Hapless Males, re-met

I met Ray at a Cuddles Party. You heard that correctly. We did not cuddle, but did have a friendly, easy conversation, so when he asked if I’d be willing to get together for coffee or dinner, I said yes.

We made a date to meet at the popular cafe on 27^th St. Prior to leaving the house, I had an internal debate on whether to bring him a copy of my book of short stories, Hapless Males. I have a fair number of copies in a box in the basement, which I am all too happy to disperse, so it would not be an exercise in magnaminity. But how would he interpret it? Would he think that I am committed to pursing a friendship? I have plenty of friends. Boyfriends? No chance, no doubt from his viewpoint too, which I will be the first to admit. Should I tell him that I have copies I want to get rid of? Wouldn’t this denigrate the work itself, of which I am occasionally satisfied, although I haven’t re-read a single one of the stories since the book came out for fear I will crave to re-write it? Should I inscribe it? As always, that invites a dilemma. To Ray, may he find cuddles in his future. Maybe I should bring two books, joking that he might lose one on the way home. Another hapless male. Get it? Maybe that would not be welcome.

I was halfway to the cafe when I realized I had forgotten the book. Or books. It was a good thing, since it was raining like it remembered how.