Like My Ex

by Peters, Norah C.

  Table of Contents

  Like My Ex

  About the Author

  Like My Ex

  by Norah C. Peters

  Copyright 2013 by Norah C. Peters

  LIKE MY EX is a work of fiction. Names, characters and events are either the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarities to actual places, happenings or people, living or dead is coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Like My Ex

  About the Author

  Like My Ex

  I really want to call my ex, I miss him so much, but I think it's the wrong thing to do. Is it wrong to want your ex back? Cristina wanted to admit it but but she didn't want Sally to think the worst of her so she said nothing. Instead Cristina smiled as Sally delivered their caffeine fix to the table and took a seat.

  Covent Garden, Sally and coffee. A perfect London Sunday afternoon. There was something wonderful about London on a Sunday. The only day in the week when the people of this hectic town had time to talk, to walk in the park and to sit with a friend without a schedule chasing them.

  The two successful young professionals stood out from the crowd wherever they met. At 32, Cristina was a stunning tall blonde with a fit body toned by hours of dedication in the gym, while, Sally, 34, with her long black hair and fair complexion made every head turn. Together in their high fashion they never went unnoticed.

  Cristina reached across the table and held Sally's hand. "Sally, I do so enjoy this little weekly meet up of ours. It makes the madness of the week so much more bearable knowing I'll see you for a chat."

  "I know exactly what you mean. I've hardly had time to breathe let alone think these last few weeks. Since I got promoted and moved back from Manchester I've hardly caught up with anyone. Assuming we don't count online catch ups." Sally giggled and sipped her drink.

  Cristina pushed her hair back. "You've been local again for the last month isn't it? So, you were working away the whole two years I was with Greg."

  "Yes, somehow we three never managed to get together. Sorry, my workaholic ways do get the better of me. So how is Greg these days since you parted company?"

  "I've no idea. We've not spoken since the break up 2 months ago. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time and now I'm not so sure. Maybe I should have taken more control in the relationship for once in my life. I left all the decisions to him, I was quite passive now that I look back on it. Even towards the end I just let it slip away. I didn't fight for the relationship. I suppose I gave him no choice but to end it and put us both out of our misery. At least he had the nerve to do it. I didn't."

  "Don't be so hard on yourself Cristina. We all make mistakes. All you can do is learn from them and hopefully not do it again. And don't think you're going to get good relationship advice from me. I don't remember the last time I went on a date. I simply don't have time now that I'm married to the office. I do flirt a little with online dating but that doesn't count, does it?"

  "You've always been good with men Sally. You know how to handle them. You always have. I don't have your confidence. The last thing I feel like doing right now is going on a date with a complete stranger. I suppose it sounds cliched but maybe I am afraid to love again. I'll just drop by the pet store later and get myself two cuddly cats and call it a day. No more men for me."

  Sally giggled and squeezed Cristina's hand. "Oh, don't be so silly my little friend. You're lovely. You just need some time to recover. Trust me, before you know it, you'll be bumping into me on the high street with a handsome man on your arm. You always bounce back. I know you will again."

  Cristina sighed and wiped a tear from her eye. "Yes, I hope you're right. It's just that I don't feel so able anymore. It's like this balloon has had the air taken out of it one time too many. Seriously, the two cats option sounds fine by me."

  Sally raised her voice. "I am right, You will be ok, better than ok. And I'll make sure of it. In fact I have a surprise for you today but first I want to ask you something. I'm just curious that's all. I hope it's ok to ask."

  "Fire away, what do you want to know? Nothing too dark and personal I hope."

  "It's one thing I've always wondered about. How did you go from being so happy and content with Greg to it's all over? I know, at the time, I kept in touch by email because I was traveling so much. Still, I don't get it. How did something so good go from great to nothing so quickly?"

  Cristina sniffled and dried her eyes. "It's complicated. We always had a great connection right from the moment we first met, I found him very attractive. He's very good looking. You never met him but let's just say he has the classic tall, dark and handsome look. He's 38 and ripped, six pack, bulging muscles, the whole package. He could have been a model if he hadn't become a lawyer. I mean it. He turns heads. And we always had so much fun together but there was one problem.

  "Greg wanted something I didn't. One night after a romantic dinner he told me he wanted to start a family. I was shocked. I mean, I just didn't see it coming. I had no idea he felt like that."

  "But, that's a good thing, no? You told me he 's great with his sisters' kids."

  "Yes, it's a good thing, for him, But, it's just too soon. I have career plans and I want to get ahead now while I can. I've worked too hard to get where I am to just walk away from it all. Maybe if he made partner at the law firm it would be different but that would be years from now. On one salary, we'd never make it in London."

  Sally raised her eyebrows. "And that was it? That caused the spontaneous combustion of your relationship?"

  "Well, there was something else. I don't even know that I really want to have kids. If I'm that unsure maybe I shouldn't. Does that sound crazy?"

  "No, of course not. But I'm just surprised you two didn't give it more time and let love take its natural course. Not that I'd know much about that, of course," Sally bit her lip.

