Page 50 of King of Players

“Different strokes, I suppose.”

“Yeah.” I grinned when I noticed the way he smoothed the wrinkles out of the tablecloth. It had always been a habit of his, as if he couldn’t possibly enjoy his meal on an uneven surface, even if it was only the fabric. “So, tell me… how was Geneva?”

“Oh, I wasn’t in Geneva.”

“No?”

“I landed there—barely survived a month. I stayed in Locarno for the most part.”

“Oh, how nice.”

“Magnificent. Best place I’ve ever lived.”

“Then how come you’re back here?”

“Well—” He leaned forward, looking me deep in the eyes. “It didn’t have you.”

Taken aback, I could only muster an uncomfortable titter. “Oscar, I’m serious.”

“So am I,” he insisted, reaching for my hand over the table. When his fingers touched mine, I felt like sin. I had no emotions left for him—all that was there was the nostalgia for an old friendship. “Can you believe that I ventured into the idea of getting married?”

“I—Uh… someone mentioned it.”

“It didn’t work. I couldn’t picture a future with anyone but you.”

“Oscar! We were a ‘we’ a lifetime ago.”

“And an entire lifetime can mean nothing when you’re not spending it in love.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Why not?”

“Because we were totally different people back then, let alone… was it even all that perfect in your memory?”

“Wasn’t it?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe it felt that way back then. I was so young, and you were, well… we’ve both grown and evolved since then.”

“Which makes it even better. In these few years, haven’t we learned more about what we want out of life? I’ve learned a great deal about myself and I’m certain that you have, too.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Absolutely. And you know, I’m sorry… but it doesn’t tip the scale in favor of another attempt at ‘us’, Oscar. Not anymore.”

“Enlighten me, then. What do you think was missing?”

“Passion,” I decidedly said. The flabbergasted look on his face let me know, beyond any doubt, that he was choking back a laugh.

“Passion,” he repeated, dipping his head as if thinking he had heard it wrong. “I thought people grow up to seek deeper things out of life. You’re thirty, and now you’re reexamining lust?”

“Don’t you think it’s important in a marriage?”

“At the bottom of the list, if at all!”

“And what happens when one of us is fed up with that arrangement? How would you feel if I cheated on you?”

“Well.” He shrugged. “Thousands of people cheat every day. It’s never the end of the world.”

Letting out an astonished sigh, I left my lips parted for dramatic effect. “Evidently, our views on this are worlds apart.”

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