The Forgiveable Journey Of The Cheated

34. Crossing Paths

 Then it happens!

So unexpectedly, but for you the reader, likely predictably.

It was an accident. Liam was on his umpteenth date since this summer, and miraculously, his second with Charlene. Miraculous because the first date had not been arranged through the dating sites, but rather through a cousin who told Liam that she had a colleague he thought he might like. His cousin told Liam that this colleague knows about the slap, about the whore, about the epilepsy and about the rumors of his penchant for rum and cokes, and she was still willing to go on a date with him. His cousin had also described Liam as a moody and rough around the edges man who had self-actualized in the face of the emotional and physical challenges of the past years. 

Yes it is a miracle that he went out with Charlene in the wake of such glowing reviews when really, his disappointment about the real impossibility of love with Eve and the ensuing discouragement about the possibility of any love for him at all, had projected him into a downward spiral of thirst for rum, commitmentless sex, and a downright sulky and bitter attitude that was increasingly unappreciated by his friends and family. These behaviours were exacerbated by the almost complete withdrawal of communication from Eve, fueled by his regret for having been cocky enough to think that what they had could last without actually consummating their friendship. 

He has to stop using sexual words when referring to Eve. 

It is also a miracle that he is on his second date with Charlene because he did not have sex with her on their first date. He had never been on a non-sexually consummated second date in his life! It is also the first real second date since Charlotte. 

A lot of the miracle about this second date is that he asked her and she accepted, even after a first date during which he pretty much showed no interest in her and had felt no particular desire to see her again. He figured he must have asked her in order to live up the image his cousin had drawn of him as a rebel reborn. Yet he couldn’t figure out why she had accepted to go out with him after such lackluster beginnings. 

Oh well, he is on a second date with Charlene so he should try to make the most of it.

She had suggested that they go to a popular pub downtown. Liam thought it was a good idea, not too intimate. If they had nothing to say to each other after one beer, they could, if she wanted, come back to his place and have sex before making empty commitments for a third date. 

He had been scrutinizing her for the last 15 minutes. Not bad looking. Pretty actually. Not Charlotte pretty, but pretty enough. He suspects she doesn’t shave her armpits except when she plans on showing them. This creature is not trained to make her appearance perfect every day. Today is a special day, a second date, so she has made some effort to wear mascara. The thought of sex that night had indeed motivated her to shave her armpits, and her legs. 

Liam is listening to her talk. He could not help but remember Eve saying something about “not boring is beautiful”, so he is trying to determine if Charlene is beautiful or not. Well not beautiful, but not not beautiful. 

He lets her do most of the talking, for really, what could he talk about. His ex? His kids? Not second date material. Could he talk about Eve? Probably not a good idea. He heard a song that said a 100 bad days makes a 100 good stories, a 100 good stories makes you interesting at parties. According to this reasoning, Liam probably has a lot of interesting things to say. But he doesn’t feel like talking about the last years. 

Could he talk about his therapy?

Hmmm. Maybe not yet. Maybe on a fourth date. 

That leaves his job.