This is the article I never wanted to write. I?ve actually been thinking about it for weeks now, since I saw my ex-fianc?e at a wedding in Los Angeles. She looked good. Maybe not as good as she used to, but good enough to show me she had moved on and was doing well. She hadn?t been back in LA in years, hardly anyone really remembered her there. Apparently she?s working in New York now and earning way more than she could ever have here. It hurt a little, because she was with staying some of our old friends, people I used to consider good (no, best) friends and she was having a great time with them and their new boyfriends. Some of the dudes I recognized, some even reminded me of myself. I felt completely out of place all the same. It was good to see her, really. She moved gracefully; she always had a certain quiet strength in the way she carried herself, petite but powerful. She didn?t stay out as long as she used too, but she packed the excitement in to those short hours. Still, I remember a time when she used to finish what she started and would have thousands of men like me clamoring for her. She never once disappointed and would leave us practically begging for more. When the wedding was over and I thought that would be the end of it. Until she told me she was coming to town this week with her fianc?e and wanted to get together. ?We?ll only be there for a few days and we want to see you.? We? Who the hell is we? The worst part is, I know who we is. He?s an old friend of mine, which makes it hurt a little more. It couldn?t be that dude across town that I?ve always hated? At least then I could be justifiably angry. I know she?s running with some fancy crowd in New York now, but was it so long ago that I was her new fianc?e? Now I guess I?m just the guy who passed on her. Not that it matters, because I?ve moved on too. My new girl? Oh, she?s real hot. JB is a bonafide phenom, dude, you should see her. Younger, sexier, way better body. A Texas girl. She?s not such a drama queen as my ex, not yet anyway. She?s not quite as high-maintenance and she doesn?t cost me nearly as much. She just moved up here so she?s getting used to the weather, but she?s doing pretty well, I think. We?ve mostly been hangin? out with some of her friends from Florida and we?ve been having a great time. Oh sure, some bumps in the road, but that?s just like any new relationship, man. As far as I?m concerned things with JB and I couldn?t be better. That said, I definitely am not looking forward to Wednesday night. How could I have let this happen? What would have possessed me to think that getting together with my girlfriend, my ex and her fianc?e would be a good idea? Oh, I can guarantee people will be clawing at the walls for a seat next to our table, and that?s only going to make it that much more difficult. I just hope my girl doesn?t try to impress too hard, you know? It?s not a competition anymore, we?ve all moved on, obviously. Did she have to move on to the best looking guy in New York? It doesn?t even matter because I?m happier with JB than I even was before. I chose JB. I did, right? It was my choice, right? I mean, my ex did say she wanted to stay but it just wasn?t what I was into at the time. That?s not to say I don?t find her attractive. Whew, she is sexy. Sure, if JB leaves the table and my ex?s fianc?e leaves the table and I?m left there with my ex I?m going to look long and hard. She?ll still look damn good, I know. Probably because she?s been saying all the right things all week. She?ll have her hair just the way she knows I like it. She?ll wear that number with the long blue sleeves. She?ll probably knock ?em all dead. I?ll spend the rest of the week explaining to my new girlfriend JB that things have changed, that I?ve moved on and she?s the one for me now. Didn?t I even buy that stupid shirt with your number on it to prove to you I was over her? Was I trying to convince myself? It?ll probably take me twice as long to convince my friends I?m over it. I?ll have to hear about how they all liked my ex better and that we should have never broken up and so on. ?Dude, she was a primadonna, even you said it,? I?ll cry. ?Maybe, but she?s better than 90 % of what you?ve been through since her.? I?ll rationalize. ?Yeah, but JB is different, she?s already been through all the crap. She?s just better for me, you guys will see. In a few years you won?t even remember her anymore.? Didn?t I say the same thing two years ago? And so it goes. People break up and people get back together. People run into one another and they?ve got new husbands and fianc?es and girlfriends, it?s just the circle of life. And every once in a blue moon, Pedro Martinez returns to Fenway Park to pitch against Josh Beckett in an otherwise meaningless inter-league baseball game. It?s going to be difficult for sure. If Beckett just pitches his game he?s going to be fine. Sharp breaking balls, changing speeds, keeping the ball down, all those things. But if he gets swallowed up by the moment, by the daunting prospect of actually pitching against Pedro Martinez at Fenway Park (on what may feel like the visitor?s mound) he?ll get shelled.