No surprise that my recent travels to the Dominican Republic, Cabo, and San Francisco have inspired my fictional side – I’ve got a bunch of stories in the works.

Some people say my stories end too abruptly – and maybe that’s fair – but that just shows they’re looking to be told the answer, which is not how I operate.

You will learn to the love the iceberg, kids – give it some time.

Q and A

The girl appeared offended and said, “No.”

The man did not say anything and the girl looked very upset and then he asked her, “Are you mad?”

The girl did not say anything verbally. She was looking straight ahead with her arms crossed now, whereas before she had been turned and opened to the side.

Then he said to her silence, “Are you serious?” and once again she did not say anything.

He sat and waited and took a sip of his drink, then to the silence he said, “I’m sorry, I just really like you. I want you to have a good time.”

The girl rolled her eyes but he quickly added, “So I’m fine if you just want to sit here and have another.”

Finally the girl stood up and said, “You’ve ruined it.”

“Where you going?”

“My room.”

“Why? It was only a question.”

Standing over him now she vented and raised her voice, “Where would a night with you leave me after a day like this?”

“Where is walking out going to leave you?”

This did nothing but make the girl angry and then she was gone and he thought, Jesus, it was only a question. Has the girl never been hit on?

Wait, he thought, were you hitting on her from the start, or were you being sneaky and trying to convince her of things?

No, he told himself, I treated her like I would anyone. It doesn’t matter who it is I will treat them the same. But still, he thought, is that the first girl that’s ever walked away from me?

No, he then thought, but don’t dwell on the past – it might be the first sane girl.

Sane? All you did was ask a question, and you deserve this? She’s far from sane.

Well, give her some credit, he told himself, from lunch till now was awfully nice.

Maybe you do deserve it, he then thought, maybe even though your intentions are well and good and romantic you look like a fool to everyone else. That’s the crazy part, he thought, the irony of it all.

Let them judge, he thought, you’re only doing the best you can to make yourself happy, just like they are with the decisions they make. The good news is there is a loophole. Women can get you down and make you question yourself but they can’t stop the next one from taking what you have to offer or hearing what you have to say. So far, there has always been a next one.

Yes, he thought, that’s the beauty of women – it gets better once you see another.

And that’s a good thing, he thought, because I love all women.

Then he smiled and thought, some more than others.

He left the bar and went back to his room and took off his dress shoes, feeling the air conditioning hit his sweaty feet. He filled his glass with water and sipped it as he looked out his balcony, and then he put the water aside and poured himself a whiskey from the airplane bottle and drank it quickly.

He turned on his computer, then went in and brushed his teeth. He finished the water and looked at himself in the mirror and thought, I have to be up for a meeting in four hours.

Before he went to sleep he logged into his e-mail but there was nothing.