Tough Love

I was sitting at the dining table feeling sorry for myself when Molly walked out of her room. She was dressed to the nines, getting ready to go out on a date with Calvin. I had to be at work in an hour but I wasn’t dressed yet and just wanted to be sad.

Molly sighed.

“Still sad?” She asked pouring herself a soda.

“I will be sad forever.” I said dramatically.

“Can I say something?” She asked timidly.

“Yes, of course you can.”

She sat down across from me with her soda.

“Okay, well, can you promise me that what I’m about to say won’t affect our friendship because it’s going to be brutally honest and might make you cry…”

I hesitated.

“Um…okay….”

Molly took a deep breath.

“Faith, I love you but you need to get over yourself and get your shit together. You have been acting like such a huge victim ever since your adventures with Sean, The Worst Boyfriend Ever. And I’m not saying you’re not allowed to feel upset or sad about things because you’ve had a pretty bad few years but it’s time to stop acting like you have no control over anything. Like, you’re sitting here having a huge pity party because you won’t take responsibility for the terrible decisions you made. YOU are the reason Mike broke up with you, not Brad. YOU are the reason Brad has so much resentment towards you. YOU are the one who keeps leading him on and dropping him whenever you feel like it. YOU are the common denominator here and you can’t just keep using all the bad things like having a boyfriend who got his mistress pregnant and your house burning down as an excuse to treat people like crap.”

“Ouch.”

“I’m not done.”

“Oh, God.”

“You can feel sad about losing Mike, who is probably the love of your life and the healthiest relationship you’ve ever had with another human being, but don’t act like it’s because you weren’t directly responsible for it. It wasn’t Brad who cheated on Mike, it was you. It wasn’t because your apartment burned down and you thought your cat was dead and you and your ex-boyfriend started being fuck buddies while his girlfriend was pregnant. You have to grow up, Faith. You’re in your mid-twenties, it’s time to get your shit together. You work at a bar part-time and work as a stage manager the rest of the time. It’s time to do something that comes with health insurance so you can start to have some self-confidence that isn’t fueled by whichever guy you’re sleeping with at the time.”

“Damn, Molly.”

“I’m sorry, but you needed to hear it.”

I blinked at her.

“I’d like to remind you that you promised that what I said wouldn’t affect our friendship.”

“Okay.” I said with trepidation.

“It’s okay if you don’t use what I just said as a kick in the ass right now, but you will at some point, and when you do, you’ll thank me for it.”

“Okay.” I said still surprised.

“I love you, okay? I just want you to be the best Faith you can be.” She gave me a kiss on the forehead and put her empty glass in the dishwasher.

“You’re not mad, are you?” She asked.

“Just at myself.” I said sitting back in my chair.

“Okay, I’ve gotta go meet Calvin, are you going to be okay?” She asked, “Do you want me to cancel?”

“No, go have fun.” I smiled at her to show I would be fine.

She left me alone in the dark kitchen. I sighed and got up, I had to get ready to go to work.