The Dating Chronicles – The Puzzle

The Dating Chronicles

The Puzzle

Nicole shuddered when she spotted John at a friend’s birthday party.  Nicole and John had dated in high school, and John had asked her to his senior prom. However, two days after he invited her and she purchased a beautiful dress, he changed his mind with no explanation and took another girl.  She was heartbroken and puzzled while she cried over it for weeks. She had not seen him since he graduated.

Now, here it was ten years later, and there he stood on the other side of the room.  He looked as handsome as ever, and he was staring at her.  She decided to leave.  She realized that she still held resentment toward him for what he’d done, and she didn’t want to be in the same room with him.  When he saw her leaving the party, he ran after her and she drove off before he could reach her.

He jumped in his car and followed her.  When she stopped in a nearby gas station, he got out of his car and ran up offering to pump her gas.  He apologized for the first time about the prom incident and explained why he dumped her to take another girl to the prom.  He told her he knew she was a church girl, who wouldn’t be putting out for sex, and that night he wanted to be with a girl who would. He begged for her forgiveness. Reluctantly, she told him she forgave him and drove off.

Two weeks later, Nicole ran into John again in the same gas station.  This time, he asked her out to dinner and she agreed to go because she found him irresistible.  They began dating and John soon learned that Nicole was still holding out for marriage.  After trying for weeks to seduce her, he decided to propose.  He got down on his knee in a restaurant one night, after they’d been dating three months, and presented her with a ring. Shyly, she accepted and two weeks later, they flew to Las Vegas to get married.  But when they got there, Nicole changed her mind and flew back home.  She came to the realization that she still had not forgiven him, and since he’d hurt her deeply once, he could possibly do it again. She decided to take a pass.