Cublover: And you’re not willing to talk about this?
GoodtimeCharlene: Hell, no. Been there, done that. I’m done being the soccer mom. My children are in college.
MrsRobinson: If he loves you, he’ll be willing to compromise.
GoodtimeCharlene: What compromise is there? He wants a child of his own. I already have children of my own, and my child-bearing years are rapidly coming to an end. I just don’t want to do it all again.
Cublover: Understandable.
MrsRobinson: Never say never. There’s always a compromise available.
Cublover: I’m not sure there is, Megan. Children can be an issue that ends a cougar/cub relationship. I’ve seen it happen too many times.
MrsRobinson: Katherine, I don’t want to sound all Pollyanna, but if they love each other, they can work it out.
Holly made a mental note—Cublover was Katherine and MrsRobinson was Megan. She wondered how old they were.
GoodtimeCharlene: I have to side with Katherine on this one, Megan. I just don’t think there’s a future with Bob. Yeah, I love him, but he’s not willing to give up his dream of being a parent and I have to respect that. If I were twenty years younger, it would be my dream too.
A lead ball dropped to Holly’s stomach. It all came down to children for Charlene and Bob. That part of Charlene’s life was over, but it hadn’t yet begun for Bob. Children were the issue. And of course they were. They’d been Holly’s dream, too.
HollyGolightly: If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you, Charlene?
GoodtimeCharlene: Don’t mind at all. I’m forty-seven. How old are you?
HollyGolightly: Forty.
MrsRobinson: I’m fifty.
Cublover: Me too. How old is your cub, Holly?
Her cub? Jack was her cub? The beginning of a smile curved her lips.
HollyGolightly: He’s twenty-nine.
MrsRobinson: Nice!
Cublover: Have you been together long?
HollyGolightly: No. And it’s not going to work out anyway. There are issues.
MrsRobinson: There are always issues, hon. But we can help, right, ladies?
GoodtimeCharlene: We can try. That’s what we’re here for.
HollyGolightly: Are you ready to say goodbye to Bob, Charlene?
GoodtimeCharlene: No, to be honest. But I love him enough to let him go. If he lets go of his own dream to be with me, he may resent me for it, and I don’t want that.
Holly nodded at the computer screen. Charlene, whoever she was, spoke the truth. Resentment had no place in a relationship. Did she love Jack enough to let him go?
She nodded again. What a mess! She was in love with Jack.
Cublover: Do you have anything you want to tell us, Holly? You’re safe here.
Safe? Safe in a computer chatroom talking to faceless women? Heck, she didn’t even know if they were women. They could be perverted old men who got off on talking about young studs.
Somehow she knew this chatroom was legitimate. She felt it, and she felt safe. And she did need to talk to someone.