dating anyone special?” I asked after taking a
swig.
“ Not really. Nothing ever lasted because no woman I’ve met
could ever compare to you. You were the love of my life,
Ashly.”
Ignoring the
compliment and the disappointed look on his face, I asked, “Which
relationship lasted the longest? The curious side of me is dying to
know.”
“ Hmm. I dated this blonde nurse, Sherry, for about two years.
She didn’t trust me and didn’t give me one inch of freedom. After a
while, I got tired of her paranoia and accusations, so I called it
quits.”
“ My
mother never liked my boyfriends,” I said.
“ So
it wasn’t just me?”
“ No. She found something wrong with any boy who gave me the
time of day. Whenever things got serious, it only exacerbated my mother’s behavior. I sure remember what
a nutcase she could be about my love life.”
He nodded.
I continued, “I haven’t dated much
over the last couple of years. I guess I was too busy being
heartbroken and working and taking care of my dying mom.”
“ How’d you ever convince
her to let you go to fashion school?” he asked, having known my
mother well.
“ I told her if she didn’t
let me live my life dream, I was moving out. Then my dad threatened
to move out too. He was really fed up with her. She was so upset
about the possibility of losing both of us that she consented and
paid for me to go. I swear, that was the only time she ever let me
do what I wanted. She knew I was going to go, with or without her
consent, and then she would’ve lost total control of
me.”
“ Well, whatever the reason,
I’m glad she let you pursue your dream.”
“ I haven’t dated much at
all. My love life has been pretty much nonexistent. But I did date this guy named
Robert Matary once. He owned a successful chain of stores. We
lasted about two years. His company suddenly went bankrupt, and I
stood by him faithfully when they took the unexpected hit. Then one
day, out of the blue, he just dumped me without even giving me an
explanation.” I glanced down as tears glimmered in my eyes. “It
hurt like hell. All the other men in my life were sporadic, nothing
serious.”
Dumped . I’d
always hated that word, and I didn’t know how I’d ever overcome all
the rejection I’d been through. Because of it, my love life had
reached the point where it was virtually nonexistent. My
relationships never worked, no matter how hard I tried, so I’d just
been throwing myself into my work, trying to keep myself too busy
to feel the pain. I was pretty happy being a workaholic, and my
career flourished. I’d won awards and titles, and with the money
I’d earn by traveling with Jake, I would be able to keep my
boutique and eventually start my own fashion line. Nadia was always
trying to set me up with men, but I wanted to take a break from
relationships and pour all my time, energy, and focus into my
business. That was the only reason I was sitting at the bottom of
the Grand Canyon with Jake, because I needed the money for my
passion.
“ Isn’t it funny that after all these years, neither one of us
have ever found our soulmate?” Jake asked.
I took a long
drink of my beer. “I doubt I’ll ever find mine. When it comes to
the game of love, I’m not exactly an MVP. Heck, I’m lucky if I get
to sit on the bench.”
“ Hmm. Well, I’m not gonna give up on love that easily,” he
said.
“ Wow, Jake. A true romantic, aren’t ya?”
He shrugged,
blushed a little, then took another sip from his second
bottle.
“ I
hope you find the girl who’ll make all your dreams come
true.”
“ Maybe I’m sitting right next to her.”
I chuckled.
“How many beers have you had?”
“ I
miss this, our long talks. You’ve always been so easy to talk
to.”
“ Yeah,” I said, recalling those times when he was so willing to listen to me ramble on and on for hours
and hours about everything under the sun. Even when I bored him
with talk of fabric and color schemes, he
swig.
“ Not really. Nothing ever lasted because no woman I’ve met
could ever compare to you. You were the love of my life,
Ashly.”
Ignoring the
compliment and the disappointed look on his face, I asked, “Which
relationship lasted the longest? The curious side of me is dying to
know.”
“ Hmm. I dated this blonde nurse, Sherry, for about two years.
She didn’t trust me and didn’t give me one inch of freedom. After a
while, I got tired of her paranoia and accusations, so I called it
quits.”
“ My
mother never liked my boyfriends,” I said.
“ So
it wasn’t just me?”
“ No. She found something wrong with any boy who gave me the
time of day. Whenever things got serious, it only exacerbated my mother’s behavior. I sure remember what
a nutcase she could be about my love life.”
He nodded.
I continued, “I haven’t dated much
over the last couple of years. I guess I was too busy being
heartbroken and working and taking care of my dying mom.”
“ How’d you ever convince
her to let you go to fashion school?” he asked, having known my
mother well.
“ I told her if she didn’t
let me live my life dream, I was moving out. Then my dad threatened
to move out too. He was really fed up with her. She was so upset
about the possibility of losing both of us that she consented and
paid for me to go. I swear, that was the only time she ever let me
do what I wanted. She knew I was going to go, with or without her
consent, and then she would’ve lost total control of
me.”
“ Well, whatever the reason,
I’m glad she let you pursue your dream.”
“ I haven’t dated much at
all. My love life has been pretty much nonexistent. But I did date this guy named
Robert Matary once. He owned a successful chain of stores. We
lasted about two years. His company suddenly went bankrupt, and I
stood by him faithfully when they took the unexpected hit. Then one
day, out of the blue, he just dumped me without even giving me an
explanation.” I glanced down as tears glimmered in my eyes. “It
hurt like hell. All the other men in my life were sporadic, nothing
serious.”
Dumped . I’d
always hated that word, and I didn’t know how I’d ever overcome all
the rejection I’d been through. Because of it, my love life had
reached the point where it was virtually nonexistent. My
relationships never worked, no matter how hard I tried, so I’d just
been throwing myself into my work, trying to keep myself too busy
to feel the pain. I was pretty happy being a workaholic, and my
career flourished. I’d won awards and titles, and with the money
I’d earn by traveling with Jake, I would be able to keep my
boutique and eventually start my own fashion line. Nadia was always
trying to set me up with men, but I wanted to take a break from
relationships and pour all my time, energy, and focus into my
business. That was the only reason I was sitting at the bottom of
the Grand Canyon with Jake, because I needed the money for my
passion.
“ Isn’t it funny that after all these years, neither one of us
have ever found our soulmate?” Jake asked.
I took a long
drink of my beer. “I doubt I’ll ever find mine. When it comes to
the game of love, I’m not exactly an MVP. Heck, I’m lucky if I get
to sit on the bench.”
“ Hmm. Well, I’m not gonna give up on love that easily,” he
said.
“ Wow, Jake. A true romantic, aren’t ya?”
He shrugged,
blushed a little, then took another sip from his second
bottle.
“ I
hope you find the girl who’ll make all your dreams come
true.”
“ Maybe I’m sitting right next to her.”
I chuckled.
“How many beers have you had?”
“ I
miss this, our long talks. You’ve always been so easy to talk
to.”
“ Yeah,” I said, recalling those times when he was so willing to listen to me ramble on and on for hours
and hours about everything under the sun. Even when I bored him
with talk of fabric and color schemes, he
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