Intimate and cosy setting. What follows is the excerpt of a conversation; a random one about a universal topic. It could have taken place anytime, anywhere. The backbone of the story is irrelevant. It could have happenned to anyone: it could be my story, your story; it could be any story that speaks of disenchantment, possibility and even unrequited love.

-You still could do with a lesson or two, couldn’t you?

-What can of statement is that… Surely, we all can.

-See, those are the kind of stupid things we do when feelings of longing, loneliness and nostalgia reach a tipping point.

– Believe me: I’ve had my fair share of stupid things, too.

-Like, getting involved with shadow guys… you know the ones.

-Of course I do: those who vanish when you are no longer a commodity, their egos have been fed, new-toy syndrome kicks in and don’t give a fuck about whether or not they have hurt you.

-Oh, they know they have. They play this charade about their dissapearing on you out of the blue, but they already had a cunning plan in hand.

-Granted. And if they see you as the “sensitive type” they even bother to throw a long-winded list of bullshit because they are also small in the game of telling the truth and, hey, perhaps they’re not that bad after all, and there is a glimmer of empathy in their little hedonistic hearts…

-I think it is much simpler than that: those who suddenly dissappear on you were never interested in you in the first place… they only needed to prove themselves that they still got it.

-Or they had some kind of epiphany that made them lose interest and went from charming to downright rude in the blink of an eye.

-No, no. There is no epiphany. They would never deem whatever it was you two had as anything subject to an enlightened revelation of any kind. They only wanted to get laid and you went along for the ride until it backfired.

– I did not know we were back in high school. I thought we were talking about middle-aged people relationships…

-That happens no matter the age…actually, some men are quite bad at managing mid-life crisis.

-So, they only want to see what else they can score; if the bar could be raised, so to speak.

-If they could score better…

-Nah… See, they just try to feel a void; but in reality, even shagging some hot girl twenty years their junior would not fill that barrell.

Long pause

-Well, it does get trickier as you grow older…you know, finding someone you can have fun and truly connect with or at least go with the flow with the certainty that no one is playing games.

– Yes. It’s the same complicated shit.

-Some things never change…

Longer pause

-You know what? I think I know what I’m going to get you for your birthday.

-Since you bring that up and you already ruined the surprise, tell me: what is it; a dating counselling program?

-Much better than that.

-I’m intrigued.

-Im getting you the Satysfier Pro 2. What do you reckon?

-I think I could profit more from the toy than from the whole counselling thing .