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New Year's Resolution
"Hey, come on and sit down," Jake motioned to her.
It was three in the morning and after way too many gins the
last thing Melisa wanted to do on New Year"s Eve was to chat
with her ex-boyfriend. In fact if she had known he was going
to be here, she probably wouldn't have come but her friends
said, "No way, he doesn"t even know Craig." Well, at least he
didn"t show up after one so Melisa was spared the midnight kiss.
"So what are you doing here?" She couldn't resist asking.
"We were working together and Craig wanted me to come. What's
the matter?" He gave her one of those smiles that used to work
on her. Lopsided or it just could have been she was drunk and
feeling alone.
"I didn"t expect to see you here, that's all. I never see you
at all. How long has it been?"
"Since what?"
"I know, on line getting a coffee. That's the last time and
you didn't see me."
"Thank God," was her thought.
"I have a life you know." Six months had passed since they broke
up and the truth was she was still alone. Dating hadn"t appealed
much after they had been living together. Playing at grown-ups
was what her mother called it. In the beginning it was great
and then, well, then it just wasn't anymore.
"I still think about you. A lot. I miss you." Melisa let that
slide and just stared at Jake. She didn't really want to get
into but she could have said, "Well, you could have made more
of an effort. Not gone out so much." But she just let him go
on.
"We were happy together, I mean really happy." Through her haze
Melisa tried to see if he meant what he was saying.
"I don"t know if you remember," she said.
Jake went on as if he hadn't heard. "Come on, you know we had
some good moments. Sure. I still love you but I want you to
know I have moved on." She nodded, surprised by the disclosure.
"I met someone, Claire probably told you."
Claire hadn't said a word to her. Melisa took a deep breath.
"Just a one night thing. I met her out one night. Claire was
there. I brought her home and then, we had breakfast together.
We spent the day and went to a movie." Melisa nodded, transfixed.
"I wanted to tell you. The sex was good. I"ll probably see her
again but I don't want to get tied down with anyone." All words
had left Melisa, all she could think was why are you telling
me this. "You probably are meeting guys. You"re pretty." She
didn"t answer. "If you aren"t you will soon enough. I feel like
I"m ready to explore new things."
"Yeah," Melisa frowned.
"You know I wanted to try a couples thing. I'd like to have
sex with a transvestite."
"Melisa almost wanted to laugh. "Oh," she said.
"Yes, I feel free."
Melisa started to get up. "I have got to get home. I am trashed."
"Do you need a ride?"
"No, no I can manage."
She was alert now as if she'd been sober for days. She found
Maggie, in the dining room, chatting up a tall guy. "I've got
to go. Coming?" Maggie got up. "I'll drive," she said. The ride
was silent, Maggie was tired and Melisa didn"t feel like talking.
When Melisa got home, she undressed and crawled into bed and
started to cry. She wasn't sure if it was the fact her ex had
told her about a woman he'd slept with or that a guy she'd been
with for two years wanted to have sex with a transvestite. Whatever
else happened she knew she was not going to be spending any
part of the next year with Jake.
Teresa Peipins recently returned to the United States after living
abroad and has completed her first novel set in Latvia and Spain. Her chapbook,
Box of Surprises will be published in May by Finishing Line Press. She is currently
teaching English at the Open University of Catalonia.
Email: Teresa Peipins
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