Life After Them

Because of my fragile health, my best friend, Eva, kept me on a tight leash growing up. She always told me, "Leah, you can't take risks." So for every date David and I planned, she had to test it out for me first. When the new roller coaster opened at the amusement park and she said it was too intense for my heart, David took her instead. After I booked a bed-and-breakfast by the ocean, Eva said the night breeze was too strong for me. So David spent the night there with her. I made reservations at a romantic couple's restaurant, only for her to say the menu might trigger an allergic reaction. That was why David took her to try it first. Every time they came back, Eva would look me in the eye and say, "That place just isn't right for you." And David would always nod along. "She’s only looking out for you." I believed them every time until the night before our fifth anniversary, when I saw Eva’s latest post on social media. She was wearing the white dress I had spent weeks picking out, sitting at the table by the window I had reserved. There sat the custom cake I had ordered for David. Her caption read: [Tested it out for her first! Completely safe and so magical.] Right below it, David had commented: [You're the best, Eva.] Looking at the screen, it hit me all at once. This twisted game of stepping over boundaries under the guise of "testing things out" had finally run its course.