Blind Date. Cheryl Anne Porter

      He chuckled. “Go figure. But that’s why I got out of the car. It sounded to me like you two still had a lot to talk about. I didn’t want to get in the way.”

      She waved that away. “You are so not in the way. You couldn’t be less in the way even if you were in—”

      “Bora Bora?”

      She nodded. “Exactly.”

      “Well…good.” Joe turned to look out over the water again.

      Meg stood silently at his side, so close she could feel his body’s warmth, yet miles away. Why couldn’t they get back to the part where they’d been about to kiss?

      “So, what did Carl do?” Joe’s question broke the silence. “Why’d you break up with him, I mean?”

      Meg took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He cheated on me. We’d been together for about a year. But last week I caught the rat out on a date. A date! Worse, the woman he was with didn’t even know I existed. She thought he was cheating on her with me! Can you believe it? Obviously, neither one of us was very important to him.”

      “How about you?” Joe turned his head and looked at her. “I mean, how much did you care for him before he, uh, started dating?”

      His question took Meg by surprise. “How much did I care? I don’t know. I guess…some. I cared enough to stay with him for a year. Is that an answer?”

      “Yeah. A year is a long time. So, what if he hadn’t cheated on you and had asked you to marry him tonight? Would you have said yes?”

      The man could come up with some probing questions. “Again, I don’t know. I guess I’d have told him I needed to think about it.”

      Joe nodded. “You’d have to think about it—after a year of being exclusive?”

      Meg was about to say yes, but her next thought caught her up short. “Oh my God, I see what you’re getting at. If I had to think about my answer, then it was probably always no, right?”

      “Most likely.”

      “Well, what do you know—I didn’t love him and was wasting my time. Joe, I owe you a big, fat thank-you for that insight.”

      “No big deal. I’ll send you my bill. Still, Carl’s a fool for cheating on you.”

      “You’re sweet to say so. Besides, it was all so unnecessary. All he had to do was tell me he didn’t want me around. How hard is that?”

      Joe looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Sometimes it can be really hard, if you have any kind of a conscience, and if you suspect the other person cares for you a lot more than you do for her.”

      Her? He was no longer talking about her and Carl, Meg realized. “So, Joe. You sound like you know how that feels.”

      He exhaled roughly. “I do. Meg, I think I should tell you something. There’s…Well, I have a…Okay, her name’s Linda.”