The Friends We Keep by Holly Chamberlin Read Free Book Online Page B

head, “you’re unbelievable. Seriously, I don’t know if you’re pulling my leg or what!”
    â€œWhy would I do that? Look, if my life shocks you—”
    â€œNo, no,” I lied. “I’m just unused to hearing about—that sort of relationship. That’s all. I certainly don’t condemn you for it.”
    â€œWell,” Eva said with a drawl, “that’s big of you.”
    I reached out to give her arm a little squeeze but quickly withdrew my hand. “Oh, Eva,” I said, “you know what I mean. There’s nothing wrong with having sex without a relationship. In fact, I don’t know, maybe it’s something I should consider, at least before starting to date seriously.”
    â€œIt’s not you, Sophie,” Eva said with conviction. “It wasn’t you back in college and it’s not you now.”
    I felt almost insulted by Eva’s pronouncement. A moment earlier, I’d been judgmental of her behavior. And now I wanted to be considered capable of it myself. Eva, I realized, was unsettling to be around.
    â€œHow can you be sure it’s not me now?” I asked. “It wasn’t you, either, back in college. You were so serious and sincere, but you changed. Maybe I have, too. In fact, I know I have.”
    â€œAre you saying I’m not sincere now?” Eva gave me a grim little smile.
    â€œNo, no,” I said hurriedly. “What I mean is that you were very earnest back then, very into finding causes to support, very conscious of doing the right thing. You seemed to have no time for people you saw as—I don’t know—casual or uncommitted.” I smiled. “I remember how you used to berate John for wanting to make lots of money, for being so involved with campus politics—really, for just about everything he did!”
    Eva shrugged. “He could be a jerk.”
    â€œI never saw him as a jerk,” I said. “I always felt you were being a bit unfair about him.”
    â€œYou’re entitled to your opinion. Anyway, I don’t really remember much about college. That was a long time ago and so much has happened to me since then.”
    â€œTo us all.”
    â€œOf course,” she said. “And, as I already mentioned, I can’t stand to dwell on the past or on what might have been. I only think about how what I do today is going to affect tomorrow and the day after that. I stay very focused and keep my eyes straight ahead. No nostalgia for me.”
    â€œNot even a little?” And then I dared to say: “I’m curious to know why you agreed to get together after all this time.”
    Eva didn’t answer my question.
    Instead, she asked for the check and I left our first meeting doubting the wisdom of trying to resurrect an old friendship. But my natural optimism had been dampened, not entirely drowned. By the next morning I was looking forward to seeing Eva again. The question remained: Was Eva looking forward to seeing me?

11

    Contrary to popular belief, lying will not result in your pants catching fire or in your nose growing to outrageously long proportions. These are myths meant to frighten children away from the largely adult pleasures of telling falsehoods. This writer’s advice? Enjoy yourself and lie away.
    â€”Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire, and Other Harmful Nonsense

    E VA
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    I’d never told anyone about Ben. Who was there to tell? At the age of forty-two I had no close friends, maybe no friends of any description—until the reemergence of Sophie. And I wasn’t sure that I could call her a friend and mean it.
    And yet, I’d blabbed to her about my failed relationship with Ben. Worse, I hadn’t presented an entirely accurate picture of what had happened between Ben and me, or about how upset I was when he left. The truth was that I hadn’t been half as devastated as I’d let on. So, why the exaggeration?
    See, this is