‘A friend like you…’

~*~

“Want to get a drink with me?”

Taking a deep breath, I gave a small nod, “Sure,”

“Okay,” I began as we sat at the table with our drinks, What was that all about?”

“Which part?”

“I’ll probably start with the most interesting part that doesn't involve me, but I'm curious as hell.” I smiled.

“Ana-Maria?”

“No, Violet.”

There was a sudden look of anguish that washed across his face, but he hid it as he took a drink calmly and responded, “She meant everything to me, I'd never hurt her.”

“Meant…?”

“I need to start from the very beginning to help you understand Becky, starting with my parents,”

For a second I wondered if I did the right thing by asking him about this, but James somehow had this willingness to relate his story to me.

“I was born in Croatia,” he began, “My mother is Croatian and my father is Romanian. My father constantly left us to fulfill his work responsibilities elsewhere until one day I discovered my mother was becoming very ill and needed urgent treatment. We didn't