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Ask Her Again
"The wedding is off!" Larry shouted at Sue as she sat on the floor of her mother's living room. She dropped her head and started to cry. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. After 18 up and down months Larry had happily proposed to her one month ago and she had been over the Moon ever since.
"But why, Larry, why?" Sue cried.
"You know why!" Larry barked as he grabbed his car key and stormed out of the house. A moment later he was racing down the suburban London street. He'd had it with Sue. Ever since the engagement party he'd been under constant pressure. Pressure to buy a house, pressure to make more money, pressure to have kids right away. He couldn't take it anymore. He'd suggested a cooling off period to take the pressure off, to go back to being happy together but Sue just couldn't ease off the gas. She'd become insufferable over the last month and he couldn't, wouldn't take it anymore.
Sue said he had commitment issues, he said she had bossing him about issues but of course she never listened when he pointed out to her how demanding and unyielding she'd become. She was so wrapped up in having the perfect wedding and the perfect life that she just didn't have much time to take in his point of view. Today something had snapped when she said she'd called into a nursery store just to have a look around. This was all too much, way too soon. Game over.
Sue sat on the royal blue carpet, stunned. How could something so right go so wrong in a matter of seconds? Larry had being so delighted when she agreed to marry him. And the last month had been a wonderful whirlwind of planning for the future. She'd enjoyed every minute of it. Larry had been happy for her to take the lead and as soon as he started earning a little more money they could afford the house of her dreams. Everything was working out so well. The wedding planning had started too, of course, and she'd already picked out the perfect dress. She had been so excited. And now this, how did that happen? Larry really was so volatile, so unreasonable, very unpredictable.
Later that evening Larry phoned Sue. "Look, Sue, it's been too much lately. You never listen to me anymore. You don't. See, there you go again, you're trying to but in and I'm still talking. What I'm saying is this, let's call it a day. Give it 6 months, if the dust settles and we want to give it another go then great, otherwise it was just one of those things, we gave it our best and for some reason it didn't work out."
Sue shook her head. "You want to give up that easily? I thought what we had was worth fighting for."
"That's exactly my point, Sue. I'm not looking for a fight. Let's face it. It didn't work out. I'm officially single now and I'm going to get out there and start dating. I suggest you do the same."
Sue paused before resigning herself to what her future husband, no, her ex future husband as of the last few hours was saying, "Ok, Larry, if that's what you want, so be it. I'll leave your stuff in the garage so you can collect it when I'm not here. And for your sake come by when my mother is out. She's furious. She can't believe what you've done. Good bye, Larry." Sue clicked the phone off and stared at the wall before considering the bottle of red wine sitting on the counter. She knew what she was doing tonight.
* * *
Sue always enjoyed having Carol, her best friend, around for coffee and cake. "How is the dating thing going, Sue?" Carol asked before eyeing the large piece of chocolate cake on her plate.
"Not too well, Carol. I've met nothing but lecherous older men over the last 4 months. It's been a minefield of overweight men looking for one thing and younger guys with no future and a lot of talk about making it big one day. I haven't met one that I want to see again."
"Sorry to hear that, Sue. Your image make over was a great idea, though. You look hot. I'm surprised your new look didn't snag you a good man."
"Maybe I'm too hot, could that be the problem?" Sue laughed. "But seriously, it's just a matter of time, I'll eventually met a great guy, I know that. I'm running short on patience that's all. And time is moving on, I'm already 32, that worries me."
"Don't worry, Sue, you'll be fine. Your Prince Charming will find you. I have no doubt about that. You're one of the most eligible single ladies in town. Just look at you, you're gorgeous, you have a great figure and all that lovely, long brown hair."
Sue put down her tea. "Yeah thats what Larry said before he asked me to marry him. Oh, I didn't tell you, I saw him out the other night. He was with a stunning brunette. And get this, she was the spitting image of me, no kidding. She dresses the same, the same hair style, a cute bob and all. I was speechless. It's kind of funny really."
Carol raised her eyebrows. "Sounds kind of creepy if you ask me. Did Larry look happy?"
"Larry looked like Larry, he looked like he was having a ball. I've heard he's been having a wild time the last few months. Now that I've let him off the hook he's really going for it with the ladies. He's never had it so good." Sue snarled.
