Chasing the Reddened Dream

Chapter 8

After a couple weeks, Dylan had been on some dates with Gloria. The whole thing was unsettling for some reason. The cute persona that charmed him at first about her began to annoy him. There wasn't too much talking since neither of them liked to talk about themselves, but when they did talk, Dylan found her to be somewhat boring. Hr still stuck with her because there was something that attracted him to her. Maybe it was the challenge of getting her. He wasn't too sure of their relationship status and didn't know how to ask. He also wasn't sure he wanted to know as it would finalize something he was shaky of.

"Hey, Dylan. Would you mind staying for a second?"

Dylan stopped and looked at his professor. It was the first time that Julia asked him that.

"Sure, Professor."

Gloria looked at him. "Should I wait for you, Dylan?"

"Nah. You can go on ahead. I don't want you to be late. I'll text you later."

"Ok, bye." she said blowing him a kiss. Dylan half smiled.

He walked up to Julia. "Yes, Julia?"

"Dylan, I noticed that you have been participating more in class. That makes me happy. It appears to me that you are on the brink of a great metamorphosis and are coming out of your shell. I've only seen a handful of students do it and the transformation is always beautiful."

"Thank you for saying that. I feel like I have grown a lot this semester and Nick has really been helping me. Surprisingly, he gives some good advice."

"That's excellent and it's always good to have somebody on your side. People always look at asking for help as a weakness, but I have always thought of it as a noble act. We wouldn't survive if we weren't there for each other."

Dylan nodded his head agreeing with her. She suddenly had a serious look on her face.

"However, after saying all that, I can't help but feel that there is a black spot in your life. Something that is troubling you and could be holding you back. You shouldn't wait until the branches are black to trim the tree. I hope I'm not being too personal."

"No, Professor. You're not. It's just... I recently started talking to Gloria and I even took her on a few dates. Things seem to be going great, but I'm feeling a little uncertain about it. I was more than ready to ask her out before I talked to her, but an uneasy feeling has been coming over me and I can't understand why."

Julia stood quiet for a second with a pensive look on her face. "Dylan, what I'm about to say may not make much sense right now, but I'm hoping that it will in time and I don't want you to forget it. Can you do me that favor?"

"Of course. Please tell me."

"For a while, it has been said that males are the hunters and females are the gatherers That's how it was in the First Nations' tribes and it still continues to this day. I don't support these gender stereotypes, but I thought it was the best metaphor to use in this situation. Now, what I want you to think about where you fit in these two or if you even think you do fit. I will leave this up to you. There is only such much I can do. This is a journey that you'll have to travel alone. I just hope you can find your way there."

"Thank you, Julia. That means a lot. I appreciate you looking out for me. I will think about what you said."

Dylan left and was wondering exactly what she meant. He couldn't help but think that maybe Nick may be right and that she could be pretentious sometimes. She wasn't worse than his other professor, but maybe she didn't state it as boldly as he did. Still, it was a very wise piece of advice that she gave him and wondered if it would come in handy one day.

...

"Dude, we need to go to the bar now!" said Nick as Dylan picked up the phone. "Come and pick me up because I plan on getting completely hammered tonight."

Nick didn't drink a lot and knew that something had happened with Stephanie. When Dylan pulled up to his house, Nick was already waiting for him. He noticed how red his eyes were. He had never seen Nick cry before. He realized that he must have cared for Stephanie immensely. Not a word was spoken until they arrived. Sometimes it was better to leave the silence alone instead of filling it.

"I'm guessing by now you know why I'm feeling so sad." Nick said slurring his words. He was already a couple shots in. He was a real lightweight when it came to alcohol.

"Well, I'm thinking that it has something to do with Stephanie, but I'm not sure what." said Dylan.

"Damn right it's about that bitch." Nick hiccupped. "We broke up after six months of dating. Six months of my life down the fucking drain. I gave the relationship everything I had and this is what I get in return?" He took another shot.

"First of all, man, I think you need to slow down on those shots. Second of all, don't let her get to you. She's not worth it. It sounds like she didn't appreciate you. You took all of this time out for her and she didn't give much in return." said Dylan.

"You're right. I was always there for her and bent over backwards, but she couldn't do the same for me."

Nick looked over at Dylan. "Hey, can I give you a little advice about relationships?" Dylan only nodded. "I've learned a few secrets over the years and I want to share my wisdom with you. As you know, I have been on many dates and have had many girlfriends in the past with whom I've never had any success. It wasn't until recently that I started my one week stand habits and I'm not happy doing it. I'm always trying to find that one girl that I can love and spend my life with. Stephanie came into my life and I thought to myself 'This is the one. This girl will finally turn my life around.' How wrong I was. This is why I don't date very often. People break up and get hurt. As much as we try, breakups are never mutual. Someone ends up getting hurt more."

Nick suddenly sat up straight as he could given his drunken stupor. Dylan knew this would be a big one.

"Let me tell you something I have learned throughout my past relationships. People make love sound so appealing. They show the cute parts and the way the two look at each other. Things go great in the beginning and there is a "honeymoon period" but let me tell you the dark side of it. Love is selfish. People make sacrifices and do things they don't want to do. It may sound cute that one person gives up something to make the other person happy, but it's selfish to make them choose and change their opinion just to please them. I know what love is all about sacrifice and equality, but it doesn't always end up that way. I was always changing my mind for Stephanie and we would mostly do what she wanted. It didn't bother me at first because I was so elated to be with her. It really began to wear on me after a while. I felt tinges of emptiness and unhappiness. She never made sacrifices for me. I finally called her out on it and that's why we broke up. She told me I was being selfish. She said that it was selfish of ME to let her make all the decisions. She did it so I could stand my ground and "Man up." I'm not even sure what that means. What does being a man have anything to do with sticking up for yourself? I'm pretty sure women do it too. She said it was time for us to go separate ways anyway. I don't know, man. Maybe this was all for the better. I don't need love anyway. Perhaps my purpose in life is to stick to me one night stands and drift from one girl to the next. I may not just be boyfriend material. Hell, maybe humans aren't meant to be monogamous."

"Nick... don't let one girl ruin the whole thing for you. Although I may seem skeptical about love sometimes, I believe that there is someone out there for everyone. You just have to be patient and it will happen when you least expect it. For all you know, you could have possibly met the person you're going to marry already."

"Yeah... Never know..." Nick was starting to nod off at the bar. It was finally time to take him home.

"Ok, Nick. It's time to get out of here."

Nick looked at him puzzled. "Where is out of here? And where are we going?"

"Home, man. You have to go home and rest. You're gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow." Dylan said, stifling a laugh.

Dylan helped Nick to the car and drove him home.

"Do you feel better after your drunken rant, Nick?"

Just before he fell asleep, Nick responded, "Actually, it's weird. Even though I'm shit-faced drunk, I've never seen so clearly in my life."