What kind of guy wants to go to Mars?
Someone who does not want to fall in love and get married.
So, he wasn't the kind of guy I should spend any more than a few moments of time thinking about. No matter how gorgeous he was, no matter how smart and successful, he was not a long-term guy. That's what I wanted and needed.
My parents had the best marriage ever. I wanted one like they had – a partnership where they loved each other and were each other's best friend.
Luke seemed to turn sour on women and love after his bad experiences. Now, he viewed women only as fuck partners. So, it was best that I say goodbye early and get the heck out of the club.
I sat on the subway car, glancing around at the other commuters, and wished I could find someone real, but I'd rather be single than be with just anyone. I wanted someone who was going to love me, support me, want to be with me and only me.
If that meant I had to wait until my degrees were finished and I had a job somewhere and was living somewhere I really wanted to be – like Zurich or Copenhagen or Florence, so be it. I'd rather be single than waste my time with men who were only out for a good fuck and nothing deeper.
I got off at my stop and walked the couple of blocks to the old brownstone in which I lived with Candace. She was in her pajamas and was watching SNL when I arrived home.
"There you are," she said and moved over on the sofa. "How did it go?"
"It was okay, I guess," I said and plopped down beside her. I removed the straps from the high heels and rubbed my feet. "He wasn't a serial killer luring me out to kill me so there's that."
"So tell me everything," she said, impatient for the details.
"I can't tell you," I said and shrugged. "Remember? The NDA?"
"Oh, come on – you can tell me. I'm your bestie. There's no way I'm going to spill."
"I really shouldn't…"
"Come on, Alexandria Marie Dixon. You better tell me. Who was it who moved all the way across the country with you to go to Columbia? Who was it who kept you at my apartment after your insane ex came after you?”
"You."
"Exactly. If you can't trust me with details, how can you trust me with your life?"
I sighed. She was right. "He hired me to rub me in his brother-in-law Eric’s face because Eric cheated with Lexxi911. That's it."
"What?" She moved closer, her eyes wide.
"Yeah. His brother-in-law Eric hired this escort named Lexxi from 9-1-1 Escorts. It’s spelled Lexxi with two x’s. Eric’s married to Luke's very pregnant sister."
"Wow. What a story."
"You have no idea."
"What's he like? Tell me! I already know he's gorgeous and rich."
"His heart was broken by his ex-fiancée and he has a really awful family."
"Oh, that's right," she said, her eyes wide. "I read about him in one of the gossip mags online. They were engaged like, forever, and then they broke it off, apparently because he cheated on her.”
“Other way around.”
“What?” Candace said, her mouth open wide. “She cheated on him?”
I nodded. “I
guess she'd been cheating on him for years with this other guy but the other guy didn’t want to get married. She wanted to get married and Luke was an easy mark, I guess."
"That's horrible," she said and made a face. "I can understand why he might be a bit down on relationships."