Always Turning To Run

The Columbus Blue Jackets were having an end-of-season party to congratulate us on a season well-done, despite not getting into the playoffs. It was open to a select few of the public who signed up online in advance. We all thought this would be a good idea, as we could meet some of the fans and thank them for their continued support throughout the season. Everything was going perfectly well, until someone I'd rather not see at the moment walked into the room with an air of obnoxious audaciousness, clinging to a man tall in stature, displaying him as though a male peacock would display his tail feathers.

I guess anyone could tell by the way I described this woman that she was, at one point in time, my girlfriend, and the man she so proudly flaunted was the man with whom she was having an affair prior to our breakup.

It is also obvious that I wasn't pleased with her sudden appearance at our soirée. I had every right to be displeased. Even if she hadn't cheated on me with Mr. Tall, Dark & Handsome, I still would have broken up with her eventually. She was always a manipulative little bitch, and it still concerns me why I didn't notice this fact when I first started going out with her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her slowly approaching me, sans her boy toy. She tried giving me a sincere smile, but ultimately failed at that. I cringed at the resulting lopsided, almost devilish grin that was spread wide across her face.

“Hey, RJ,” she greeted. “How’s everything going?”

I paused, slightly taken aback at her flippant attitude. What is this? She’s actually attempting to have a normal conversation? “Uh, I’ve… I’ve been well…” She actually took me off guard there. A glimmer of hope shone inside of me; maybe, god forbid, she eradicated that unbearable conceit and stopped being so controlling?

She crossed her arms behind her back. “So… do you want to go back out with me?”

I stared at her incredulously. I suppose I expected too much out of this woman.

The look on my face must have given her an answer, as she soon let out a groan in annoyance. “Are you serious? Why not?” Maybe she can’t understand the fact that I can’t forgive her for her infidelity.

But, instead of going into a long explanation, I merely shrugged my shoulders. “I have other things to worry about,” I said. “I haven’t had a second thought about you since we broke up. That probably seems immature, but the mere thought of you disgusted me.”

She pouted at me, which made me pinch the bride of my nose. I was about to explain to her my frustrations with our previous relationship, because she was just begging me to do so, but her boyfriend/friend with benefits/whatever the hell he was came over to us and whisked her away from me. I silently thanked this man.

Her, and I’m just going to assume this, since I really have no clue, boyfriend was successful in keeping her away from me for the remainder of the party that was open to the public. I was able to talk to fans, sign autographs and play the best game of rock-paper-scissors with the coolest eight-year-old ever without her interrupting any of these highlights of my day. We were allowed, but not required to stay for another few hours to hang out with teammates before the offseason began. I left after an hour and a half to spend time with my current girlfriend, Alicia.

She greeted me when I got home with a long hug and a brief kiss to the cheek before proceeding to tell me that I received a strange e-mail while I was gone.

“I think it’s your crazy ex,” she said.

I let out a scoff. “It probably is.” I opened up my Macbook pro and saw that, indeed my crazy ex sent me an e-mail asking me if I “wanted to have some fun tonight”. I shot Alicia an apologetic glance; she waved her hand around in the air, signaling that it was no problem whatsoever.

I replied to her e-mail, telling her everything I wanted to tell her before her boyfriend took her away.

I was stupid for ever going out with you. Our relationship was unhealthy when you, out of nowhere, started acting like you owned the world. I’ll admit that I did love you, but that love I had for you one and a half years ago is no longer. I grew tired of how easily you were able to manipulate me and how much you enjoyed manipulating me. You didn’t have to cheat on me; because of this, you will always be an infidel, never satisfied with what you have. Truth be told, I was glad we broke up, because your bullshit hasn’t been plaguing my thoughts like it did when we were in a relationship. Actually, I never think about you. I have someone else now, so please stay out of my life, delete my address from your contacts and never talk to me again.
Best regards,
RJ

I hit send and leaned back in my chair. I was proud of what I just said and I was desperately hoping that it would keep my crazy ex out of my life for good.

Three days have passed since I sent that e-mail.

She never replied.

I haven’t gotten a text message from her.

She completely ignores me whenever we see each other in public, which, thankfully, is quite infrequent.

Truth really hurts sometimes, doesn’t it?