Page 45 of Somebody To Love

I slowly met him halfway. To my surprise, he didn’t keep his distance, instead he reached out and kissed my cheek.

“What a pleasant surprise. If I had known you were into art, I would have invited you to be my date.”

I smiled tightly, it was nice to see him, but I was expecting my date at any minute and Ty was here. Things were not going to plan. I didn’t want them all to know that I was seeing other people. I’m sure Jean-Bernard knew, but this was still super awkward.

Over his shoulder, I could see Ty approaching. Why was I running around and hiding the fact I was dating other people when clearly what had happened between me and Ty had just been a one-night stand? It had meant nothing to him so it was time that I followed suit. I hooked my arm around Jean-Bernard’s and said, “How about you give me a tour?”

He smiled down at me. “How about I introduce you to one of the artists?”

“That would be great.”

I didn’t bother to search for my date. Clearly, my date wasn’t going to show up. Jean-Bernard was here. And I was determined to have a good evening.

An hour later, I sat next to Jean-Bernard as he joked with his friends. His friends were clearly the elite of the city. I had met a high-powered doctor who collected rare artifacts and angered his neighbors by keeping the artifacts on display in his front lawn for people to take pictures of. I had met an actress who had been super popular in the early 2000s and was now a major benefactor in the arts. And I had met a child prodigy who was renowned the world over for his expertise in microbiology. They were all very nice and genuinely friendly people, but I wanted to get out of there. I wasn’t having a good time.

I had spent the better part of my night ignoring Ty. He always seemed to be lurking around, but he hadn’t approached me again. When he would come close, I would excuse myself and disappear into the ladies’ room until I thought for sure he was gone. And when I wasn’t hiding, I was glued to Jean Bernard’s side. I felt like a groupie, but I was doing my best just to get through the night and keep my emotions under control. Jean-Bernard was making it easy for me though. He really was a great conversationalist. He was sexy, rich; everything a woman could want. But the truth was, I barely paid any attention to him. I was only sticking to him like glue in order to avoid talking to Ty. I was using him and I felt terrible about that.

What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I just be an adult and behave like one? Why was I hiding?

“What do you think, Piper?” asked the child prodigy, pulling me away from my thoughts.

“Hmmm?” I said, realizing that all the others were looking at me. Uh-oh. What were we talking about? I thought about bluffing, but I figured I might as well spare myself the humiliation and admit that I hadn’t been listening. “I’m sorry, can you repeat what you said? I’ve had a long day and so my attention span is suffering because of it.”

He smiled at me kindly and said, “That’s ok. I was asking if you think this building is an improvement over the other one. It’s beautiful and all, but a lot less intimate than the original design.”

I didn’t want to admit that I had never visited an art museum in my life, so I said, “This design is beautiful, but I think the space could have been used more creatively to foster a sense of intimacy.”

He and the others nodded in agreement and I sighed under my breath. Great. I had dodged that bullet. And sitting there next to Jean-Bernard and all his friends made me feel like an imposter. This just wasn’t me. Even if I hadn’t spent the evening dodging Ty, I wouldn’t have had a good time no matter how hard I tried. Jean-Bernard’s life was probably full of evenings like this. Evenings where I would feel like the odd-man, or odd-woman out because our interests were so different. We were too different. I liked Jean-Bernard but I didn’t think my feelings for him would grow beyond that. It was time to tell Sylvia that things between me and Jean-Bernard were not going to work out. I felt terrible. Jean-Bernard was a nice guy, just apparently not the right one for me. But it would be ok... for him at least. I’m sure he would find what he was looking for with someone else. As I thought about how I felt about Ty, I didn’t think things would be as simple for me.

I placed a hand over Jean-Bernard’s and he stopped mid-conversation and turned to look at me. I gave him a soft smile. “I think I’m going to head out. Want to walk me to my car?”

“Sure,” he said. I said my goodbyes to his friends and then stood up.

He took my hand and I couldn’t help but feel terrible that things hadn’t worked out between me and him. As we exited the museum, I noticed the crowd had considerably thinned. I surreptitiously looked around, hoping that Ty had also gone. The last thing I needed was for him to witness me sort-of-kind-of dumping Jean-Bernard.

“Thanks for being my unofficial date for the evening,” Jean-Bernard said, taking both my hands and placing a chaste kiss on the back of them. He lowered my hands and smiled at me, before leaning in to kiss me. I pulled away and he looked at me curiously. “Is something wrong?”

I nodded and looked away, feeling horrible for what I was about to say. “Jean-Bernard, I don’t think—I—”

“Shh,” he said letting go of my hands and giving me a regretful smile. “You don’t have to say it. I guess we’re not a match after all.” His voice sounded disappointed and I instantly felt like crap. I didn’t break up with guys. They normally broke up with me. This was new territory.

“It’s not that.”

He shrugged and gave me another regretful smile as he slowly shook his head. “I just hope you find what you’re looking for, Piper. Actually, I just hope you know what you’re looking for.”

He turned away from me and walked away silently.

Feeling like I was ready to cry, I signaled for the valet to get my car. Within minutes, he pulled up and placed the car in park. I paid the valet, reached for the handle of the door, and paused. I knew what I was waiting for. I was hoping that a certain someone would stop me. That someone was Ty. But he wasn’t there. And I figured he probably wouldn’t stop me now anyway. I’d made a mess of everything and I just wanted all my problems to go away.

As I drove home, all I could think of was what Jean-Bernard had said. Maybe he was right. Maybe I didn’t know what I wanted. Maybe that’s why I chose all the wrong men. Or maybe that was my problem. I always let the man choose me, but I never chose the man. I dated whomever was even remotely interested in me. I gave everyone a chance, especially the low-lifes, the men without real jobs, ambition, or morals, apparently. I always told myself it was because I liked to date men who were unique and thought outside the box, but maybe I just liked dating the rejects because then maybe they wouldn’t reject me. I didn’t know what my problem was. I just knew I had issues. And maybe I needed to solve them on my own.

The next day, I got a call from Ty. I didn’t answer. I had some demons I needed to exorcise and I couldn’t do that around him. What Jean-Bernard had said had resonated with me.

I was still lying in bed feeling sorry for myself and thinking of Jean-Bernard’s words when Sylvia called. I reluctantly picked up the phone. If I was determined to change myself, it might as well be now, I thought sullenly.

“Hi,” said Sylvia when I greeted her.

“Hi,” I said, and cut straight to the point. “So my date never showed up.”