Samantha's Friend.

Samantha called at about seven O’ Clock.

“Todd just broke up with me!” She bawls into the phone the second I answer.

I rolled my eyes, took a seat and prepared for the shitty hour long conversation that was sure to follow.

“He said he didn’t love me. He said he never loved me.” She continued to speak between sobs.

None of this was new to me. I’d already had this exact same phone conversation with her four times in the past five months. Todd was a prick. I knew this before he and Samantha even started going out. She knew it too, until he showed a little interest in her. The moment he started taking notice of her (when she lost her acne) he suddenly went from being “a moron” to “not that bad” to “a total spunk”. Soon enough they were going out.

Todd used Samantha and deep down she knew it. From an observer’s perspective it had been obvious since their first break up. It was at a party. Some girl was coming on to Todd so he left the party with her, leaving Sam there alone. Guess who got to pick her up.

The next day he broke up with Sam and went off and rooted the other girl for a week. After that was over he came back to Sam, and she accepted it.

Back to the phone call.

Sam, still crying, says “Can you come over here? I don’t want to be alone.”

Being the good little obedient friend I was, I headed over. On the way to her house I picked up a bottle of Jim Beam.

Samantha lived alone. Her parents were paying the rent for the place she was staying at. Her whole family was rich. It was a pretty little house that Sam had put a lot of work into to turn it into a home.

I got there at a quarter to eight. I knocked on the door.

“It’s open,” she called from inside. I entered and right away was met with the strong odor of marijuana. I walked into the lounge room where Samantha was smoking a joint.

“Wowza. How many of those have you had?” I asked.

She takes a long toke, pauses, blows out an inhuman amount of smoke and then answers. “This is my second. It’s Todd’s. He left his whole stash here.”

I smiled. This was definitely a good sign. I hadn’t seen Sam get vengeful after any of their past breakups.

“Well I brought this,” I pulled a bottle of Beam from its paper bag “but I guess we won’t need it.”

“Sure we will.” She said grinning. The dope had obviously calmed her somewhat. She always enjoyed smoking. She continued speaking “There are some shot glasses in the kitchen.”

I went and got the shot glasses. Soon enough the joint was finished and we were throwing down bourbon shots recklessly. Sam had always been a big drinker. She drank more than any other girl I’d ever met and I loved that about her. She could handle her alcohol well.

Every now and then Sam would say something about Todd that would make me smile.

“He’s an arsehole. I don’t need him. This is it this time. I’m not getting back with him again.”

We kept having shots. He was just using me anyway. I’m over it.”

We were both pretty drunk and I was extremely happy about Sam’s new perspective on Todd. It was nine-thirty and there was nothing really on TV. So I suggested a movie.

“Sure. What do you want to see?” she asked.

“Something with no thinking involved.” I answered quickly. We both laughed and then headed for the cinema. I guess driving in my intoxicated state wasn’t such a good idea, but we got to the theatre safely, so I can’t say it’ll never happen again.

I bought two tickets to Cradle 2 The Grave and we entered the cinema.

We sat in back in our chairs, relaxed. Previews of Matrix Reloaded and National Security played as we chatted amongst ourselves. Then Todd arrived with some blonde.

I noticed but didn’t say anything to Samantha. I didn’t want to ruin our night. It didn’t take long before she saw for herself though. Todd and his blonde sat on our row, only a couple of seats away from us.

I can’t believe it! That arsehole!” She said to me, holding back from screaming. I tried to calm her.

“Don’t worry, he’s not worth it.”

Still seething, I could tell she was trying to regain her composure. “Yeah, you’re right.”

The movie started and almost instantly I thanked God that I was drunk. It was pitiful. Pretty soon I found myself withdrawing into my brain, imagining watching Queens Of The Stone Age play live. Half way through the solo of “No One Knows” my dream was broken. I felt a hand on mine. It was Samantha’s. I turned to face her and was met instantly by her lips pressing onto mine. Her tongue entering my mouth. I was taken by surprise, but I didn’t mind. I went with it.

I really did like Samantha. We were best friends and I cared for her deeply. That is why I was so frustrated by her idiotic relationship with Todd. I can not say I’d never imagined Samantha and myself as lovers. She was a beautiful girl and she had a great personality. She would make a great girlfriend and that was something I’d thought about her since the day we met.

We made out for the rest of the film. It wasn’t as awkward as it could’ve been, us being such good friends. I guessed it was the alcohol.

The film finished and we slowly peeled ourselves away from each other. We stood up and exited the theatre. As we did, we heard a group of fifteen year olds ranting and raving about the film.

“That movie was awesome!”

“Best film I’ve ever seen!”

Sam and I laughed. Hand in hand we re-entered the foyer. I gave Sam a kiss on the cheek and told her I’d be back in a second. I needed to use the toilet.

I went and took a piss. I was only away from Samantha for a minute but when I returned to the foyer she was gone. I looked around everywhere for her. I thought she may have been in the restroom, so I waited outside it. For ages. She didn’t come. I had another extensive look around the cinema, the foyer. I asked a couple of people if they’d seen her. No one had. Eventually I had the idea to phone her. I found a public phone and called her mobile.

It was switched off.

I was quite worried. She was probably still pretty drunk and I had no idea where she was. This was bad.

Then, all became clear. I saw Todd’s blonde, standing at the other side of the foyer looking as confused and worried as I was. I approached her, with a sinking feeling in my gut that she may confirm my worst fear.

“Hello.” I said to her.

She turned, a little startled. It was clear that she was a little frightened.

“I saw you earlier at Cradle 2 The Grave.” I began.

She waited for me to continue, looking awkward.

“I was wondering, where is To… that guy I saw you with earlier?”

The blonde took a step back. She was intimidated by me. I cleared the air.

“Not because I want to go pick you up or anything, it’s just that he’s my dates ex and I’m worried that they might have left here together.”

The girl looked at me blankly for a while, then started. “I have no idea where he is. He told me he was going to the toilet and he never came back.”

My heart sank. Inside I knew. I knew that Samantha and Todd had hooked up again. And this time more than ever, it hurt. After a moment of silence I went to walk off, but was stopped by my manners. I turned back to the blonde and asked:

“Do you need a lift home or something?”

Briefly she considered, then declined. Not in the mood to discuss anything I let her decision stand. I walked away, went to my car and drove. I stopped by Samantha’s on the way home. No one was there. As I opened my front door I hoped against hope that there’d be a message waiting for me on the answering machine from Samantha, saying something, anything that didn’t involve Todd.

There were no messages.

Pissed off and hurt beyond comprehension I tried to go to sleep. It took hours. As I lied awake in my bed, images of Samantha and Todd dancing together, kissing, hugging, flooded my brain, only adding to the pain I felt. Eventually I fell asleep. In my dreams I had sex with Samantha.

The next morning I was woken up by a phone call. Tired, I let the answering machine collect the call. It was Samantha.

“Hi David. Sorry about last night. Todd and I started talking at the cinema and we decided to go somewhere to get a cup of coffee and discuss things. It’s all worked out okay. We are back together. Thanks for the movie last night and sorry to have left you like that. Hope you don’t hold it against me.” Then she giggled. That giggle, on top of the news that she’d just broken to me was enough to fill me with the most intense depression I’d ever known. But then the icing was put on the cake. As Samantha said goodbye and went to hang up, I heard Todd speaking.

“Thanks for looking after my girl.”

Too depressed to move, too angered to cry I just shut my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.