Unbroken Pleasures Read Online Free Page A

a dozen pair of shoes
until I find the ones that I can actually walk in. I offered her a French fry
in a hopeful truce. Sylvia took it and popped it into her mouth but she didn’t
really taste the fry. Her mind was already on how she could hook me up. I
shrugged my shoulders accepting that I’d just resigned myself to matchmaking
hell.
    “What sort of
man are you looking for?” she asked still lost in thought.
    “Oh, I don’t
know. The male kind, I suppose.”
    “Come on, Alex,
help me out here. Everyone has a type. What’s your type?”
    “Ed was my type,
I guess.”
    “No, no, no, not
another Ed. We are not going down that road again.”
    “What was wrong
with Ed? He was a nice guy.”
    “That was
problem number one. He was too nice.”
    “There’s no such
thing as too nice, Sylvia. I like nice. A boyfriend should definitely be nice.”
    “You want
someone a little mysterious and definitely sexy,” she said ignoring me.
    “A guy like that
isn’t going to be interested in a girl like me,” I protested, “or want the same
things I want in life for that matter.” I started to have my doubts that
putting my love life in Sylvia’s hands was such a wise move. She waved away my
comments and continued to sketch out her idea of the perfect man for me. By the
end of it, I’d polished off my plate and I sat staring at her in bloated
silence. This wasn’t going to work.
    “I waited a long
time for you to get over Ed,” she told me leaning forward in almost a
conspiring whisper, “You owe me this.”
    “I owe you?”
    “There is
definitely something different about you.”
    “I told you what
happened. Well, sort of.”
    “How did you
meet this unnamed stranger?” she said rolling her eyes and apparently deciding
she was in a happy enough frame of mind to entertain my little game for the
time being.
    “I couldn’t
sleep. I went for a walk.”
    “It was raining
last night.”
    “I know.”
    “So how did you
meet him?” Now she was confused and I could tell a part of her was starting to
hope that I was just making it up. It made her uncomfortable.
    “He was walking
too.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes, really.”
    “And so you just
looked at each other in passing and said hey, we’re both bored and we can’t
sleep so what do you say we go back to my place and shag senseless?” Sylvia
sounded aggravated now. It was either because I insisted on my story being true
or it was the fact that I was hopelessly stupid if it was.
    “No, we didn’t
say much of anything.” I shrugged. It did sound pretty stupid. I wished I
hadn’t told her.
    “Alex, please
tell me you are joking.”
    “It wasn’t a big
deal, Sylvia.”
    “You used
protection, right?”
    “We didn’t
actually have sex so it wasn’t an issue.” I cringed again at the way I’d nearly
thrown myself at him, protection or not, “Besides, I’m on the pill anyway.”
    “The pill is
only going to save you from babies. God damn Alex, why didn’t you tell me that
you were so horny? I can get you laid. This isn’t a problem. This is something
we’re going to take care of right now. Tonight.”
    “What? No… wait,
Sylvia. I never said …”
    It was too late.
Sylvia fished out her cell phone and searched for someone’s number before I
could make it clear enough that I had no interest in such a thing. I tried to
grab the phone out of her hands as she started speaking to the mystery person
on the other end but she dodged my attempts, slid out of the booth, and went
outside to finish her call. I sat in petrified silence as the waitress came
over to clear the table and leave the check. Whatever Sylvia arranged, I would
have to break it. That’s just all there was to it.  I got up to pay the bill
and stole a glance outside to see Sylvia laughing as she talked with the person
on the other end. I hoped they weren’t laughing at my expense. My evening
escapades weren’t the sort of thing I needed people to know about.
    I went back to
the table