Getting back into it today after the best laid plans went awry yesterday.  A double dose tomorrow should bring ‘Writing Lust’ back on track.

The Conversation

“It’s one of those things that needs to be done,” Matt stated as sipped his plain black coffee from the paper cup.  Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered how much waste these damn cups produce in a year, but that was a concept to discuss later.  “I imagine you would tell me to do nothing, just sit on my hands and wait.”

“I wouldn’t say do nothing,” responded Mindy.  Her straw penetrated the chocolate and whipped cream atop her frosty beverage as she took her initial sip.  “I just think you are looking at it the wrong way.”

She set her plastic domed cup on the composite wood table.  “Seriously, you and Jill were only together for about a month.  One month.  I know your world is kinda rocked right now, but this just sounds stupid.”

The brown and orange walls of the chain coffee shop were inhabited by new wave furniture and decor to provide a repetitive and soulless venue.  The pop-esque but ignorable music was available at the counter for the fool that might have an extra Jackson burning a hole in their pocket.

An unreasonably warm February weekend brought many from hibernation.  Most of the people popping through the doors grabbed their chai latte’s and headed outside to enjoy the sunshine.  Matt and Mindy were the exception.  The two friends were huddled in a pair of couches crammed in the corner in the back of the shop.  This strategic placement meant the bare number of passersby would catch a glimpse of their conversation.

“Look, I didn’t want to date in the first place,” said Matt.  “I wasn’t planning to date again until summer; once I finished my dissertation.  But you and everyone else said I would be stupid to pass up a girl like Jill, and that I should make my move.  Well I did, and now I have to deal with the aftermath.”

Mindy laughed.  “Yeah, we really had to twist your arm to get you to date Jill.  I think my exact quote was ‘she seems nice.’”

“Be fair,” Matt interrupted her.  “You also said ‘go for it.’”

“You got me.  I’m completely behind masterminding this failed relationship,” said Mindy with a smile.  “You should learn to be more careful around me.”

“I will in the future, that’s for sure,” exclaimed Matt trying to keep a straight face.  “You married people aren’t happy unless everyone else is coupled up like you.”

“Untrue!  Wait, we’re getting off topic like usual.  This isn’t about me and my bliss-filled marriage.  This is about you and how you just told me despite your need to finish your dissertation, you now plan to try and pick up a new woman to replace Jill.”

“Have to,” said Matt.  Mindy could tell by the tone of his voice he was dead serious.

“But why don’t you just wait the three months until you’re finished with school and then try to find someone.”

“Because I will see Jill again in over the next three months.  I’ve started the dating cycle with her, and now it continues until I break up with someone or move to a new town.”

“You’re insane,” Jill laughed nervously.   She had known Matt for a lifetime and knew he was serious.

“Look, you’ve been married for six years, you forget how the game works.  Let me give you a refresher course.  She rejected me.  That means she currently holds the upper hand in the relationship.”

“What relationship,” asked Mindy?  You’re broken up now, the relationship is over.”

“Relationships never end.  I’ve already seen Jill twice since we broke up.  Even in a city this size, you continue to see the same people.  We were together because we liked most of the same things.  You don’t think I’ll see her around campus or at concerts?”

Matt did not give Mindy a chance to respond.  “So now the cycle has started.  I’ve already seen her once with another guy.  She has a double advantage.  That’s why I need to find someone new.  To prove to her that I don’t still need her or think of her.”

“You don’t think she’ll see through that?  That you are dating someone just to get over her?”

Matt slowly brought the coffee cup to his lips and took a sip before responding.  “That’s why it’s so important to find the right replacement woman.”

“Oh dear God,” exclaimed Mindy.  “Why do I have a very bad feeling about this?”

“Because you know me too well,” said Matt with a smile.

“You have someone already in mind, don’t you?  Who is she?”

“Not a specific person, but a general idea.”  Matt took another sip of his coffee to build suspense.  “A woman who excels in all the areas that Jill does not.”

“You’re horrible,” Mindy said disgusted.  “Why am I friends with you?”

“Because you’re married and need someone to live vicariously through now that your life is boring.”

Mindy nodded slightly in agreement.  She hated that he was right.

“Hear me out,” said Matt.  “So I now have to find a woman that exemplifies all of Jill’s lesser qualities.  Jill was a small redhead, extremely skinny with no rack, really into art and music, and carefree about how she dresses, right?”

Mindy was unstirred.

“So, now I find a taller blonde with ample…tracks of land, that is a math or science nerd and into fashion.  That should exercise the demons.”

“Why do I have a feeling we’ll be back here in another two months and you’ll be plotting to find a fat brunette that wears shirts that are too small, and is really into politics?”

Matt ignored the question.  “See, this way when I run into Jill while out and introduce her to my new girlfriend, she be so concerned over her own neurosis that she’ll no longer have in control of the relationship.”

“You are pure evil.”  Mindy could see the smirk on Matt’s face through the white paper cup.

Mindy sat up in her chair.  “Ok, I’ve listened to your plan, and I still contend it complete bullshit.  Yes you’re having issues with being dumped, but you are going about this completely the wrong way.

“Love is something that needs to be pure.  You can’t wake up one day and say ‘I’m going to fall in love today, and she will be X, Y, and Z.’  It just doesn’t work that way.”

“Always the romantic,” said Matt.  “Who says I’m looking for love anyway?”

“The same rules apply to sex or whatever it is you’re talking about.  When you look for love or sex, that is when you find problems.  It’s not like you can go down to the grocery store and pick up what you need, pay the cashier and walk out.”

Matt smiled.

“Ok, you can, but those are called whores,” said Mindy.  “Love happens, it can’t be forced.  That’s what makes it so wonderful.  You weren’t ‘ready’ to be in a relationship with Jill, but you found one nonetheless.  That’s the epitome of love or at least lust.

Mindy was on a roll.  “When you try to force it, you end up dating psycho women that are way too into you.  To continue making the point, you keep dating them until you become blind to all the initial warning signs.  Before long, you’re marrying a woman you swore you only planned to use as a rebound and five years later you’re getting a divorce, wondering what went wrong.  The truth is, there was nothing right about the relationship to start with.”

Matt looked at Mindy with a puzzled look.  “Everything going ok between you and Jeff, hon?”

“It still feels like the honeymoon,” she said with a smile.  “Our relationship is wonderful because it happened naturally.  We fight occasionally, but we always make up the same day.  That’s what happens when you’re with someone you truly love, someone where conversations never get boring.  Someone who surprises you each day in a good way.”

Matt was silent for a moment before breaking a half smile.  “Sure, try and make me into the bad guy.”

“I never said that.  I just think your theorem is flawed.”

“Why do you have to be married,” asked Matt.  “Do you have any cousins as cool as you that I don’t know about?”

“Because if I wasn’t married, I’d be doing a dissertation of my own – one that involves why men think the way they do.  I think you alone would be enough to get me published and tenured at Harvard or some other prestigious university.”

Matt laughed as both took a sip of their beverages.

“So, I have another completely unrelated theory,” said Matt looking at Mindy’s extravagant drink.  I think the coffee shops of today are a shallow replacement for the soda jerk shops of the ‘50’s.  I mean look at that drink.  It’s basically a milk shake with caffeine and adequacy issues compared to it’s elder relative the malt.”

Mindy chuckled, taking an extra big swig of her decadent beverage.