After we split, I began dating what seemed to be every deadbeat, no-count dog from Los Angeles to Louisiana. From Syracuse to Seattle. From Boston to Birmingham. Through each bad relationship William has been there. Through all the temporary good times in relationships, he’s been there. Now that we’re adults, it’s probably best that we didn’t hook up. I probably would’ve turned him from a good guy into a deadbeat too. Anyway, William’s much more valuable to me as a friend than as just another ex-boyfriend, and I’m glad he’s here. His presence makes these events more tolerable than they actually are. His friendship makes not having a husband easier to deal with. Though at times, it’s still more than I can bear.

“Okay, I’m ready, come in.”

He opened the door, peeking around first then finally entering.

“Wow, look at you. You look breathtaking.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m not married. I take men’s breath away. By the time they catch it, they’ve moved on and married someone else. Note to self: Try not to make men lose their breath.”

“You don’t let up, do you? Still stewing over being single?”

“Stewing? No, I’ve now taken stewing to a much higher level. I’m now in a crock pot, pressure-cooking over being single. If you listen closely you can hear the steam coming from my ears,” I said, laughing.

“It’s your fault, you know,” he replied. “You could have been married. I proposed to you twenty years ago, remember? But you said, let me see, what did you say…?” He cocked his head in thought, then scrunched up his face. “‘Nuh uh!!!’ That’s exactly what you said.”

“William, you proposed to me in elementary school during recess. We were nine. You wanted my cookie, if I remember correctly, and the only way you thought you could get it was by giving me a ring from the bottom of your Cracker Jack box.”

“Well, at least I was offering a ring for your cookie. That’s more than I can say for the brothers you’ve dated ever since.”

Sucking my teeth and rolling my eyes. “Yeah, okay, funny boy. Go ahead and make fun of me. It’s your fault we’re not married. If you hadn’t been so nice, my mother wouldn’t have liked you so much and our love would have been forbidden and dangerous, and you know you always want what you can’t have.”

“Oh…so is that why you didn’t want me? ’Cause you thought you could have me?”

“I didn’t think, I knew. And I still know,” I said, looking way too confident. “But then again, that was in high school. I’m sure I don’t still have it like that,” I said as I continued applying my makeup.