| Written by Darryl James, (Columnist), on 03-27-2008 00:00 |
|
|
Page 1 of 3 Part 1 At 38, Ron had been with enough women to fill twelve issues of Essence. He had loved a few, but mostly, he had either hurt them or had been hurt by them. At this stage in his life, he wanted something more. Ron wanted more than just the sexual conquests that most of the women had been. And he wanted more than just the few months of happiness most of his relationships had been. Older and wiser, he knew that in order to have something different, he had to be something different. So, he spent time alone after the last failed relationship. Instead of seeking more sexual conquests, he sought resolution for his emotional turmoil and unrequited desires for love. Instead of dating more women, he dated himself, taking time to process where he had been, where he was and where he wanted to go. Some of that time was spent alone, some was spent in church and some was spent on the couch of his therapist. After two years, he felt ready to venture out into the world of dating again, with a new mission to find something better than he had before. At 36, Leslie had allowed more than forty men inside of her. Some had been inside of her heart, some only inside of her bed, but all of them had been inside of her body. And now that she was focused on finding someone to have and to hold for the rest of her life, she had all of the men in her life inside of her mind. Leslie wanted something different, but the thought had not occurred to her that she should be something different. When she was out with the girls, they all talked about how men were dogs and that since you couldn’t beat them, you needed to join them. And so, just like they imagined men were doing, Leslie and her girls were on a mission each weekend to find cute guys who could keep their beds warm for a while and take them to nice places. Not that Leslie didn’t believe in love. She had been in love a few times and had actually loved the last man she had spent time with. But the two of them had been unable to find a way to keep the music playing, so she simply turned it off. And she thought she had turned everything off, but the heartache was still playing, even as she pretended that it would only take the “right” man to break through her icy exterior and warm her heart. Ron walked into a bar one Friday night and right into the peripheral vision of Leslie, who began staring while her friends began chiding her.
<< Start < Previous 1 2 3 Next > End >>
|
