Bad Boys

Matthew knew he’d crossed a line with Samantha the minute he took her hand. Her hand was rigid, and he felt her glare searing into the top of his head as he bent to kiss her hand. She is definitely classier than the women he usually charms with his tactics. As the door was closing, Matthew saw Samantha turn around like she was going to come back in the room. Their eyes locked. A chill ran down his spine, he could see she was restraining her contempt.

Matthew didn’t understand why he still acts like he’s twenty-two. The old adage, ‘good guys finish last, bad boys get the girls’ has rolled around in his head since he hit puberty. And it is true, to a point. Matthew has never hurt for female companionship, but it’s always empty. Walking into a nightclub he’d hone in on a girl from across the room. Maybe this one will be different, she has bigger boobs, longer legs, she’s a blond. No matter what he told himself he always woke up the next morning feeling hollow, wanting more. Matthew doesn’t know what the hell ‘more’ is, he just knows it has to be better than this, never finding what he’s searching for. It’s like being in an Alfred Hitchcock Easter egg hunt.

Matthew decided before leaving New York that he is going to give himself this last trip with his friend Steven. He’s going all out, balls to the walls just like at university, then he’s going to make some big changes when he gets home. He’s tired of living this way, it’s exhausting and he’s getting too old to keep up the charade. Worried he’s too old to make a real change. Maybe he’ll always be a cad. Maybe it’s just who he is at his core. Maybe he should stop going after girls and start trying to find a woman. Maybe a classy woman.