The Brokenhearted [Ongoing]

Chapter 24

Chad's POV

Stafford sat outside sipping on his coffee as he flipped through his short story. New Yorkers consumed with thoughts or conversations, pounded the pavement back and forth unaware Stafford at the corner café.

"Chad! You dirty Pinoy!" he raised his 6'4" broad fame and gave me a big hug.

"How have you been you horny Canuck?"

Stafford and I used to work together during the days of the writer.dot.com.boom, I'm calling him Ford because he's name is too long to say. He was my first real friend when I moved to New York and even though our professional lives took us our separate ways, we managed to keep in touch and maintain a good friendship. He was one of the people who could make me laugh so hard that I'd be left in tears. It was always a pleasure to meet him especially when he regaled me with torrid tales of his life that were so absurd, they had to be true.

"Great, loving life and you really look like shit! But first, tell me, what do you want to have for breakfast? They make a fabulous bacon and ham omelette here, perfect for a pork fan like you. Actually it doesn't matter what you want since I've already ordered our food."

"Right, well I guess just the pig omelette. What have you got there?" I gestured at the papers in his hand.

"It's a short story I've been working on. Actually I wanted you to take a look at it," he handed it to me.

Once upon a time, between dating an FBI agent he met on a flight and a waitress, Stafford dated an African American writer who achieved notoriety by writing 'Black Erotica'. I still recall my reaction as I repeated 'Black Erotica' a few times  and finally asked, "How do they do it different?" Stafford only smiled smugly and said, "You got to have soul to understand." Cassandra, the erotic writer, had commended Stafford on his fictional writing and since then he was hooked and enrolled in numerous writing courses.

"Sure, what is it about?" I said.

"It's about Virginia Woolf and her sexual experiences."

"The basic premise is that while in England, she is constantly depressed, lethargic and just all around ill. A friend tells her about the spas in New York and their effects. She jumps on a stream ship across the Atlantic on an adventure. When entering the spas, she is submerged into a world of sexual pleasures and experiments."

We sat quietly and looked at each other, while he waited for my response.

"Well?" he asked anxiously, "What do you think?"

"Ford, did you just asked me to look through lesbian porn?"

"Don't be an idiot! Seriously, tell me what you think, Chad?"

"Well it's an original idea but I'll tell you what I think once I'm done reading it."

"Fair enough. Anyway tell me how is life treating you?"

"It's the same. Sometimes I can't help but feel that I'm just killing time," I sighed.

"Lord, how morbid! You're not still pining over that bitch that cheated on you, are you?"

"It hasn't been easy, Ford."

"Oh for fuck sakes, you silly Pinoy, she was a bitch! You're better off without her. What the hell is the point why you acting like that?"

"Ford, you don't understand, we were going to get married, we were together for..."

"Oh shut up dude," he interrupted, "It's time to go over it, Chad. The cow cheated on you, she was unfaithful. Dude, she wasn't who you thought she was. Let me give you a piece of advice, stop talking about her, it'll help you get over her."