Barb and I go and sit on the couch and even as my ass hits the cushion I'm regretting being here. The room is smoky and hot and everyone's wet from the rain and I'm... we're blowing money we shouldn't on overpriced drinks. God.

Barb puts her hand on the back of my neck which annoys me even more. "Maybe we just need to get out of this rut," she says.

"Yeah, maybe," I grunt, taking a drink.

"We could..." She pauses, takes a drink. "We could maybe do some more stuff like we did earlier tonight." She smiles, puts her forehead against my cheek. "Would you like that?" she whispers.

"I don't know," I say, and I really don't.

"Oh, you would," she says seductively. "I know you, Aaron." Yeah, she knows me. I don't know how anyone could date me for a year and know me less than Barb does.

She continues. "We could... try some new stuff. We could... you know..." She pauses again. "We could even invite someone to join us some night. I know you'd like that."

I just can't help but laugh to this. "No, you'd like that, Barb. Jesus Christ." I sit up and pull my torso away from her touch.

She stays quiet for a moment and says, "What do you mean by that."

"Oh, you know exactly what I mean by that."

"No," she says, angrily. "No, I don't. Why don't you explain it to me."

I laugh and twirl the ice in my drink. "Do you really want to get into this?" I ask.

"Sure," she says, her voice rising. "At least I'd like to take these sniveling little comments and asides you keep making and see I can get you to finally shut up and just finally fucking tell me what's on your mind."

Right at that point Deb comes up and asks for a cigarette. This is a joke. This whole night's a fucking joke. I see Carl over at the bar and decide to spend a little time in the company of men, just to try to get away from this extreme ridiculousness. I get up and walk over.