It turns out that I won't have to worry
about running into Michele. She's going home this weekend. I was
afraid Emily might have thrown her out over a misunderstanding.
(When I mentioned this, Karen said, “Oh, Charlie, grow up!”)
But that wasn't the reason. Wendy had
called her and begged her to come back. When Michele left, Wendy
took over leading the group. And these women started hitting on her,
or worse, calling her to talk about their problems. Wendy said that
maybe she'd been too hard on Michele. Maybe she wasn't the force of
nature; all those women were. Emily's comment was “Michele
strikes again. No matter what, she always comes out looking
good."
Now everyone is asking me how I feel.
I say, “I'll miss her, of course, but it's probably for the best.
And we're Facebook friends.”
Karen thought I should have a final
lunch with Michele, so I could have closure.
Nikki snorted. “Nobody wants
closure. They want the crummy thing not to have happened. If you
think closure will make you feel better, you'll feel even worse when
it doesn't.”
“I don't need to feel better,” I
said. “I'm fine.”
Karen and Nikki looked at each other.
“Denial.” Karen said. Nikki nodded.
“Remember we're here for you.”
I appreciated that, but I didn't see
why I would need them.
Michele did call to say goodbye, but I
was taking Duke to the vet for his checkup and had my phone turned
off. She left a message and I called her back, but she didn't
answer. She sent me an ecard she'd designed with a picture of the
library and a note saying she'd really enjoyed knowing me and she
wished me “the best of everything.” When I showed it to Alice,
she looked disgusted. “It's like what she really wanted to say was
'Have a nice life, Bitch, and think of what you missed.'”
“Oh, Alice. She's not like that.”
“Well, you never know what somebody's
like when you've broken their heart.”
I didn't know if I should feel guilty
for breaking Michele's heart. I did feel guilty for feeling a little
pleased.
“And don't feel guilty about it.
Karma finally caught up with her,” Alice said as if she could read
my mind.
“Ok,” I said. I didn't know what
else to say.
Later Emily told me that Wendy had told
her that Michele seemed a little subdued when she back and I had
become famous as the woman who could resist Michele.
I wondered if I was now part of the
legend. Emily said that I was now a legend myself.
