Thursday, October 6, 2022

old friends still need to talk



 "What the hell should I do?" Gage asked Slater to his surprise. Of course, Slater usually only talked to Jay, but he was busy these days with Hope and Lindy. So he was surprised when Gage dropped in after dinner while Misty was bathing baby Scout. He told Slater everything about Poppy's ex.

"I thought we were friends," Gage looked at him blankly. "Should I be scared?"

Slater wasn't sure how to react. "Maybe, he was just being..I dunno a little upset at his friend's wedding. You know, like why didn't this happen with Poppy." Slater had no real answers, but he could see it bothered Gage.

"Do you really like her?" Slater brought him a lite beer and Gage took it.

"Well..well..she's a friend. I'm not sure if, you know, she likes me that way. I mean, yeah...she was talking like she wanted to date and all...and then somehow..it was all my fault." Gage looked quite sad about it as he took a sip of beer. 

"Your fault?" Slater winced. Not that he would get seriously involved with any of this. 

"I mean, yeah, I thought... Alfie was a friend."

"I don't think I know him."

"He used to live in these apartments, but he obviously found somebody to move in with..and probably just hooked up with, too." Gage sounded like he envied him. He held on to the tall can of beer but didn't really drink it.

"So, you've been in love a lot." Slater nodded, thinking back who Gage had been with.

"It's hard to say." He shook his head. "I used to just, you know, jump right in." He smirked. "I must have thought I was something back then."

"You were with Macy," Slater remembered. "I thought you guys would have stayed together forever."

"That's kind of ancient history now." He sighed. 

"But then there was that English girl," Slater nodded. 

"Well.." he sighed. "There was someone before her too. But they all settled down with somebody. It wasn't me."

Slater nodded as if he understood. Maybe he did. "But you learn from your mistakes."

"I try. It's just," he sighed. "Things are so different now. My mom's in my life. I've got Alec." He scratched the back of his neck. Honestly, Slater thought he might get teary-eyed. "When did I get so soft?" He tried to laugh.

"I would say, you just have to wait for it, but I know you feel like you're not getting any younger," Slater said. "I have been blessed that I've had some good women to talk to along the way. And that might be what you need right now. You and Poppy are at least talking. I really wouldn't worry about this Alfie fellow. I mean, he's going to pharmacy school and has already found someone."

Gage nodded.

"If I think of someone, I could make dinner.."

"Oh, like with Dimi, that time?" Gage smiled. "How is that going? Did she -"

"They got a house together, but they didn't get married." Slater filled him in. "I see her ever so often and he does go grocery shopping with her."

"Grocery shopping," Gage nodded as if he might make note of that.

"You never know who you might meet at the grocery store," Slater grinned. "Sometimes, you might even get lucky." He chuckled then.

12 comments:

  1. yes, we may meet with unexpected persons anywhere...
    nice story

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  2. Meeting new people can be fun.

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  3. Interesting -christine cmlk79.blogspot.com

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  4. Yeah, sounds like he needs some good (female) friend advise!

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  5. Uy lo dejaste muy interesante. Te mando un beso.

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  6. And now we learn more about Gage! I enjoyed that. He seems like a soulful sort who has, as Slater put it, learned from his mistakes. I hope he won't let Alfie's anger deter him. I'd like to see him and Poppy give it a shot.

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  7. Thanks for sharing.
    I invite you to visit my last post. Have a good week-end!

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  8. This is a very nice story.
    I wish you a nice weekend.

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  9. All in all, you can meet someone special everywhere. Also at the grocery store.

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  10. Fun. But wow Alfie really affected Gage at that wedding. Nice to see him and Slater have a nice convo.

    Snoopy! And some smokes... :)

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  11. Hello!! I love the title and the chapter is really good, as always, thanks for sharing it.

    Blessings!!

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