Ending 1: Single Again

All Good Things Come To An End

The bartender gives you a questioning look as he refills your drink. You’re not surprised: the dark glasses, the muffler over your mouth and the cap you’re wearing, in spite the warmth inside the bar, makes it obvious you do not want to be recognized.

Once he moves on to the next customer, your eyes swivel back to the couple at the far end of the bar. They are talking animatedly, laughing and flirting with each other, while occasionally exchanging kisses. You sit too far away to make out their conversation but the look on Karen’s happy face deepens the leaden feeling in the pit of your stomach. It was a look you had seen many times when you two had been together: she was in love with the man in front of her. You watch as Robert casually bops her nose with his finger and the two of them break out into childish giggles.

You sit in torment as you continue to watch them. A part of you wants to walk up to them, sock Robert in the jaw, and give Karen a piece of your mind. Another part just wants you to go to her and beg her to return back to you. As the evening progresses, the leaden pit in your stomach grows and your head throbs in a mix of unhappiness, remorse and anger. You were at least five drinks down and the **** had not helped your mood one bit.

They get up and you quickly glance away, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. They move past you as they leave the bar, too engrossed in each other to pay any attention to the rest of the crowd. You hear a pleading tone in Robert’s voice to which Karen replies, “No! Not one more, mister! You have to drive and I have a long day tomorrow. You can have one more back at home.” The door closes and cuts off the rest of the conversation. We used to be like that once, you remember and your head gives a painful throb of agreement. You leave your payment on the counter and discreetly follow them outside.

It was two days after she moved out that it hit you what an idiot you had been. You had been so caught up in self-righteous anger that you hadn’t noticed how empty you felt, like a part of you had been carved out. You began to remember how much she had loved you and how much she had begged and tried to prove her fidelity to you. You realized that her past, uncomfortable as it was to you, had nothing to do with her feelings for you. Instead of working it out with her, you had pushed her away and now she was really gone.

You spent the rest of the day getting drunk as you tried to get in contact with her again. None of her friends would tell you where she was, if they even deigned to speak to you, and Sarah was ignoring your calls on Skype before she blocked you. Her work merely said that she was on leave and hinted that there would be legal consequences if you kept pestering them. It was like she just vanished out of your life.

It was later that you discovered she had taken an extended leave of absence and gone to stay with Jakob and Sarah. Let the whore hang out with her whore friends, you had thought petulantly. You tried to reconnect with Kate, but she shied away from you. You could see in her eyes that she feared being a rebound from Karen. A few weeks later, she was dating someone else.

**** to fill up the emptiness in your life, you started hanging out more with Robert. But, to the great tragedy for all the single women in your office, he switched jobs and became more distant. One night, a few days after what would have been your one year anniversary with Karen, you made your way to his apartment, **** for some company to forget about her.

“Hey Mark”, Robert said, surprised and a little uncomfortable, “I wasn’t expecting you tonight.”

“Yeah, sorry I’m crashing by,” you reply. “It’s just so hard to get hold of you nowadays.”

“Yeah, well..,” he avoids your eyes. “I kinda have a guest coming over.”

“Oh?” you grin at him, understanding his behavior. “Well, well. How long has this romance been going on? And who’s the lucky girl? Someone from work?”

As Robert stutters uncharacteristically in his replies, your eyes roam over the apartment and you see the signs of his new girlfriend: a cutesy pink stuffed toy at the corner of the window, a purple overnight bag that definitely was not Robert’s. Guess they’re already at the spending weekends together phase, you think to yourself. Your gaze moves to his shoe rack and you notice the pair of heels... and time just stops for you with the thud of your heart being the only sound you hear.

A month after Karen and you started dating, she had taken you shoe shopping. You were enjoying yourself immensely as Karen posed in a variety of sexy shoes and heels for your benefit while you enjoyed the thrill of putting them on and taking them off her feet. Every now and then, you would kiss her feet when no one was looking, reveling in the public display of your foot fetish.

