Quote:
Originally Posted by Soulman
Not to nitpick too much, but could you use a bit more paragraphs? Would make it easier to read imo. Still great stuff.
Sorry about that, I realise some of the paragraphs are quite bulky and perhaps I've been overly anxious to avoid breaking up the flow of each "scene". It was slightly disingenuous of me to announce that I'd finished writing the story, in actual fact I'd written the core of it but I've been editing and padding each chapter before posting and in some cases I've added so much that I ought to have used more paragraphs. Feedback taken on board!
Part Five: A hell of a show
It didn't take me long to get back to my old routine of snorting coke, starting fights, pulling girls and being generally obnoxious. Just over a week after leaving Joanne I found myself waking up one weekday morning with a headache from Hell and a black eye, which wasn't well received by my boss. When I wasn't out causing chaos I was in my bedroom playing poker and posting on the forum, I even added a few forumers on MSN Messenger and remember thinking to myself how pathetic it was that these people felt more like friends than the people I was spending my nights in the pub with. I realised I wasn't even enjoying going out, I was just doing it to escape from the cell that was my bedroom. Joanne had hardly made any attempt to beg for my forgiveness, for all I knew she could still be screwing that Mike bloke. I ought to have known she was unreliable, but I'd overlooked all the warning signs and focused on the positives. Now I was paying the price, and my world had come tumbling down around me again. I accepted that I'd been stupid, but I still felt like I was cursed and destined to never find true happiness.
The wonder of the internet meant I could be whoever I wanted to be. Right now I was a lonely divorcee, approaching his 33rd birthday and living with his parents in the aftermath of another calamitous relationship blowup, desperately attempting to convey a confident image in public by taking drugs and having sex with strangers. But on the poker forum I was a popular, witty guy called Steve who had a happy family life and was at least slightly knowledgeable about poker, and was happy to donate his time and even some of his money to help those less fortunate to improve their game. My online identity was the perfect vehicle for my desire to escape from the reality of my existence, and I did my best to maintain the image I'd created. I didn't even have much money, it was almost Christmas and my outgoings were crushing my income, but I still managed to casually throw the occasional $10 to a young, deserving poker wannabe.
I went out for my birthday in early December. Nothing special, just a few drinks in the pub with a view to heading into the city later. I was surprised to find Joanne in the pub when I arrived, she was perched on a bar stool with a female friend, chatting happily away to my old mate Jim and a few other guys I knew. She wished me happy birthday and bought me a drink, I wasn't inclined to argue with her and as the hours passed by we got along well. I felt quite uncomfortable with the way she flirted with my friends, but they all knew she was my ex and none of them would let it go anywhere. Plus she made it quite obvious that she was interested in me, dropping occasional suggestive comments into the conversation and even grabbing my backside as I bent over to take a shot at the pool table. We didn't leave the pub that night, nobody suggested heading into town and I was happy enough where I was. Most of the guys in the pub (myself included) would occasionally wander into the toilets for a cheeky line of coke, and Anna and her friend latched on to this and joined in. Her friend was quite attractive, and the single males in the group were all sniffing around her, but as the end of the night approached the two girls pulled an expert manoeuvre and exchanged a lingering kiss in full view of everyone. This provoked cheers from the remaining men, and when Joanne made eye contact with me and gestured for me to come over I could feel the jealousy piercing into the back of my head as I joined them at the bar.
"Have you worked out what your birthday present is yet?" Joanne asked with a faux-innocent smile. I grinned and looked at her, then at her friend who raised her eyebrows suggestively to indicate her approval. We finished our drinks and went back to Joanne's place.
The day after our threesome, Joanne assured me she'd ended it with Mike. She'd meant to end it sooner but she just found it difficult to refuse good, easy sex. Bizarrely, it was Joanne who was now dictating terms to me: she told me she loved me and was amazingly attracted to me, but if we were ever going to work as a couple we'd have to disregard some traditional conventions. It would be unhealthy for either of us to feel obliged to be faithful to the other, it would only work if we both respected each other's needs and no matter how good our own sex life was, there would be times where we'd both want to go with other people. She argued that this could work as long as we were honest with one another and didn't keep any secrets: If I found someone attractive and wanted to sleep with her, all I had to do was let Joanne know. I could even bring her home if I wanted. She'd let me know about anyone she decided to sleep with, again I'd be welcome to join in. We could even set each other up with people we knew. A relationship with no boundaries, and based on trust and openness. The main reason couples split up was because one of them got frustrated and resorted to cheating: we could remove that possibility from our relationship and could both do whatever we wanted. We had so much in common and it could be perfect if we were able to trust one another, this was the best possible solution.
I was secretly unsure how I'd react to the reality of all this, but it seemed worth a try. At the very least I'd get a ton of amazing sex and would have someone other than my parents or my deadbeat "friends" to spend my time with. I wasn't ready to move back in yet, but I agreed to gamble and give it another try. Joanne suggested we should spend Christmas together and re-affirm our commitment to each other, then if we still agreed on the open relationship idea in the new year we could get the ball rolling. She knew of at least one single mum at her kids' school who definitely had the hots for me, and was confident that I could easily get this woman round for sex. If she was ok with Joanne joining in, all the better. Despite my reservations I just couldn't bring myself to refuse this.