The next few weeks Josh was feeling pretty bad about where his life was headed. He had once again lost his soulmate. Lauren had listened to him go on about his problems with Liza. Finally, she told him he needed to get over it and go out with someone else.
His prospects picked up as they spent an evening at the bar together. Lauren had brought Max with her, and his fiance came with the package. Lauren decided not to give up on this arrangement just yet. She enjoyed being with them, even if she didn't know what would happen. She started to settle into a more positive state of mind and was enjoying herself again, trying to break free of relationship complications. She realized if she just went with this for now, she would eventually see a clear path for herself. Her spiritual advisor and therapist helped her to see that she was the one creating her own problems.
Lauren and Josh both left the bar with a few numbers. He thanked her for being his wingwoman once again and left with someone he just met. Max and Greg called it a night as well. Lauren started to text one of the numbers she was given. Kyla, who she just met that night, had left the bar, but maybe there was a chance she could reach her and have some fun tonight. She texted, and then someone responded "Sorry, this is Jorge's Lawn Service." She was annoyed. This was the only one she met tonight that she was really interested in.
Lauren went home to an empty apartment. She could have tried other numbers, but saved herself the humiliation. Gemma was with her mother and Lauren was alone again. Lauren read a text from her mother, "Come pick up the last of your boxes." She had been putting this off for a while, knowing her mother was just fishing for information. She had more space with Kelsey moving out of the apartment and had promised to do this. She texted her mom back, "Ok. Soon."
Morning came quickly and Lauren went to work. Josh still wasn't home. Normally she wouldn't have cared, but it bothered her this time. They were roommates and she depended on him to help her. The garbage disposal had broken again that morning, so she just left it that way with a note for him. She had no idea how he fixed it last time, but she wasn't going to get all dirty trying before she got to work.
Work was boring that day with one exception. They had a sociologist author meet with them who was trying to sell a book about committed relationships in modern societies. Lauren had a lot to say at the meeting. She felt the book was too textbook-like and it needed some flair and diversity of relationship types. Diana was sold on the idea, saying the vignettes she read were interesting and it would sell well with middle aged women.
"Right, it probably will. But is that our only market now?" Lauren asked. "Maybe we can make it appeal to everyone, all ages."
"Are you asking Barbara to rewrite her book? I see where you are coming from, but this could be the new 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.' It has bestseller written all over it," Diana pointed out.
"What do you think?" Lauren asked Liza, hoping for some support.
"I think you both make valid points." Liza turned to Barbara, "Are there any studies you did with non traditional couples who might have, should we say, alternative perspectives on commitment?"
"Actually, what she means to say is commitments with more than one person. Not everyone is monogamous, you know." Lauren pointed out.
"Yes, we do have one example. I think. Maybe two," Barbara paused in thought. "I just didn't realize anyone would be interested in that. It's a bit, um, different, don't you think?" she asked. "Maybe I'll keep it for the second book. I have a few sister wives who talked to me."
Lauren guessed Barbara to be about fifty years old, her mother's age. Although she had some different styles of commitments in her book, they were based on two people being together exclusively. She hadn't considered polyamory as an option.
"That's not what I'm talking about. Not exactly. Liza knows what I mean. We are a growing demographic,and you'd reach more readers by including us." Lauren stared at Liza again, hoping she'd get the point. Without Kelsey there, she felt frustrated. She would just have to make her voice louder.
Liza finally said, "It is not necessarily for me personally, but there are some people who enjoy, um, unorthodox arrangements. I personally prefer to be committed to one person. But you know, we could explore that angle. With you being a family sociologist, I know you see polyamory from time to time. Right?"
Lauren sighed. She left the room, letting them sort it out with the new author. This book needed to appeal to everyone, or it would flop. She just knew it. She went to Kelsey's old office, looking through some of her leftover books until something caught her eye. This office was in the process of getting cleaned out. A new editor would occupy it soon. The other personnel had swooped in and taken most of the decent books. But there was a small stack of interest to her. She found something that intrigued her. She thought maybe Josh would like to read it too.
Lauren was startled by a knock. It was Liza. "Listen, I think we should include polyamorous relationships too, and in a perfect world, we would. But Barbara didn't interview many subjects with commitments like that for her book, and that would be months of extra work for her now. Diana agrees with me, but we just wanted to make the author happy. This book could be huge for us. She's an international expert. She did write your ideas down for her next book and I told her to call you. I hope that's okay."
"It is. I know you two weren't trying to shoot me down. I'm just going through some personal stuff," she mumbled.
"Is it Kelsey leaving? I'm feeling that too. Well both of them leaving. Two of my best work friends are gone."
"It's partially that. I'll tell you later," she said. It wasn't like Lauren to be secretive, she was typically an open book. But she couldn't tell Liza who it was really about. If Kelsey were still here, they would have discussed it at length. She decided to call Kelsey later. She needed a sounding board. Kelsey had been hard to reach with her move, new job and everything else, but this was important.
…..
"What's this? A book on Tibetan families?" Josh asked, picking up the textbook she brought home.
"Just read it. I know you're not into books, but I found this at work in Kelsey's pile of leftovers and it spoke to me. Their culture is polyandrous and it's totally normal there. Maybe western societies have the hangups and judgmental attitudes. It's a beautiful collective culture," Lauren explained.
"Okay, I'll read it," he agreed. Josh wanted to know more anyway. He had always viewed a traditional relationship as the ideal, but Lauren was opening his eyes to possibilities. He started to read the book.
"Don't you think they would get upset with each other? You know, if one person is shown more attention?" He inquired after he read a few chapters.
"I don't know. That's what I mean when I say it isn't for everyone. But no one owns each other. That's why I find it freeing personally."
"It is a little, um, unusual. Would this work in a modern society?"
"It works very well for me, thank you very much," she said. Lauren was suddenly hurt and felt judged by him.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It does seem to work for you. You don't get jealous. You are accepting of differences."
Lauren felt a twinge of guilt. She knew she did get jealous sometimes, and recently of his relationships. "I'll find you something modern. This was just one book I grabbed. There are so many accounts of making your relationships open and accepting. Living your truth is very important. If you don't agree with it, that's okay too. No judgment."
She didn't want to confess this, but she was hoping he would understand her better after reading. Josh's opinion meant a lot to her. He had helped her out with finding a place to live and they were flourishing as roommates. She loved baby Gemma and they were developing a close relationship. She couldn't imagine if he wanted Lauren to move out, what that would be like. They would lose their familial dynamic. If he and Liza got back together again and he married her, Lauren would be the third wheel. Being a friend to both of them complicated things.