Wild Fiction

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‘It’s just a stage, a state of mind,’ he offered turning his eyes back to her.
‘I think a full explanation would be more appropriate,’ Rebecca fixed him with a reproachful glare.
James looked down at the table. ‘There’s this theory, it’s called The Three Stages of Love and the last stage is called the Cynical Stage.’ James flicked his eyes up at her and caught her I’m-not-going-to-settle-for-just-that stare.
‘Okay, okay,’ he said running a finger inside the collar of his shirt and wiping away the sweat. ‘The first stage is the Cinderella Stage. The girl is usually in her late teens or early twenties. She falls madly in love and believes in love. She believes that love conquers all and that true love will last forever.’ James paused and looked down before continuing. ‘Tenacious Hope is stage two. She’s in her mid twenties and her heart’s been broken at least once but she’s not prepared to give up her hopes that true love is out there somewhere and that she’ll find it. The third and last stage is the Cynical Stage. She’s in her late twenties or early thirties, believes that all men are bastards, that true love is a myth, and that it will never happen to her or anyone. She thinks that people who say they’re in love are delusional and that they’ll wake up with the rotten taste of dead romance festering in their mouths.’ James took a deep breath and exhaled. ‘That last metaphor was mine,’ he added quickly. ‘It isn’t part of the theory.’
A smile crept onto the edges of Rebecca’s mouth before she burst out laughing. She covered her mouth with her hand as people in the coffee shop turned around and stared at her.
‘That’s the crappiest theory I’ve ever heard. What a load of crap. Crap, crap, crap. I bet a man dreamt that up. Where the hell does it come from?’
‘I don’t know. I just heard it somewhere and I’ve heard people refer to it.’ James felt depressed. She was right. He had never said it aloud before and now that he had, it sounded stupid.
Rebecca chuckled, reached over, and took James’s hand. ‘It’s very amusing to hear a story like that, but don’t believe everything you hear. Now I have something far more important to ask you. Who’s this Stephen bloke that works at The Body and is Genevieve’s personal trainer?’
James drew his eyebrows together, hesitating before he answered. ‘I’m not sure how to answer that question or add to the information you already have. His name is Stephen, he works at The Body and he’s Genevieve’s personal trainer.’
‘Is there nothing more to it than that? Are Genevieve and Stephen having an affair?’

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