A New Life I Have Found

Angie and I had been shopping all day before we finally took a break to eat at a nice little restaurant. We were seated outside to enjoy the fresh air and warm sunlight. It really was a beautiful day.

"Do you think we could have bought anymore stuff?" I asked her as I looked down at our shopping bags.

"We're not even done yet," she said after taking a sip from her drink.

"We should have brought the guys," I said as I sighed. "They could have carried all of this for us."

"We should have," she said. "I wonder what they're up to anyways."

"With them there is no telling," I said as I shook my head. "We will probably have to bail them out of jail."

"I hope not," she said. "I've spent enough money already."

I laughed at her comment as the waiter brought us our food. We thanked him politely as he left to check on another table.

"It's nice to hear that again," Angie said.

"Hear what?" I asked her.

"You laughing," she said. "I haven't heard you laugh sincerely in so long. Coming here has really done you some good."

"It has," I said as I smiled. "I haven't been this happy since...well, I can't remember when."

"I know," she said. "Before you told us about Nick, I didn't know what was going on with you. I just knew that you weren't yourself."

I nodded my head after I took a bite of my food. She was right. Before Nick, I was a happy person. Usually always smiling and laughing, but then Nick came along and my personality seemed to change.

"Yeah, I know. I tried to act normally around all of you, but it was hard to."

"I just wish you would have come to one of us sooner, Tori," she said. "Let one of us help you out of that situation."

"I should have," I said, "but I was just too scared and I still had these feeling for him. He was mean a lot of the time, but sometimes he could have this other personality that was sweet. He had also lowered my self esteem so much that I thought I wouldn't be able to find anyone else that cared for me. He let on that he was the only person that could ever love me and that I should be lucky that he even did."

"I'm so sorry, Tori," she said. "You know that isn't true though. He was only scaring you into staying with him. He was a manipulator."

"I know that now," I said. "I finally got smart and left, but now he just won't leave me alone. It's like I'm still with him."

"He'll stop," she said. "If he knew what was good for him. He knows you have your own bodyguards that would take him down in a second."

I laughed softly at her comment. The guys were like my bodyguards. They always had been. They would do anything for me. I was grateful to have friends that cared so much about me. It was a comforting feeling.

"On to another subject now," she said as she set her fork down. "So, you and Johnny. How's that going for you?"

"Couldn't be better," I said as I smiled. "He's a great person and very understanding. I'm lucky to have him."

"That's nice to hear," she said. "Johnny's good for you even thought he's crazy."

"Coming from the girl dating Ryan Dunn," I said laughing a bit.

"I know," she said as she smiled. "Tori, why are we dating crazy people?"

"I don't know," I said as I sighed. "I guess we have very weird taste in men."

"Obviously," she said. "They are the fun ones though."

"I agree," I said as I nodded.

"Well, I say we make a toast," she said as she picked up her glass and I did the same. "To us and our crazy ass men!"

We clinked our glasses together and laughed so loudly that everyone else was looking at us. We didn't care though. We were used to it.