August 28, 2017:
She was cute, but the truth is, he never cared about her that much.
She wanted him, he said yes, they had a thing, for a year or a year and a half.
He was always loyal, and there were times when it felt as though his feelings were real. He looked after her when she was ill, bought her gifts and took her away for weekends when their work schedules allowed. They used the word "love" and he thought he meant it. The more realistic reality is it's something he likes to say.
Her mother warned him. She was fiscally selfish — a circumlocution for "one of the bigger mooches you'll ever encounter."
Her theory was that friends treat each other in rotation and it all comes out in the wash. Except that, like Godot, her turn in the rotation seemed to never arrive.
Eventually it got far enough up his nose that he broke it off. She was hurt, and she explained it to herself as her boyfriend dumping her for his ex. Whatevs.
He did like her. She was affectionate and frequently kind. He was hurt when after their fling they turned out not to be friends. Plus the timing was bad. He could have used a friend just then.
He thinks of her with affection and resentment. As it should be when one thinks of one's failures.