My Best Friend’s Girlfriend Ch. 01

My Best Friend's Girlfriend Ch.01

By OlympusMons90

I sat drinking my morning coffee in a café in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. After four years away my favorite café had not changed, still the same owners, still the same furniture and still the same great coffee and pie. My name is Jack Travers, I'm twenty-eight years old, single again and back living in the town I was born and raised in. I was waiting to meet one of my best friends, and as I looked towards the door, Bianca walked in with a guy in tow. When she saw me, a big smile came over her face as she made her way over to my table.

"Hi Jack, it's so good to see you home. When was the last time you were here, two years ago for Christmas?"

"Yeah, it's been a while. I've been so busy in London I didn't really have the time to come home."

"Where are my manners, this is David, my boyfriend. David, this is Jack, one of my best friends through college."

We shook each other's hands and both Bianca and David then ordered their own coffees.

"So, I want to hear all about it, how was London? How's the job? And are you staying this time?"

"Well, London was great, very expensive though, but there was so much to do. Umm, the job is going great, I've come back home with a promotion so I'm happy about that. And yes to the last question, I am staying."

"That's great, you seem to be doing well for yourself now."

"Yeah, better than I thought I would be, I just started my new job yesterday. it's weird because I'm now in charge of the guy that used to be my boss before I left."

"What do you do Jack?" David enquired.

"I'm the lead consultant for an IT Security firm here in downtown. It's headquartered in London which is where I've been for the last four years."

"Jack and I did Computer Science at Brown together, we were best friends along with Dan and Leah." Bianca informed David.

"How is Dan by the way? Have you seen him around?" I asked Bianca.

"Yeah, sometimes. We're obviously not friends anymore though. But yeah, I've seen him around."

"And Leah? Are you two still best friends?"

"I've seen her a few times as well, but we haven't been close for the last couple of years either."

"Really, you were going to be her maid of honor at our wedding. I thought you two were best friends?"

"Well things change, we all move on with our lives."

I was detecting a bit of vagueness from Bianca, I let it go not wanting to dig further right now having just met with her again for the first time in two years. Bianca and myself met at Brown University both studying IT, Dan went there too but he was doing Law, he and I were best friends since elementary school. The three of us were inseparable until I met Leah, then it was always the four of us together. Leah was studying across campus at the Rhode Island School of Design or better known as Riz-D.

Dan and Bianca then also got together, while Leah and Bianca quickly became best friends as well. It was great having the four of us, two couples, all best friends, all enjoying college and then moving into our careers. A year and a half after college I proposed to Leah, and she accepted. We had already moved in together over a year earlier so it kind of felt like we were married already. We had planned our wedding for twelve months after our engagement, but six months later the opportunity to move to the head office in London came up.

It was a good promotion and a fantastic opportunity for my career, I wanted Leah to come with me. She had her own career doing interior design so was totally against the move. She felt like our life was perfect the way it was and couldn't understand why I would even contemplate messing that up. Moving overseas would not only affect her career, but it would ruin the plans her and her mom had been working on for the wedding. It would also mean moving away from her best friends in Bianca and Dan, not to mention her parents and her two younger sisters.

In short, if I took the job Leah would not be coming with me, nor would she wait years for me either. It was my choice whether to choose my career over my relationship, and after a lot of anguish that's what I did. Our breakup wasn't pleasant, Leah felt that I didn't love her like she thought I did, like I had told her I did. There was a lot of heartache that day, and that guilt I carried with me for the next year or so while in London.

The last time I was home I found out that Dan and Bianca had also split up, while I didn't get the explicit details it came down to Dan cheating on Bianca to cause the breakup. Neither of them wanted to talk about it when I saw them that Christmas two years ago. I didn't meet with Leah that trip either, I figured there was no point in seeing her when I was only home for a week. What would it accomplish other than to rehash hurt feelings?

I continued to chat with Bianca and David at the café before returning to work. We made plans to catch-up on Friday for some drinks close by, so at least I had some friends to spend my time with. I still needed to catch up with Dan although it would be best to do that without Bianca being there.

