Annie

What a day. A day Steven couldn't wait to end. The day that the love of his life decided he was no longer the love of hers. As Steven opened the door to his apartment, he was immensely relieved to see Annie sitting on the couch waiting for him. His best friend.

Before she could even properly greet him, he began to talk, the words spewing from his mouth as if he could no longer contain them.

"Well, she finally did it," he said as he carelessly threw his work bag and coat down onto the dining room table. Steven padded across the apartment and headed straight for the couch. Annie sat patiently, watched him as he moved closer to her, and waited for him to continue talking.

"She told me she was no longer in love with me," he recalled as he sat down next to Annie. He buried his face in his hands and continued. 

"She had me meet her at the park. The same one we had our first date at," he rubbed his temples, ran his fingers through his carefully moussed hair, massaged his aching eyes, "and I foolishly thought that was a good sign. I thought maybe she was going to tell me she wanted to start over and was trying to use the park as some sort of metaphor or something. I don't know," He realized at that moment how naive he sounded and chuckled. Annie sighed. Steven looked over at her and was met with those familiar brown eyes.

Annie had liked Isabelle, unlike so many other of Steven's girlfriends. Steven trusted Annie with his life and valued her opinion greatly. Admittedly, he had even used that opinion as a kind of litmus test for compatibility. He had even broken it off with one girl that Annie simply didn’t get along with, even though he felt it could have potentially gone somewhere. He wasn’t willing to give up his friendship with Annie for anyone, love interest or not. But Isabelle was different and she and Annie had instantly become friends. Steven knew that Annie had a particular fondness for Isabelle, and now, as he stared into her eyes, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of guilt.

"I know what you're thinking, and I--" Steven started, and then found himself at a sudden loss for words. He averted his gaze from Annie’s and then once again when it landed on a framed picture of the three of them at the beach. That was the day that Annie and Isabelle had bonded, and Steven sat in the sand and watched as they walked the shoreline together. A complacent smile was permanently plastered across his face for the rest of the afternoon, the same complacent smile he sported in the picture. 

"Listen, I know you liked her but I can't help that she doesn't feel the same way about me anymore." Steven reflected on that statement for a moment. Could he have helped it? He wasn't the most attentive partner at times. He was messy. He left the seat up. Maybe it was completely his fault Isabelle had fallen out of love. Steven had all but completely fallen into the pit of sorrow he had created for himself when he felt a nudge on his arm and snapped back to reality. Annie could always tell when he was getting a bit too lost in his thoughts. She knew him well. Sometimes, he thought, better than he knew himself.

Annie had been Steven’s best friend for 9 years now. She had seen him through a lot of ups and downs and all the monotony in between. She was there when he graduated high school, followed him to a new city once he started college, celebrated with him when he landed his first “real” job. She knew all of his secrets, all of his quirks, the good and the bad, and she accepted him for what he was and loved him as only a best friend could.

“I don’t know, Annie, you think she found someone else?” Steven mused, sinking even further into the couch as if willing himself to slip into the void between the cushions and disappear. Annie gave Steven a quizzical glance and then peered off into the far corner of the apartment, seemingly mulling it over in her mind. Steven interrupted her thoughts.

“Either way, I guess I’ve got to come to terms with it. I knew she was pulling away. I could feel her distancing herself slowly over the last couple of weeks. Deep down, I knew this was going to happen. But it still doesn’t change the fact that it hurts. Hurts pretty bad, Annie.”

Steven took a good look around his apartment and began a mental account of all the things that reminded him of Isabelle. The books she recommended sitting on his bookshelf, the blanket draped lifelessly over an armchair that she loved to use when they sat together on the couch, the coasters on the coffee table she was always telling him to use so that he wouldn’t ruin the finish. The permanent ring of discoloration his mug had created anyway. It was all too much to bear. Steven needed to get out of his apartment. He needed some fresh air and a good long walk to take his mind off of Isabelle. Almost as if she had read his mind, Annie slipped off of the couch and headed towards the door. Steven smiled. Isabelle was gone, she would one day be just a fond memory, a what-if, and he would struggle to remember the sound of her voice, the color of her eyes, her favorite songs. But Annie was there, just as she always was, waiting, listening, loving Steven even though he was messy and left the seat up. 

He stood from where he sat, smoothed the wrinkles from his pants, and headed towards the door. “You know what, Annie? I love you. You’re the best friend I could ask for. Thank you for always listening to me and for never judging me. Now, let’s go, but forgive me if I don’t want to go to the park.”

He leaned down and pat Annie on the head, scratched her behind her left ear just like she liked, and slipped on her harness and leash. Then he went out for a walk with his best friend.