  "Well, you just slammed the nail right on the head. We never did talk about things. We were crazy, madly in love and we knew that without question. But. We never had adult conversations. You know, like grown ups are supposed to. Greg doesn't really show his feelings, and, I never encouraged him to. I just went along with whatever he wanted to do."

  "Okay, now I'm seeing a pattern. Anyway, all you can do Cristina, like I said earlier, is learn from it, and when you're ready, move on to new pastures. And that's why now might be the perfect time to show you my special surprise," Sally grinned as she took her computer out of her bag.

  "I hope you won't be too annoyed with me but I took the liberty of setting you up on a on a dating site," Sally whispered.

  Cristina winced. "What? You must be joking. Tell me you didn't."

  "I did. Sorry. Listen, listen, listen. I found some great guys. Trust me on this. I know more than one girlfriend in Manchester who met their husbands at this site. It's way better than all of those other silly sites."

  Cristina sighed and sat up in her chair to see the screen. "Ok, I'll take a look but I'm still not happy about this. Hey, is that my profile? That's a terrible photo, it doesn't even look like me."

  "Yeah I know, I 'll change it later, it's the only one of you I had on my phone and I was in a hurry. And by the way, you're SundayCoffee, I didn't use your real name. Anyway even with that silly photo and nickname you've still had a ton of emails - 86, and rising by the hour and I only set this up a few days ago. Maybe I should try it too," Sally laughed.

  "You're something else," Cristina couldn't help laughing. "And maybe you're right. It is time to move on. This being alone thing doesn't suit me one bit. I've had enough of it already. Hey, I've had that many responses already, let's dig in and see what's out there."

  "That's that attitude girl. G
ood to see your fighting spirit has returned. Welcome back Cristina. Here… look, this guy looks fit, very fit in fact. And, what about this guy, he's lush. And this one, wow, there's a ton of great eye candy here. You're going to be very busy young lady. Make sure to get lots of beauty sleep cause you're going to need it."

  "Not so fast Sally. Don't go arranging dates for me. I'll kill you if you do."

  "Only joking my love. I'm your love life consultant not your P.A. You'll have to pick out the cream of the crop and decide who to date. Just get on with it ok, don't hang about or some other babe will snag all the good ones."

  Cristina looked at her watch and stood up. "I'll have to get going Sally or I'll miss my train. It was so much fun seeing you. And thanks so much for taking the time to listen to me, it really helped. And I do feel like I can get out there and meet someone new. If that site is any good this could be exactly what I 've been looking for. So thanks for that. Just don't put me on any more sites! I'm serious."

  Sally laughed and stood up to hug her friend, "Bye for now, my little friend, I love you. See you next Sunday, same time, same cafe. Bye."

  * * *

  Another Sunday in Covent Garden, carefree Londoners strolling in the afternoon sun, children laughing and dogs getting walked. In their window seat Cristina and Sally giggled uncontrollably until the laughing gave way to tears.

  "There's no way I'm dating that guy," Cristina spluttered.

  "Why not? Shave off that enormous beard and trim those huge eyebrows and you're all ready to go," Sally grinned. "By the way you look different today. Is that a new coat? It's beautiful."

  "Yes, I decided it was time to clear out my wardrobe and change my look. I love this material, it feels so luxurious," Cristina beamed.

  "Good for you girl. So, are you ready to pick out some hot men?"

  "I am actually. Which is more of a surprise to me than anyone else. I feel happy and carefree again for the first time in a long time. Your love consultancy is working. I'll have to hire you more often." Cristina grinned and stared more closely at the screen.

  Sally frowned. "Great. Well, it's not all good news I'm afraid. I went through all the responses, more come in every day so it took forever to get through them all. And, I narrowed the list down to the most suitable candidates, if you will. Thing is, I contacted a few of them and each one sent me weird replies so maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."

  "Oh, really? I though you said this site wasn't like the other ones. Are we wasting our time in that case?"

  "Cristina, I asked Mary, one of the girls in Manchester, about it. I told you about how they met their husbands online. And she told me the secret is to write a profile that limits the responses you get. Otherwise you get inundated with messages from perverts and the guys with beards like a bush."

  "Which is exactly what we're dealing with. So, how do we fix my profile?"

  "Mary checked out your profile and edited it for me. She's amazing with words and your profile reads completely differently now, plus it should only attract attention from guys who are looking for a serious relationship.Take a look."

  Cristina leaned forward and scanned her new profile. "Wow, that's amazing. I'd date myself after reading that. So, any hot guys want to date me since that was changed?"

  "The changes only went live early this morning so it's too soon to tell if it's going to work. You did get one new message an hour ago though from NewToThis. He sounds hot. Here, look…"

  Cristina played with her hair absentmindedly as she read the message. "Hey, you're good, really good. He does sound like my kind of man. but there's no photo. Oh, it says he only joined the site today and his profile hasn't been completed yet. Okay, once I see what he looks like I'll put him at the top of the maybe short list."

  "So, what have you been up to Sally?"

  "Nothing much really. Working like a dog as usual. I saw my sister yesterday and I had a blast playing with her kids. They are 3 and 6 already. I spent all afternoon getting chased around the garden. I was completely and utterly exhausted afterwards."

  "Sounds like fun. So, how does your sister handle life without her career?"

