The Dating Chronicles – The Answer

The Dating Chronicles

The Answer

 The phone rang incessantly as Karen sat in the dark with loud rain hitting against the window.  She knew it was her friend Marie, but she didn’t want to talk.  She just wanted to think.  She was torn between reason and insanity, as she contemplated her next move. She had hoped against all hope that this time would be her time for the ultimate relationship.

She had met Don at a time when she needed love more than any time in her life, and he seemed so right.  Or had he?  As she reflected back on their first meeting, she realized that she had taken charge from the beginning. They exchanged numbers and when he hadn’t called by the time she felt appropriate, she called him, and when he hadn’t asked her out by the second phone conversation, she asked him. 

She justified her behavior by concluding that he was shy and intimidated by her career status, and she hoped that with a little prodding and direction he would come to realize that she was the woman for him. Since he was a cop and she was a lawyer, she felt a need to downplay her smartness, so he wouldn’t feel inferior in any way.  He never asked about her work, and she never mentioned it.  At first, he seemed flattered by her assertiveness and her elaborate plans for fun and togetherness.

Then after a while, he became too busy to go…too busy to see her, and too busy to call.  Yet, she rationalized that he was probably jealous of her schedule and just pretending to be busy for ego reasons. But now, as she sat looking out of the window at the dark sky, she knew she had behaved foolishly.  She had called him that morning and he claimed to be busy on another call and promised to call her back…but he had not.

It was now midnight and she had to know once and for all if there was still room for hope. She was determined to get an answer that night and had made up her mind that she would confront him once and for all to learn the truth about his feelings regarding her.  She dialed his number again and this time a woman answered. She hung up the phone in resignation but refused to give up hope. She decided to try him again on another day.