*Ten Wasted Years*
“Bloody hell, Valerie!” shouted Emily, slamming her mug of cold coffee onto the table. “Ten years! Ten bloody years we’ve been best mates, and you—”
“And I what?” Valerie cut in, jumping up from the sofa. “Am I supposed to run every little decision by you? You said it yourself—you were done with Edward!”
“I said it! But not so you could jump straight into his arms!” Emily’s grip tightened around her mug, hot liquid sloshing over the rim. “Christ, how am I supposed to look at either of you now?”
Valerie sank back onto the cushions, fists clenched in her dark hair. She’d known this reckoning was coming, but the storm of it still took her breath away.
“Em, listen to me,” she said quietly. “We’re grown women. You divorced him a year ago. A whole year! And this whole time, you’ve gone on about how free you are, how you’d never go back—”
“I *said* it, yes! So bloody what?” Emily paced the kitchen, yanking cupboard doors open and shut. “That doesn’t mean I want to see him with my *best friend*!”
“Ex-best friend, by the looks of it,” Valerie muttered bitterly.
They’d met at uni, freshers on the business course. Emily had been all fire and laughter, a whirlwind of auburn curls, while Valerie was the quiet bookworm with oversized glasses. On paper, they had nothing in common. Yet somehow, they’d clicked instantly.
“Val, d’you even know how to put on mascara?” Emily had asked after their first lecture, eyeing her new acquaintance critically.
“No. Why would I?”
“Because I’m teaching you. And you’re helping me pass maths, yeah? Numbers might as well be hieroglyphics to me.”
And just like that, friendship bloomed. Emily coaxed Valerie out of her shell, transforming her into a woman who turned heads, while Valerie dragged Emily through exams she’d have failed otherwise. They were inseparable—studying, dating, dreaming side by side.
“You know what, Val?” Emily sighed one night, sprawled across their tiny dorm beds. “I’m gonna marry a *proper* man. Someone strong, handsome—the kind who makes my knees go weak just looking at him.”
“I just want to be loved,” Valerie murmured. “Someone who gets me without words. Who can sit in silence and still feel like home.”
Edward came into their lives in their third year. Tall, athletic, effortlessly charming, he’d transferred from another uni and immediately caught every woman’s eye.
“That’s it, girls,” Emily sighed dramatically the first time she saw him. “I’m a goner. *That’s* my prince.”
Valerie had only smiled. He *was* handsome, sure, but something about him felt… too polished. Like he always knew the right thing to say.
“Em, hey!” Edward called after a lecture. “Any chance you could point me to a decent café round here?”
“Of course!” Emily beamed. “Val, you coming?”
“I’ve got to see a tutor,” Valerie lied. “You two go ahead.”
Emily fell hard and fast. And Edward? He seemed just as smitten with her whirlwind energy. Within months, they were a couple, and Valerie—despite their efforts to include her—became the awkward third wheel.
“Val, don’t sulk!” Emily would wheedle. “You’re like my sister! Ed *adores* you!”
“I’m fine,” Valerie would say, brushing her off. “Just swamped with coursework.”
But she wasn’t fine. Because Edward *was* different. He was the only one who *listened* when she spoke, who debated books and films late into the night. With him, she could talk about things Emily had never cared to understand.
“Valerie,” he asked once over coffee, “have you ever considered academia? You’ve got a brilliant mind.”
“Oh, shut up!” Emily laughed. “Val’s far too sensible for that. She’s going corporate, raking in the big bucks!”
“I don’t know,” Valerie murmured. “Maybe.”
Edward held her gaze a second too long. She felt her cheeks burn. There was something in his eyes—understanding? Interest? Her pulse hammered wildly.
“Em, could you—?” Edward began.
“Shit!” Emily gasped. “My dentist appointment! Val, walk Ed back to the halls, yeah?”
And she was gone before either could reply.
They strolled through the autumn-quiet campus, leaves crunching underfoot.
“Val,” Edward said suddenly, stopping. “You know you’re beautiful, right?”
“*What?*” She nearly tripped.
“Just saying. Em’s dazzling, sure, but you… you’re something else. Your eyes, the way you *think*—”
Valerie turned away. Her heart pounded loud enough to echo.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “You’re with Emily.”
“I am,” he agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t see you.”
“She’s my best friend.”
“I know. That’s why nothing’s happened. But if—”
“If doesn’t count,” she snapped. “Let’s just go.”
They walked the rest in silence. At the dorm, Edward opened his mouth, but Valerie was already through the door.
That night, Emily bounced in, cheek swollen from the dentist but glowing.
“Val!” she shrieked. “Turns out my tooth wasn’t even bad! The dentist said it’s *stress*! And guess why I’m stressed? Because I’m *mad* for Ed! He’s just… ugh, *perfect*! Today he looked at me like—”
“Like what?” Valerie tensed.
“Like he *sees* me, you know? I *know* he’s going to propose!” Emily spun, hugging a pillow. “Imagine—*married*! And you’ll be my maid of honour!”
Valerie forced a smile as her stomach twisted. Those looks hadn’t been for Emily. But how could she tell her best friend that?
Two years later, they *did* marry. White dress, champagne toasts, grinning parents. Valerie stood at Emily’s side, smiling for photos, avoiding the groom’s eyes.
“Val, I *love* you!” Emily sobbed in the loos, fixing her mascara. “You’re the best friend *ever*! I couldn’t have done this without you!”
“Just be happy,” Valerie said, patting her back.
But all she could think was how much it would hurt, watching them build a life together. How her chest would ache every time Edward kissed Emily, held her, whispered words Valerie longed to hear.
Time numbed the pain. Valerie buried herself in work, climbed the corporate ladder, moved across London. Dated men who never quite measured up to the ghost in her heart.
Emily and Edward seemed happy. They hosted dinners, celebrated holidays, kept up the charade. Edward was always cordial with Valerie, even warm—but there was a wall between them now.
“Val, when are *you* settling down?” Emily would ask. “You’re nearly thirty!”
“Haven’t met the right one.”
“Oh, *please*.” Emily rolled her eyes. “You’re too picky! Ed says there’s a nice divorcé at his firm—”
“Stop,” Valerie cut in. “I’m fine.”
The cracks started five years in. Emily complained Edward had grown distant, silent.
“He comes home and *ignores* me!” she fumed. “I talk about my day, and it’s just *uh-huh*, *uh-huh*! Like talking to a *wall*!”
“Maybe he’s tired,” Valerie offered carefully.
“Tired?! Then why won’t he *talk* on weekends? He’d rather *read* than spend time with me!”
Valerie stayed quiet. Edward had always loved books, deep conversations—things Emily found dull. She thrived on gossip, shopping sprees, crowded pubs.
“Val, could you *talk* to him?” Emily begged. “You’re clever—maybe he’ll listen to you?”
“Why would I get involved?”
“Because you’re my *best friend*! I don’t know what to do!”
The conversation happened at their old student café. Edward arrived looking weathered, streaks of grey at his temples.
“Val,” he said the moment they sat. “I know why you’re here.”
“You do?”
“Em asked you to talk to me. She thinks I’ve changed, that I don’t care anymore.”
“*Haven’t* you?”
He stared into his coffee.
“Know the worst part of marriage?” he said finally. “Realising you love the wrong person. That you married an *idea*, not the woman in front of you.”
“Edward—”
“Let me finish. Ten years, Val. *Ten years* I’ve spent with someone I *thought* I loved. But the truth? I fell for *you*. Back atAnd as Valerie stepped into the embrace of the man she’d loved in silence for a decade, she wondered if happiness had always been this simple—just a choice, long overdue, to stop waiting.
