Point, Click, Love

by Molly Shapiro

  “Well, I don’t know if it can compete with New York restaurants, but it’s good for Kansas City.”

  Any other time, Annie would have let the conversation stop at that, fearing that she’d be overstaying her welcome. But this time, that was not an option. She had to push forward. This could be her last chance.

  “Believe me, there are plenty of bad New York restaurants,” she said knowingly.

  “Hmmm. I don’t know about that. Every restaurant I’ve ever been to in New York has been pretty amazing.”

  “So, you know New York?”

  “Yes, I do!” Marcus said playfully.

  “I’m sorry,” said Annie, fearing she sounded too surprised.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I should disclose that I’m a New Yorker.”

  Marcus’s face lit up, and Annie could tell she had struck gold.

  “Which part?” asked Marcus.

  “I grew up on the Upper West Side.”

  “That’s awesome,” he said. “I spent a summer living on Amsterdam, right by Barney Greengrass.”

  “The Sturgeon King!” shouted Annie.

  “I loved the sable,” said Marcus.

  “Oh, my God! The sable! Was that not incredible?”

  “I’d go there every Sunday for brunch.”

  “Me too! With my family. But that was … years ago.” For a moment, the thrill of finding someone at a random coffee shop in Kansas City who shared her love for an obscure Jewish delicacy that originated on the Lower East Side made Annie forget about her single-minded mission and just enjoy the happy coincidence.

  “Actually, I kind of used the place as a litmus test for girlfriends,” said Marcus. “If I brought her there and she didn’t eat the smoked fish—ordered only the potato latkes or something—that would be it.”

  “Ouch. You’re tough.”

  “Got to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

  “Or the fish from the latkes, as it were.”

  “As it always has been,” said Marcus.

  “You probably shouldn’t try that with Kansas City girls,” said Annie. “Else you’ll be a lonely man.”

  “I know. I’ve got a whole other criteria now that I’m back here.”

  “Oh, yeah? What is it?”

  “Well, let’s say if they’d rather go to the Olive Garden than to Bryant’s barbecue, we’ve got a problem.”

  Annie smiled. “Funny you should say that. I was just at the Olive Garden.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Long story.”

  “I got time,” said Marcus, holding up his watch.

  “Do you?” asked Annie. “You seem like a guy who’s got places to go.”

  “Yeah, I guess I do.”

  “Like?”

  “I’m working on my MBA over at UMKC.”

  “Nice.”

  “And you?”

  Annie hesitated. She hadn’t really planned out what she would say about herself, whether she would make up an elaborate lie to better her chances at getting what she wanted or simply tell the truth. She decided she would have to go with the truth. “I work for Sprint.”

  “Huh. I never would have guessed. You don’t come off like the corporate type.”

  “I guess that’s a good thing. But, hey, you’ll probably be begging me for a job someday.”

  “Maybe, but I’m more the entrepreneurial type,” said Marcus.

  “Okay, so I’ll be begging you for a job.”

  “I think I’d have to give you one,” he said with a smile. “You live in the neighborhood?”

  “No, I live out by the office. But I try to get down here as much as I can.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before,” said Marcus.

  “I just discovered this place.” That was close, thought Annie to herself. Keep on your toes—don’t get too comfortable.

  “My name is Marcus, by the way,” he said, and he held out his hand.

  “I’m Annie,” she said, giving his hand a firm shake. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Yeah,” said Marcus, more to himself than to Annie. “Very nice.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Whenever Katie came over to Annie’s house and walked through the cavernous entryway, saw the gigantic living room, and sat in her gourmet kitchen, she felt a little funny. How odd it was that this single, childless woman would have such a huge house, that a woman who’d never picked up a golf club in her life lived on a golf course, and that her uncultivated backyard was big enough for a jungle gym, a trampoline, and a swimming pool. She often imagined herself living there with Frank and Maggie, how they would have a playroom down in the basement, their own bathrooms, and even a special computer room. Katie had always been happy with her small house, had never wanted any more, but somehow seeing her friend with all this space made her feel jealous.

  Of course, there was the added problem that Katie had just lost her job and was worried that she might not be able to pay her mortgage next month. She told herself to stop blaming her well-to-do friends for her own misfortune.

  “So how’s it going?” asked Annie, as she took a pile of fluffy towels out of the industrial-sized dryer located right off the kitchen. Katie admired its shiny navy-blue surface and thought how nice it would be if she didn’t have to trudge down her basement stairs every time she did a load.

  “Okay,” answered Katie. She wasn’t quite ready to tell anyone about being laid off. “Where’s Claudia?”

  “She called and said she wasn’t coming,” said Annie. “Said she wasn’t feeling well. I could tell she was bullshitting, so I told her to get her ass over here.”

  “Is she?”

  “I guess so. She’s been acting really weird lately. She hasn’t shown up for work for days. I’m afraid my boss might tell me to find a new PR firm.”

  “Maybe you should tell her,” said Katie.

  “I have. Doesn’t seem to get through. Something’s wrong.” Annie took a bottle of white wine and a platter of fruit and cheese out of the refrigerator and brought it over to Katie, who was sitting on a couch in front of the kitchen’s big stone fireplace. “Have you heard anything from Maxine?”

