Most of the bar’s patrons were regulars, just here for a normal Friday night. But there was one of them who was out of place. Not unfamiliar \u2013 actually Will knew the zebra quite well \u2013 but this wasn’t someone he’d have expected to see here. And on moving closer, there was something troubling about the way he was sitting.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t a sort of trouble that sent off \u201cleave me alone\u201d vibes, though, so Will made his way over.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Rollie,\u201d the marten greeted. \u201cYou’re looking pretty rough. What brings you here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm? Oh, hi, Will,\u201d Roland said back, glancing over for a moment and then gesturing invitingly at the empty stool beside him. He looked back down into his half-empty glass, sighing. \u201cYou’d think two years together would be time enough to get to know someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there<\/i> was a valid reason for the normally-sober Rollie to turn to hard liquor. \u201cStill torn up about Tabbie, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c’Still’ isn’t the word I’d use,\u201d the zebra demurred. \u201cI wasn’t happy to split up, no, but I could<\/i> see it was the better course. We’d had our good times together, but we weren’t really a good fit. It was time to move on, and we parted amicably enough.\u201d He tossed back a slug of whiskey like it was water. \u201cOr so I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will kept his opinion of the hare to himself. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI found some of her CDs that she’d left at my place,\u201d Rollie explained. \u201cI tried calling her to let her know, but her number was out of service! Emailed her \u2013 nothing. My shift was done early yesterday, and I bumped into her at the terminal on my way home; but when I said I’d been trying to reach her, she accused me of harassing her. Said she’d changed her number because of me, that she was trying to move on and I wasn’t letting her!\u201d<\/p>\n
The zebra turned his empty glass in his fingers, shaking his head. \u201cShe said I’d always been pressuring her \u2013 for time, attention, sex… that she’d wanted out for months because I made her uncomfortable… Will, she’s <\/i>the one who said we should stay friends \u2013 now it’s like she’s a different person!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe’s…\u201d Will bit his lip, then tried again. \u201cIt’d be easy to say she’s crazy, she’s wrong, it’s not your fault. But you’re really worried there’s something to this, aren’t you? It’s not just that she’s gone, it’s this doubt she’s slapped on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I’m not good at this. But I don’t want to stay<\/i> that way,\u201d Rollie breathed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, let me think.\u201d Will did so quickly, choosing his words with care. \u201cIt’s true you can be intense. But I know<\/i> you have trouble seeing when to back off if people don’t just tell you so. If she didn’t say to ease off in so many words, she wasn’t trying to know you.<\/i> You’re not a stalker, and certainly<\/i> not a rapist.<\/p>\n
Rollie drew a deep breath. \u201cYou think so?\u201d<\/p>\n
Will clapped him on the shoulder. \u201cIf I had a sister, I’d trust you with her,\u201d he promised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One friend finds another somewhat shaken in the wake of his recent breakup, and tries to give him some comfort and advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-one-shot","tag-flash"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":486,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}