Sure, we were inseparable in college. But then Marty and
Edward had seen fit to elevate their acquaintance a bit.
The consequence was a rift among our trio, particularly
given Marty’s enduring nonchalance paired with poor
Edward’s propensity to fall like Humpty Dumpty for
all things fleeting, noncommittal. As for me, while
I missed our triangular camaraderie, I could not even
imagine falling for Marty. Furthermore, it was beginning
to dawn on me how nice it had been being away from
the two of them together, given the thick cloud of tension
those two had stirred up. I’d become relaxed, at ease;
I was downright pleasant. And I was enjoying something
I’d never had the pleasure of acquainting myself with be-
fore: solitude. Not terribly pleased with the notion, it
appeared that I was becoming a hippie, was getting in
touch with the inner me
“Okay, sorry Doug. Really. I’ve had my moment. I can
deal with this. Right?” Edward was never really able to
deal with much of anything without the appearance of
animated suffering. He blinked his wet piercing eyes.
I tried to make soothing contact but was suddenly
caught a bit off-guard by the blue brilliance of them;
some tiny portion of my brain was posting an adhesive
note to my heart: “found something . . . further research
required . . . at more opportune time.”
Not that I hadn’t noticed before. I was always just too
busy with my affected indifference and the often over-
whelming duty of maintaining calm. Impervious.