On Friday I joined both Bianca and David at a table next to the window of a bar in downtown. My first week was done, tomorrow I needed to go apartment hunting so I could move back out of my parent's place. But tonight, I just wanted to relax and catch up with Bianca.

"So old man, are you ready for a few shots tonight?" Bianca asked with a big grin on her face.

"Who are you calling old? You'll be turning twenty-nine before I will."

"Shoosh Jack, I told David that I'm only twenty-four." Bianca grinned while turning to her side to give David a kiss on the cheek.

After a few drinks and a few shots, the gossip and goings on that I had missed out on were being freely discussed. While David went to the restroom, I took the opportunity to ask Bianca about Dan.

"Hey, I tried calling Dan this week a few times, but it always goes through to messages. He hasn't called me back once, do you know what's going on with him?"

Bianca's eyes narrowed, a stern look taking over her face.

"I don't even like to talk about Dan anymore after what he did to me with that little bitch that he worked with. Did you know we got engaged just two months before I found out he was sleeping with her?"

"I didn't know you two got engaged, no-one mentioned that the last time I was here."

"What was the point? It was over by the time you visited."

"Sorry about that, at least David seems like a good guy. How long have you two been together for now?"

"We've been living together for just over a year, we've been together for almost eighteen months now. Time is going by way too quick. I'll be thirty soon, I can't believe that. But yeah, David is definitely one of the good ones. I've been hoping he'll ask me to marry him soon, but don't you dare say a word to him, okay?"

"My lips are sealed I swear. But back to Dan, any idea why he isn't returning my calls?"

"So, no-one has told you then I'm assuming?"

"Told me what?"

"Jack, Dan and Leah are living together. They've been together for almost two years now."

"What, really?"

"Yeah, they got together probably not long after you were here last. He had ditched his office tart and went after Leah instead. You know, I'm sure he had the hots for her the entire time you were both together. He had such a bad poker face."

"Fuck, well that'll explain why he hasn't called me back. He's probably hoping I'm back on holidays and will be leaving again soon so he doesn't have to deal with it."

"What about you, how do you feel knowing that the girl you were going to marry is now living with your best friend?"

"I don't know how I feel about that. I wasn't expecting it that's for sure. But I did leave Leah, I guess I don't have the right to be upset about whoever she chooses to date now."

"It might be a bit awkward for you and Dan to be best friends again though I bet, having to see Leah again but watching her with him."

"Yeah, for sure. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

David came back and took his seat, so we changed subjects away from our previous lovers.

"So, tell me Jack, you must have swooned the pants off more than a few English lasses while you were in London?" Bianca asked with a cheeky giggle.

"Most of the girls I met weren't even English or weren't from England originally anyway. The first girl I dated was from Poland, but she spoke better English than most locals I met, it's hard to understand those guys with a few pints under them."

"Was it serious, the girl from Poland?"

"It lasted only a few months, it wasn't that serious."

"Did you start dating her shortly after you got there, or did it take you a while to get back into dating after the breakup with Leah?"

"It would've been a bit over a year before I had my first date. I was just really focused on my job after what I'd given up to be there. I wanted to make sure I made the most of it, to make it worthwhile."

"So, who else after Miss Poland?"

"Well, then there was a girl from Ireland I dated for a few months. She actually left me for her career to go work in New York. A bit of karma, right."

"Alright, so Miss Poland followed by Miss Ireland, which country do we have next?" David asked jokingly.

"Well, that would be Jenny from Liverpool, god I could barely understand what she was saying most of the time, let alone when she was drunk. But she looked good saying it."

"Isn't that where The Beatles are from?" David asked.

"Yeah, she even drove me down Penny Lane when we were visiting her parents. And I got a photo on Abbey Road too."

"It must have been serious if she took you home to meet her parents, Jack." Bianca stated, raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah, we were together for almost a year, we were living together in London too. We broke up about two months ago now."

"So, you've been busy over the last few years, good to see that you moved on while you were there."

"Well, it was either that or mope around the whole time and that's no fun."

"Well, I'm glad you're home with us now anyway."

