The Other Other Woman Read Online Free PDF Page A

mostly just me reassuring him that Atlanta was, in fact, the most fun of the branches I had visited so far that year. He sent a few let me know that you are okay and that you got home kinds of things. I wasn’t sure how it was possible, but I missed him already. I just missed being in his presence. I had only been away from home for 36 hours but I felt like so much had changed somehow in such a short time. The long drive home (I took a wrong turn so it was extra-long!) gave me a lot of time to think about my current situation.

Chapter Two
    Nate and I had been great friends since we were back in high school. I was already dating a boy named Bryan, a skater, since my sophomore year. But since I was very much into the alternative music scene and Bryan wasn’t, Nate and I became fast friends. He was tall, had beautiful blue eyes and an absolute mess of crazy curly hair on top of his head. I was pretty sure he was gay. Most people thought so because he was artsy-fartsy and had his own unique style of dress, very preppy in that Morrissey sort of way. He wore thrift shop clothes and wingtip shoes before it was the thing to do back in the 90’s. My boyfriend knew of him and wasn’t threatened in the least. Nate was friends with all of the ladies, and he was content to hang out with us and listen to records, but he never made passes at us. He said he had a girlfriend at a neighboring high school, but I never saw her.
    I dated Bryan for seven years throughout high school and into my early twenties. During those years, I dated other boys, usually much older ones. I would pick a big fight with him so we would “break up” and then I could feel justified anytime I found myself interested in someone else. But it was never Nate. I always went back to Bryan. He was my safety, and all I had ever known, plus he treated me like a queen. However, Nate and I remained good friends the entire time.
    Over time it became clear to me that Bryan was kind of… simple. I always knew he wasn’t a rocket scientist, but as we aged and he began to plan our future together, I withdrew from him. He had no real career aspirations and no intention of going to college. I had worked my ass off full-time since I was 16, while attending high school and now college courses at night. I had no desire to take care of a grown man. I had watched my mother do that for years with various long-term relationships, and I was not about to fall into that pattern. So, I had to let Bryan go.
    Nate and I had spent many Sundays at Schoolkids Records perusing the used CD section looking for bargains, and the Sunday following my break-up with Bryan was no different. We ended up back at his house after, in his room on the 3rd floor, probably watching MTV or old Letterman skits on VHS tapes. I’m not sure how it happened, exactly, because I had never found him particularly attractive before. I guess I was just rebounding from my breakup, but we ended up sleeping together. That was the beginning of my first “friends with benefits” relationship, well, ever.
    This went on for a few months and I started to feel like maybe I was where I was supposed to be. We were very close friends, we had a ton in common: music, movies, TV, books, political views, everything really. Nate was very smart, although he never applied himself in an academic way. But he was exceptionally creative, clever, and witty. He was an excellent musician and could do anything with his hands. He was a good person, a very kind, gentle man. The type of guy you could see being a very caring dad, although I wasn’t considering having kids anytime soon, if ever.
    Nate and I became and actual item back in 1996. We got kittens and moved into an apartment together. Sex was pretty good between us at first. I had some issues, but he was aware and respectful of them in general. We were both very independent. We had our own hobbies and friends and made similar salaries, so things seemed to fall into place pretty easily