My dinner with Daniel

New readers may not be familiar with Daniel* so here is a synopsis. I met Daniel several years ago while intermittently dating Ian*, as I was still considering a long-term relationship. I met Daniel by stepping on his foot at a book store, and then we went out for dinner, and in about a month it was turning into a reasonably intense relationship.  He hinted about eventual marriage.

We saw each other quite steadily for over a year and spent amost every weekend together, but he gradually lost interest in sex - not that he'd had an overwhelming interest to begin with. I also began to notice that he harbored a subconscious fear of relationships due to his marriage from hell, although this didn't bother me as I tend to share this fear (although I'm more apprehensive than scared).

When I finally decided to discuss the lack of sex, he duly visited his doctor who diagnosed low testosterone, and prescribed hormone replacements and Cialis. But Daniel was oddly uninterested in a cure, saying instead that lack of a sex drive made life less complicated for him. When he once complained about the expense of Cialis, this wounded me to the point where I immediately decided that the relationship had to end. When I left for home that Sunday, I took my toothbrush and  Miss Dior bath gel with me.

Over a year went by. I met James*, things didn't work out, and I put my sex life on the back burner. Then I met the Cub* and eventually told Daniel I'd found someone to have sex with (no details). That put a 100% kibosh on things, although we would still have a perfectly civil lunch whenever we attended Sunday mass at the same time. And as mentioned before, Daniel surprised the hell out of me with his $100 gifts last December.

Last month I bought him a smallish, late holiday gift but never had the chance to give it to him. So last Saturday I suggested we have an early dinner. I was kind of surprised that he accepted. 

We went to a pub with surprisingly good food and had a surprisingly long visit. There was no talk about sex; mostly it was about the stock market and investment matters, which is an interest we both share.

I remember studying Daniel over the table after dinner and thinking how attractive he still was. At 58 years of age, he's a gym rat who can still fit into his college outfits and has all of his hair. It was a pity he didn't have any interest in sex, even now. But as the worn cliche goes, that ship has sailed. 

* See Key to Characters at right.