••••
"Stephanie, I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you. You've always been so beautiful that even as kids, I was jealous of you. I know I stole some of your boyfriends, and I never even knew why, with some of them. I didn't even like most of them," Mary said.
Stephanie's grip on my hand grows tighter as Mary speaks, and I can feel the anger nearly radiating off of her in the cold night.
"I think I know why, now," Mary continues to say.
"I've always been jealous that those other men could have you, when what I really want is . . . What I truly desire. . . I took your boyfriends, so that I could in some way be close to you," she finishes in a rush, and Stephanie's hand releases mine in shock.
The impact of what she'd just said isn't lost on me either, as I stand there stunned.
"Why are you telling me this now?" my date asks.
