BROCK: You mean your ex-fiancée.
HEATH: I actually remember that night, when Ivy met you at the bar. That’s the kind of thing Wes and Ivy did all the time. Always trying to provoke each other.
MILO: Believe me, I know that better than anyone. But we’re not here to talk about me, at least not today. Now, you’ve known Ivy since you were kids. Is that right?
HEATH: Yes, we were neighbors and grew up together.
MILO: Since you knew her so well, do you have any idea where they are?
HEATH: No, not at all. The police asked me the same question, but I really don’t know. She and I are both from Humboldt County and Wes is from Michigan, but I can’t imagine they went to either of those places. They would’ve been found by now.
BROCK: And you haven’t heard from her at all?
HEATH: Not a word.
MILO: She came to you that night, didn’t she? When she ran her car into the detective?
HEATH: She did, and she was a mess. Seriously out of her mind. I told her she had to go to the police, even loaned her my car. I had no idea she was going to disappear. But I probably should’ve guessed, because she didn’t want me to go with her to the police station. I trusted she would do the right thing.
MILO: At least she left your car behind, right?
HEATH: Yes, I got my car back.
MILO: Let’s go back to your relationship with her. What was it like growing up with Ivy?
HEATH: She was definitely the closest friend I had, but everything changed when she met Wes.
DIEGO: When was that?
HEATH: In college, when she was at UC Davis. I met him when she brought Wes home for Thanksgiving. They were seniors, if I remember correctly. He came with Ivy for the holiday because he was too broke to fly home to Michigan.
Anyway, they were pretty nauseating at that point. All smiles all the time. Wes was polite to her parents, even offered to help wash the dishes or take out the trash. He seemed nice, but appearances can be deceiving, can’t they?
MILO: They sure can. Ivy definitely had me fooled.
HEATH: That’s the thing. The truth is, I didn’t even know Wes. I knew Ivy, and I knew she didn’t act the same when she was around Wes. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I joined her family for dinner. What I saw stunned me.
DIEGO: You have to elaborate on that.
HEATH: It was the way Ivy tried to take care of Wes. Making sure his glass was filled or asking if he needed another roll or whatever . . . It disturbed me. I was sitting there thinking, “Really?” She would sooner punch me in the arm than refill any glass I ever had. Wes showed up, and all of a sudden, she became June Cleaver.
MILO: That doesn’t sound good.
BROCK: I can’t lie. A girl who acts like June Cleaver isn’t entirely bad.
HEATH: It wasn’t good for Ivy. I didn’t know what he was doing to her, but she wasn’t the person I had grown up with. She wasn’t my Ivy.
BROCK: Sounds like you were kind of into her.
HEATH: Not at all. She was like a sister to me.
DIEGO: Sure she was.
MILO: So did you do anything? Did you talk to her about it?
HEATH: Not during Thanksgiving, I didn’t talk to her. But, yeah, I did accidentally spill a glass of red wine in Wes’s lap. And I took his phone for an hour or so, making him search all over until I dropped it behind a cushion on the couch. But I didn’t interfere in their relationship or anything. Because at that point, Ivy was still in college. I figured, how long could it possibly last? Another month? Nope. Ten years.
BROCK: Long time, bro.
MILO: So is it safe to say you were never a Wes fan?
HEATH: We were never friends. Probably because I kept trying to get her away from him.
MILO: Tell us about that. What kinds of things did you do?
HEATH: I tried to get her into therapy. I thought maybe she needed to hear it from someone else. A professional. Someone who could tell her she deserved better and this thing she had with Wes was not love. It was everything love shouldn’t be. I believed that. I really did.
BROCK: That’s it? Therapy?
DIEGO: I feel like we aren’t getting the whole story here.
HEATH: Um . . . I definitely did some things I shouldn’t have. Like, not too long ago I was supposed to be out of town, but I came back and sent some things to . . . Well, the details don’t really matter, but I did some things that were a little crazy. She wanted to get back together with him, and I just . . . I couldn’t believe it. After everything, she still wanted him.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I interfered in their relationship far more than I had a right to. But it was coming from a good place, because I cared about Ivy. I didn’t want to see her in a relationship like that.
DIEGO: But it didn’t work.
HEATH: Not at all.
MILO: I’m not sure I’m buying that brother-sister thing. Sounds like you were a little bit in love with her.
HEATH: I don’t know. Maybe I had a crush on her.
DIEGO: Just a crush?
HEATH: I genuinely believed she was in a bad situation. And I wanted to get her out of it. To me, everything about their relationship was wrong. It was obsession, lust, addiction . . . whatever you want to call it. But not love. Wes and Ivy were like a human tornado that destroyed everything in its path.
BROCK: That’s actually pretty deep.
HEATH: The thing is, I was the one who was wrong. I actually understand them a lot better now.
MILO: Why is that?
HEATH: I met someone.
DIEGO: Uh-oh.
HEATH: Yeah. And it made me realize a few things.
MILO: Such as?
HEATH: Whatever I might’ve felt for Ivy, I know it wasn’t love. Not real love, because I had no idea what that was. Now I do.
MILO: Wow, that’s huge. Tell us about her.
HEATH: Her name is Bianca, and she’s like . . . Okay, wait. First, I never would’ve met Bianca if it wasn’t for Ivy and Wes. She saw the same interview you did, the one on the local news, and she contacted me on social media to ask a question.
BROCK: What do girls call that? Serendipity or something?
DIEGO: Luck. It’s called luck.
MILO: So what happened? You started seeing her and fell in love?
HEATH: Basically, yeah. Bianca knew Wes, I knew Ivy, and it turned out we had a lot to talk about. Given everything that happened, neither of us were in a good place and we had a natural bond or something. I know this sounds weird, but my life has been a lot better without Ivy in it.
MILO: Funny how that happens.
HEATH: I know, right? It’s impossible to describe how it feels, like words just aren’t enough. Ivy used to say that all the time about Wes.
DIEGO: You’re comparing your relationship to Wes and Ivy’s?
HEATH: To be clear, Bianca and I aren’t anything like Wes and Ivy. Neither one of us is that dramatic. Our relationship is based on respect and trust, which Wes and Ivy never really had. At the same time, I’ve realized it wasn’t my place to judge. Everybody has to choose what’s right for them.
MILO: So you’ve changed your opinion about Wes and Ivy?
HEATH: They were, and probably still are, one hundred percent in love. I have no doubt that they’re somewhere out there, breaking up and getting back together ten times a day. And I bet if you could talk to them, they’d say they’re happy.
MILO: But is that healthy? Or is it toxic?
HEATH: I don’t know. I don’t even know what toxic means at this point, that word is so overused. But who does know? And who can judge something like that, because who’s really in a “functional” relationship? Honestly, do you know anyone who is?