Secret Affection

Chapter 2

"Aly!"

It was six o'clock the following day and holding up to my agreement, I decided to meet my childhood friend for a drink.

"Hey, Roy."

Roy Birch was your basic white male. He talked about sports way too often, he talked about woman like they were just pieces of meat, yet he still somehow found a way to be charming.

He stood from his bar stool, approaching me and pulling me into a bone crushing hug. His 5'11 frame slightly towered over my four inch shorter self, but the strength he put into his hug threw me off.

"Jesus, Roy, what the hell have you been doing the past ten years? Lifting cars?"

He laughs, letting me go and flexing his arms. I poke his bicep, somewhat impressed at how solid it actually is.

"Lifting cars and bench pressing naked women, it's the daily grind, Aly."

I shake my head in disbelief, but sit next to the stool he was occupying. The second I sit down, the bartender comes over, leaning on the counter right in front of me in her very revealing top.

"What can I get you, honey?"

If I was still the same person I was before I left for the military, I would've jumped at the bartender hopelessly trying to flirt with me.

"Just a beer, thanks."

She nods, realizing I'm not interested and grabs me a bottle, sliding it across the counter towards me. I take a few sips before Roy starts in with his questions.

"So, when'd you get home?"

"I got back a couple months ago. I'm sorry I didn't call sooner, I've been trying to get used to it again."

He nods, taking a sip of his own beer and asks another one.

"Have you spoken to your parents?"

I scoff, taking another sip,

"Hell no. The second they found out their 'perfect soldier' got dishonorably discharged they disowned me. I haven't heard one word from them since."

He places his hand on my shoulder,

"Hey, don't worry about it Aly. You still have me, I mean you have had me since we were like five. Nothing is really going to change. Speaking of, have you seen Grace?"

I'm about to finish off my beer when he says her name, so I freeze with my lips around it, shaking my head slightly. Without finishing the beer, I set the bottle down and look at my hands.

"I haven't spoken to her since the first year I left. We wrote each other, but after awhile she stopped writing back. Then eventually, I stopped writing entirely. She was my best friend and she just gave up on me."

"Don't say that, Aly. You know she cared so much about you. If she didn't she wouldn't of cried for months about you leaving. I mean, she begged you to let her stay with you until you left for boot camp."

I chuckle at the memory,

"Yeah, I guess, but to answer your question no. I haven't spoken to Grace. Why?"

He rubs the back of his neck and I can tell he feels weird about the information he's about to give me.

"She got married a couple years back. It was actually a year or so after you left. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that she's happy, but something about that guy just rubs me the wrong way."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I still hangout with her every so often to catch up and everything. Sometimes she seems jumpy and panicky, like someone's watching her. When they first got married and I saw her a lot more often, she wore these sunglasses all the time."