Once again, I had made the tabloids. Whoop-tee-fucking-do. This time the television tabloids. I sat with Michelle at the apartment we were once again sharing, watching Sandy and Karen punch me over and over again on network television. They actually had some really nice footage. This must have been “Bookworms’” crowning, fucking moment. First, they would show Sandy cracking me with the left hook, followed by Karen with the right. The piece de resistance was a close-up of the ring hitting me square in the middle of my face. “Bookworms” certainly had their crack technical team out that night.
“Wow, that was some punch,” Michelle said.
“Which punch? They both hurt,” I said.
“I bet. Looks like Sandy really knew what she was doing. Who punched harder?”
“Sandy, she’s a fucking beast. She works out.”
“I can’t believe you were dating them both. Why wouldn’t you just end it with Sandy first?” Michelle asked.
“I don’t know. I tried, but things got weird. Sometimes you make bad mistakes.”
“I’d say, getting punched by two girls, and smacked in the face by a boulder in the same night is pretty bad.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty bad,” I said, dejected. I looked like the loser of a prizefight.
“So, now what?” Michelle asked.
“I don’t know. Karen’s not talking to me. And judging by the 50 replays we just watched of her throwing the ring in my face, I’m guessing the odds of her talking to me anytime soon are pretty slim. Jon told me that Sandy is in jail, waiting for Jim to bail her out, but I’m sure he’ll just leave her in there until they release her. And to be honest with you, I’m scared of her. I’m also back on your air mattress until I can find an apartment to rent. So I guess the only thing I have left is my book deal. At least until they take that away from me, too.”
“Are you going to give up that easily?” Michelle asked, “I think you and Karen still have a shot. I think she just needs some time to think things over.”
“Did you see her punch me in the face? I’m not sure how much thinking she needs,” I sighed deeply. “I guess, I’ll give her another call.” I picked up the phone and called her.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Voicemail. “Hi, you’ve reached Karen. I’m not available, but leave me a message and I’ll get back you right away. Ciao.”
I left a message, “Hey Karen, it’s me. Look, I really want to work this thing out. I know I was a jerk, but I love you, and want to be with you. Anyway, give me a call when you get a chance. Bye.” I hung up.
“That’s it?? I think you are going to have to do a little more than leaving a nice message. You need to dazzle her. You have to show her that you want to be with her. It’s going to take more than a phone call,” Michelle explained.
“Dazzle her? Are you kidding? First, I ask her to marry me on a morning show, and then I bought her a $100,000 ring from Rose’s. Now you want me to dazzle her?? I don’t know how much more dazzle I can muster,” I said.
“All those things are nice, but you were sleeping with another woman. I don’t know how you can do it, but you better start thinking of some way to win her back, or you’re a goner. It’s up to you. Plus, I love Karen. She’s great, and I need a sister!”
Again, Michelle was right. I had to win her back. But I had no clue as to what to do. All I could think about was putting ice over both eyes, unpacking the air mattress, plugging in the pump and inflating the fucker. Within one minute, I would be able to put this day behind me – God, I fucking hope so.
For the past week, I had tried to talk to Karen on a daily basis. I would call her apartment, leave a message. Call her at work, leave a message. Call her cell, leave a message. All of this, to no avail. The calls were gradually increasing with alarming frequency. I needed something else to focus on, so I decided that I had better start working on my book since I had deadlines to meet. I decided to meet with Carl for some advice. Subconsciously, it was a ploy to see what Karen was up to.
Carl agreed to meet me for lunch to talk about the book. We met in midtown at Brasserie, a nice French restaurant.
“How’s the book coming along?”
“Not so great.”
“Where have you gotten to in the plot?”
“Nowhere.”
“Do you have something in mind?”
“How’s Karen?”
“That doesn’t sound much like a plot?” Carl said.
“I’m serious, Carl. How’s Karen? She hasn’t spoken to me in weeks,” I said.
“Put yourself in her shoes. That was some bomb that you laid on her at your reading. You weren’t exactly telling her the truth,” Carl started.
“Well, I wasn’t exactly lying to her, either,” I said.
“But you didn’t tell her you were sleeping with Sandy. You didn’t tell me that either, by the way.”
“Sorry. But that’s beside the point.”
“No, David, that’s exactly the point. Let me share something with you about women. Listen up, because this might be something you may want to use in your book. Women are different than men. Women base a relationship not only on love, but also on trust. Karen had your trust and you had hers, until that night at Charles and Boles. Once she learned that you were keeping things from her, she lost her trust in you. And, once that was gone, so was she. There’s no doubt she still loves you. It’s all just a matter of trust now. She has to learn to trust you all over again. Better yet, you have to get her to want to trust you again,” Carl finished.
“What should I do?” I asked. Carl seemed to have all the answers today.
“I don’t know the answer to that. All I can tell you is this would make a great plot twist,” then he took a bite of his steak. “Mmm, good steak.”
How was I supposed to get her to trust me again when I couldn’t even get her to talk to me? This was beginning to look more and more like a losing battle. On the bright side, I did have plenty of time to work on my book.