Janet's love life did not yet show such promise. She did manage to acquire a circle of friends through her classes, however. Most were "typical" freshmen, i.e. 18 year olds. However, she and her friend Laurie also joined a club for "nontraditional" students, a euphemism that mainly referred to older students who did not arrive for their undergraduate studies directly from high school. There she met students of varying ages, most of whom were actually older than Laurie and her. While the two of them did not become particularly close friends with anyone else in the club, it was still tremendously comforting to spend time with fellow undergraduate students who had life experience beyond high school.
As Janet could have predicted on the first day of classes, it was with Laurie that she forged her closest and most important friendship. Although they only shared one class, they saw each other daily. They would have lunch together, or meet for a drink at one of the local student hangouts after classes were over, or have pizza delivered to one of their apartments. During those times, they would talk about anything and everything…their classes, their fellow students, their failed marriages, their plans for the future…and men.
Unfortunately for them, most of their conversations about men centered around the fact that neither had one. While they weren't desperate for male companionship, they had to concede that life without men had its…frustrations.
Janet tried to look on the bright side. "Well, for what it's worth, while I was married I did have a man, and I was still frustrated. At least now I don't have the stress of dealing with a man who couldn't satisfy me."
Laurie looked sympathetic. "Was marriage to Brad always that bad?"
Janet sighed. "Yeah, it was. Brad changed so much after we got married. If he'd stayed the same guy he was before the wedding, we might have been able to work things out. He probably wouldn't have ever been great in bed, but if he'd been better outside of it I would have been a lot more forgiving. I really did love him. Actually, I still love the man he used to be…I just fell out of love with the man he was while we were married."
"Do you have any idea why he changed so much?"
Janet was silent for a moment. How much did she want to admit to Laurie? Finally, she answered.
"Well, I had a one-night stand before we got married, and he couldn't deal with it." Never mind that Brad had a one-night stand with the same man…that was beside the point.
Laurie was thunderstruck. "You're kidding! I never would have guessed you'd do something like that."
Janet smiled tiredly. "That makes two of us. Let's just say the man I was with was very persuasive."
Laurie grinned mischievously. "Was he good?"
Janet chuckled wryly. "He wasn't 'good'…he was incredible. Which, naturally, made Brad seem even worse, once I slept with him."
"So why was it just a one-night stand? Why didn't you stay with him?"
Janet shook her head. "He wasn't someone to have a relationship with…he was someone to have sex with. You know, phenomenal in bed, and pretty awful outside of it. He was the exact opposite of the way Brad was…or the way Brad would have been, if he hadn't undergone that personality transplant."
Laurie grimaced. "Why is it so damn hard to find a man who's at least decent both in and out of bed?" She paused. "Have you seen that guy at all since you slept with him?"
Yes, three afternoons a week. No, she couldn't tell even Laurie that her erstwhile lover was now one of her professors. "Yeah, I've seen him around. To be fair, he's changed a lot since I was with him. Of course, it's another woman who's getting the benefit of his reform."
Laurie rolled her eyes. "Life can be so unfair." She looked at Janet curiously. "Have you seen Brad since you divorced him?"
"No. And since all our friends sided with him in the divorce, I haven't even heard how he's doing. I do hope he's okay…even though he was a jerk while we were married, I know deep down he's still a good guy."
Laurie looked determined. "Never mind that. This semester is almost over, but I think we should make a pledge that by the end of next semester, we'll both have someone. C'mon, two beautiful, smart women like us…the men should be lining up for their chance. What do you say?"
Janet smiled. "It sounds like a worthy goal to me."