On Saturday after searching for a new apartment, I found myself at a bar looking out at the people walking past in downtown while nursing a beer. People were either heading home or heading out, it was that time of the early evening when there was still some light, but the darkness was slowly creeping in. The sights and sounds were familiar, it was good to be home, where I belonged.

Looking out the window, I spotted Dan and Leah walking on the opposite sidewalk from the bar I was sitting in, they appeared to be heading out, perhaps for dinner. They had the arms locked as they walked along, chatting to each other as they went. They looked happy, Leah looked great. She looked exactly how I remembered her, even her hairstyle was the same. She's 5'6 with golden blonde wavy hair that goes down past her shoulders, her crystal blue eyes and that amazing smile. Her body still looked great as well, she was still looking fit with all the right curves. The girls I dated in England were hot, but they were never Leah hot, no, she was definitely the best-looking girl I've ever dated.

I watched as they entered a restaurant about thirty yards down the road, I wasn't sure how I would approach being best friends with Dan again, Leah being there would complicate things. Dan still hadn't returned my calls yet, maybe once he realizes I'm back for good he might call me.

A few weeks had past, so I decided to text Dan again, telling him to get off his ass so we can go have a few beers to catch up. This time he responded, and we arranged to meet after work at a bar downtown.

When I walked in, Dan was already at a table on his own, and gave me a waive. As I approached, we gave each other a man hug.

"Good to see you again Dan."

"You too, it's been too long, what over two years now?"

"Yeah, about that. Hey, want a beer?"

"Yeah, sure."

I returned with two beers as we sat down to catch up, I wasn't sure if or how to bring up the subject of Leah. I was happy to ignore the obvious if he was.

"So, how's the insurance game been treating you, Dan? Still handling claim investigations or have you moved up in the world?"

"I manage the cases now, I have a few claim investigators working in my team. It's okay, I think it was more interesting investigating the claims then to manage the cases themselves. But it gives me a bit more free time now."

"I still don't understand why you aren't doing proper law, I thought your plan was to be doing corporate law, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, this was only meant to be a gap filler, but I kind of like it. It's always good when you can present enough evidence to deny a claim, it's like we're playing a chess game half the time. It's good to win."

"Okay, if you say so."

"So Jack, have you met up with anyone else since you've been back?"

"Yeah, Bianca and her boyfriend David a few times. She kind of alluded to what happened between you guys."

"Yeah, that was fucked up. It was my fault, although I'm sure she told you that already."

"Yeah, something about an office tart I think were the words used. So, what happened? She told me you two got engaged a few months before that?"

"I got cold feet, I don't know how else to explain it. We were living together, we got engaged, we set the wedding date and all conversation switched to the wedding, day and night. Every time I spoke to Bianca or her parents, to Leah even, always about the wedding. I think I was nervous as fuck. Then there was Amanda, a cute little twenty-two-year-old at work that had the hots for me. What can I say, she was a good distraction from everything else."

"Really, you gave up Bianca for a quick fling?"

"I didn't mean to lose Bianca over it, Amanda had a big mouth and told a few too many people about us. I still intended to marry Bianca up until then."

"So, you broke up with Bianca, then broke it off with Amanda before hooking up with Leah. I'm guessing Bianca and Leah aren't best friends anymore because of that?"

"I didn't know that you knew about Leah and me. But yeah, Bianca wasn't happy that Leah and I got together not long after we broke up. I'm not sure if she was angrier at me or at Leah. What about you, are you pissed with me being with Leah as well?"

"I didn't how I felt about it when Bianca told me a few weeks back, it was unexpected. But, I have no right to be angry with anyone Leah chooses to be with now, I'll just have to get used to it I guess."

Dan nodded back at me, I was betting he was feeling like a weight was being lifted off of his shoulders.

"I wish Bianca felt the same way, Leah was hurting that she lost her best friend."

"Come on Dan, you cheated on her then hooked up with her best friend. Of course she's going to be pissed with Leah, imagine if Bianca had cheated on you then hooked up with me straight after. I don't think we'd be sitting here right now if that had happened."

