Strangers in the Storm ✔

Chapter 7: Understanding Men

"Honey, guys like that never change." Brenda shook her head. "Seriously, have you looked him up at all?"

"Ugh, you and stalking." Roxanne leaned her head against the cool wall. "Why would I look up a guy immediately? Where's the mystery in that?"

"He's not all that mysterious, trust me." Brenda took her phone, her long nails tapping against the screen. "US Weekly posts about him every now and then while he's travelling the world with a different girl every time. He's basically a certified party boy, he's not even pretending to do something else with his life. He's fine for a rebound, but you shouldn't seriously consider him. He's going to break your heart worse than Mike."

Roxanne banged her head against the wall as frustration began to gather in her temples, causing numb pain. No matter what she did, she always seemed to choose wrong.

"Fine." She sighed eventually. "I screwed up. Can we not add on to my shame?"

"You didn't screw up." Brenda put the phone down. "I told you he's good for a rebound. Go through a few more and you'll forget all about Mike. Everyone knows that the best way to forget about a dick is to find another dick."

Addison turned away from the screen, "Don't listen to her. You need time to process the breakup and other guys are only going to confuse you."

Brenda rolled her eyes, "No. Other guys are going to help her realise there's plenty of fish in the sea."

"No, she's going to end up making huge mistakes. It's not going to help in the long run." Addison said. "Not everyone can go through guys the same way you do, some of us are actually looking for something meaningful. We can't just sleep around without getting attached."

"Ugh, that's such a stereotype." Brenda grunted. "You're basically saying women can't participate in casual sex because our poor fragile hearts can't handle it."

"Well, it's true!" Addison raised her voice. "On average, at least. Sure, there are women like you who seem to like it, but I'd rather not sleep with anything with a cock. Seriously, how good can they be?"

Brenda shrugged, "They tend to surprise you."

"I'm willing to bet that for every good dick, you've had at least ten underwhelming ones." Addison chuckled.

"Uh, I don't go through with what reeks of underwhelming." Brenda said. "Plus, do you have any idea how many men are waiting on my call at every moment? I'm casual, fun and I'm never going to bother them. I have marriage proposals in my DMs."

"And I have been in a loving relationship for the past ten years." Addison cut in. "With one man. And I didn't have to risk STDs to get him."

"Well, I'm not looking for a relationship." Brenda's gaze finally jumped to Roxanne. "You shouldn't either. You've been with Mike for three years, it's time to be single for a while. There's no need to jump from relationship to relationship."

Roxanne sighed, "Excuse me for actually hoping there are good guys out there."

"You're not wrong." Addison quickly jumped in, as if sensing Roxanne agreed with her. "You just need to find him. Trust me, he's out there."

"Bull-shit." Brenda laughed. "The idea that everyone has a soulmate is the biggest lie ever told and every girl past the age of twenty should understand that. The one is a lie."

Roxanne nodded and began to paraphrase their opinions, "Alright, so what the two of you are saying is that either you have to find the one and everything will make sense or you have to go through a string of casual relationships throughout your life and you'll never find someone who actually fulfils your needs."