Deliciously Boring

by Gwen Cooper — September 17, 2007

I think you know that you're firmly and irrevocably part of a couple when you find that your friends' dating stories are infinitely more action-packed than your own. My friend Alana, for example, is busily juggling men from London, Vegas, Arizona, and right here in NYC (Alana travels for work a lot). London guy was supposed to meet her in LA this weekend, but texted her at the very last minute that he wouldn't be able to make it. Alana was (rightfully, in my opinion) indignant about both the last-minute cancellation and the fact that it was conveyed via text. Things are now looking much better for Vegas guy by comparison, although there's always the possibility that her man in Arizona could be the dark-horse candidate who spoils the odds.

Alana and I met for brunch yesterday, where she breathlessly confessed all this to me over mimosas and omelets. The trouble, she told me, is that all four men are great kissers. "I love making out," she said, somewhat dreamily. While things haven't progressed far beyond making out with any of these guys, the fact that they all seem to be equally matched in the kissing department is making it much harder for her to make any decisions.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to my own love life. "So how's Robert?" she asked. "What have you two been up to lately?"

Alana and I haven't seen each other in a while (as previously noted, she travels a lot for work), and she's always been used to my having dating stories that involved mysterious and older European millionaires, or corrupt prosecutors with odd sexual proclivities (ahem), or one particular ex--a bank-robber turned novelist--who held the interest of all my friends for quite some time. My stories, like hers, had similarly been filled with juggling multiple men simultaneously; and the lengths I frequently had to go to in order to, say, prevent the prosecutor from finding out about the bank robber comprised many a dizzying narrative for me to share with friends over brunches or cocktails.

These days, though, I find myself at something of a loss when it comes to entertaining my friends with my adventures and misadventures. Robert and I spent this weekend, for example, watching old movies, reading books, walking around the city and enjoying the beautiful fall weather, or just lying on the couch, kissing and talking about nothing in particular. There were no tears, no fights, no intrigue, no drama--nothing but laziness and laughs.

"We haven't really been up to much of anything," I replied. And then I smiled--because I couldn't help thinking that, although I might never get another novel out of anything as mellow as my current love life, it still beats all the juggling and drama in the world...

Gwen Cooper is the author of Diary of a South Beach Party Girl, recently published by Simon & Schuster. To read all of Gwen Cooper's posts in "The Dating Life," click here.