I rolled my eyes at the smirk that was now spread across his face. “Are you going to get your pad and paper out and gather all the information you need so you can run a background check on him?”
“Always a cop. I guess you caught me!” He said, throwing his hands up in a mock arrest, laughing at himself in the process. As our eyes met, the funny moment passed quickly and I saw a look of seriousness return to his eyes. “I just want to make sure he is a good guy, Emily.” I silently reminded myself that was the Brad that I knew, always the protector.
“I appreciate your concern but it’s not necessary. If I see any red flags or feel that I’m in any kind of danger, you will be the first one I call.”
While Brad was surely concerned about this unknown man being a physical danger to me, I really couldn’t tell him that I was much more concerned about what this man might do to my heart. I couldn’t tell him that I was in so deep that there was nothing anyone could do to prevent or stop it.
Our pizza arrived just as the heavy discussion was out of the way. We spent the rest of the evening talking like good friends would about the simple events of daily life. He shared with me that his mom was going in for a mammogram the next day and that he was nervous about what they might find. Brad had always been a bit of a momma’s boy, so I knew how much this had to be bothering him. I urged him to call me when he knew more.
Brad tried to take the check and pay for the meal, when I reminded him that good friends would just split the tab. Reluctantly, he agreed and left money for half the bill on the table. We hugged each other goodbye and went our separate ways. I left the restaurant feeling good about how we left things. I knew he would eventually find the perfect girl and hoped it happened for him soon.
As I walked back to my apartment, a nagging feeling wormed its way into my thoughts. Now that I got that ‘talk’ out of the way, I needed to prepare myself for the ‘talk’ I needed to have with my current boyfriend. Something told me, that wasn’t going to go over as well as the one I just had with my ex.