“Well don’t let me be the only one bitching about an ex. Tell me more about your chef Lara.” Alice wasn’t particularly interested in hearing about Lara. She just loved Dana’s voice.

“Lara where to start?” Dana shrugged as she spoke. Where did she start talking about Lara? Their relationship grew out of a friendship and collapsed into a friendship, with close to nothing in between. It wasn’t a rowdy relationship, certainly not a bad one but when it came down to it, the relationship just was. It held nothing exciting to talk about, and truthfully, Dana was struggling to think of anything to tell Alice.

“Lara was a milestone I guess,” Dana began slowly. “She was my first ‘out’ relationship and I’m glad I had someone understanding to go through that period with. But, the truth of the matter is, there wasn’t really anything there that was extraordinary. It was sort of like having a really good friend who you would have ***** with but at the end of the day you’d still be waiting for that really special person to come and take your breath away.”

Dana smiled slightly to herself as she spoke these words. She’d finally found that person.

“So what eventually made you guys call it a day?” Alice asked as she offered Dana another beer. True, she didn’t find Lara that interesting, but it was always good to see where past girlfriends had faltered.

“Well One day I came home to find that Lara had packed all of her things up. She told me that she couldn’t do it anymore and I agreed. I think we were closer on that day then we had been for weeks beforehand.” Dana looked over to Alice, who was still listening intently to her story. “What about you and Gabby?”

“Infidelity. On both sides,” Alice replied quietly, lowering her gaze towards her drink. “It wasn’t a healthy relationship by any means.”

They sat in silence for a moment, finishing off their drinks; Dana wishing that she hadn’t asked about Gabby again, and Alice wishing she hadn’t mentioned infidelity.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you end the relationship with Lara sooner?” Alice asked in an attempt to quash the numbing silence that surrounded them.