Players

I've been withholding information and now I'm going to come clean.

Remember the last time I spoke about Mr. Match when I said I was going to tell that boy to lose my number? Well, I never got up the courage to do so.

I think I've seen him once since then. He came over around 9:00 one night and we sat and had a drink and talked for 90 minutes or so and then he went home. Evidently his goal was to show me he could just be sociable without trying to get my clothes off.

When I was in Scottsdale several weeks ago for the NATS musical theatre auditions, my phone rang at 2:20 a.m. It was Mr. Match, calling from Australia. I think the time difference is 17 hours, which I think would have made it about 9:00 a.m. there. But maybe it was 9:00 p.m., because the conversation was definitely a post-three-martini conversation.

(While proofreading, I just did the math again. 9:00 p.m. Definitely 9:00 p.m. Definitely post-three-martinis.)

He said when he got back from Australia and I got back from my Thanksgiving trip, he wanted to have me over, cook me dinner, and so on. And he said he would give me a ride to the airport on Friday morning. (He works a mile from the airport, so it's no biggie.) On Tuesday of that week I e-mailed him to ask the name of the pet sitter he uses when he and his ex-fiancée are simultaneously out of town. He replied that he'd ask her and get back to me. That's the last I heard from him.

He was supposed to get back from Australia on Thursday night. No word from him. Friday morning: no call, no car. I drove myself to the airport and left my car in long-term parking, not at all surprised.

I have never heard from him again.

End of story. End of book. Close it.

My courage is up. The next time he calls, I will tell him I want him not to call me any more.

He doesn't deserve anything as good as I am.