"Yeah, I guess so. I got together with Leah because we were spending time together after my breakup, just as friends. But things grew from there. Look, I'm happy now anyway. Are you sure you're going to be alright with me and Leah? You don't still have feelings for her, do you?"

"I'll be okay, I'm sure."

I didn't answer the part about if I still had feelings for her, the answer was yes, but I'd just have to deal with that.

We had a few more beers and got something to eat, I did feel a bit awkward later when Leah called him wanting to know when he would be home. Getting used to it wasn't going to be easy.

Over the next month or so, outside of work I spent more time with Bianca and David than I did with Dan. I would catch up with him for a quick beer or two after work once a week on a Wednesday, always without Leah being there. I'm not sure if that was Dan's or Leah's doing, but I was grateful anyway.

I was also getting along well with one of the guys I worked with named Jason, it was good to go out and not have to tippy toe around certain subjects as I did with either Bianca or Dan. Jason is the same age as me, and his girlfriend Carrie is funny as hell. I really enjoyed hanging out with them.

I had moved into an apartment as well, so everything was starting to get into some sort of routine. I was home, I could see my family whenever I wanted, I had good friends, a great job, now I just needed someone to share it all with. Why was it that whenever I would imagine that person, it would always be Leah? I still hadn't spoken to her since my first trip back from London three years ago, and that meeting was frosty to say the least. Leah ended up crying, I ended up feeling like shit.

I had to put her right out of my mind, she was with Dan now, I had to get over her once and for all.

It was Friday night as Jason, Carrie and myself entered the bar. Dan had also texted me this afternoon wanting a drink, so I invited him along too. We were on our second round and in the middle of hearing one of Carrie's animated stories when Dan and Leah walked up to our table.

"Hey, good to see you both, grab a chair."

"We will, I'll just head up to the bar, do you guys need anything?" Dan asked.

"We're good, we've all got fresh drinks."

As Dan made his way to the bar, Leah stood there for a moment looking at me, before deciding to follow Dan to the bar. When they returned, I introduced everyone, it felt weird saying 'Dan and Leah', but whatever.

"Jack tells me you work with him, what's he like to work with, all business?" Dan asked Jason.

"He's fine, we still manage to find some time to have a bit of a laugh when we're not too busy. So, how do you guys know each other?"

"We've been best friends since we were kids, went to college together at Brown as well." Dan replied.

"That's great, you should have some incriminating stories to tell me about Jack then I hope, something I can use against him later." Jason joked out aloud.

We enjoyed our drinks, about an hour had gone past and I was aware that I had still not spoken a word to Leah in all that time, I didn't really even make eye contact with her. It's not that I was purposely trying to avoid her, well, kind of I guess but she was being quieter than her usual self too.

When Dan went to get another round of beers, Leah again went with him.

"So, Jack. What's the story with you and Leah?" Carrie asked as soon as they had walked away.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, I'm not blind. I see the way she's been looking at you all night, there has to be some sort of history there."

"Okay, if you must know we were together for four years, we lived together, we were engaged as well, then I left for London. But don't bring any of that up when they come back."

"I knew it, I could tell by the way she looked at you." Carrie responded.

"And what look was that? I didn't notice anything." Jason asked her.

"All you guys are clueless I swear. Every time you spoke Jack, she would watch you, and she would keep watching you even when someone else began talking. It was like you were the most important person in the room to her. I knew there had to be a reason."

"So how do you feel about her being with Dan? Have you spoken to her about it yet?" Jason asked.

"No, we haven't talked in three years. It's just going to take a bit of getting used to, her being with my best friend."

Just as I said that I could see them returning to our table, handing out the drinks.

"So, who wants to hear about the time Jack got caught running naked through the campus grounds at Brown?" Dan asked with a loud laugh.

"Of all the stories you could bring up to embarrass me, you want to start with that one?"

"Hey, it's a good one." Dan replied.

"Hell yeah, I want to hear about that." Jason chipped in.

"All the details too, I want to get a mental image of him doing it." As Carrie winked at me.