Sarah and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember. Tall, lean and tanned it is not difficult to see why Sarah has never been short of male attention. She was constantly bombarded with offers of dates which she regularly accepted only to get bored of her prospective partner a few days later.
A self confessed "man-eater" I doubted Sarah's chances of ever taking a guy seriously and her flippant nature never bothered me - until she met Tom.
I knew Tom through work and we became the best of mates. Our connection has never been romantic; it is more of a brother/sister relationship. Shortly after I met Tom his girlfriend broke up with him, leaving him devastated.
To take his mind of things, I invited Tom out where I introduced him to Sarah. They got on well and I was hardly surprised when Tom asked me for Sarah's number. I hesitated, gently warning him that I didn't think that Sarah was looking for anything serious. I just didn't want to see Tom get his hopes up.
Sarah and Tom went out a few times and soon they became a fully fledged couple. It was evident that after a week of being together Tom was besotted. Tom was dangerous ground considering he was still hurting from the disappointment of his last relationship. I felt that I needed to protect him from the inevitable heartbreak that commitment-phobe Sarah was going to induce.
I met Sarah for a coffee and Tom, naturally, came up. "He is a really nice guy, but I'm just not sure he is for me," she sighed twirling her hair. I had heard this line a million times before and it rang out like warning bells. This was the point where Sarah was bored and would give the perfectly suitable guy the flick. I have to admit I was relived.
Three months later they were still together! I was convinced that every day Sarah continued their relationship it meant more heartache for Tom.
Everything came to a head when I got a call from Sarah: "How dare you warn Tom about me!" she spat down the line, referring to what I said when Tom requested her number. "I didn't mean it like that! I was trying to protect you both!" I protested. "It's nice to know what you really think of me!" she snarled and slammed down the phone.
I was furious! I figured that their break-up was inevitable, so I was decided to give it a little shove in the right direction.
Sarah went away to Queensland for a few weeks for work. I assumed that Tom would be collecting her mail everyday she was away. I bought a cheesy postcard with a picture of a sunset on it and flipped it over. I scrawled "A little reminder of the fun we have started... Kisses, Joe" on the back. Then, I posted it to Sarah's home. I knew the moment Tom saw the postcard he would run a mile!
I waited a week and heard nothing from either of them. The suspense was killing me so I picked up the phone and rang Sarah.
I was amazed when she apologized to me for our fight! I was equally surprised that no mention was made of my postcard. We continued to chat about her Queensland visit when she erupted in to a fit of laughter.
"You wouldn't believe what happened!" she gasped. She told me how the year before she had met a guy through work who promised to send her some information. "It took him a whole year to contact me and then he did it with the tackiest postcard!" she giggled "Sleaze!". Apparently Tom saw they funny side of "Joe's" desperation and even stuck it on the fridge!
Just recently, after spending four years together, Tom and Sarah got married. As they raised a toast at the reception thanking me for bringing them together, tears sprung to my eyes realizing how close I was to ruining something that was so clearly meant to be.
Names have been changed. Picture posed by models.
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