Choosing Her Lover

Seated at the bar, he is watching the door as I walk in. He stands as he sees me, smiling. “Debbie?”

“Ryan?”

He looks good enough to eat. Beckoning me to the barstool by him, “What can I get you?”

“Red wine, please. Did I keep you waiting long?”

“Not at all, I just arrived a couple of minutes ago.”

As he waves over the barman, I study him. Ryan understated himself in his profile; tall, with strapping shoulders and a lean fit build. Dark, slightly wavy hair and a light tan set off his white smile and dark eyes.

He is disconcertingly attractive. There’s usually a reason that someone who looks this good is on the dating circuit, even when it’s only for sex dating.

Fourth finger, left hand…. No, nothing there….

Nice hands though…. long fingers….

Holding two glasses of wine, Ryan eye-points me across the room. “I hope I’m not out of order here, but I booked us a table. Even if we can’t stand the sight of each other after a couple of hours, at least we’ll have a good meal inside us.”

He sees me looking askance at the table. Holding both hands up, almost warding me away, “Hey, it doesn’t mean I’m making any assumptions other than it’s the end of the working day, and I’m guessing that you’re hungry. I certainly am.”

Feeling foolish. “Yes, sorry. My suspicious nature….”

He looks at me oddly.

Weighing me up?

I think so, yes.

“Shall we sit?”

He seats himself opposite me, ignoring his wine, gazing at me. Chin propped on a fist, he is, very obviously, looking me up and down.

“So, what’s the deal?” he asks. “Women who look like you don’t tend to appear on dating sites like that one. There’s generally some guy in the background beating the jungle drums.” He glances down at my left hand. “And if you ever wore a wedding ring, there’s no sign of it now. Have you ever been married? For that matter, are you married now? Is this supposed to be some kind of ‘on the side’, ‘playing away from home’ kind of thing?”

He's wary of me….

“Is this ‘Twenty Questions’? Yes, I’ve been married. But no, not now. Been there, done that….”

He laughs. “…. Seen the movie, read the book, got the tee-shirt, eh? That bad, was it?”

“Oh, yes, that bad. But I’ve got control of my own life now, and I’ll not be letting it slip out of my fingers again.”

He sniffs, reflectively I think. Not critically. “That’s why you’re doing this? You don’t want entanglements?”

“That’s right. What about you?”

a nightmare. Just now, I

didn’t do yourself justice you know, on

an eyebrow at him. “Is this where you tell me you

you a liar?

features

laughing. “You’re a silver-tongued charmer

brow furrows. “Have I offended

was expecting you to come out with some typical

in his chair, holding

attractive. Quite the contrary. You’re just…. unusual, in more ways than one

“You can ask.”

Debbie really

think I’m going to hand out my details

sensible. It’s quite dangerous doing what you’re doing, especially

follow the rules. No name. No address. Meet in a

it. Have you encountered

few. Most of them I manage to weed out at the e-mail and messaging stage. Only one got past my first defences so

intrigued. “Really?

on a date. He had a beautiful speaking voice, all honey and cream. Y’know, a Richard Burton,

cocks his

the opposite side of the table from him, but he moved across, all but pinned me into my seat. He kept coming too close, invading my space…. And there was something

“What did you do?”

said graciously that it had been nice…. which it hadn’t… and we must do this again sometime…. which I was lying about…. Then I got in my car

you never found out if he was really a screwball, or if it

completely unzipped. Although he didn’t have my real name or where I lived, he did have my mobile number. The messages started coming in within five minutes of me leaving. They were polite enough at first, but when I

“In what way, strange?”

he started sending me very graphic descriptions of what he wanted to do with me. And some of them were…. odd; revolting actually. I’m pretty broadminded, but I wasn’t interested in going the places his mind roamed. I don’t know if he imagined it was some kind of seduction technique,

But after an experience like that, you still do

I’m not afraid of men in general. I just exercise

How do you know that a man you meet like this isn’t a psycho in disguise?

that the woman you meet in the theatre, or

nodding. “Point taken. I exercise my judgement….

“So….?”

strictly a casual thing. You’re not husband-hunting? Looking for a partner or long-term

to be tied at the hip. I like a bit of fun a

no dreams of white horses

“White horses?”

armour, come to carry you off for happily-ever-afters

I laugh. “Not me.”

“And would this be, um…. exclusive?” he

says you just want to pass by every few weeks… and