That all changed her sophomore year when she met Peter Donovan. Peter was also a chain dater, addicted to the passion but with a short fuse for the drama that would quickly follow. It wasn't unlike him to have a different "love of his life" at every Sunday brunch. No one expected this unlikely pair to last but there was a special spark that would keep them together for a really long time.
What followed is still a blur...
Day 2: I really like you.
Day 12: I think I love you.
Month 3: Let's move in together.
Month 6: Let's get a dog.
Month 18: Will you marry me?
Year 2: I do.
Year 4: There's the door.
The ending to their fairy tale love shook both their worlds but was hardly surprising to anyone who had known them. Everyone in town knew, Christina and Peter loved to fight. They were hot and cold, yes and no, on and off, so right yet so wrong. They were so blinded by their love that they were incapable of seeing their relationship for what it really was... two completely opposite people in a very destructive relationship.
Christina had grown up in a broken home and has spent her entire life dealing with her emotions internally and keeping people out of her heart. Peter was part of an extremely functional family. Loving, open and welcoming. They were completely unable, even after years of dating, to figure out what made each other tick. Yes, the love was powerful but in the end, the inability to communicate tore them apart. After 4 years of passion and 17 breakups, Christina called it quits. She thought this would finally bring the roller coaster ride to an end but she was gravely mistaken.
Christina had become close with Peter's friends, a little too close in Peter's opinion. It had always been an issue for Peter and now he had taken it to a whole new level. Many months of drama ensued as Peter approached his friends one by one and demanded that they choose sides. Christina hadn't just been friends with these people, they had become the core of her social network. They had become her family. Peter, on the other hand, was the kind of person that needed to be liked by everybody and spent a good chunk of his time flying all over the world in order to keep up with his ever expanding friend group.
Christina had no idea what to do so she went to her best girlfriend, Katarina Wit, for advice. Kat assured her that she wasn't going anywhere and everything would blow over in time but that wasn't exactly the case. Peter was so upset and hurt that his friends hadn't been loyal to him that he stopped talking to all of them, especially Christina. Months of fighting and awkward encounters followed, especially when they crossed paths at the local bars. Christina became so exhausted that she started making up excuses to stay in on the weekends. It wasn't until Christina moved out of town, to escape the drama, that things started to go back to normal and she began to rebuild what was left of her friendship with Peter.
Nearly a decade later, she sits by her moonlit rooftop pool, sipping from an over sized glass of Pinot Gris, and wonders if it was all meant to happen that way. She wonders if Peter demanding loyalty from their friends wasn't just a manifestation of his social insecurity. She wonders what relationship she might have with Peter today if it hadn't been such a messy breakup. She wonders if leaving New York was the right answer. She even wonders what her life would have been like without him introducing her to all the wonderful friends she still has in her life.
Her flashback is ended by the sound of sirens below and she gropes in the darkness for her cell. She texts "Miss ya, babe. Let's do lunch." to Peter and a simple colon, dash, and parenthesis let's her know that time has healed old wounds and, at the very least, she still has Peter in her life.
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