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Here goes nothing

My throat thick, I disclosed, “When you commit to someone, you don’t sleep around”

Anika stilled She didn’tmoment And when she found her voice, it was faint but unwavering “Vik has never, will never, would never cheat on you”

Oh, Anika Poor, naïve Anika

See? This e didn’t talk about Vik

And maybe it was the alcohol, or the rejection—I don’t know Buttrail of a tear escape me

Anika struggled to sit up, watching ht off the pull of sleep “I’m serious, Nas I don’t knoho told you he had, but I’ht now it never happened I wouldn’t lie to you”

My lips treh “Listen, I enius, but it sure as fuck doesn’t take one to know that when a oes out at 2:00 am, doesn’t let you come over to his apart ain’t right How do you explain that?”

“His apartment,” she whispered, and it was odd, the way she said it My friend looked down at her hands, hesitating Next ti to kill hiaze “You should talk to him”

That was it? That was her grand advice? Talk to him? Just… I don’t know… ask whether or not he slept with other women?

Ha!

I’d rather run through a field of poison ivy, wearing nothing but a pair of flip-flops

But I reran what she said, replayed it over and over, listened deeply, and heard soh she knew so ball of doubt rested on my shoulders

“What are you saying, Ani?”

My suspicions were confirmed when she prompted quietly, “It’s not for me to explain, Nastasia Maybe you should have aired your concerns and spoken to Vik about this What I will say is that in all the time you’ve known us, in the almost thirteen years you and Vik have been you and Vik, have you ever seen him look at another woman the way he looks at you?”

Had I?

Surely, I had

I ran through uess I hadn’t

Our probles fro suit But during the last six weeks of our relationship, he started to act strangely

Whenever I would text, he would respond hours later and offer no excuse for the delay