When I was in college I wanted to date this beautiful tall leggy girl named Leila. I watched her from afar even though I was going out with a girl from back home at the time. Honest and true to my heart I stayed faithful to my hometown girlfriend and then she dumped me when it was her turn to head off to college the following year. Heartbroken, but determined to make up for lost time, my best college pal and I (he also had been dumped by the love of his life form back home) headed into a dating frenzy with every young lady we could meet.

Although my best pal had problems with his grades that led to him being bounced from school for academic reasons when he returned, my senior year, we picked up where we left off. I was at the girls dorm cafeteria one evening with a fraternity brother of mine when behold, who should sit down and talk to us but beautiful Leila from my freshman year. We had a nice conversation and I was surprised that she took any notice of me at all. My best pal sat down to speak with us and seemed to know her from a chance encounter earlier that day. When she left, I said, "boy I'd Like to fuck her". My pal anounced that he had a date with her that night. They seemed to hit it off, and except for my occassionally dragging my pal from his bedroom antics to go drinking, from that day forward they were together.

Well, my pal flunked out of school again later that year and I was busy drowning my sorrows in three different women at once. My pal's dad insisted he would no longer finance his poor academic endeavors and forced him to enlist in the Air Force. We said our goodbye's and I gave him carte' blanche to call me at my apartment number collect so that we could keep in touch.

Before he left, I told him I did not know what I would do without him. He said, "Go out with Leila, she's really a great gal." Surprised and unaccostomed to snaking around any of my friends women, I brushed it aside.  About a week later I was sitting in my apartment talking to one of my room mates, John. John and I shared the special bond that my other pal and I had shared. John had also been a loyal lover who got dumped when it conveniently served his girlfriend's purposes. I had just had a torrid weekend in the sack with my other room mates older sister, who was a beautiful young graduate student with no confidence, and was talking with John about a young fashion industry women I had met at a fraternity brother's wedding that summer. I had been fucking and sucking the shit out of this young girl and was beginning to allow myself to fall in love again. John asked me what I really wanted. I said spontaneously, " really wanted to fuck Leila." As the last letter of her name escaped my mouth the front doorbell rang.

John answered it and begain to laugh. All I could hear him say was, come in....and to my shock...it was her! There she sat looking lost and alone. The most beautiful girl in our class, with her statuesque figure all hunched over and depressed beneath rainsoaked hair and jacket. I remember thinking she looked like Jenny from the movie "Love Story" I told her I had spoken with Chris and offered to let her use my telephone to call. Or to write to him and arrange a time when he could phone. Needless to say, over time, we grew more co-dependant. Much to my surprise, when I spoke to my great pal who was not at Air Force basic training camp, he encouraged me to go out with his old girlfriend, and even attend a formal party at her parents country club, that he was supposed to go to but for obvious reasons never went. I was falling in love, and I had his blessing.

I dumped the other three girls and devoted myself to Leila. I met her after classes and took her out to dinner. I attended her parents party and they fell in love with my charm, wit and the ease with which I fit into the country club environment. She would occassionally mention my best friend at first and then it stopped. Her sorority sisters would sometimes drop his name when we met at parties and around campus as if to shake her back to reality. On the night of the biggest party to be thrown by her sorority, she not only cooked me dinner and asked me to take her out, later, that evening she asked me to take her into my arms and make love. Now convinced that I had found my ultimate soulmate. A brilliant young women filled with love, life, beauty, ambition. The type of young woman who elevates any man she is with, who makes you want to do and be better in almost every way.

We parted for spring break, and when I returned, with one semester left I vowed to ask her to marry me. I couldn't wait to see her. She stopped by my apartment that bright spring afternoon and I remember standing in my living room, just as I had so many months before on a rainy night, when John walked in and broke the awkward silence between us by saying to Leila, "I Hear congratulations are in order".

"What?" I said.

Leila held out her hand and showed me the small diamond engagement ring that looked exactly like what it was. A small stone paid for on time with the help of the bonus money paid a new enlistee in the Air Forece.

Despite all his encouragement to go for it, and all of her hanging onto me for support, love, attention and desire my best pal was about to marry the love of my life. And she stood there looking for congratulations. I was, and am to this day devastated. Although he asked me to be his best man, I bowed out with some lame excuse and have never seen either one of them again. I worried so much about hurting my pal, that I didn't pull out all of the stops chasing the love of my life. And when I finally did realize that I loved and needed her she came to me with open arms, only to betray me.

I don't know who was the bigger liar of the three of us. My pal for telling me to go for it when he intended to marry her. Leila for giving me every come hither indication she could. Or me for being stupid enough to believe in it all.