Crack the Spine - Issue 69

felt ridiculous talking to younger girls who weren’t even in high school when he got his MBA. But more than anything else Frank had lost the desire to go out, which was one of the reasons Sarah was such a good girlfriend— they were both homebodies.

Sex with Sarah was fine. He wouldn’t use the word exceptional or even special to describe it, but neither would she. In fact, he wouldn’t even suggest a change in the pattern (missionary style only) because he didn’t think she’d be any better in a different position. His only real complaint was that she was silent during sex. Completely silent. Not even a good-faith Yes or right there. In fact, the only way he could get a noise from her was to suck on her earlobes, which Frank did despite finding it gross.

She’d let out pigeon-like coos, not terribly sexy, but better than silence. And noise, any noise, helped Frank finish. After sex she’d immediately dress, not just in her bra and panties but her whole sleep outfit, which consisted of sweat pants and a Florida State T-shirt.

So while they had sex every time they saw each other, it had become more mechanical than anything else. Frank didn’t even feel the need to stay the night on Wednesdays, which made her declaration on a Saturday in late June even stranger.

It was about a half hour after they finished, and Sarah was fully dressed and lying with her back to Frank. They never spooned or cuddled or even faced each other in bed. Frank had trouble sleeping with someone in the room and usually needed an hour after she fell asleep to fall asleep himself. He had considered asking her not to stay anymore, but that seemed too mean for a two-year relationship, so instead he suffered in silence and was rewarded with three special words: I love you. *** They hadn’t kissed until their third date, a record for Frank who believed the only way a woman knew you were interested in her was to kiss her. In his twenties, this had led to some embarrassing dodges at the end of first dates that weren’t actually dates. But it was better to have one awkward nonkiss than several awkward does she like me dates.

He’d met Sarah at a wedding; one of Frank’s employees from the bank had married Sarah’s younger cousin. They were the only singles over thirty and spent most of the night less than an arm’s length apart.

Their first date was for coffee two days later. Frank was at the shop when Sarah entered. He didn’t immediately recognize her. In the daylight, her face was unnaturally pale and thin. She looked half-starved, and Frank couldn’t believe he had talked to her for so long at the wedding without noticing this flaw. Her body, not just thin but bony, lacked any curves, and her hair was an uncombed nest of curls. When she sat at Frank’s table, he kept blinking his eyes trying to remember who this girl was and