A week goes by

Week 2. Monday

Troy always gets bored with his dates, sooner or later.

You remember seeing him strut around campus with a new girl on his arm almost every week. You couldn't even imagine where he found them all.

You weren't exactly celibate in your formative years. Not by choice, anyway. Well, you were exactly celibate in your formative years. But you tried not to be. It seemed like every single time a girl gave you the time of day back then that she'd end up ghosting you after a day or two. You have no idea where you kept going wrong.

Inevitably, eventually, you would see each of those girls taking their turns hanging off of Troy's arm around campus, focusing their eyes on his and smiling at his every word. You guess he hung out in the same places you did, really; after all, you were both young men in your twenties who shared the same interests all young men in their twenties share.

But for some reason, Troy always seemed to end up on top. Time and time again, you'd see him walking around campus with a date by his side. You'd swear that half of the time, they'd be laughing and chatting as if they were in on an inside joke at the expense of the whole world. Sometimes, when he had one of your interests in tow, you could have sworn that you'd catch her glancing in your direction from time to time as if the joke was on you.

Even then, you knew that was nothing but the inevitable paranoia of a spurned, horny young man. Now that you think about it, looking back, it was so pathetic of you to try to blame Troy for the girls ghosting you. Yes, he has your ex-girlfriend now, but, do you really think he spent his time in college running behind your back taking each and every girl who showed even the anyway interest in you? Of course not; Troy was and is a winner and you were and are a loser. What happened then was just the inevitable consequence of the man you weren't.

Carrie was such a gift. You always went for the "plain" or "normal" girls; you tried to stay in your lane. There is nothing plain or normal about Carrie. You remember how she stood framed in Troy's front door looking like she'd just stepped off a modeling runway. You had never deserved Carrie. You don't even know what she saw in you the first time you two stumbled into your apartment together, tearing at each other's clothes, making out in each other's arms as you giggled your way to your room. You can't imagine that your roommate had gotten any sleep that night; Carrie was a loud, enthusiastic, orgasmic, drop-dead gorgeous lover. She had come back the next night, and the week after, and she had ALWAYS returned your texts and answered your calls.

Until now? It has been a week. A full week! You haven't been away from Carrie for more than two days in the last several months!

She hasn't called, texted, or dropped by. You haven't seen her around town (not that you're particularly motivated to go out very much.) You go to work every day, come home, eat, sleep, and repeat the process the next day.

Troy ALWAYS got bored with them eventually. Most didn't last more than a week. You can do this.

Week 2. Tuesday, 5:30pm

The day after Carrie and Troy's one week anniversary, your roommate asked you about her.

"What happened to Carrie? She hasn't been around for a while. I miss the food."

I'll bet that's not all you miss, asshole.

Dave had always been a bit of a lech when it came to Carrie. She was certain that he'd spent more than a little time trying to catch a peek at her in compromised situations. She even suspected that he had surreptitiously taken more than a few pictures of her with his phone from time to time.