Finally she found an exquisite pair of heels: four inches, strappy but perfectly outlining her foot, and sexily displaying her lovely toes. Your cock tents noticeably under your pants and she giggles seductively, cat walking proudly around you. Unable to help yourself, you get on your knees and kiss her toes. She indulges you for a while and then gently shoves you away with her heeled foot.

“Guess I have to buy them now,” she had said. “Well every girl should have a pair of fuck-me heels anyway.”

You nodded in assent, your throat dry and your cock throbbing. She giggles at how horny you are. “Well lover, since you worshiped me so beautifully” she whispers. “I’ll make you a promise. If I wear this on a date, you can take me home and use me any way you like. Happy?” And she had kept her promise.

Those were Karen’s heels.

You meet Robert’s eyes and you can see that he knows you know. Your hands ball up automatically into fists but before you can do anything, he just says, “Don’t even think about it.”

His tone stops you and you remember the difference in your physiques. You were reasonably fit, but Robert took his body fitness very seriously. Angry or not, a fight would never go your way.

“For the record,” he continues, “I did have a crush on her for the longest time. But I only ever asked her out a month ago. So don’t even think I had anything to do with your breakup.”

“Did she tell you about her college activities?” you spit out.

He gives a short bark of laughter. “Mark, who’re you talking to? I used to be just like her.” He was right. Robert had a bit of an asshole jock-frat boy attitude in college when it came to women. His longest relationship had been for a month. He had matured significantly only after he started working. “But for the record, yeah she told me. She also told me how you treated her.” He moves up to you, his eyes boring into yours, and his voice takes a more menacing tone. “Karen’s coming here soon and the last thing I want is for her evening to be ruined by the man who broke her heart. I want you to leave now.”

You turn around without a word and leave the apartment. As you walk down the stairs, you look back up and see Robert looking down at you, his eyes full of sadness. “I hope you WHORES LIVE HAPPILY TOGETHER,” you scream at him angrily. You hear whispering and movement as the other tenants stick their heads out at the commotion, but Robert doesn’t react; his sad expression never leaving his face.

You quietly make your way to the parking lot, heading towards the dumpsters where a line of shrubs hides you from the rest of the lot. You glance over the plants and duck down immediately: they’re parked right next to you on the other side of the hedge. It was lucky that they were kissing each other, or else you would have been seen.

The sounds of them kissing drift towards you. Suddenly Robert cuts in, “Karen! How the hell am I going to drive with a hard on? You’re such a naughty tease.” Karen’s laugh follows his voice as she teases him, “Sorry baby. The booze is making me horny and your cock is so tempting.”

You should leave. You do not want to be listening to this. But you cannot make yourself move. It had been so long since you heard her voice. She was right there, just next to you, almost touching distance. All these days of missing her, following Robert, spying on their dates from across the street, and she was finally close enough for you to smell her perfume.

“If you’re horny, why don’t you think of Christopher’s cock while we get home?”

“Umm, now that’s a nice thought.” A pause, then. “I’m glad you’re not jealous about my past.”

“After all the stuff I’ve done?” Robert replies, laughing. “I’m not a hypocrite, love. Though, I will admit that I’m a little jealous. You got to have waaay more fun than me because you are a girl. I would have gotten so much more action if I had your sexy boobs. This is gender discrimination, that’s what it is.”

Karen squeals in laughter. “Not my fault guys are so much easier to bed. Aww don’t be sad. Let me make up for it.” You hear the sound of a zipper opening and Robert’s shocked response, “Karen! People can see us.”

“Darling, the lot’s deserted. And if someone did walk by, they’ll see what a good girlfriend you have.” Her voice becomes whispery, seductive. “You did say it was difficult to drive with an erection. Just keep your eye on the lot.”

You hear Robert gasp and then go, “Oh fuck! Oh fuck! God, why is your mouth so amazing?” It is then that you notice your vision is blurry and raise a hand to your eyes. You don’t even know how long you had been crying.

You hunch low and wrap your arms around your knees, sobbing quietly, as Robert’s moans mingle with the cool wind rattling the empty dumpsters.