It's Me, Again

Ch. 33 (Kate)

"I did it." I collapsed onto the couch next to Sarah and blew the strands of hair that had fallen into my face out of my eyes.

"How did it go?" Sarah turned to face me.

"Surprisingly...easy. I think he knew we were reaching the end of the road for us too. And he got a really great opportunity in London so everything kinda just worked out."

"That's good. No hard feelings?"

"No, we ended things on really good terms. I honestly couldn't ask for a better break up. If you can even call it that with how smooth and friendly it all went."

"That's awesome. So what now? Are you going to tell Dylan?"

"I'm going to wait a little before I tell him. So don't say anything!"

"I won't, I swear. But why are you going to wait?"

"I don't want to be one of those girls that just jumps from guy to guy and is never single. Even though I do have feelings for Dylan, I still need a little time to get my head on straight. And I don't want to just jump into something with Dylan right away. It's better if I just don't tell him that we broke up yet. I don't know if that makes any sense."

"I get you not wanting to jump right into another relationship, but why can't you tell him you and Carter broke up?"

Valid question. I bit my lip and contemplated it for a minute, trying to find the right words to convey what I was thinking in my head.

"It's not that I want to lie to him to make him think I'm still unavailable. It's just that...I don't know...I feel like if he knows Carter and I broke up then he'll expect us to start up again and I'm not ready yet. And I don't know, that might be totally unfair and I should probably give him more credit. He's never been the type to pressure me into something. Maybe, it's more that I'll want to start up right away and I know that I shouldn't. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, it does. I don't know if I'd do the same thing, but I can understand where you're coming from. Are you going to at least tell him before your trip?"

"Probably. I don't know when I'll tell him, but I'm just not ready yet. I just need some time without being attached to someone and I know him. If he assumes I'm still with Carter he'll keep a polite distance."

"So you're using your now ex-boyfriend as a buffer?" Sarah laughs.

"Yeah, I guess I am," I laughed, "I mean, I'll tell him eventually! I just use this time to my advantage for now."

****

That time period ended up lasting quite a bit and after 3 weeks I was planning to tell him. I was feeling more clear-headed than I had in a while and I was ready to tell Dylan that Carter and I had broken up and that I was ready to talk about what the future may hold for us.

Through an event planning colleague, Sarah was able to get us into a hot new nightclub for free. Her friend hooked us up with free passes so we didn't have to pay the ridiculously high cover charge. While none of us were really into clubs and crazy partying anymore, this new place was getting a lot of buzz and to be able to get in for free we thought it'd be worth it to check it out.

Sarah's boyfriend, Marcus, was coming in to go with us all so Dylan and I were the unofficial couple again since the others were paired up. I decided on a dark floral minidress and black open-toed heels, which reminded me of something Kelly Kapowski would wear in "Saved by the Bell". Apparently 90s fashion came back in the past few years and I'm all for it. Sarah wore a black strapless jumpsuit with a sweetheart neckline. Mallory decided on a black faux leather mini skirt and white lace top. The guys were all wearing variations of the same look. Jeans and untucked button downs. Unoriginal, but classic and always in style.