Chapter 3

I'm not used to rejection from women, so I looked at Dana McNabb as a personal test. I wasn't even sure if I liked her, but the challenge was so obvious that I couldn't resist. I had to be careful though. I didn't want to upset her to the point that she'd quit or sink further back into her protective armor. It was a problem that I had no experience solving and I needed some advice. The problem was, I couldn't think of who would be qualified to give me advice. Certainly not Tom. You could count the number of women he dated on one hand and I couldn't be sure he wasn't a virgin when he got married. Probably not, but I couldn't be sure.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the most likely source of good advice would be another woman. Now Tom's wife, Jenny, might be a possibility. She certainly brought him out of his shell and I got the impression she was a bit of a hidden hottie. You wouldn't know it to meet her, but sometimes ... well ... you never can tell. So with that in mind, I thought I would approach Jenny about my problem with Dana.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Jenny would give me some tips on how to get through to Dana and I'd be grateful. Simple, right? Well, maybe not. Jenny, as it turns out, wasn't thrilled with the idea and wasn't sure she could help even if she wanted to. I guess my reputation from the old days put me in a bad light. Even though I was past that now (which I wanted people to believe), she was skeptical about my motives. After a bit of straight talk, she admitted she wasn't really the right person to give me advice. She was never part of the regular singles scene and she couldn't relate to Dana because she hadn't met her. She suggested I look for someone who knows her better.

Stymied, I thought. I needed a contact from her past, someone who could tell me about her. When I thought about it, I had to admit I was becoming a bit obsessed by her. That had never happened before. In the past, any serious rejection was a reason to move on to someone else and not waste a lot of my valuable time. Dana was different. I had the feeling she was worth the effort. I also had the feeling it was time I started to get serious about my relationships with women. Maybe one led to the other, but whatever the reason, if I was going to get serious about one particular woman, it had better be worth it. Dana McNabb, as far as I could tell, was worth it.

I happened to mention my interest to Tom in a casual sort of way and he suggested I talk to some of the people she worked with. After all, if you were checking references, you wouldn't think twice about calling previous employers or associates, so why be shy about check up on her personal information with the same people. After all, what was the worst that could happen? I found out.

"Would you please explain to me what the hell you were doing asking questions about me with Brad Collins?" Dana demanded in a loud and obviously irritated voice.