  Sally took a sip of her coffee. "She adores it. As I mentioned before she was the last one in our family any of us thought would be the maternal kind but she surprised us all. She's a great mother and although she feels like pulling her hair out at times, she says, she wouldn't take her old life back for all the money in the world."

  "And she was a big shot too. The one most likely to be running the consultancy a few years down the road. That's quite a turnaround. Well, good for her, I'm happy for her." Cristina paused and played with her coffee cup before continuing. "And what about you Sally? Any new guys on the scene?"

  Sally rolled her eyes. "Not right now I'm afraid. I'm just snowed under with work. I reckon if I just keep my head down for a few more years I'll be set up for life. I just don't have the time for a man. I don't even have the time to look after a goldfish. Seriously."

  "Oh great, so while you're putting my neck on the line and expecting me to fend off the weirdos, you're officially off the dating scene. That's just great Sally," Cristina teased.

  "I do have a good excuse though," Sally laughed.

  Cristina stared into space for a moment and then looked back to Sally. "I've been doing some serious thinking since you helped me get out of that misery I was wallowing in. I started to remember that when I was happy with Greg and when I was unhappy had very little to do with anyone else but me."

  "What do you mean? Spill the beans Cristina, enough riddles."

  "I mean, when I look back over the years with Greg I had some of the happiest moments of my life. And then, other times, it seemed like no matter what I did, it just wasn't enough. I didn't get the love I needed so badly. I blamed him for that. And little by little we stopped talking about our needs and we just coasted. We assumed everything would work itself out. Now I can see I was completely wrong. There was one glaring difference between when I was happy and when I was unhappy in the relationship."

  "There you go again. More riddles. Come on, get to the point or I'm walking out of here," Sally groaned.

  "The big difference was this. When I was loving I was happy. But when I was craving Greg's love and attention I was miserable. No matter what he did for me, I just needed more and more reassurance. And the next day, even more. He could never care enough or tell me often enough that he loved me.

  "I never noticed this before. I guess it's a decision to be loving and happy. A moment to moment decision. When I chose to love I was happy, we had harmony in our relationship and he loved me deeply. That was the irony of it all."

  "Hmm. Interesting. Very interesting. Maybe you should write a book," Sally joked. "Or maybe you could reveal the secrets to finding love online, you certainly get enough interest."

  "Yeah right Sally. Hey, back to that site for a minute. Can you send a message to that guy for me?"

  "The one with no photo? What was his nickname again? You mean that guy NewToThis?" Sally raised her eyebrows.

  "Yeah, he had an amazing profile, could be a good match, you never know. Ask him if he'd like to meet up for coffee, that way if he does look scary I'll be able to escape after a quick espresso, ha ha." Cristina decided not to mention it but this guy was like her ex, maybe she had a type after all even though she'd never noticed before.

  "Okay, consider it done SundayCoffee. And unfortunately it's time for me to go Cristina, see you next week," Sally got up to leave and hugged her friend before dashing to the train station.

  Cristina enjoyed a leisurely walk to the local boutiques and was soon lost in a sea of silk scarves when twenty minutes later her phone buzzed. The text from Sally confirmed a date with the photo less guy for Monday at 6 p.m.

  Cristina stormed out of the shop and click clacked quickly down the street, she needed to think. Oh my God, tomorrow! What was Sally up to? Okay, I 'll just text her back and cancel that. Is she completely nuts? I k
now I said I was ready to move on, but, come on, give me another week to get my head together, really. Anyway, I don't even know what this guy looks like. This is sheer madness. I must be more desperate than I thought to be going ahead with this.

  Ok calm down Cristina, be logical for a moment, if you can. I'll meet him as arranged. The cafe will be crowded. We'll get drinks, talk and then I'll leave. That'll be enough to prove to Sally that I'm serious. No need to tell her that I'm terrified at the prospect of meeting someone new. And afraid that if I do meet a good man I'll just blow it like I did with Greg. I can be such an idiot, such a complete idiot.

  I wonder what Greg is doing these days? Maybe I should call him to see how he is. It's been over two months since we last talked. Strange not talking to him anymore. I hope he's not, I mean, I wonder if he's met someone. Probably has. Girls always liked him. He's good looking, successful and a great guy. What girl wouldn't like him?

  Enough. Listen up Cristina. Greg is gone. It's over. Time to move on. Sally is right, it is time to move on and with a helpful push from her maybe I can meet someone new.

  Ok new plan. Meet that guy tomorrow for a quick date. Treat it as practice and aim to be out of that cafe within 40 minutes. Surely that's doable. Meet the guy, have a chat, make small talk for a while and thank him for the date. Easy. Say goodbye and promise to email him at the site. When I get back to him I'll say it was great meeting him but he's not my type.

  I can do that. (I think)

  * * *

  On Monday evening Cristina was gingerly rushing over cobble stones in her heels when her phone rang. "Are you there yet Cristina? Is he ok, need me to rescue you?" Sally asked.

  "Oh hi Sally, look I'm running late. I don't have time to talk. I was supposed to meet that guy at 6 and I'm already 15 minutes late. I'll call you later, ok?"