Page 4 of You & I, Rewritten

Everything, duh.“Well, for starters, what did you mean before when you mentioned he was there for you? What happened?”

I watch her inhale a large breath, closing her eyes before releasing it, and suddenly, I feel like our evening is about to take a turn toward something more serious. I straighten my back and turn fully toward her, showing her that she has my undivided attention.

“A few months back, I was casually dating this guy,” she begins, looking down at her hand. I’m wracking my brain to remember who it could have been, but to my knowledge, Klair has been single for quite some time. Clearly knowing how my brain works, she adds, “I never mentioned him because it really ended before it started. But despite it being brief, it got seriousreallyfast.

“Ian was charming—like,incrediblycharming—and when I met him, I couldn’t believe how quickly I began falling for the guy. He was sweet and attentive and made me feel like the most special woman in the world…at first.” Her tone is sharp which raises every best friend red flag I have. “It wasn’t physical or anything like that, but almost as quickly as he had come into my life, he changed. Or I should say, he showed me who he really was.”

Reaching over, I grab her hands. “Klair, I’m so sorry…why didn’t you tell me? I had no idea you had to put up with something like this.”

She looks up at me, her kind eyes are filled with a sadness that usually isn’t there. “I thought about calling you a million times about it, but honestly, I was embarrassed. I let this man’s treatment of me really get the best of me. I went from feeling like I was on top of the world to…nothing.” Her voice is a whisper. “But what could you have done, right? You were halfway across the country, and I just felt like this would have freaked you out!”

“You’re damn right it would have freaked me out…but I would have been there for you, love!” I lean over, wrapping her in my arms.

“I know, I just didn’t think it was best to involve you in something like this,” she says, her head now on my shoulder. “I didn't want to be the reason you came running back home.”Typical Klair, always protecting me, even at her own expense.

I pull back, looking her in the eye. “No matter what is going on in your life, good or bad, I will always be there for you like you’ve been there for me. Our friendship is unconditional.”

“Trust me, I know that!” She’s smiling again. “Honestly! This was just a stupid blip, but I know when things are serious, I can and will always come to you.”

“Good. So, if you don’t mind me asking, how does Graham fit into all of this?” My curiosity is piqued. Was it someone he knew? Someone they worked with?

“Oh! Well, Graham must have overheard a rather tense conversation between Ian and me.” Her cheeks flush. Like me, Klair has always tried to separate her personal and professional lives, so I can imagine this only made the situation worse.

“Ian showed up at the office to pick me up for dinner as I was wrapping up a few projects. He didn’t like the fact that I wasn’t ready and when Ian got mad, he gotreallymad, causing him to say some incredibly hurtful things about my body, my career…our sex life…and never once apologizing for them. Here I was letting some guy talk to me like trash…how pathetic does that make me look?” Before I can interject, she adds. “I know, I know…it just was a situation I never thought I’d be in. I started justifying it. Or at least entertaining the idea that maybe some of the things he was saying about me were true.” A tear rolls down her cheek and I take her hands in mine again.

“Klair, you are the most beautiful, kind, and accomplished person I know.” She looks down as I continue. “Out of anyone in my life, it isyouwho has always inspired me to be a better version of myself because you have and always will be the prime example of grace, selflessness, and dedication. Nothing andno onecan ever take that away from you.”

“I appreciate you saying that, and looking back, Iknowthese things. I think I just got caught up in a situation that was incredibly toxic and confusing.” Her ability to look at deeply emotional situations this logically is inspiring. I’ve always admired Klair’s strength and the grace she always displays when life gets hard. But this is different...this situation clearly got to her.I still want to beat the shit out of this Ian character.

“So, Graham walked into our section, hearing all the awful things Ian was saying to me—publicly, I might add—and I was humiliated. I had only been at the company for a little over a year and the last thing I wanted was my very blunt and direct colleague, who happens to be the boss’s son, to think I’m the girl that brings boyfriend drama into the office.” I can totally see how Klair would worry about that with someone like Graham, but also the workplace in general.

“I started packing up my things to leave and Ian seemed more and more irritated with the entire situation. It was like every little thing about the moment set him off, and for him to be so brazenly disrespectful, I just wanted to get out of there.” It’s hard for me to picture Klair getting flustered like this. In all the years I’ve known her, she’s always been the one to handle all our ups and downs with ease, which tells me everything I need to know about the severity of this situation.

“We bumped into Graham on our way to the elevator and I’m telling you, I’veneverseen him look as angry as he did in that moment. He was standing there looking larger than life, his eyes wild, never taking them off Ian. He said, ‘Klair, cancel your evening’s plans…we just got a massive project dumped on us and it’s all hands on deck. Tell your boyfriend you’ll have to reschedule.’”

“What did Ian say to that?” Based on my first impression of Graham, I can only imagine the sharpness in his tone and the intensity of his gaze. Just thinking about it has me feeling all sorts of intimidated.

“I mean, what was he going to say to Graham, he towered over Ian!” Klair laughs. “Honestly, I don’t even remember. I just remember him huffing off into the elevator and that was the last time I ever saw him.”

“Did you talk to Graham about it?”

“Kind of?” The memory causes her to smile. “He ordered Chinese food and we sat in silence in the conference room together until he asked, ‘What can I do?’ And then I just started crying hysterically. Like ugly, snot-everywhere crying, and poor Graham, he looked like he didn’t know what to do. But he ended up coming over and just giving me the tightest hug and he didn’t let go.”

Even though my heart hurts for what Klair went through, the image of Graham hugging my best friend, being there for her when I couldn’t, makes me want to smile so hard.

“I don’t know how long he held me in that conference room, but when he finally let me go, all he said was ‘You know you deserve better.’ His definitive statement made me wake the hell up! For weeks, I’d become this version of myself that I didn’t know anymore, and he was so right. Ididdeserve better than that. I pulled out my phone and ended things with Ian right then and there…and I never once looked back. For weeks, he checked on me every single day after that and those little check-ins meant everything to me.”

“Wow,” is all I can say as Klair reaches to refill each of our wine glasses. Graham intervened in a moment when others might not have and it clearly made all the difference for Klair, an act I will forever be grateful for.

“Yeah, so I get it…he’s a little harsh and blunt in the office,” she states kindly as she gets up from the couch. “But like I said before, he’s so much more than that when you take the time to get to know him.”

“Hey, Klair?” I say as she’s heading to start getting ready for bed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you during all of this, but I’m so glad to know you weren’t alone.”

She smiles and blows me a kiss before heading into her room, leaving me alone with my thoughts of this protective and warm version of Graham.

A version I hope to see more of.

CHAPTERTWO

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