Laughter sounds throughout the bar, the group of friends that usually frequents the tables in the middle of the seating area are in their usual place, the usual tables pushed together, the usual beers being raised in salute.
It’s a sight she has gotten used to, one she knows all too well. She sits back, sipping her drink as they throw insults back and forth, laughing at each other and enjoying each other’s companies the way that men will, and she can’t help but smile at the scene.
Beer is spilt and the laughter rises.
She feels at home here, she knows the people like the back of her hand, knows about the shows they like, the ones they will quote as though no one is watching, she knows the games they play, the ones they will talk about until someone else changes the subject, and she knows the ones who sit for a moment, playing musical chairs as they move about the room talking off ear after ear.
She also knows the feeling of her heart dropping as a group of girls walk in, she feeling the familiar knot in her belly as she locks eyes with the one who walks in and changes everything.
Suddenly the mood is different. It goes from talking about their favourite shows to talking about her favourite show, or her latest show. Little jokes are made about games she has never played, never even heard of because, as she often tells them, she just doesn’t have the time. They smile at her as she says it, genuine smiles that tell her they understand and can relate to that fully. A smile she wouldn’t get if she had told this group that she had never heard of a game or know of a show.
She was no guy’s gal, she was a gal who could manipulate every guy… including ones that weren’t hers.
Jealousy was not often something she felt, she lived in her relationship like she liked to live everywhere else; comfortably without stressing over the small things.
It was all small things with this girl, small things that seemed to drive a completely sane woman around the bend.
This girl; Anna, sits down next to a guy who doesn’t belong to her, a smile on her face and dainty fingers on his arm. A sly smile on her face as she tells him what a good job he has done at work that day, how great he was. She puffs him up, strokes his ego as she leans back in her chair sipping her beer.
Anna’s laughter is like daggers in her eyes, her soft cooing like a stab in her heart as she watches the leech latch onto her boyfriend yet again.
She can’t count on one hand how many times the topic of Anna has been brought up between them anymore, she can’t remember how many times something so small has cut her so deep. The strength she once felt, the courage and faith in her relationship and her love has faltered. The house of cards that she has lived in happily for so long is being blown over.
The little messages that end in Xs and Os are like little whispers to her soul, telling her that she is trying for something that Anna has held dear for way too long. The little pet names they have for each other, it’s like she knew Anna better then she knew herself.
There is nothing between them, that is what he tells her, that is what she tells herself. Yet, she can’t help but feel that Anna is slowly wearing her away, slowing breaking her and changing the love she has.
A constant stream over her, Anna wears away at the stone.
Dulled Pencils and Inkless Pens 