Clothes Make the Woman

Story Sent in by Dave:

Cindy wore a blue sweater and a beautiful smile on our date. I was instantly attracted to her, but then she talked on and on about her ex-boyfriend, who apparently had also been her first boyfriend. Without me having to ever say, "Tell me everything about him and what made him great," she did. Oh, she did.

I finally told her, "It sounds like you're not really over him."

She said, "I'll never be over him. He was the best guy I'll ever know."

I asked, "Where does that leave me?"

She thought for a moment, then said, "You could try for second best. Distant second best."

Giving up, I said, "Why don't you go back together with him?"

She replied, "Because he's marrying the girl he cheated on me with. The one he got pregnant. Twice in three years."

"And I'd be second best to that, huh?"

She began, "He–" but I seemed to have struck a chord. She pulled out her phone and called him up, right at the table. He didn't pick up but she left the message, "Hey Johnny, it's Cindy. I'm out tonight and I miss you. Everything I'm wearing is something you bought me and I know we should be back together."

She looked down at herself and said again, "Everything I'm wearing is something you bought me." She looked up at me and said, "I'm out with a friend. Just a friend. Only a friend. A girl. A girlfriend. A beautiful girlfriend. She's also wearing clothes you bought me. I gave them to her. And I love her."

I stood and whispered, "I'm gonna go."

She nodded and said, "Okay," and I left her there, on the phone with her dreams.