New Friends XV

This should have been a lot more awkward than it was, maybe it was the shock or the fact that we spent so much time becoming friends before we even met, but I jumped right in as any good friend would. "Wanna get a beer?" He got up and opened the fridge, there were two beers left in the vegetable crisper, he cracked them both and handed me one. I threw my head back and took a long swallow before I placed it back on the island. I opened my mouth to talk and then lost all my words, it's almost ten years old...why did he keep it? "When I was in my early twenties my father got really sick and I left my landscaping business in NY to go and care for him in Ireland. I was there for six months sleeping on the floor of the hospital, bathing him, feeding him and entertaining him. I loved that man more than I could ever express and it destroyed me everyday while I watched him slowly die". I choked back a couple of tears and took another drink...I hope there is more alcohol in the house. "When he finally passed I was destroyed, he was my hero and best friend, he always did the right thing. I came home shortly after the funeral and picked up the life I left several months ago, got a job in construction and met my ex-wife". I wasn't going to ask any questions, he needs to talk and I am all ears. "I loved her, I trusted her and I always did it right, just how my father showed me. When she wanted to go back to school I helped her, I just didn't realize it was going to be eight years and over one hundred thousand dollars, but I still did it. The birth of my second child, first daughter, was very tough, she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at ten days old...my ex had a break down. I don't blame her for that, I was fine rushing home for work so she could make it to school. But then things started to change after we had our third child, second daughter. I started to catch her in lies about money and where she was spending her days with the kids in daycare and her classes not until the evening. I followed her one day after I came off the night shift and found her in a Dunkin Donuts with a tutor, she kept it a secret because it was over eight hundred dollars a month. It has always come back to money Natalie. I never grew up with anything but I have always worked hard, I don't know why she stole from me, from us, when I was giving her everything I had". At this point I was standing at the wine rack pretending to read but holding back tears. "When I got that message by mistake it was like watching my father die all over again except over the years my fond memories of my marriage have slid into anger and resentment". No shit, I would have lost my fucking mind at that point. I grabbed the corkscrew and opened a Pinot Noir then poured the entire bottle into two glasses...I'm still in my pyjamas.