She started dating him eleven months and sixteen days ago.

After their first date, she gushed constantly about him. He was ‘suave’ and ‘mature’. Unlike the previous skaters, rocker wannabe’s, and womanizers she had dated. He treated her right and was always the perfect gentleman.

Seeing her happy made me happy. But deep down I hated him. I wasn’t one to hate but he had changed that. I hated that he was the one that could be with her in public. Hold her. Kiss her. Whisper the sweet nothings in her ear that I should be saying.

I met him a month into their relationship. I was disappointed in him. I hadn’t expected anything less. I couldn’t see what she saw in him. My brain, and especially my heart, wouldn’t allow it.

Jayce. Just saying his name left a bitter taste in my mouth. Jayce, with his perfectly pressed khakis- never jeans- and button down shirts. His incredibly boring aspirations to be an investment banker. His disillusioned optimistic view of the world and everything in it. His seemingly perfect family; two sisters, a father who worked on Wall Street, and a mother who gave up her career to stay home with the children.

Everyone thought they were the perfect couple. She with her girl next door looks. The long blonde hair and blue eyes. He with his all American boyish good looks. The neatly faded dark brown hair and green eyes. Comments about the beautiful children they would someday make nauseated me.

Yes he loved her. But he would never love her the way I did. Never know her the way I knew her. This realization was my one consolation each time I was forced to be in the same room as him. I knew he couldn’t possibly complete her the way I was able to. If he could, she would have stopped coming to me. But our time spent creating a beautifully secret relationship somehow forbade her from giving in to him completely.

They had been intimate yes, but she never failed to mention how different his touch was. Rough. Clumsy. Even possessive. I hated the thought of his perfectly manicured hands all over her.

Eight days before their one year anniversary he called me. He wanted me to perform at the party. It was to be a surprise for her. He wanted me to write a song that conveyed how much he loved her.