Close Encounters of the Weird Kind

After splitting with my wife of 35 years, I was suddenly living alone.  My first impulse was to go out, see my friends and pound down some drinks. Since I’m not inclined to dwell on negative thoughts, my new pastime had great appeal.  Indeed, I had no responsibilities outside of work and I was living in a downtown hotel within walking distance of a variety of bars and restaurants. At some moments, my newly found freedom was exhilarating.

To be sure, I felt awful about the demise of my marriage.  Every night, I had to face my empty room and the unwelcome thoughts about what had happened to our relationship. The endless mental playback of my marriage was overwhelming and the uncertainty about my future was scary.

Although I was not actively “looking”, the bar scene provided some interesting encounters. One night, I was sitting at a bar reading a newspaper, hardly a tactic to attract women.  I felt someone rubbing my shoulders and turned around to see a good looking woman who looked to be around 35.  It was startling, to say the least, to be massaged by a woman with whom I had never made eye contact. 

After exchanging hellos and the basic information, I learned that Sylvia was with a group of women who were going to a Huey Lewis concert. Despite her questionable taste in music, I enjoyed the attention. But, when she got up to leave for the concert, she asked if I would pick up her and her friends’ bar tab. Not being a total rookie, I suggested, instead, that I would buy her (and her friends) a drink the next evening.  Her response was ego deflating, “Hey guy, you’re looking for love in all the wrong places.”

While I felt the sting of her rebuke, I was also a little amused and puzzled, since I really wasn’t “looking for love” while reading the newspaper and I wasn’t the one who was rubbing a stranger’s shoulders.           

© Lumdog2013

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I am submitting this for the Week 64 Trifecta Writing Challenge where we are to write between 33-333 words, using the word “dwell” in the context of keeping one’s attention directed on someone or something.

This is part of a larger piece that I adapted for the prompt.

 

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