And this all was showing me that if I had decided to pursue a romanting relationship with Brian, he would still have been thinking about her. Because, as he had put it, he was captivated by her. This was much better for everyone.

Brian was a valuable person in my life. Very much so. And while we might have worked out short term, we likely wouldn't have worked out long term. Not as a couple, not with the way our lives were. Not as well as we could work out as friends. I had thought a lot about it, because obviously he was attractive, and obviously we got along very well. But we were friends, and that's all we would ever be, despite our one-night adventure. On top of that, the past had taught both Brian and me that some friendships could be a lot more valuable than romantic relationships. And Brian and my friendship was one of those that were much too valuable to risk it.

I wished him luck with his date in the evening, and I really meant that. I also instructed him to tell me everything the following evening when we met. He promised he would, before he told me that he had to get ready. He was so excited, I didn't try to keep him longer than necessary. We hung up and I spent a relaxed evening at home, reading a book I had borrowed from Brian. I had looked through his science books and this was one of the many that had caught my eye, and Brian was so wonderful, he very gladly let me borrow it. I thought about him occasionally, wondering how his date was going, but I wouldn't find out until the following evening.

Thursday at work was slow, very slow, mostly because I was very much looking forward to the evening, after work. Thursdays were always long for me, so by the time I got home, I was exhausted and just looking forward to a slow evening with Brian. He had promised he'd take care of dinner, which was wonderful because it was one less thing for me to worry about. When I got to Brian's house, he greeted me with a hug, he was clearly very happy. I barely even made it inside before he started to tell me about his evening before.

He was fascinated by Anita, and now that he didn't feel like he was forbidden to talk about her anymore, he did talk about her. It got a little excessive, but I didn't say anything because he was smiling. He was happy, and that was wonderful.

However, it would be a lie to claim it didn't affect me. It did. Hearing about his beginning relationship reminded me once again that I was alone. I didn't have what Brian was starting to have again. I was very much alone. And eyt, I couldn't help but be happy for him. He deserved to be happy. I didn't ask him to talk about something else, but luckily he did, eventually. He told me what his kids had been up to, which was only slightly better, before he started to ask me about my plans for the weekend in a slightly suspicious way.