When Book & Trailer
Showcase contacted me about doing a fictional column for their new eMag I was
honored and of course agreed.
Below is my first column* from their
Inaugural April 2012 Issue.
Sex and The Single Woman –
When
You Find Your Glass Half Full
I started my Monday bright eyed
and bushy tailed, positive that this week would be so much better than the way
the last one ended. After the debacle at Jen’s anniversary party on Saturday, I
had spent a majority of my Sunday playing phone tag referee between her and Kim.
While they may have grown up together in the same house, raised by the same
well rounded parents, there were never two women who were more different. Kim
was a free spirit, with a devil may care attitude. While Jen on the other hand
was a straight-lace and some may even say prude woman. Having always been the
master of good manners and proper etiquette it was really no surprise that she
was furious with her sister for giving her the gift of sex toys for her and her
husband to open in front of their guests at the party. Kim thrived on being the
center of attention, especially at her sister’s expense. Sunday I was finally able to smooth over the
ruffled feathers caused by the embarrassment. I was, after all, a master at it
having done it for so many years. Courtney, the fourth member of our group
refused to get in the middle of any of the sister’s quarrels. She put her foot
down years earlier when their constant bickering nearly ruined one of their
weekend getaways. It was I, as usual who was left wearing the black and white
striped shirt, calling fouls on either of them for whatever infraction might
have been committed in their latest battle.
This was a new week though and would
be better. It simply had to. At least that was what I told myself. Every Monday
I started with that same outlook. If you asked my three best friends they’d
tell you I was an eternal optimist. I couldn’t really argue with them. The
truth was, being 36 years old, single and only ever married to my career left
me with two choices. Being pessimistic was draining and only offered more
negativity. So, my proverbial glass was always half full in the hopes I would
someday find my prince charming to fill it with champagne before we rode off
into the sunset.
Things were going well for me
through most of the week. I’d made it through Thursday and a so far successful
week of designing websites for my clients. It was then, walking to my car, that
I caught a glimpse of something I wish I hadn’t seen. Standing across the
street with his arms wrapped around a petite blonde with legs with seemed to
reach clear up to her neck, stood Brian. The same man who had spent the past
six weeks trying to convince Courtney he was a changed man and would never
cheat on her again. Yet there he stood, lips locked with someone who was definitely
not Courtney. I realized in that moment that tonight’s cardio workout would
most likely be postponed and be replaced with a session of Courtney doubting
herself and shedding more tears over the man who’d spent the past two years
hurting her time and time again.
By the time I’d gotten to the gym
I was a few minutes late and the other three girls were already on the stair
climbers. I changed quickly and met them for the remainder of our hour long
self punishment on a quest to burn as many calories as we could to make up for
our love of mochas. As usual we were all in our zone, focused on listening to
our iPods. Once we were finished, we retreated to the juice bar area and
proceeded to order our favorite smoothies, also known as ‘the usual’ by the freckled
face teenager who worked behind the counter.
So there we sat, all four of us toweling
our sweat glistened skin and sucking our smoothies out of the straw like we
were children who’d just discovered their first milkshake. I eyed the group
cautiously, taking note of the light and casual mood. There was literally no
stress lingering and I hated being the one who was going to change that and
bring the cloud of doom to hang above their heads. Surprisingly I wasn’t able to get a word out.
Suddenly Courtney had blurted out that she’d finally broke it off with Brian
because she was positive he was still screwing around on her, despite his grand
gestures and constant vows of faithfulness. Tears were hiding just beneath her
surface, but I couldn’t have been more proud of her when she told us that she
deserved better than that two timing and arrogant bastard. I sat there stunned,
unsure of whether I should even tell her what I saw earlier that day. I wasn’t
given the chance to ponder it for more than a second when a man walked over to
our table and introduced himself as Dave. He focused his attention on Courtney
the entire time and after several minutes of talking he finally asked her if
she’d like to go out for a cup of coffee sometime. Naturally she said yes. He
was tall, had a nice body and completely charming. It was a no brainer.
It made me wonder why women ever
shed a tear or worry over men who clearly are not worth it. The term there were
plenty of fish in the sea rang true. There were countless men out there. Surely
there was at least one good one out there for each woman. There just had to be,
right? I shrugged off the silent question and decided to go with my weapon of
choice. Optimism. It may make me a dreamer and hopeless romantic, but as I
looked down at my smoothie I was given the sign that proved my way of thinking.
My glass was half full. I took a
cursory glance at the men nearby, wondering if maybe one of them would be the
one to fill mine.
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For the entire issue of BTS (Book & Trailer Showcase) eMag click
HERE
*Please Note these characters and their stories are fictional and any
similarities to actual events and people is purely coincidental.
