Tonight, I thought to myself, will be a quiet and relaxing evening especially after a long and tedious workday at Travel Specialists, the travel agency where I have worked for the past several years. I wanted to forget about all the delayed flights, stranded clients, and canceled vacations that were a result of icy conditions originating somewhere up East. I just wanted to lock myself away in my cozy one bedroom loft apartment with nothing but a book, a cup of hot cider, and a chosen menu of silence. One of the advantages of being a confirmed bachelor was the freedom to come and go as I pleased and to decide how much or how little social interaction I would involve myself in at any given time. Tonight, I decided there would be zero interaction as I pulled the shades and turned the ringing volume on my cordless phone to off.

As I lazily stretched out upon my futon/couch, I could already feel a calm and therapeutic newness that was slowly beginning to take over my frazzled mind and tired body. “Ah this is just what the doctor ordered,” I whispered. As I drifted into a pretentious state of relaxation on a deserted white sandy beach, the silence of an otherwise perfect evening was suddenly broken by a familiar, but unexpected, knock at my front door.

As Rachel sat down next to me, I asked her whether she was okay? She nodded in a casual, but unconvincing manner, hoping that she would momentarily deflect any straight to the point questions she knew I might ask. Because we spent so much time together, I knew that something of importance was churning up within her that she did not want to talk about just yet. Finally, I asked, “How was your day?” “Okay,” she replied, as her eyes continued to drift and focus on everything else in my dimly lit apartment except me. “I didn’t think I would see you tonight,” I commented. “I thought you were going to spend some time with Rhonda (who was Rachel’s twin sister).” Rachel still seemed distant, but started to return to normal as she replied, “Rhonda didn’t feel like going out so I thought I would see what you were up to.” I replied, “I’m glad you did Rachel, but I know something is on your mind.” I knew enough from past experience to let her answer me on her own terms. It may take a couple of minutes, but slowly I knew that Rachel would come around. “So much for my solo evening on the beach,” I muttered under my breath.