a substitute for mom.

as a single woman in my early 30s, weekends are the best platform for my dating agenda. so, on a hot june night i met karl. karl, a tall, funny and ok-looking guy, was standing by the bar. he sparks up a conversation, that i responded with a quirky giggle-sign of either shyness or just playing the game. as the night goes on, and my girlfriends cheer me on from the sidelines, karl and i exchanged numbers.

next step. first date. a few days later he asks me out to dinner. we go to my favorite. mexican. i love chips and guacamole. the weeks go by. and so do the dates. and the chips and guacamole. we attended various events-sports, church, family, you name it. a few months had gone by and i was thinking "maybe he is THE one!"

then lightning struck. "i cannot be far from you baby"-i told myself as if i was telling karl. so we started "staying" at each other's house, once or twice a week, sometimes more.

big time mistake. i took the role of a "wife" a "wife" karl wasn't looking for. i cooked and cleaned. did his laundry and kept his bachelor pad in tip-top shape.

karl wasn't looking for a wife. he was still playing the game at the tender age of 36. he was still going out with friends-co-ed outings that I was invited maybe once or twice. but i said to myself "i need to give him space, let him go out with his people, i'll go out with mine". while he partied, i was home waiting by the phone. omg, can you be any more pathetic?

one christmas, karl took me home to his parents. wow. big step. i wanted to impress the parents so bad, i failed to make a good impression. after this-it all went downhill. karl was a big mama's boy. and i failed to see the signs. mom called everyday. mom kept tabs on who visited his recently-purchased home. mom helped him budget. mom helped him pay the bills on time. karl wasn't looking for a wife. karl was looking for a substitute for mom.

fast forward five years. karl is still single as of press time. and as far as i'm concerned, mom is his main woman.