funny, that's what i call him too

Bryan was a friend I never saw coming. He was too pretty, too nice, too enthusiastic. He was the one male in a group of six females. He made me nervous because he was always saying happy, good things about people. He seemed to be the opposite of Ted. I once even told him so, told him that his seemingly lack of bluntness made him difficult to read. He apologized!

Bryan can't stand to have people mad at him, but because of that he is often a little wishy-washy about telling the truth. I've only gotten it from him after I pushed until he was mad. We both learned. He had to be honest with me, no matter what, and I would be straightforward with him. What he hated most about me was that I didn't like accepting help. It frustrated him that he never knew what I needed because I hated asking. The best compliment I ever paid him was that he made asking for help acceptable and getting it a pleasure. He fairly beamed.

Of course, Bryan beamed all the time. He reminded me of a puppy; sometimes I could see his tail wagging out of sheer pleasure. For those familiar with literature, Bryan is a Bingley. He is gentleman to the max. He always walked us home when we'd been hanging out at his apartment. There wasn't a Sunday when one of the girls in the ward wasn't wearing his suit coat instead of him. As he was the only one with a car he always drove us around, and always opened the doors. He liked to pay compliments. But what I liked best about him was how much he liked his friends.

Bryan and I agreed on how friends were to be valued. So one day when he told me I was one of his best friends I was touched. He looked out for us all, got involved in our lives, met all our boyfriends, held me when I cried about my dad, and he taught me to ski. I went down the mountain so slowly and wiped-out at every turn and he kept telling me how amazing I was.

But Bryan sucked when it came to his personal life. Of course it couldn't help that he had women falling in love with him left and right. All the same he preferred inaction. We became the sand to each other's ostriches. We could hang out and never feel the possible rejections that the dating world offered. It was not a very smart thing to do, but it was convenient.

Bryan now lives in Manhattan and I hear from him rarely. April hears from him more; they were always closer. When I have talked to him recently it has been to lecture. Okay, Audrey, let me have it. I am always honest with him, and honestly sometimes I am annoyed to the extreme by what he does. He thinks he's such a charmer, and really he is, so I find perhaps too much joy in seeing past his smooth act and calling his crap. He likes to do the same with me. He's far from perfect but he's my friend and nothing he's done yet has changed that.