In any case, Gayle and I clicked instantly and I invited her over to have dinner with the fam. We enjoyed homemade lasagna and a big, leafy salad that night. Mom even brought out the fine China. Both of the parental units were ecstatic that I’d found a new friend in the city and I was equally thrilled. Gayle seemed trustworthy, whip smart and loyal. She was the friend who could do no wrong. Plus, I liked her voice and had hopes of emulating it on air some day…

Naturally, we started hanging out several nights a week. We had bar nights in the West Loop, dinners in Wicker Park, dance classes in Bucktown, and even made a few trips out to Bolingbrook and Oak Park. Destination after destination, her knowledge of all the teeny, tiny side streets and random highway exits amazed me. Even better, she never once yelled at me when I accidentally took the wrong turn time after time after (oops) time and time again. As far as I was concerned, my friendship with Gayle was ponies and sunshine...warm Toll House cookies and a tall glass of cold milk...Things couldn’t have been better, until that one fateful day.

I’ll never forget it. It was a brisk Thursday evening and I had invited my long lost friend, Matty Mapquest, to join Gayle and I for dinner. He sat in the back seat while Gayle took her usual spot up front. Things were a bit tense between the two, but I chalked it up as nothing more than minor jealousy between two new friends. Later that night, Matty and I dropped Gayle off at her apartment. As we drove away, he asked me to pull off to the side of the road and put the car in “park” mode. I knew trouble was brewing. Stern-faced and somber, Matty told me something that would shatter my heart and forever change my life: Gayle had be leading me on (and wasting gallons of gas!) for weeks on end. She had been taking me on superfluous 45 minute joyrides that should have only taken 20 minutes long! And she had been steering me towards unnecessary ramps and exits even though more direct routes existed! Good god did the truth hurt. The lies! The heartbreak! The unnecessary miles on my beloved Honda Accord! After that night, I would never look at Gayle the same way again.

Really, really long story short, despite the deception, Gayle and I are still friends (after all, she did cost an arm and a leg) but we’re not chummy chummy anymore. And she’s certainly not getting the other half of my Best Friends Forever heart necklace! Hmph. That said, I still call on her for help from time to time (okay, okay, almost every day) but, now I’m smart enough to bring Matty along, too. You know, just in case.

**P.S. Do you and your GPS ever get into fights? Let me know your story.. :)