Photo by Fernando @cferdo on Unsplash
Laney* (name changed to protect her privacy) was a lovely girl. She was easy to fall in love with. She was smart, sweet, and caring. She was always ready to help out as a friend. The only thing wrong with her, if anything, was that she was always guarded. She hated the idea of falling in love and being hurt. So, as much as possible, she always ends up putting any guy that even attempts to look at her with romantic intentions right in the friend zone.
So, when Andrew* (name also changed) came along, she already knew that her walls would be up and she needed to protect her heart. However, she didn’t expect what happened next. She has known Andrew far longer than any guy. They’ve been friends since she was in primary school. She was going through an awkward phase then -- braces, glasses, and pigtails were her main style. The classic nerd, you might say.
Andrew, on the other hand, was popular with the other kids. Even at a young age, he was shaping up to be quite the jock. He always excelled in what little sports they did back in those days -- from little league baseball to the usual class games they did during lunch breaks. Andrew was born to be a star.
Laney knew early on that they belonged to different cliques and would eventually grow up in different worlds. By their 6th year in school together, their worlds collided. They both decided to enter the world of politics, running against each other. Even with Laney’s sophisticated platform and no-nonsense campaigns, Andrew won by a landslide. After all, he was already a young heartthrob by then. Even girls from older year levels knew him.
At the end of that year, Laney’s family moved to another state. She said goodbye to her old school and never even gave Andrew another thought after that day.
Fast-forward 25 years later. Laney is now a successful lawyer. She’s single and that’s the way she wants it. She wasn’t looking to engage in a long-term relationship at this point. She’s had her heart broken many times in her early 20’s. She thought that love was all that mattered then. That’s until she discovered the joy of having a thriving career. She knew then that she could stand on her own without a man by her side.
It was such an unexpected thing to hear from Andrew decades on. He slid into her DM unexpectedly. She was sleepily scrolling through her Facebook feed one cold winter evening as she snuggled under her warm blanket. It was already 1 am and sleep evaded her as it has many for many nights. She reminds herself yet again to stop drinking so much coffee. Two cups should be enough to get her through the day -- despite the tough meetings. The third cup was just overkill. It always ends up keeping her awake into the wee hours of the morning.
Her eyes felt heavy. She wanted to let go of her phone and just drift off into a dream. Then it happened. A friend request came in. It was Andrew. She didn’t even hesitate for a second and accepted his request right away. At the back of her mind, she had a slight sense of regret -- she didn’t want to seem too eager, but it was too late.
A small icon of his face popped up on her screen. Still a beautiful man after all these years.
“Hey, Laney! Do you still remember me?”
That nagging feeling is back. She should have given a bit of a pause before accepting that friend request.
“Of course, Drew!” She typed with a sigh.
She had an early morning meeting, but couldn’t seem to stop herself from chatting with this old friend. She didn’t even have the heart to tell him that they’re in different timezones and that it was already 3 am in her part of the world. The next thing she knew, Andrew was telling her that he’d be traveling to New York soon and that they should meet up. “Yes.” was all she could say before finally falling asleep.
The day of his arrival rolled around. She found herself driving to the airport to pick him up. She didn’t even know how she got herself in that situation. No matter, he is an old friend and that’s all. When she saw him, she felt herself fluster. She didn’t even know she could fall for a guy this fast. She was immediately disarmed by his boyish smile. He gave her a tight hug and he could feel the heat of his body against hers.
She ended up taking the day off work -- maybe her first day off in a decade. She just wanted to spend the day with him. They had lunch, caught a movie, and ended up back at his hotel that night. While locked in a passionate kiss, she suddenly decided to pull off him and rush out the door. He was left standing there scratching his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t” was all he could say.
He didn’t give up though. He must have felt that strong connection to Laney, too. He texted and left messages on Facebook. This time, Laney took her time. She let an entire 24 hours pass before responding. It took so much effort for her not to answer back.
When she finally did, all she said was: “I’m sorry. Can we try that again?”They were meeting up an hour later for their second date. This time, Andrew took his cue from her. If she wanted to take things slow, that’s completely fine.
They went on a few more dates. Made out a few more times. Andrew’s week-long trip to New York got extended to three weeks -- and it wasn’t because of a job, he just wanted to stay to get to know Laney a little more.
Andrew was a single guy who works as a photojournalist. By week 3, he was already madly in love with his old friend, Laney. So, when he felt that she could be the one, he told her that he’s happy to move to New York to be with her. His job and his lifestyle would allow him to work from anywhere in the world, but he would rather do it next to her.
Laney was quiet when he made that announcement. Things were getting serious. Of course, she also wants to spend more time with him. There’s no denying that.
Andrew said that he has to leave the following night to pack up his stuff in Oregon and terminate his lease there before he could start looking for a new apartment in New York. She gave him the sweetest smile -- one that reassured him he was making the right decision.
The next day, he took the red-eye back to Portland. He started boxing up his stuff the next morning. It was a massive effort to try and get everything in order. Then he decided to stretch a bit and take a break. He grabbed his phone to message Laney.
“Hey, hun. Been busy all day packing up my stuff. Can’t wait to move in with you!”
5 minutes, no response.
1 hour later, still no reply.
He went out for lunch to take his mind off things. She must be busy with work. Maybe a long meeting is keeping her away from her phone. After lunch, he tried again. This time on Messenger.
“Hey, Laney. How are you? Haven’t heard from you all day.”
…
He waited with bated breath for her response. Then the moving ellipses on the screen disappear. No response. He wanted to give her a call but didn’t want to seem overly clingy, so he let it pass.
The next morning, she blocked him on Messenger. He panicked a little bit and decided to give her a call. It went straight to voicemail.
“Laney?” Said his text message.
48 hours later, still nothing.
Laney stood in her kitchen with the morning light filtering in through the blinds. She looked at the message that just came in and smiled when she saw Andrew’s name. She opens the message.
“Hey, hun. Been busy all day packing up my stuff. Can’t wait to move in with you!”
She drops the phone and cries. She cried like she’s never cried before. She knew she was falling in love with him. She can’t. She just can’t. So she decided to block him from her life. She was afraid to even say goodbye.