Chapter 3: Dana

After getting over my shock at seeing my ex-husband with that girl, I stood there in the street for a few minutes. Actually I wasn't over it. I don't know what I'd been thinking. I guess in the back of my mind I'd began thinking that maybe, if Dan still lived in the area and wasn't re-married or maybe even if he was, there might be a chance for us. I knew that if I hadn't fucked things up we'd still be together today. But seeing him with that girl made me feel funny. Before I realized it I was following her into the café.

It was crowded and noisy, with some kind of music playing. As she made her way over to a table in the back, I watched her. She was certainly popular. And everyone there seemed to know her. It seemed as if half of the place spoke to her on her way to the table she sat at.

There were already people at the table she chose. She ordered something to drink. I watched as several men, boys, whatever approached her and asked her to dance. She just said, "no," every time. She talked with the people at her table, they were probably friends.

She also took out a pad and made notes on it from time to time. I had to admit she was a very pretty, very popular girl. That still doesn't explain what she's doing with my Dan. Maybe she's an escort or a hooker. That would explain a lot. Dan was so shattered after I broke his heart that he couldn't form normal relationships anymore and had to see hookers.

If she was the center of attraction in the café, I was the exact opposite. I couldn't even get a waiter. I guess I was expecting some kind of special treatment being a professor and all, but none was forthcoming. Apparently Intelligence was not the coin of the realm in this place.

A guy next to me saw me staring at her, and was obviously amused.

"That's Alex," he said. "She's really hot. But don't get your hopes up mama, I don't think she swings that way. You probably aren't the first woman to look at her though."

"She certainly is popular," I said.

"Not the way you think," he replied back. "Most of those people you see sitting with her or going to talk to her, work for her."

I turned to look at him more seriously. Maybe he could help me after all.

"Let's get a table and talk," I said. He looked at me dubiously.

"Don't worry, I just want to find out a few things," I said. "And I'll pay for your food and drinks."

That actually worked. He raised his hand, and a waiter appeared and pointed us to a filthy table, that was no where near my target. Yep, I called her my target, because she had something I wanted. I hadn't planned for anything like this when I left my apartment this morning. But in the space of a few minutes, my life was now focused on one thing. I wanted my husband back, very badly. And if I had to go toe to toe with some teenaged cheerleader to get him back; her pom-poms had better be fluffy, because I was serious.

I kept thinking, that in a serious academic comparison of life experience, or compatibility, I had to be superior to this girl. I also, because of my recent past, had to be far more experienced sexually. In my mind this would be a slam dunk. If I could just get Dan over what I'd done to him. We could start fresh and I'd never hurt him again. I would gladly spend the rest of my life making it up to him. It might not be that difficult. He had to be over his hurt by now. Maybe he missed me and might even forgive me. On the other hand if he was still bitter and angry, 6 years or so later, that only meant that emotionally he still had feelings for me. Otherwise he'd have let that anger go and gotten over me.

My initial assessment of the target was as I found out, flawed. My newly found friend, whose name was Mark, started filling me in.

"I already told you her name is Alexandra, but everyone calls her Alex," he said. "I think she's about 25, but with a body like that, nobody cares if she's a little old." His crack about 25 being old made me almost choke.

"It doesn't matter anyway though, because she's kind of not on the market," he said.

"See watch this," he pointed towards her table. A couple of guys approached her table and spoke to her. She shook her head negatively, and one of the guys said something else to her. She shook her head again, and the guy just walked off angrily. I also noticed that the guys at her table had stood up, as if they were in protection mode.