The Last Get Together

We sit in a crowded bar,

Me listening with pride as my daughter plays the violin.

"What talent at such a young age!"

Basking in the pleasure of their company.

I beam with pride at my core group of friends.

We've shared ups and downs since high school and we are now in our 40s.

I am always happy when I am with them.

As I was that night,

Basking in the pleasure of their company.

I was so grateful to be accepted in the group at first I didn't ask for anything more.

Drama and jealousy eventually set in.

Though I swallowed it down as much as I could.

But, it was all in the past now and we were grown ups with more important things to worry about.

So I thought,

More important than crushes, academic performance etc.

So I thought,

It is time to use that envy though in the memoir I published.

It's all in the past,

Nothing to do with how I feel now.

They ask with interest, "When is your book going to be published?"

I promise to send a link.

"We can't wait to read it," they reply.

We go back to laughing, catching up, enjoying the evening.

Little did I know, all Hell was about to break loose,

Just a few short days later.

I would have, should have thought things over a little more,

If I knew how my words would change things.

I would have, should have, kept quiet about it all,

And just kept things concealed under a pen name.

But I trusted them.

But I was confident in their friendship and our unshakable bond.

I was wrong.

Little did I know,

Laughing at the table, listening to my daughter with pride, enjoying the company I was with,

That this was not only going to be our last get together.

But the last remenants of our friendship.