I didn't plan this one at all. The only thing I knew was that there was a guy on his balcony smoking, that he'd just had sex, and that it had left him feeling more empty than anything else. So, I stalled for a moment on the subject of balconies. I've had them in a bunch of my apartments, but particularly when you live alone, you just don't use them much, even though when looking at the place you say ooo.
The overall story is something of a reaction to events that have happened in my own life, a dash of wish fulfilment, and some recent adjustments in my writing style.
Of the four relationships I've consummated, three of them have ended after the woman returned from a trip during which she slept with another man. And on no occasion was I much surprised. So while I knew that Garret's scenario about Jean and the director was wrong, I don't think he was entirely off-base. I think despite the saying, you in fact are the first to know when you're about to get dumped, and that even includes the person dumping you.
And it's pretty clear what happens. Driven crazy by his girlfriend's real or imagined affair, he goes off and has sex for comfort, revenge or simply due to opportunity, and it doesn't change anything. The core problem is still the stuff that he hasn't bothered to face in the first place, that there was something deeply wrong with their relationship, and it wasn't going to be fixed by him flying out to see her, or proposing to her, or getting drunk, or having sex with somebody else.
Anyway, thanks to everybody who voted for it.
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