Twists and Turns
Written on 1/18/2026 about the events of January 1 - 7, 2023
I returned home from the Christmas holiday ready to try to take more serious action on the Holly issue, but not sure of my footing. During the first week back at work, I took Nour on a walk and recruited him as a firm ally in my pursuit; he and Eliza were committed to helping me out. Nour and Eliza invited Holly to our friend group’s Bachelor watch party night (which I had also only recently been invited to).
Earlier in the week, I was bummed because I’d learned that Holly had set up plans to hang out with Eliza and Nour, without inviting me; this made me feel pretty bad. But on Friday, the day of the plans, I got a last-minute invite to come join them. This I did; I was excited, thinking that maybe something would happen; maybe Eliza and Nour had done some backchalleling for me and there’d been some sort of breakthrough!? But when I got there, things were normal; just a standard chill dinner with friends. So I went home at the end of the night, confused.
The next morning, Eliza and Nour invited me to Crepes; it felt like they had some news to share. As soon as I sat down, they dropped the news: She had a new boyfriend! She’d started dating someone over the christmas holiday, who lived in Hagerstown and she’d known before. What a twist for me this was!
I recovered from this shock fairly quickly, because I very quickly formed a plan. I quickly concluded that in actuality it worked out in my favor, or at least not too much to my detriment. I didn’t (and still don’t) have much faith in long-distance romance; I think it only ever has a chance of working if the couple a) has a strong foundation before becoming long-distance and b) has a concrete plan to live in the same town again at some point. This new couple lacked both criteria — so I guessed that they’d be doomed within six months. Meanwhile, it’d be much easier for me to get closer to Holly if I plausible deniability for my motives. We’re just friends! We’re just hanging out! She has a boyfriend, and I’m a gentleman; there’s no way I could be hitting on her! :) This situation really lowered the stress level for me.