"I thought "Wendy" and I would be best friends for life. We were roommates in college, shared a crappy apartment after graduation, and I was in her bridal party. When she got pregnant, I thought I was going to be an honorary aunt. I organized her baby shower, helped set up the nursery, and established a meal train after the baby was born."
"And then Wendy straight-up disappeared from my life-that is, until she needed something. My texts went unreturned, offers to meet up were ignored or canceled at last minute. When the baby was 13 months old, her husband got a transfer to another city and lo and behold, suddenly Wendy was back in my life. I got boxes, helped with the packing, and supervised the movers while Wendy took care of the baby."
"Only Wendy refused to confirm with me, so I decided to drop by and say hi-that's when things got extremely weird. We had coffee and Wendy claimed to be just very tired but hugged me good bye and said stay in touch."
The narrator and Wendy were close friends who shared college housing and wedding events and provided significant support during Wendy's pregnancy and after the baby was born. Wendy abruptly withdrew, ignoring calls and plans, and resurfaced only when she needed moving help; the narrator provided extensive assistance. Afterward Wendy again became distant and refused to confirm a planned meetup, prompting the narrator to drop by, which led to an accusation of boundary violations and stalking and resulted in Wendy blocking the narrator. Years later Wendy approached at a mutual wedding, followed on social media, and invited a meet-up; the narrator has not replied.
Read at Slate Magazine
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