choices1

"What did I do?"
"It's what you didn't do."
"Excuse me? You walk in here after spending the night with my best friend and tell me I screwed up? You certainly haven't lost your sense of humor."
"Excuse me,"his girlfriend interrupted.
Beth turned her back to them as he responded,"It's okay."
"I'm gonna go ahead and leave now. You're obviously in the middle of something and I'd just be intruding."
"Call me then?"he requested.
"I don't think so."
"What?"
"I don't know Beth but you always seem to speak so highly of her and I can't compete with someone you hold that close to your heart."
"Come on Barb."
"If you do one thing right in your life Howie, don't lose her,"she kissed him on the cheek and walked toward the door where Beth still stood."I know I'm the last person you wanna be hearing anything from but don't let him go. The other guy; well, he'll always be there for you. He's the kind of friend most women wished they had in their lives,"she said.
"I don't think I'd be strong enough to give Howie up like you just did."
"Fortunately honey, that's one thing you'll never have to encounter,"Barb responded as she walked out the door and Beth wasn't sure she wanted either one at this point but they both held a special place in her heart. She just had to figure out which piece went where. She found Howie in the kitchen trying to sort through all the morning's events."We need to talk."
"That's an understatement."
"Dammit Howard!"she always used his full name when she was upset so she couldn't be that angry he thought."Do you think there's a reason we keep dancing around the subject of love? Did you ever stop to think that maybe we've been there for awhile and we're a couple of stubborn fools afraid to admit to it. Now I don't know about you, but I'm tired of fighting a losing battle,"she retreated to her room and got dressed. She didn't know what to do. She thought her heart belonged to Howie but AJ held something there too. He knew she was right. They were acting about as immature as a couple of teenager afraid to say those three little words because somebody might make fun of them. They'd been friends for quite some time and when they shared his bed , it changed everything. Their friends should have noticed it by now but since Howie started dating, no one really took any notice or maybe even cared enough to take any notice other than AJ and now he was involved. At least Howie thought so. For all he knew, she was just another one night stand and she'd be tossed to the side just like the rest of them but the emotion he heard pouring from his friend's voice wasn't that of "Don't call me, I'll call you"tone. It was more of a "I really would have liked to see you again but you screwed up" hurt tone. AJ rarely used that tone and when he did, he meant it. Had he and his friend fallen for the same woman? Only AJ had those answers but he knew he and Beth still had to battle it out.

She was packing her suitcase as she thought about everything that happened in the last two hours. She was in love with one man and knew she'd break another man's heart byt staying where she was. There was no other alternative but to leave and get away from both for awhile. Good luck there huh? Should be able to do that real easily. Howie's voice startled her from her thoughts."What are you doing?"
"I'm packing. What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Look at me,"He almost commanded.
"No."
"Come on Beth. Talk to me. I don't know what to do here any more than you do."
Tears flooded her eyes as she turned to him. She hates me was his only thought at that point."I have to leave. For the good of all of us."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I'm not about to come between a lifetime of friendship for my own selfish reasons."
"Don't I count here too Beth? I want you to stay."
"I have to. I can't honestly know how I feel until I'm gone and you and AJ need to work things out."
"Beth,"He begged.
"Just let me pack. I already have a place to stay."
"If you're sure."
"I think it'll be best."
Howie picked up the phone to dial AJ's number after she left."Age?"
"What do you want?"he growled.
"She's gone."
Silence fell over the phone line and Howie repeated himself.
"I heard you the first time."
"She left. I don't know what I'm gonna do without her."
"Me neither."
"I love her."
"I love her too."
"Seems we've got a real problem here then."
"Not really. When I walked out the door this morning, my ego was hurt because I thought she might have changed her mind about you. I knew it last night, I just chose to ignore it."
"Do you think she knows that?"
"I think she does, she just needs a little breathing room."
"I can give her that and if you should happen to see her before I do, take care of her."
"She'll be back before you know it D."
"I hope so,"he hung up the phone. He looked around the house and all he could see was her face.