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Adam poured us all a drink. ‘To love—in its many forms,’ he said. Before we could respond, he carried on, ‘I’ve been watching the couples in here. Most of them are finished. This is their last attempt to resuscitate a marriage that’s already dead.’ He pointed discreetly to a couple two tables away. ‘They’ll be calling their lawyers in the morning whether she gets fucked tonight or not. You see the way he’s stabbing the crushed ice in his mojito with a straw? It’s like he hates ice and wants it to die. The truth is, he hates his life and blames the woman sitting next to him. He’s got a pretty good job. He can afford a smart suit. He drinks cocktails instead of beer to show what a classy guy he is. But he’s trapped. They’ve got a couple of children and a huge mortgage. He knows he can’t show his ass to his boss and go off to follow his dream. Now look at her. She keeps playing with her hair because she’s worried it’s not cascading down her shoulders in quite the perfect way. She has slathered on lipstick and eyeliner, which makes her look like the lovechild of Mick Jagger and Bambi. Before they came here, she told him, “Hey, I’ve got a great idea—it’ll be smoking hot if I go with another guy, but don’t worry, sweetie, I’ll always be in love with you.” The truth is, she’s looking for her prince. The good-looking, funny man she married is tired and stressed all the time now. He works a twelve-hour day. When he comes home, the only thing he wants to do is sit down with his dinner and watch TV. They haven’t had sex in three months. She’s decided she deserves better. What she wants is a guy to take her off to a magical kingdom where people are rich without working all the time. She kids herself she’s going to find someone like that here.’
He indicated another couple sitting on the opposite side of the room. ‘And you see those two? Do you notice he’s the one scanning the room, looking for men? Occasionally, he points one out to her. But her lips are pursed. Her arms are folded. Her reaction to every man is the same—a brief shake of the head. She doesn’t want to be here. This was his idea. He reckons a thriving sex life is the key to a happy marriage. So to fix their relationship, he’s suggested everything—dressing up, roleplay, S&M. This is his last throw of the dice—except he doesn’t know that. She’s disgusted with him. She’s asking herself why she married this pervert and wondering how much money she needs to get out of this marriage and start over on her own.’
‘You got all that just by looking at them?’ I asked.
‘You can tell a lot from watching people,’ he said with a smile.
