“You’ve never had a family. You grew up in the foster system that chewed you up and spit you out every few months. I wish you’d had one of those homes where the foster parents adored and adopted you. There are great stories of that happening everyday. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for you. So what happened? The first guy you thought could give you a happily-ever-after, you married. Except you only saw him at face value. You didn’t want to look deep within him and you paid a price,” her best friend explained.
“Thanks,” she bit out. That pinched.
Kayla held up her hands. “Listen, I don’t want to fight with you. Do I believe that asshole did you wrong? Absolutely. No one deserves to be treated the way you were, but you didn’t protect yourself. And that should be your first priority.”
Sighing, her head hit the back of the couch. “I suppose.”
“Not attempting to be viscous. Just giving it to you straight. I don’t want to see you make another mistake after dickhead.” Kayla shrugged.
“Dickhead,” she quietly repeated.
“Total, dick. Head.”
They both burst out laughing.
“Do you want to go egg his house? Or better yet, egg him and her when they come home from work?” Kayla waggled her brows.
Mackenzie giggled. “You have no fear of jail, do you?”
“Nope, Mom and Dad would bail us out and it would be swept under the rug,” Kayla answered, nose in the air, wave of her finely manicured hand.
“Man, it must be nice to be connected,” she mused.
“Oh, yeah,” Kayla agreed. She propped her feet onto the coffee table. “You have a choice. Either keep picking the same men‒ones who’ll only give you that initial quick short-term attention or go for the man who’ll be there for the long haul. The one who will invest in you and your relationship. The man, who when you wake up next to in the morning, will be there. The man who’ll hold your hand and get you soup when you have the flu. Hell, go to the store and buy you tampons. Or when you’ve got a bad case of PMS, instead of picking a fight with you, comes home with an insane amount of chocolate and a Nicholas Sparks’ novel.”
“I think that’s asking a lot.”
Kayla admonished and waved her hand. “It’s asking nothing. You’d do the same for him, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why the hell can’t you demand that treatment in return? Why do you have to settle for less?” Kayla raised a challenging brow.
Mackenzie couldn’t answer that question. Why did she think it was all right to settle for a man who didn’t treat her well beyond their initial courtship? Why couldn’t she find one who would do anything to make her happy? She definitely tried to make her ex happy. She would try her damndest for any man she was in a relationship with. That’s what partners do for each other. Her friend was right, she needed to change her requirements and recalculate what constituted a good partner. Maybe she should make a questionnaire.
“Speaking of chocolate, let’s go to the store. Someone in this room is going to need a boat load of the fine stuff by the end of the week.” Kayla stood.
Mackenzie laughed. “TMI, Kayla.”
Kayla tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Just a warning, Mackenz. Just a warning.”
“Maybe you should go visit your parents.”
Kayla stopped and spun, her eyes glittering with humor. “That’s a great idea. Torture them for a week. Haha!”
They both laughed and continued to giggle together as they hurried out the door for a day off excursion for single women lightheartedness. Thank goodness she had someone dependable in her life.
***
It had been two weeks since Mackenzie had last seen or heard from Derk and she couldn't help but to feel a bit dejected. Apparently, all men found it quite easy to walk away from her and not look back. Talk about a hit on a woman's ego. As of late, she spent too much time considering what the hell was wrong with her that she couldn't hold onto a man, or her husband, or her parents. Talk about depressing.
Instead of feeling sorry for herself for another night, she tagged along with Kayla and her girlfriends to a jazz bar. From the giddiness and ramblings of the girls, they assured this bar was the place where real men hung out.
Crammed around a tiny table listening to music and enjoying the evening, Mackenzie was engrossed in the relaxed atmosphere. Kayla and two of her friends found interested men within minutes of walking through the door and left the group. A couple of the girls would take occasional laps around the room or back to the restroom to scope out the takings. Each time they came back mumbling about Kayla always getting the good ones.