story: Broken Heart's Club

Title: Broken Heart's Club
Author: ME!
Summary: What's a girl to do when her heart gets broken?

“And God said, go ye forth for the eighth day of break-ups will suck. And suck hard.”

“You don’t have to be so negative.”

“Why? Because the guy I thought I loved was a snake and a manipulative bastard, who was out for his own ends? No, I’d like to call myself and optimistic realist; and therefore, the eighth day sucks.”

“I brought you out here to cheer you up.”

“Fat load of good that did you.”

The sharp look that was shot Sadie’s way was of clear annoyance, and Brandy turned back to her rapidly cooling mocha choosing to ignore her friend’s tirade or pseudo-Biblical prophecies. She turned her attention to the Atlanta city skyline as cars rushed past on busy Buckhead streets and life pulsed as it usually did in a semi-metropolis like the southern city. They were seated outside of a Starbuck’s barista, the day an unseasonably warm one for it being winter in the city; but, then again, the south had been having a lot of unseasonable weather for last few months. Brandy wondered if it were because of global warming, but attention was soon pulled away from her own meandering thoughts when a loud sniff issued forth from her right. She turned abruptly, gasped in dismay.

“Aw, Sadie,” she clucked sympathetically and scooted her chair over to her friend, and the other woman leaned into her shoulder. Sadie’s eyes were already tell-tale red of soon to be shedding tears and her mouth was drooped at the corners. Her large brown eyes looked up at Brandy’s and she sniffed loudly.

“It’s only been eight days,” Sadie told her. “I’m twenty-one years old and I only have had one sexual encounter in my entire life and he was it, and when I told him I loved him: WHAM!”

“I know, I know.” Brandy rubbed Sadie’s back in soothing circles, slow, but firm as her friend’s body shuddered and a small sigh issued. Brandy knew the story all too well. She’d been studying for a term paper that fateful night, eight days ago, when Sadie called, clearly distraught, tears audible over the phone line, telling her that Mark had broken up with her, saying, “He said he just didn’t feel the same way. I told the bastard I was in-love with him and he said he didn’t feel the same way. He didn’t feel the same way. He said he doesn’t want me chasing something that’s fleeting.”

Brandy remembered casting aside her term paper and everything else, a murderous intent rising in her belly like hot acid and bile, wishing she knew exactly where Mark lived so that she could show him just how much of a jerk he had been for that. But she’d kept it to herself, consoling her friend the best way she could over the phone. She’d felt guilty for only being able to talk to Sadie on the phone anyway over the past seven days and so, on the eighth, she decided to take her best friend out.

“I know you loved him, Sadie, I know you did,” Brandy informed her, her voice firm, “But he was just an ass. All the things you put up with, all the things you did. He was your first, babe.”

Sadie sniffed louder. “I still do love him, which is the messed up part, and I still want him back. I still want….”

The barista came outside to see if they needed anything else and Brandy waved the nice young woman away, not wanting anyone or anything to impinge upon her friend’s sadness. She turned to Sadie, watching as thick droplets of tears fell from the other woman’s large brown eyes, her mouth drooped lower and her shoulders slumped.

Brandy swallowed thickly.

That murderous intent was rising again with a vengeance, clawing its way up her body from the base of her spine and spreading out throughout her body, through her limps, prickling her finger tips in a way that made her want to grab one of the Starbuck’s chairs, rip it out of its place in the cement and march right over to where Mark lived and beat him over the head with it. Sadie was a gem, even though she often didn’t realize it herself. She was the type of person that would help no matter who you were, from her greatest enemy to her dearest friend. She was the selfless type of person that you only encountered once in your lifetime, who’d smile at you or do her damnedest to get you to feel ten times better if you were down and out. Brandy couldn’t understand why Mark could just be so…

She wanted to hit something, hit him, but her anger was not what was needed here, and it would only make things worse. This was Sadie’s time, and she had to be there for her friend.

“It’s natural for you to feel that way, babe.” Brandy rubbed her friend’s back some more, wishing she could impart some kind of sense of stability to her friend’s feelings, wishing she could show her that tomorrow would be a brighter day. She remembered her own break up with her first girlfriend, and that had been a harrowing experience. Back in high school and her girlfriend had told her that she just couldn’t see herself in a relationship anymore and then not a week later: she was out dating some other girl. Brandy had been heart broken, but she had violently and forcefully made herself get over it.

She didn’t think her quick fix, get over her break up plan would work for Sadie. Because Sadie had truly, truly loved Mark, or as Sadie said, still was in-love with Mark. Brandy didn’t know how her friend was ever going to truly heal from it. Of course people got their hearts broken all the time, but she didn’t know those “other people”, all she knew was Sadie, and she knew that her friend was the type to dwell on things too much and too often.

“I know you hate hearing it being said, but….” Brandy paused. “It’ll get better. It’ll get better and you’ll soon be thinking ‘Mark-who?’”

That got a small chuckle from Sadie, and she looked up, her brown eyes still watery.

“You think so?”

Brandy smiled at her. “Hun, I know so.” She rubbed her friend’s back one last time, then gathered their things briskly from the Starbuck’s table. “Now,” she began, “let’s figure out what else we’re going to do today.”

“What else?” Sadie asked, puzzled. Brandy nodded, handing her a tissue, a look of determination crossing her face.

“I’ve got to distract you from all this mess,” Brandy replied, waving her hand airily. She stood, and Sadie after wiping her nose and gathering her things, stood too.

“Let’s go shopping,” Brandy said, a mischievousness lacing her voice.

***

Two hours and twenty shopping bags later, Sadie found herself home, alone, with Brandy’s cheerful car horn still echoing in her ear. She looked around, looked around at everything and sighed.