In a flash, I had a rush of emotions come over me. I didn’t know if I wanted to run up to her and speak, or just stare her down to see if she would speak to me first. Then she turned to face me and our eyes locked in on one another. My heart skipped a beat in shock, and I anticipated anything, only to relax again and take a deep breath.

That’s not Andrea, I told myself. The woman only looked like her from the side of her head. So we both looked away as two strangers and went on about our night.

“Who is that?” Judi asked me. She had never met Andrea or heard me mention her name, but we had talked about her once or twice in casual conversations. In friendship, I had asked Judi’s objective opinions on a few of the other women I had dealt with over the years.

Once I determined that the woman in the distance was not who I thought she was, I looked into Judi’s eyes and saw that she was hurt. She turned and walked away from me.

“You can get yourself a cab home now. And go on back in there and get your girl. Or whoever the hell you want to be with tonight.”

She didn’t really mean that. I felt her pain. I looked like a real asshole that night, so I followed her to make amends.

“Go on, Terrance, do what you gotta do,” she told me.

I didn’t say a word, I just continued to follow her. I figured that one night without sex wouldn’t kill me.

“So you still want to talk about this?” I asked her.

She obviously had some issues to handle.

“What difference does it make? You don’t respect what I’m doing.”

“I do,” I told her. “I just don’t see how I’m included in that. I didn’t ask to become celibate. It’s not fair of you to force this situation on me. I didn’t sign up for that.”

She stopped and faced me again. We were out in the middle of the street.

“Your attention never swayed from me like that before I told you.”

“Yeah, but that’s before you told me. That’s like telling a guy you have a heart condition. If he cares about you, he’s gonna take it easy on you.”

“Oh, so you think you’re taking it easy on me by letting me know that I don’t exist anymore? Is that your idea of sympathy, to outright ignore me?”

She had a point of course. I had officially moved on from Judi, right there in her face, just because she had told me there would be no more opportunities for physical contact.

She said, “Now what if I went ahead and decided to give you some anyway? Would that make everything all good for you again?”

I said, “But then you would be forsaking your very serious decision.”

She stared and said, “Don’t patronize me, Terrance.”