Written for Sue & Gerry’s Weekly Prompts
Weekend Challenge, using the term ‘Pros &
Cons’. Here’s were the prompt took me.
Joss and Kylie met in college, became roommates and, ultimately, best friends. After graduation, they rented a great apartment together and opened their very popular bakery in SOHO. When Kylie had to go out of town for the weekend, Joss was floored when Kylie’s boyfriend, Greg, asked her out for drinks.
As Joss pondered her options, she made a list of Pros & Cons. On the Pro side, Greg was charming, handsome, and always made her laugh. On the Con side, it could ruin her friendship with Kylie, and she might end up feeling guilty and regretful.
After weighing the odds, Joss decided to go for it. She wore her favorite outfit and met Greg for drinks on Saturday evening at the designated spot. They talked, laughed, and got to know each other better …. so much better that Greg went back to Joss’ apartment and spent the night with her.
When they woke up the following morning, they both regretted their impulsive actions. Most of all they couldn’t believe how they betrayed Kylie. “She can never find out about this! She’ll never forgive us!” Joss cried pitifully to Greg.
“You’re damn right I won’t!”: it was Kylie who had returned early and caught Joss and Greg in flagrante. “I trusted you and you deceived me! Get dressed and get out, both of you! I don’t want to see your cheating faces again!”
There were no winners in this ill-fated game of Pros & Cons and in the end, three lives were changed forever. There was no way Kylie would ever forgive Joss and Greg for this betrayal, even when they crawled back pleading for her to give them one more chance. In time Kylie would move on with her life and she would heal but this was a blow she would never forget.
NAR©2025
This is “Not A Second Time” by the Pretenders
All text and graphics are copyright for Nancy Richy and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.
The Elephant's Trunk 
no winners, pretenders are so cool..
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Agreed!
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Most people would not forgive this betrayal.
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It’s a doozy! Would you?
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A horrible situation, heartbreaking and unforgivable! This is a great story, though. ☺️ I love Chrissie Hynde’s voice and she is wonderful in this song. I haven’t listened to any Pretenders in so long!
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You’re so right, Lisa. This is unforgivable behavior and the perfect recipe for losing a friend forever. I love this Pretenders’ cover of a great Beatles song. Thanks very much, Lisa.
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Great story, it tells an important lesson, to not do anything that could jeopardize a friendship.
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Exactly. It’s just not worth the heartache and disillusionment.
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Really good story, Nancy. Shows that you should never betray a friend.
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Thanks very much, Esther. Not worth destroying a friendship; the truth always comes out.
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Great story! Either way, gender could be anything, with either one of the mc. I like the comment, we just take people as they are, and realize that things can change on a dime or a drink.
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Thanks so much, Liz. Great comment; I especially like “things can change on a dime or a drink”. Excellent point!
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Love it! Over here, Joss, alongside Josh, is used as a shortened version of Joshua. I use it a lot for my son Joshua. You made it clear in the first paragraph that Joss was a girl by referring to her as ‘her’. Thank you, Nancy, for taking part in Pros & Cons.
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Thanks very much for pointing that out, Sue. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and as long as it’s expressed in a civil manner, I won’t make a big deal out of it. I’m glad to know you enjoyed my story. It’s always a pleasure for me to contribute to your challenges.
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I guess Joss and Kylie were much more than roommates and this is a weird triangle because both of these names can be used for males or females. Trust is broken when rules are ignored and boundaries are crossed and an act of sexual misconduct, or as you put it in flagrante certainly does both of these things. Nice story, Nancy although it took me a while to figure out that Joss and Kylie were both girls.
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Thanks for your take on my story, Jim. I never thought about the names being confusing. I’ll keep that in mind next time.
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Years ago, two girls being a relationship would have been very confusing, but now that is totally acceptable, so I have to stop thinking about gender and look at everyone as just a person and it will take me a while for that to happen.
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Not that recent, Jim, as some of our greatest poets were lesbians, such as Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Gertrude Stein, and Amy Lowell. Their sapphic writings are well-known.
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Lesbians are more accepted globally than gay men and I have never had a problem with sexual and romantic desire between women, but when women kiss each other in public, this can be seen as a close friendship, as men don’t do that unless they are gay.
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That’s very true unless they are family members or not Americans. However, even in those circumstances, men usually don’t kiss each other on the lips as women often do.
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As Sue just pointed out, in the first paragraph I used the pronoun “her”. I didn’t even give the names a second thought.
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Amazing to weigh the pros and cons and come up with the stupidest answer.
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Thanks for pointing that out! It just shows how selfish and unfaithful Joss was. In her mind, her answer justified her wants
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The worst kind of betrayal. There’s no going back.
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You said it, Eugi. Just the worst!
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A friends’ betrayal is the worst kind, Nancy …
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Thank you, dear friend, for this powerful video. Gorgeous guitar and wonderful singing. I love it! 🥰🎶
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The song was a new one for me and it was certainly a very apt one for your sad story 🎶💕💙
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Right you are, dear Ivor. I loved it! ♡🎶♡
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From something like this there is no going back – great track by the way 🙌
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They’ve reached the point of no return. Thanks, Ange. The Pretenders did a great cover of the Beatles tune.
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❤️
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A risk gone wrong, indeed! Love it, and love the song pairing.
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A risk not worth taking in the first place. This is a cover by the Pretenders of a great Beatles song. Thanks, Sweets.
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