Missing the Rebound

Story Submitted by Erron:

Charlie and I met at a bar down the street from where I live. He was a handsome barfly who helped me drag a drunken friend to my house one night. He stayed for an hour or so before walking home. After I pretty much threw myself at him, he declined and told me about his ex-girlfriend, Patty, who had just left him.

I started hanging out at the bar and ended up becoming good friends with Charlie. I was a little surprised when he asked me out to dinner one night, but I liked him.  We went to dinner a few times, but mostly just got wasted at the bar together.  He inevitably ended up talking about Patty, so things never went much beyond flirting. He told me that they lived together in a tiny studio cabin for a few years, she was a stripper, had a meth habit and stole from him. Then she left him to be with a woman.

I tried to give my best advice and be sympathetic, hoping he’d move past this so that we could get on with it. I even went to his house at 3am one night and left a copy of one of my favorite comic books along with some chocolate and a card on his stoop, after he drunk dialed me and sounded on the verge of offing himself.

He came over almost every day because he couldn’t stand being home alone, and even stayed over a few times. We never had sex because he almost always whined about his ex, and I wasn't about to sleep with a guy in those circumstances.

So why was I hanging on to such a devastated guy?  Good question. All I can say in my defense is he was a pretty cool guy when he wasn’t being Debbie Downer.

Cut to a few weeks later. No Charlie for three days. He didn't return my calls, and he didn't show up at the bar.  No one had seen him. I started to really worry and on the fourth day I called his house again to leave another message saying as much.

The answering machine picked up.  It said, "You’ve reached the home of Charlie and Laura. Leave a message, or not!"

So apparently in those three days, he had met another woman and had already moved her in to his place! He never called me and stopped hanging out at the bar.

I still see him around our small town sometimes, but he just gives me a puppy dog look and never comes over to talk to me. I like to pretend that I don’t know him.