  “Not a peep. I called her once but never heard back. I guess she’s busy.” Katie was actually hurt by Maxine’s silence. The two had never gone this long without talking, and Katie was surprised that Maxine didn’t want to share her experiences in L.A. with her.

  Katie looked down at the coffee table, where last Sunday’s New York Times was spread out. She noticed an article about online dating on the cover of the magazine. “Have you read that yet?”

  “Oh, yeah. It’s incredible!” said Annie. “It’s all about women finding sugar daddies online. You should totally take it and read it.”

  “Okay,” said Katie, picking it up and sticking it in her purse.

  “I mean, if you’re going to the trouble of dating some knucklehead, he might as well be rich, right?”

  Katie and Annie both turned toward the front door when they heard Claudia walk in.

  “Hey, Claudia!” said Annie.

  “Hey,” Claudia said weakly. She shuffled over to the couch and plopped herself down next to Katie. Her face was pale, her eyes were puffy, and she was wearing an old gray sweat outfit that looked to be from her college days.

  “Claudia, what’s up?” asked Katie.

  “Nothing,” said Claudia.

  “It’s not nothing,” said Annie. “Something’s up. Why haven’t you been at work? Have you been sick?”

  “No, I’m not sick,” said Claudia.

  “Well, then, what is it? We want to help you.”

  “There’s nothing you can do,” said Claudia.

  Katie and Annie sat and looked at her with concern, waiting for her to talk. Finally, Claudia burst into tears.

  “I don’t know, you guys,” she sobbed, as both Annie and Katie held her shaking shoulders.

  “What is it?” Annie asked.

 
Claudia let out a few more sobs, blew her nose in a napkin, and tried her best to compose herself. “Okay. So. I had an affair.”

  Annie and Katie looked at each other, eyes wide in amazement.

  “It was with a guy at work. I know it’s wrong. I don’t want to talk about that. I was … I … I think I was really in love with him. I know that sounds stupid, and you’re probably thinking I’m crazy and of course I wasn’t in love, I only wanted to do it to get away from Steve, but, honestly, I think I was in love and, you know, I don’t care if anyone believes me or not because it just doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “Of course it matters,” said Katie. “If you’re in love you need to be together.”

  “No, because he doesn’t want to be with me. He said I’m a cheater and he doesn’t want to be with a cheater.”

  Annie gave Katie a confused look. “Well … um, so is he.”

  “Yeah, but he wasn’t married, and he didn’t know what he was getting into, and blah, blah, blah. Bottom line, he doesn’t want to be with me anymore.”

  “Okay,” said Katie. “So now what? What about Steve?”

  “I haven’t told Steve, but what I did do was accidentally post the fact that I had an affair on Facebook—”

  “Huh?” said Annie.

  “I was writing someone and didn’t realize I was posting to the general public and it just so happened that Marjorie Gooding saw it and told me I should take it down and she’s really good friends with Steve or maybe even his lover for all I know—”

  “Huh?” said Annie.

  “I’m sure she’s told him but he hasn’t said anything so I just don’t know.”

  “Oh, my God,” said Katie.

  “Yeah, oh, my God,” said Claudia.

  “Do you want to end it with Steve?” asked Annie.

  “I don’t know,” said Claudia. “But I know that I don’t want my marriage to be over because I don’t know how to use Facebook!”

  “Who’s this Marjorie chick and why do you think she’s Steve’s lover?” asked Katie.

  “She’s his little Facebook friend, and I think they started meeting in real life too.”

  “Facebook is evil,” said Annie.

  “I’ve been saying that since day one and nobody listens to me,” said Claudia. “People aren’t supposed to have all that information about you. You’re not supposed to be in constant contact with five hundred of your closest friends. We shouldn’t be able to look up our high school sweetheart and reconnect and try to relive the past. It’s not natural. Facebook makes people do weird things.”

  “Or maybe it hastens the inevitable,” said Katie quietly, gently massaging Claudia’s back.

  This brought Claudia to tears once again.

  “I’m sorry, Claudia,” said Katie. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “No, it’s okay,” said Claudia. “You’re probably right. Listen, can we stop talking about this now? Please? Just give me a glass of that wine and let’s talk about something else.”

  Annie poured some wine for Claudia, and the three sat in silence.

  “Okay, so I have something,” said Annie, and the other two perked up excitedly.

  “Oh, good, tell!” said Katie.

  “Well, remember Rick? The mystery donor?”

  “Oh, yeah!” said Claudia. She was glad she came. It felt good to get everything out, and now it felt good to leave it behind and hear about somebody else’s life.

  “I found out his name.”

  “Really?” said Katie. “How?”

  “The receptionist at the sperm bank. Anyway, long story short, I met him at a coffee shop.”

  “Did you ask for his sperm?” said Claudia.

  “No, haven’t gotten around to that yet. But, you guys, he’s incredible. Really. Just beautiful! And super charming and funny and nice. I like him a lot!”

  “Like him like him?” asked Katie.

  “No! I mean, I want him to be the father of my baby, that’s all.”

