Chapter 3

Two weeks and several hundred miles later, I was renting an apartment owned by my investment company. Since I was the sole owner of the company, I guess I could say that I owned the building, but I didn't really want to own anything until my divorce was final. I had kept Mina and my sister updated as to my status, but the rest of the family only knew that I had moved north. I'd probably let them know at some point, but I was not in any hurry.

I was finally able to admit to myself that it had really hurt me when my twin boys, and even my own parents, had been in a hurry to take sides in the divorce. By now, Mina had guessed what had happened, but she had not told Helen or anybody else that she knew. Somehow, Helen had been able to stay out of the mess which had become more or less public, and three inter-related divorces were quite a big deal in our well-off community, especially when it became known that some business secrets might have been revealed.

What really hit me, was the fact that Mina told me that it was less than two weeks after my move that Helen started going out again, and seemed to have some good times. Or good enough time to spend the night somewhere other than home. OK, since I have moved away from home and had filed for divorce I didn't have much to say about her comings and goings, yet it hit me quite hard. Mina must have guessed that, also, from the silence on my side during our call.

"Dad, you should go out, too. Since this was not your fault, there is no reason for you to suffer."

"Honey, I'm not suffering."

"Oh, are you saying that you have turned into a monk? That is quite a change from your time with Mom. Then it was typically three times a week or what?"

"Mina!"

She giggled to me.

"Oh, come on, Dad. You know that Mom was quite vocal. I guess you played her quite well. Do you know that I used to be quite embarrassed to have girlfriends over for sleep-overs? It was sometime later when I became almost proud of you."

"Oh, My, God, Mina! I don't want to hear anything more."

"Relax, Dad! Later on, it was quite cool. I guess some of my friends still have the hots for you. I can say that, now that you live so far away. My point is that there is no need for you to suffer, since Mom doesn't seem to have any problems forgetting you."

Now she sounded almost bitter.

"Mina, please be civil to her. She is your mother and, after all, I was the one who left home."

"I know, Dad, I know. And I promise, but it still hurts to hear her trashing you, especially when I know that it's not true."

By the end of the call she had made me promise to her that I would start going out myself. After her call I had to admit to myself that my marriage was really over. Even if I had been the one who had made the decision, somewhere deep inside me I had hoped that Helen would apologize to me, but now I supposed that it would never happen.

My condo, four rooms and a kitchen, filled the whole fourth floor of the house, and I decided to start socializing by being nice to the other occupants of the house.

On the third floor, there were two smaller apartments. Both were occupied by some elderly, most likely retired couples. On the second floor there was one very small apartment whose occupant was a guy I thought was an artist, and almost a prototype of a gay man. He was a nice enough guy, who didn't cause any problems for anyone – if you didn't count his clothing. The other, bigger, apartment was occupied by a single mom and her daughter. I met the mother for the first time in a grocery store, nearby.

I saw a woman dressed in business clothes pushing a shopping cart, and talking into a cell-phone. From the discussion, I guessed that she was talking to her daughter and could not help notice that they were not agreeing with each other. I almost sympathized with her as I could remember having the same kind of discussions with Mina some years back.

I recognized her as the lady who lived two floors below me. I saw her again when she was in the parking lot, trying to get her groceries into her car. That was when one her bags broke. That led to a chain reaction; while the one bag broke, another one fell over, spilling all her groceries into the parking lot. Thinking to do her a favor, I quickly emptied my own groceries into my trunk, and took my now empty bag and went to help her.

"Hi, may I help you?"

"Does it look like I need help?"

Ouch! It seems that I need some practice with my disarming smile. Her response came in a manner that was outright rude, yet she didn't stop me when I picked up the salvageable groceries and put those in the bag I had emptied. Once I had finished she took the bag from me and went on her way leaving some melted rubber in the parking lot, and I went back to the store for some more groceries and for an extra bag.

Sometime later, after I had dropped my own groceries into my own apartment, I had a bag filled with the stuff I had bought to replace the stuff she had left smashed in the parking lot. I didn't exactly know what to expect when I rang her doorbell.

"You again. What are you doing here and what do you want now?"

"Hi, I'm your neighbor two floors up; and since some of your purchases were ruined, I wanted to help..."

"Do I look like I need some charity?"

"No, but..."

"Mister, please mind your own business and leave me alone. There is nothing that I need from any man."

"Mom, who is it?"

That must have been her daughter. I guess she was around twelve or something like that. But before I could say anything more she just took the bag I had been holding.

"Nobody, dear, I'll be right back there. Goodbye, mister."

Whoa! A simple thanks would have been enough for me. Once I got back to my own apartment I started to see the humor in all that. It seemed that I was not the only one who had problems with the other gender. While I made a light meal for myself, I decided that maybe I just should keep my promise to Mina and go out. Maybe I would get lucky, myself. Yeah, fat chance.

Having made that decision, I found myself inside a taxi. When I asked him for advice for a place to go, he took a quick look at me. He drove me to a bar not too far away from my new home, somewhat closer to the center of the city. I thanked him, and prepared to do something that I had not been doing for decades.

After five minutes and a few sips from my beer I was quite sure that I had made a mistake. Well, maybe not a mistake but most likely I would spend my evening there for nothing - or almost nothing as the dark imported beer was definitely better than anything that I had in my own fridge.

The bar was quite full, which was not a surprise as it was a Friday evening. But the ages of the guests varied from mid-twenties to early thirties. With my forty-plus-something years, and hair graying at the temples, I felt almost like a sugar daddy. Minus the requisite money, of course.

Since I didn't want the evening to be a total waste I decided to enjoy my beer the best I could, while I looked around. Maybe if I looked long enough, I'd be able to update my social skills and flirting to an acceptable level. When I mentioned my thoughts to the guy behind the counter, he laughed at me.