The Love Box Experiment

Chapter Twenty-Seven. After the party.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN. 

Paul sat on a wooden bench on the quay and looked at a map of the island. He felt himself lucky, in a strange way, to be sitting here. Peace and no stress were hard things to find in a technology-driven world where instant communication was available to everyone. One problem with the new world was the impulse to react to everything and everyone. Instant information and the required immediate response, only meant time went out of control, which fed it's own stress. Paul thought this in spite of working in this environment since Cambridge University. He felt he self-managed it, but he didn't like the way it  changed the perception of what was important. Here, on this island, he had found a haven away from the internet, which mad peace more possible to achieve. There was a cafe in the town with internet access, but Paul avoided the temptation.

His thoughts were interrupted by someone who blocked the warm rays of sun from his face. LC sat down next to Paul.

'What's with the map?'

Paul looked from the map to LC. 'Just seeing what other places to go to.'

'Why move from here? It's ideal.' The American drawl made his statement more believable.

Paul didn't answer.

'You know what,' said LC, 'you're running away again.' He glanced at Paul. 'You came here to escape a girl. Now you're off again because of Arianna.'

'I'm not smart enough to beat her off.'

LC laughed. 'Yep, she's a hard one.' He paused. 'Tell me, Paul, you scared of women or something?'

Paul thought about his reply. 'Men are from Mars, aren't they? It seems to me, when you have sex with a girl or woman, they change inside.' Paul wasn't much good at speeches, and LC waited. Paul took a breath. 'For most men, sex is free and an indication how you feel about her. For women, it seems to me, they see sex as a signal that the man is there for the long term. And once sex becomes regular, the man better commit. That's a relationship.' Paul had dried up on words.

'Somewhat cynical,' smiled LC. 'Isn't a relationship a good thing?'

'The longer it goes on, the harder it is to get out. So I don't even start.' Paul thought of Katie. 'Until I met this school girl, aged seventeen at the time, but I intended to use her. Which I did. Then I fell in love with her.'

'Oh dear. After all your opinions, you lost it, Paul.' LC chuckled. 'You got her pregnant and made a run for it.'

'I made a run for it because she went to abort the baby. And I can't stick around for that. Besides, I think the love ran it's course.'

'Not for you it didn't.'

Paul realised how perceptive this American was.

The two men enjoyed the harbour view, boats moored up together, a gentle swell in the sea.

Paul pointed at the map. 'Thought I would explore the north side of the island, Zogeria sounds nice.'

'There's a taverna there, open in the summer season. The beach is a place of beauty.'