Well, it’s been some time since I posted my story about Eleanor. Since that time, I’ve made the strong decision to step far back from her. Unfortunately, Rita has not. It is causing a bit of discomfort. Rita and I, before we became involved with Eleanor, were two peas in a pod at work. Lunch, etc if you know what I mean. Well, since Eleanor came into our lives, it turned into the three amigos. But now, it seems to be, at least to Eleanor, a competition for “who gets Rita”. Childish? Yes. But she is sick, so therefore, not a mature, rational person.

So, as it stands, Rita knows I love her dearly and she is my heart. But I give her to Eleanor. I will not play this preteen lunchroom game. I will not. Eleanor is an “aholic”. She is an alcoholic, a drugaholic, a foodaholic and a friendaholic. She has no stop sign in her head and cannot put the brakes on anything. She so smothers Rita, who is finding her a bit of an annoyance at times, that anytime you see Rita, Eleanor is not far away. I will not make Rita choose. It is a stupid and childish way to behave. I will not expect Eleanor to step away. Again a childish and stupid thing to do.

So in order to self preserve, it seems I have to, in a sense, be punished for my choice. I must lose the day to day companionship of my dearest friend in order to keep my day “Eleanor free”. Sad. But what can I do. Eleanor seems to have taken this to be a competition and I will not compete. I am who I am. I will always be a dear friend of Rita’s. And she knows this. But until she stops feeling so sorry for this woman, realizes she cannot help her and steps away, this situation will continue. Eleanor telephones Rita, sometimes 4 or 5 times an evening, AFTER spending all day at work with her. She calls her almost as soon as she gets in the door. Rita has stopped answering her calls, but she continues to ring the phone for hours trying to get her.

For instance, this evening, Rita and I attended a wake for the father of a coworker we’ve known for many years, and Eleanor called her on her cell phone three times and left two voice messages. It is typical. Rita says she has stepped back, and she has, somewhat. But not to the extent that I have. I have made a total break. She cannot. I guess in that respect, she and I are very, very different. But Eleanor has become a tattoo on Rita’s body at work. It’s amazing the woman gets any work done. She is always around Rita. But I am not in her work unit, nor am I her supervisor. As I’ve said, the supervisors don’t wish to acknowledge the problem, because they would have to do something about it officially. God Forbid!!

And so, here I am. But today, Eleanor did not have lunch with Rita. She had to “run some errands”. She reeks of mouthwash today. She is binging. So Rita and I have our lunch hour back. At least for the time being.