She nodded, a small smile playing on her lips.
“That’s the kind of guy who’s a worker bee, too. He’s looking for someone to shoulder life’s challenges with. He’s got his feet on the ground, and he’s got a plan, too. He just needs the kind of woman who will work with him, not against him. Someone who will accept him on his own terms, not hers.”
“That,” I whispered, finally finding my voice, “is exactly the problem.”
“What’s the problem? The terms?”
“Yeah,” I said despondently. “These days, in relationships, it’s like everything has to always be negotiated as you go along. It’s like you never know where you stand, until you ‘get married’ and then you’re trapped forever in something that can just blow up in your face, and blow your life away!”
“Yep, but that’s not how it used to be, honey,” she sighed. “Used to be that there were rules for dating. Rules for engagements. Rules for marriages. But people in my generation decided we had enough of rules. Rules were bad. So we chucked them out, made fun of them, told everyone that they had the right to make things up as they went along. And that’s what you’re telling me you’re sick of, now?”
I nodded, miserably.
“So, you want rules?”
“Yes. No.” I shook my head in confusion. “All I know is that I want to know where I stand.”
“Ah,” she said. “And when Nick told you he wasn’t into that ‘quid pro quo’ thing, what do you think he meant?”
I shook my head again.
“Well, you were offering him sex, expecting something in return. And he rejected the offer – because he didn’t like the bargain.”
“Huh?”
“Used to be that there were rules for dating. Rules for engagements. Rules for marriages. But people in my generation decided we had enough of rules. Rules were bad. So we chucked them out, made fun of them, told everyone that they had the right to make things up as they went along."
REGINA | 67