Dom Perignon

I had just gotten out of an abusive relationship and took myself on a trip to LA to see friends and get away. I reconnected with someone I’d worked with years ago, and we ended up having a really romantic few days. I felt myself come alive again. I saw him again a couple of months later and the connection was the same. He planned to come visit me in my city as soon as he had a work break but then... pandemic. Nobody was flying anywhere. For 2 years I didn’t see him, and always wondered what things would be like if the border was open. Within this time, he was diagnosed with cancer and went to Europe for treatment. We talked throughout this time and things were really scary for him - even getting Covid while going through chemotherapy and thinking he might die. He beat Covid, beat cancer, and eventually settled back into his life in LA. Soon after that his work brought him to my city and again we had the most magical reunion. It felt the same as it had years ago. His second weekend in town, I felt his vibe change. I could just sense it… yet I had no idea what had happened. After days of confusion, having no idea how he would be in my city, spend the most amazing weekend with me and then pivot completely, I had an intuitive hit to creep a little. I somehow remembered the name of his ex-girlfriend, whom he had never even told me about - I’d just seen her in tagged photos from years ago. Went to check her Instagram stories and low and behold, they were on a romantic weekend away together. He had somehow kept her so secret that they didn’t even follow each other. Who knows if they ever even broke up. Imagine, beating cancer (I know people question this but he really did have cancer, it was a public thing), going through a pandemic, and then choosing to be this kind of person throughout all of that. Half of my friends told me to take the high road and disappear, the other half supported my idea of sending the most expensive bottle of champagne to their hotel room…