Page 50 of A Vicious Rumor

"He gave me total whiplash, Ronny," I said. "One moment everything was fine and the next he wanted nothing to do with me." I closed my eyes to fight back the tears that were forming. "It hurts."

Cold hands startled me into opening my eyes. Ronny had reached forward and was trying to hold my hands in his. "Can I tell you a story?" he asked.

"Of course," I said.

He patted the top of my hand a couple of times and then leaned back in his chair. "You remember I told you that there was one woman I really loved."

I nodded my head. “I thought you said she married someone else while you were still deployed.”

He waved his hand at me. “This was a different girl! Back when I was in school. A guy can love more than one woman in his lifetime,” he said with fake exasperation.

“But you said ‘one woman,’” I teased back.

"Just hush, and listen,” he said. “See, this girl, she didn't love me back. Not at first, anyways. It's always the hardest when that happens. And everyone goes around saying things like 'oh, if you love them set them free,' or 'let them come to you.' I say it's all bullshit!" Ronny exclaimed in his always over-the-top way. "I say that love is no different than anything else in this world. If you want it, you gotta go after it. Waiting around for someone else to come to you sounds entirely lazy to me."

I giggled and swiped away some of the moisture from my eyes. "Okay, so what did you do?"

"What do people want most in this world?" Ronny asked me.

I shrugged. "I think it depends on the person."

He shook his head. "Wrong. The thing people want most in this world is the thing they can't have."

"I don't get it, Ronny," I admitted, putting my head back in my hands.

"Well, that's because I haven't finished the story yet," he said with a wink. "Her name was Marie. I saw her and I was instantly in love with her, but she didn't feel the same way about me. Sure, we went on a few dates. She at least did me that courtesy, but I could tell that she just wasn't into me. She didn't feel the same way I felt about her.

"That's when I realized that if I wanted her to like me, I was going to have to make myself unavailable to her. And that's exactly what I did." Ronny looked satisfied with himself, but I was still completely confused.

I put my head in my hands. "I still don't get it!"

Ronny held up his finger, telling me to be patient. "I made myself unavailable. I started dating her friend. Just harmless little dates here and there. Nothing serious, at least between us. But, she didn't know that. She heard her friend talk about me and the dates I took her on." He laughed to himself. "I was a pretty good dancer back then. I know Sally mentioned it to her. And you see, the more she couldn't have me, the more she wanted me."

"I dunno, Ronny. Did it really work?"

He grinned. "Oh, it worked."

"Didn't she ever find out? Wasn't she mad?"

Ronny shrugged. "Who's going to get mad at someone they love for doing something that helped them to realize their love?"

I grimaced. "I dunno. It seems pretty toxic to me."

Ronny scoffed. "Toxic, shmoxic. Is that the new 'it' word or something these days? All I hear is toxic-this, toxic-that. You know what I think is toxic?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"Not getting what you want. Wondering for the rest of your life whether you could have been better together. Wondering if you married the wrong person. That's far more toxic."

My mind was reeling with what Ronny was suggesting I do. It really wasn't in my character to do something like this. That girl, what was her name, Kitty?, at the party, she's someone who could do something like this. But me?

"Well, what should I do then, Ronny?"

"Nothing," he said.

I gave him a wide eyed look. "What do you mean, nothing?"

"I met the little prick, he's not good enough for my sweet Lily," he said patting my hand.

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