There would be no story of heartbreak from Julie tonight. Instead, we all were trying to act like it was nothing out of the ordinary that she had seen fit to bring her new love interest to dinner. That is, until said love interest got up to go to the restroom.

“Ok, I know you’re newly involved and whatnot, but no one brings their other half to Thursday night!” Erin, the workaholic of the group, was never one to sugarcoat words.

“What?” Julie asked innocently, “It is girl’s night. Alex is a girl”. We were all trying to be as supportive as possible of Julie’s decision to ‘try something new’, but that was when we could hear about it, not watch the PDA-filled love fest over the chips and salsa.

“Well, I didn’t pry my baby girl off my boob just to come here and watch your new girlfriend all over yours!” Tabitha said harshly. She had gotten pregnant only a couple of months after her wedding, and was now a fairly new mom in addition to being a fairly new wife. Everyone knew that she was a little testy because she was still nursing and couldn’t have more than 1 glass of wine.

“Well, I think it’s great that Jules has found someone new.” Nik raised his glass in Julie’s direction. “Besides, now I’m not the token ‘gay’ anymore.” Good old Nik, always thinking of others.

“She’s not gay,” I added my two-cents, always getting sucked in. “Julie’s not the newest resident of ‘Les-ville’, she’s just passing through. The minute the novelty and shock-value wear off, she’ll be looking for the next love of her life. The movie hasn’t changed, just the cast. This is just a bad remake of something we’ve already seen.”

“Ow! Someone’s in a cynical mood tonight. But it’s ok, I have enough bliss for everyone tonight, and it’s all thanks to you. It was, after all, your inspiring theory on male and female sexuality that gave me the idea to try a new avenue. Luckily, Alex was right there as soon as I turned down that avenue. She’s an amazing person, and this is the happiest I’ve been in a long time, I think I’ve finally found the real thing.”

“Well, I just don’t want you to get in too deep. Ok, that was a poor choice of words, but you know what I mean. This might be a trip down ‘girl-on-girl’ lane, but Alex seems to really be into you. If this is just a phase, think about how it could hurt her.”

“Thanks for your concern, Tab, but don’t worry, everything is under control. Now can you please stop hogging the nachos?”

So, imagine my surprise when I got a call a couple of weeks later, at 3 in the morning, from Alex, of all people.

“Yeah,” I answered. I wasn’t asleep, which is usual, but at that hour, there was no reason for formality.

“Hi, it’s Alex, Julie’s girlfriend. Is she still there?” Uh-oh. Julie hadn’t been by at all tonight, so I was clearly supposed to be her cover story.

“She, uh, went to the grocer to get ice cream…I’m so high maintenance. Is something wrong?”

“No, I just wanted to know when I should expect her, that’s all. She didn’t say how long it would take to help with your project.”

“Oh, well, my projects are usually very time-consuming; I’ll tell her to give you a call when she gets back.”

I hung up the phone, and immediately dialed Julie. I didn’t know what was going on, but I didn’t want to be involved. But it looks like I already was.

“Hey, what’s up?” Julie answered. If the background noise was any indication, she was at some sort of party.

“What’s up is your girlfriend just called me, and wanted to know when she could expect you to be done helping me with my project. I don’t know what’s up, and I don’t wanna know, just keep me out of whatever you’re up to, ok?”

“What am I supposed to do, she’s smothering me. I needed a break. She is clingy, and emotional, and needy. This was supposed to be easy and fun and new, and she’s becoming…”

“Becoming the way that you are, when you’re dating a new guy?”

“What? I’m nothing like that!”

“Yes, you are. You want to be with them all the time. And, when you’re not with them, you call them constantly; you want to know where they are, who they’re with, and when they’ll be back.”

“Oh my god! I do do that! Is that why I could never keep a boyfriend?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. But, you need to do something about this; if you don’t want to be with Alex, you need to tell her, but you can’t use me as an alibi; especially if I don’t know I’m your alibi! Where are you, anyway?”

“I’m at a party with Billie.”

“I know I’m gonna regret this…who’s Billie?”

“He works at the coffee shop next to the gym.”

“Um, Jules? Isn’t that the coffee shop that Alex works at? It’s bad enough that you’re dating someone that works at a place that you frequent, now you’re cheating on her with a co-worker? I wish you could see the look on my face right now.”

“I know it sounds bad, but Billie and I had a real connection. I was waiting for Alex to get off, and we started talking, and here we are.”

“Well, I’m not one to give advice, and you’re obviously not one to take it, but you have got to be honest with Alex. Think of how you’ve always felt when some guy broke your heart; it wasn’t any fun.”

“I know you’re right, I’ll take care of it. And, I guess I better get outta here and go home…and have a talk with Alex. It’s gonna be a long night.”