Alexa, Quelle est la pensée Richy?

If you are still single at my age (late 30s to early 40s) getting laid is relatively simple and a realistic ambition easily satisfied by Grindr, Scruff, etc. But if you are looking to find a partner then it can turn out to be a tricky and tough search. The 20 and 30 year olds prefer boys of their age, while those around my age are either settled or still hoping to catch a younger rainbow or may have given up on their search; simply not looking and not interested.

Living my 20s away from home getting educated, spending my 30s back with my family and attending to their needs, and now at the start of my 40 I have a burning desire to settle down with my man. Despite two failed attempts: one in my late-twenties and other in my mid-thirties, I am still optimistic with caution. 

On one of my trips more than three years ago to Paris, I met someone interesting. We connected and stayed in touch after I went back and six months later my work moved me to Paris. I felt my prayers were heard and that I was getting an opportunity to live in with someone again. But a week before I got here my hope came crashing when he told that he was not living with a roommate, but it was his partner for 18 years and they were getting ready to split up and move out. 

As much as I wanted him, I wanted him to have a clean break and some cooling time before we started seeing. I put out the relationship flame immediately and two and half years later, we ended up being good friends after an initial period of silence. He continues to live with his partner and is in the look out for an apartment to move out on his own. Secrets and living in with a partner and calling him a roommate are both dangerous. 

As a result of being single for the last three years and optimistic, every time when I come across eligible, available, smart and single men, my heart mildly fibrillates in hope and not in desperation. I ask myself what do I need to do to get this man? I don't ask this in a consumeristic way, but as individual yearning to know the person, work hard to prove my worthiness and eventually have him end by single hood. Isn't that a reasonable desire with commitment to work hard? 

I didn't go to Ptown with an ambition to find somebody, but he seemed special among group in the resort. It was definitely not love at first sight, but I cannot deny the attraction. The time we spent discovering the city, going on shopping trips and dancing together helped us slowly discover our personalities, interests and answer other questions we had on our mind about each other.

The walks, shopping trips and tea dance we did together during the next two days helped us discover our personalities. And when he told me that he was going back for a few days, my heart sank, but came back up like a buoy when he announced that would he back in Boatslip in the middle of the week and in time for the carnival. 

The three days when he was away felt like weeks apart and we texted back and forth to convey our feelings from being apart and our eagerness to meet soon. He is funny, intellectual, and very much my type and age: checking all my boxes, but does it mean that he is available and looking? And I was in the U.S. and in Ptown on vacation, so does this mean that it is going to be a fling or a summer romance set in Ptown?

I had no idea what was running on his mind, but I gave myself the freedom to enjoy the newly discovered and fresh love that was coming my way after a three year self-imposed hiatus. Before we both realized, the mutual attraction pushed the boundaries of intimacy: spending our time together, from taking showers, hanging out to sleeping at night together. One of my friends even commented that we were now staring to behave like lesbians and an engagement ring and U Haul truck wasn't far away.

The five days of courting and hanging out together from dawn until dusk convinced us of our attraction, but will it sustain a week-long separation was the question. I woke up early on that morning and found Rich's arms around me, that was definitely a sign of endearment. Don't you agree? I slowly extricated myself while he was still asleep and left a pillow in my place. But it was not long before Richy texted me asking where I was and soon joined me at the breakfast table near the lobby. At the breakfast table we shared our stories of life that reinforced the foundation of trust and explained our expectations.

Later that morning, he came all all the way to see me off at the ferry point to Boston. Had I known that I was going to meet someone as charming and affectionate as Richy, I would have not booked my tickets to visit my friends in the Mid-west, who would only be happy for me. But nevertheless, I went ahead with my trip and promised to stay in touch through messages, pictures and blogs. The one-week apart also gave us time to calm down our hormones and pragmatically reassess our feelings. Is forty the new twenty? 

And when I came back after a week, he was at Boston airport waiting to pick me up like a devoted partner. He re-established his love with a kiss on my lips and his right hand was holding my left hand while he steered his Volkswagen Rabbit for the next hour before it came to a halt at a restaurant in his neighborhood. A light meal concluded with a water melon mojito sorbet and mangue ananas creme brûlée became an appetizer for what we ended up serving each other in bed.

I came back to this city after a gap of 12 years, while my prospective boyfriend from then was already paired up and happily settled. There was no comparison, unhappiness or peer pressure, but will Richy put an end to my perpetual bachelor hood for eternity?

That night I spooned to my left side so that Richy could hold me from behind; his touch was firm in a loving way. We slept peacefully after our union and Richy was asleep before I could close my eyes. We exchanged a dozen kisses before we got out of bed the next morning. As we stepped out of the room, he summoned Alexa, Amanzon's Echo to play wake up music. 

He quickly brushed and joined me in the shower and while we soaped each other we firmed up the plans for the day like a married couple. Before we left home he again summoned Alexa like a genie asking her for an update on weather. And without Alexa's help we checked on each other a few times during the day before I drove back to pick him up in the evening.

Our pact was to leave behind all that happened in Ptown back there, but what about things in Providence. It sounded surreal and like a fairytale to me. But how about him? What is running in his mind? If it was meant to be short lived why did his mind not turn into a wary wife leaving no chambre pour la bon moment et l'magnifique memoir du l'affaire? 

 

But why didn't the wife not intervene when we created memories in our shower, bed room and funny stories with Alexa? How about our shopping trips and romantic dinners or when I picked him up from work. Was she okay with this arrangement? Did she know it was going to be a short-lived summer novel set in Ptown or was she building our future together beginning in Providence? 

Finally, the wife came out when I gave him a thank you card appreciating his kindness and care. I thought she was going to let him display it on the counter next to the kitchen sink, but instead she made him leave the card aside like other old magazines in his living room. Are these cards like the many pairs shoes that filled his living room and closet at the entrance? 

Alexa knew the climate, but does she know the climax? Alexa, what do I decipher from this? Will Richy end my single hood? Does he have secrets like my French friend? Could you please find out his feelings and share them with me? Unfortunately, I found out while driving to the airport that Alexa doesn't work outside of the U.S. and I would have to get back to the U.S. to get her response.