The Charmer

The Charmer

It was only when Simon met a woman immune to his charms that he could really be himself.  This happened with more frequency as he grew older.  Long ago he'd accepted that even the greatest athlete has a peak and that, once it had been reached, everything else was a slow decline.  

It was this knowledge that made Simon such a charmer.  He seemed to understand that failure was more likely than ever these days, and so went about pursuing romantic entanglements with a measured detachment.    He didn't seem to care, and while this attitude wasn't irresistible to all, it kept him in the game.  

Amber wasn't impressed.  Simon knew this right away and made a kind of peace with it.  There were no other attractive unattached women at the pub on this particular Friday night and Simon had picked her right away.  His first few passes were successful, the usual preliminaries being the exchange of names and Simon complimenting her appearance, in this case a lovely black strapless dress which Amber wore very well.  Right away Simon made her laugh.  This was always a good sign but, again, Simon knew that she wasn't impressed.  Rather than back away and drink alone, Simon did something he had begun doing now, here on the down side of his peak.  He simply made polite conversation with a woman, not as a prelude to sex, but for the simple pleasure of meeting someone new and getting to know them.

Amber asked where he was from, and Simon said "No place special".  Amber thought this an attempt at being mysterious and told him so, but Simon shook his head.  "No mystery."  he said.  

They talked of Amber's marriage, which had ended last year.  Her ex-husband was a gynecologist, one that had been carrying on examinations outside the office with several of his patients.  Amber was still a little hurt by the betrayal.  

Simon never knew how to handle a woman talking about a former mate.  Was he supposed to join in if she started bashing her ex?  Simon was no moralist and, truth be told, a cheater himself.  He let her vent, making small comments along the way to lighten the mood.  After she'd finished, she told Simon that she felt better having talked about it, and Simon was glad.

Simon ordered another round for the two of them.  The evening was going better than either of them had anticipated.  Down at the end of a bar two young people were kissing.  Both were drunk and were making quite a spectacle of themselves.  Amber rolled her eyes and Simon laughed.  Deep inside, he envied the young man.  He'd been watching the couple out of the corner of his eye for a while.  They hadn't arrived together tonight.  The girl had come with friends and the young man had come alone, and despite the protests of the friends with which she'd arrived, one of them calling him "a loser" and insisting that tonight was a "girl's night out", she abandoned the friends and was now making out with the loser at the bar.  The night was going pretty well for them too.  Sure they were hooking up, but who's to say that it wouldn't turn into something lasting?  Simon laughed again.  Amber wanted in on the joke and Simon told her the love story of the exhibitionists down the bar.  Amber said the only potentially lasting thing to come out of that relationship would be an illegitimate child.  

Closing time was coming soon and Simon was faced with a predicament.  Could he reach down deep and pull off a miracle?  He was thinking of things in sports terms more and more these days.  Though not a big sports fan it made sense to think of himself in this way.  It was, after all, a game.  He had been playing it for a very long time, and Simon only rarely stopped to think of just what he'd won or lost.  

The truth was that the game was all in Simon's mind.  There was no winning and no losing.  There was just Simon, and whatever happened would happen regardless of how he felt about it.  Amber was an attractive woman and funny and Simon had enjoyed her company.  If she wouldn't sleep with him, where was the shame in that?  He hadn't lost any game.  He'd written the rule book, built the stadium, sewn the uniforms all by himself.  The game was stupid and Simon didn't want to play it anymore. It was time to retire his jersey.

Amber said that it was getting late and spoke of something important she had to do the next day.  Simon volunteered to walk her to her car after they'd both paid their checks.  Usually, this was part of the game, but now Simon did it because he felt it the gentlemanly thing to do.  He felt good, like he'd just read a self help book and had made a plan to change his life for the better.  At her car, Amber kissed Simon on the cheek.  A soft and tender kiss, her lips barely brushing his skin, and Simon, of course, felt himself getting an erection.  She said, "Simon, you are a very charming man."  Simon thanked her, and really meant it.