Nothing lasts forever. Even so, I hoped that my relationship with Paul would be the exception to the rule. I entertained secret thoughts of marryng him and being together until death. There was a time when I feared that I would lose him.
Barely 3 months had passed since Paul and I met at Vibe Bar + Patio. We were having latte at sparsely populated Lekko Coffee on a Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock when I heard the barely audio text message alarm on his phone.
Without saying a word he opened the message.
After a couple of seconds I asked, "what was that about."
"An old friend," he replied. "He says he wants to meet up with me."
"Is it a guy?"
"Yah, it's a guy."
I'll bet it's an X boyfriend. Am I about to be dumped?
"Are you going to meet up with him?"
"It can't hurt."
It can't hurt? What if the guy wants to get back together?
"When do you plan on getting together with him?"
"In about a half hour," said Paul.
He texted a reply.
We left Lekko and came to the statue of Richard Wagner in Edgewater Park. Back in the early days of our relationship a friend had taken a photo with his cell phone of us standing in front of it. He texted it to me. I, in turn, shared it with Paul.
About 5 minutes after we arrived a dude whom I hadn't met approached from the east. A six-footer with dark hair, he bore a resemblance to the actor Tom Ellis aka "Lucifer Morningstar".
"It's been a long time Paul."
"Randal, what are you doing here?"
"I missed you."
Really," Paul retorted. "As I recall you were the one who broke up the relationship."
While this was taking place I stood by quietly.
"I just want to talk."
"I had to move on with my life."
"Is this your new boyfriend?"
Paul responded to the question by draping his arm around my waist.
"What's the boy's name?"
"Steven," I replied.
"Steven what?"
I looked at Paul then looked back at his former boyfriend.
Paul spoke for me.
"He dosen't have to tell you that."
I didn't want to give out my last name. Why should I? He wanted to take my boyfriend away from me.