Now and Forever

1

At thirty-three years old, Harley Green wasn’t exactly old and decrepit, but he had been single for nearly five years now ever since his fourth and last ex-boyfriend had dumped him for someone else. He had first started dating at twenty years old. At the time, he had thought that he and his first ex-boyfriend would last forever, but the man had ditched him after less than a year. His dating life hadn’t gotten any better with his second ex-boyfriend, their relationship lasting only nine months before he’d been kicked to the curb. Figuratively speaking.

His relationship with his third ex-boyfriend had been slightly better. They had stayed together for almost two years. When his third ex had broken things off with him, Harley had been hurt and even more discouraged than before. After dating his fourth and final ex-boyfriend for almost seven months, he’d made up his mind to take a temporary break, but that sabbatical had stretched on for longer than he had intended. Now, he was more than ready to get back into the dating scene. Unfortunately, it wasn’t smooth sailing.

“Look, Harry—”

“Harley,” Harley corrected Joshua, his third date in a span of five days.

“Right. Whatever. Listen. You seem like a great guy, but—”

“This isn’t going to work out between us,” Harley completed on Joshua’s behalf and tried his best to ignore the hurt somewhere around his chest area. “It’s cool. I get it.”

Joshua smiled. “Great. Glad we’re on the same page. Let me get the check. My treat. Then we can leave.”

Harley wanted to roll his eyes. It was obvious Joshua wasn’t being a generous gentleman by paying for the meal. He wanted only to make himself feel better. The date grew more awkward toward the end when Harley and Joshua were standing outside of the diner. Neither of them exchanged a single word. Harley was too dejected to play nice, while Joshua appeared at a loss as to what he had to do. They didn’t make any eye contact for several excruciatingly long and painful seconds before Joshua waved farewell to Harley and walked away.

Harley heaved a sigh and made his way toward his car. He chose to take the scenic route home, and along the way, he passed Golden Gate Park, one of the most famous parks in San Francisco. He wasn’t surprised to notice the large gathering of people, even though it was close to eleven o’clock at night on a weekday, because there would be an eclipse at around half past eleven. Or so he’d read online. He wasn’t in the mood to admire it, though.

All of those men he had dated always had similar excuses.

“It’s not you. It’s me.”

“You’re really cute, man, but I prefer my boyfriend to be taller than me. Or at least around the same height. You know what I’m saying?”

“No offense, man, but I like an athletic or muscular guy.”

Harley was aware he didn’t have the most ideal build. He was only five feet, six inches, and weighed one hundred and thirty-six pounds. He wasn’t skinny. He had a bit of muscle, and could be considered as lithe and lean. Unfortunately, all the men he had dated were more interested in bulky and muscular guys. He huffed a loud breath a few minutes later as he steered his car into the road where his house was located. It didn’t matter that he was successful at his job. It meant nothing that he owned a house, and he actually had savings, private insurance, and profitable investments. At the rate things were going, he would be single for the rest of his life.

“This is fucked up,” he muttered as he drove the car into the garage after opening the sliding door with a click of the remote control.

He remained inside his car and leaned against the back of his seat for several seconds before eventually getting out and tapping the button on the garage wall. The door quickly slid all the way to the ground. Then he set the security alarm before heading into his house through the connecting door.

He went straight into the kitchen and pulled a medium-sized tub of ice cream from the freezer. Then he got several cans of beer from the refrigerator before striding toward the living room as fast as he could.

He switched on the television and logged into the account for the online streaming service. He searched for the next episode of his current favorite series before pressing the PLAY button. Then he drowned his sorrow in ice cream and beer while watching vampires, werewolves, and several other supernatural creatures battle it out on the screen. There were some romantic scenes in that episode and the next one, but he wasn’t in the right mood to properly enjoy them.