substitute
Ethan Hayes was notorious as a playboy.
He treated every girlfriend like gold,
showering them with whatever they wanted.
Except for a ring.
Everyone knew he was hung up on his first
love, still bitter about their breakup.
It was like he couldn’t move past that with
any other girl.,
Five months into our thing, my family was
getting on my case.
I had no choice but to break it off. “I heard
your first love’s coming back. Congrats.”
L
He just smiled and said, “Yeah.”
That night, his buddies threw him a “single
again” bash.
It was a huge party, loud and crazy. Someone
piped up, “Hey, Ethan, I think I saw Mia
earlier, with some other dude. He was pretty
hot.”
Right away, everyone started gossiping, going
wild with the rumors.
Ethan suddenly snapped, stubbing out his
cigarette, laughing without a hint of humor.
“She’s the one who said we should be a
couple, she’s the one who dumped me.
“Like that’s how things work.”
く
1
When Ethan and I first got together, his
friends placed bets on how long it would last.
And we’re talking serious cash.
His family was loaded, his name was known.
all over the city. When I first met him, my
roommate warned me, “The Hayes family up
north? They’re not people you mess with.”
“But this third son, he’s different. I hear he’s
easy to get with, never loses his temper,
always leaves his girlfriends on good terms.”
And it was true.
But between us, it wasn’t exactly a ‘who
chases who‘ kind of situation.
<
At the time, I was working on my Master’s,
doing research with my professor. I needed a
rare, out–of–print English book. I’d posted
everywhere online, but no luck. I was about to
give up when someone finally replied.
It was a casual but earnest tone:
[My grandpa’s got that one, if you need it.
Just doing a good deed. Hit me up.]
I messaged him right away.
After that, I met up with him twice to say
thanks. We got along great, and the last time,
standing under the streetlights, handsome
features sharp, he looked like he was thinking
about something. Raising an eyebrow, he
asked, “So, are we gonna see each other
again?”
<
Would we see each other again? Through
spring and fall, year after year, would we ever
meet again?
The moonlight was cold, it was a perfect
moment.
If I said no, it would be disappointing. On a
whim, I laughed, trying to match his energy,
and asked, “I heard you’re easy to get, is that
true?”
He looked at me, a grin spreading across his
face, “Why don’t you try me?”
When you’re young and naive, and you meet
someone like that, so effortless, so confident,
it draws you in. And I had seen him before.
When I first came to this city, my wallet got
stolen at the station I didn’t have a dime to
く
station it was raining. I was a mess, crying
hard.
He drove up next to me, and in a slow, easy
way asked, “Where are you headed? Hop in,
I’ll give you a lift.”
Of course I was too wary to get in a car with
a stranger.
He was persistent, though, gently convincing
me, “I’m not a creep, trust me just this once.
No more crying, okay?”
Later I always wanted to thank him, but we
never ran into each other again.
This city has so many people, to just meet
someone, even say a few words, was rare.
く
Soon after that day we became an item.
When my roommate found out, she was.
shocked. She ended up saying, “Dating a guy
like that sounds kinda fun, right? But I’ve
heard he doesn’t go past two weeks with
anyone.”
“Just have a good time while it lasts.”
I said, yeah, have à good time while it lasts.
We all have our naive moments.
