Read Online Romantically Challenged by Beth Orsoff - Free Book Online

but with her red hair  swept up off her face and her slightly sunburned nose and cheeks, she still looked beautiful. I watched more than one man take notice of her.
    “Billy and I broke up,” she said.
    “How the hell did that happen? I thought you were getting engaged.”
    “We did. For about a day.”
    Her sky-blue eyes welled up with tears that spilled over onto her cheeks. I sat down and put my arm around her shoulder until her sobs subsided, then I handed her the pocket pack of tissues from my purse.
    “Billy won’t move to L.A.,” she finally said. “His boss was transferred and when his boss’ boss found out Billy was interviewing, he gave him a huge raise. Now Billy doesn’t want to leave.”
    “Then move up to San Francisco.” A rare moment of selflessness on my part. I’d be bereft without Kaitlyn.
    “I’m not moving to San Francisco!” She ignored the two hundred tired, sweaty travelers who were now staring at us. “I like my job and all my friends are here. I have a life.”
    “I know,” I said as I handed her a fresh tissue from the pocket pack. “But is it really worth ending a five year relationship over?”
    She wiped her eyes and said in a surprisingly even tone, “If, after all this time, he’s not willing to make a minor sacrifice for the sake of the relationship, then obviously he’s not really committed.”
    “I’m not sure moving to a new city is a minor sacrifice, but if you think it is, then why aren’t you willing to?” I couldn’t believe I was actually trying to convince my best friend to leave me.
    “It’s minor for him. He’s lived in San Fran less than a year. I’ve lived in L.A. for ten years.”
    I wasn’t going to argue with that logic, at least not today. “So how did you leave things?
    “We talked about it all last night, and we both agreed the relationship is over. We’ll always care about each other, but it’s time to move on.” Then she blew her nose one more time, forced a smile onto her face, and said, “Let’s go.”
    I offered to do any activity Kaitlyn wanted to take her mind off Billy, but she insisted that she was fine and that all she needed was a big breakfast and a ride home. I was amazed at how well she was handling this. Maybe it helped when your mother was a shrink.
    * * *
    After blowing my diet with Kaitlyn on a stack of blueberry pancakes, I headed back to the gym for an hour and a half of penance on the exercise bike. By the time I got back to my apartment all I wanted was a nap, but the blinking red light on my answering machine was insistent. I hit PLAY and the computer voice told me I had three messages.
    The next voice was my mother’s. “Julia, I don’t know where you are. Call me.” How happy am I that I forgot to turn my cell phone back on.
    The second message was from Simone. “I found a great way for you to meet a bunch of new men. Call me.”    
    The third voice I didn’t recognize. “Hi Julie, it’s Joe, the bartender, from the casino party. I was just wondering if you figured out who I am yet. Call me at (310) 555-0196. I have something of yours I’d like to return.”
    I listened to Joe’s message again, and this time I wrote down the phone number. How did he find me? How did he even know my name? And why was I so excited? When I could finally force myself to stop grinning, I dialed his number. His answering machine picked up on the fourth ring. “Hi, it’s Joe.” I hung up before it could finish.
    This was stupid. I was a grown-up. Or at least I was supposed to be a grown-up. I should act like one. My hands were still shaking when I hit the re-dial button. This time the machine picked up on the second ring. “Hi, it’s Joe. If you want me to call you back leave your message at the beep. If not, then hang up now.”
    “Hi Joe,” I said after the machine beeped. “It’s Julie. Julie Burns. From the party. You left me--” 
    “Hi Julie. I was hoping you’d call me back. Did you just try me a few