9781618850638IfOnlyYouKnewBergman by Unknown Page A

look,
I knew the bottomless pit expanding in my stomach would soon start staking
claims for real estate.
    “Damn man, that girl is fine as
hell!” said Andrew as the woman walked towards our table.
    She came over and gave Richard a big
hug and an even bigger kiss. She was gorgeous; I had to admit that. She had the
full package, nice brown curly hair, nice porcelain white skin, nice pretty,
white smile, and nice figure.
    She was way too nice.
    “I hope I’m not late. I had a hard
time finding this place, Richard.” She smiled as she took off her jacket,
revealing a tight little number. Well, at least it was tight to me because I
knew I could never get into anything like that. What the hell was she…a size zero
or something, good grief.
    “Everybody, this is Laura Richards.
Laura, this is Andrew Peterson, Marie Wallace, and this is my best friend of
all, Marley Rockford.” Richard said as she started shaking our hands.
    “I’m glad that I was able to meet you
y’all, Richard always talks about you guys, and it makes me feel like I’ve
known you guys just as long as he has,” she said in her unique Southern drawl.
    The rest of that evening, she talked
about how she went all over the world doing runway shows. How she was able to
meet people as famous as Paris and Nicky Hilton, Donald Trump, and Mary Kate
and Ashley. All I could do was down more and more of the drinks that I had been
ordering. By the time it had gotten really late, I had downed at least 5 wine
coolers…a record in my book.
    “I’ve got to go.” I started looking
around for my purse, which was right in front of me, but hell, I was so damn
drunk that I didn’t realize that at the moment.
    “You need some help, Marley?” Richard
asked, helping me get my purse. “Yeah, let me help you get a cab. I’ll be right
back, you guys.”
    When we stepped outside, the night
air hit my face like a slap as I held Richard’s arm for support.
    “Taxi…taxi! So tell me, what you
think of Laura?” he asked, while we waited.
    “She seems like a really lovely girl.
She’s very worldly.” I tried to straighten myself.
    “I’m glad you liked her, that’s what
mattered to me the most, that you liked her, Marley.”
    He meant it this time. I could tell
this time he meant it for real by the way his eyes twinkled and his skin seemed
to glow. He was honestly in love with this woman.
    Shit, what am I going to do now?
    The taxi pulled up, he opened the
door, and I got inside. I looked up at him, and he chuckled a little then said,
“You need to lay off the drink for a while, Marley Mar.”
    He closed the door, and I waved him
off as the cabbie asked, “Where to?”
    “473 Abernathy Way.”
    I laid my head back, the glow of the
neon lights playing tricks with my eyes as we sped off, going home. All I
wanted was to forget tonight, forget everything said and done. But I knew that
was not going to happen anytime soon. I couldn’t understand for the life of me
why I always put myself through all this unnecessary turmoil with Richard.
Every single time he gets a new woman in his life, the more I grin and bear it.
    When I met Richard Collins, we were
both in college.
    It was our freshman year and I was
sitting by myself in History class with Mr. Davis. No one wanted to sit with
me, and I kept thinking that it felt so much like High School all over again.
No one wanted to sit next to the fat chick, until he came over to my
table.
    “Do you mind if I sit here?”
    I looked at him and moved my purse
out of the chair. Right then and there, I knew I was in love with him.
    “Is this your first year here?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “Mine too, what is your major?”
    “Creative Writing, I plan on begin a
writer.”
    “Wow, you must be real smart then.”
    I couldn’t help but laugh but he did
as well and that is what started our friendship. We were study buddies all
throughout college, even though we sometimes had different classes; we were
always there for each