  “Oh, right, that’s all,” said Claudia.

  “We exchanged info, and I think he likes me too, you know, as a friend. We’re going to check out this Russian deli that sells smoked fish this weekend.”

  “An obvious second date,” said Katie.

  “So how do you plan on going from salmon to sperm?” asked Claudia.

  “I don’t know. I figure if we can establish a friendship, maybe I can just come out and ask him for some.”

  “Stranger things have happened,” said Katie. “I think.”

  “All right, enough about me,” said Annie. “Your turn, Katie. What’s up with the online dating thing?”

  “It’s okay,” said Katie.

  “Okay?” said Claudia. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

  But Katie wasn’t sure she could do better than that. How could she tell them about Dave? About Henry? What would they think of her?

  “Well, I’ve been dating this guy. Cute, fun, sweet. My age, this time.” It was weird to think of Dave as her age. Yes, he was only two years younger, but he seemed to Katie to be of another generation.

  “That’s great!” said Annie.

  “Then I started seeing his friend.”

  “Huh?” said Claudia.

  “It’s like, Dave, the guy, hangs out all the time at Mike’s Pub. So I got to know all his friends. And one of his friends, Henry, starts hitting on me. And I’m all freaked out, and I tell Dave, and he tells me, ‘Hey, go ahead and see him.’ It’s, like, that’s what they do—share.”

  “Share?” asked Annie.

  “The friends, all of them have dated each other, sometimes at the same time. So I figured, what the hell? It was starting to get kind of heavy with Dave, and I just didn’t want to get all caught up in him, you know? I thought if I started seeing Henry too it would keep things light and casual. Do you think I’m a total slut?”

  “Do I think you’re a slut?” said Claudia. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I don’t think you’re a slut either!” said Annie. “Look, guys do it all the time and nobody calls them sluts. What’s wrong with it? You got their permission.”

  “Permission? They practically begged me to do it!”

  “There you go!” said Claudia. “So it’s good for everyone.”

  “It all sounds good, but I have to tell you, it feels kind of weird,” said Katie. “I know guys do it and don’t think twice. In fact, they probably love it. But, for me, it’s kind of hard.”

  “That totally makes sense,” said Annie. “But maybe it’s good for you. Maybe you need to learn how to look at relationships differently. Not get too attached. Focus on getting what you need from a man.”

  “You sure do know what you need, Annie,” said Claudia.

  “Yeah, I know what I need,” said Annie. “Now I just have to figure out how to get him to give it to me.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Annie’s words kept replaying in Katie’s head: “Focus on getting what you need.” But Katie still wasn’t sure what she needed. Months ago, she’d thought what she needed from a man was easy, fun sex. But now that she was getting it—from two different guys—she wasn’t so sure. She actually thought all that sex was exactly what had gotten her into this mess.

  Her boss told her she wasn’t being fired because of anything she did, but Katie was convinced that all those hours of dating and drinking had led her to losing her job. And what about her kids? They felt neglected, and they were right. Katie had been busy and distracted and pushed them off on Rob as much as she could. No, Katie concluded, all this great sex was not what she needed.

  Then what did she need?

  The first thing she needed was a new job, so Katie threw herself into a search. She blasted her résumé to every bank in town, answered ads for administrative assistants and receptionists, and joined every business networking site she could find. But after a couple of weeks of searching without a single response, she was worried.

  Ever since the divorce,
Katie had struggled to make ends meet. She’d never had the chance to build up any savings, either for retirement or for the kids’ education. She lived from paycheck to paycheck, with Rob’s meager child-support payment providing only a modicum of relief. She thought about going to her parents for help, but her dad was retired and they had already been helping out her brother and sister for years. The last thing she wanted to do was add to their burden.

  Katie prided herself on her independence. She knew she would find a way.

  Then she thought of the Times article she had taken from Annie, which was sitting on her nightstand. So she plopped down on her bed and began to read about SeekingArrangement.com, where young pretty women hooked up with rich older men.

  “We stress relationships that are mutually beneficial,” the website’s founder said. “We ask people to really think about what they want in a relationship and what they have to offer. That kind of up-front honesty is a good basis for any relationship.”

  Yes! thought Katie. Wasn’t that exactly what she’d been trying to do all these months—think about what she wanted from a relationship?

  Sure, the site had plenty of gold diggers and ditsy young things who only wanted a taste of the good life, but there were also a lot of intelligent young women trying to finish school or get through a rough patch, women who found older, wiser, wealthier men and established a meaningful—mutually beneficial—relationship with them.

  Some of the men were married, but some of them weren’t. Some of them provided monthly allowances of thousands of dollars, and some offered pocket change. Some wanted busty blond bimbos, while some wanted smart, attractive, independent women.

  But was it wrong? wondered Katie. Was it just a flimsy disguise for prostitution?

  The article quoted a history professor, who pointed out that, since the early 1900s, dating involved boys paying for “meals, entertainment, and transportation, and, in return, girls were to provide well-groomed company, rapt attention, and at least a certain amount of physical affection.” According to her, SeekingArrangment.com was “a piece of contemporary society. It’s simply more explicit and transparent about the bargains struck in the traditional model of dating.”