No Kiss Good-Night
by
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Christy apologized as profusely for having to jam on my birthday bash as she did for throwing up while on the phone. She had been out all night partying at her friend’s bachelorette party. … I removed her champagne glass from the kitchen table. I heard a knock at my door at three thirty and raced from the bedroom, where I was fi nishing putting on my new tie with the custom tailored, mocha-coloured suit I’d had made for my birthday party. I flung open the door with exuberance, expecting to greet my first guest. There stood my landlord, Harold Waldabowski, who’d promised to be part of my circle. With a flourish of my arm, I welcomed him inside. Harold was cancelling. “Sorry, chum. Old Mr. Hardy on floor ten finally died.” Harold had to meet the coroner in the lobby to provide access to the apartment. Harold handed me my birthday gift in an envelope. It was a ninety-day rent increase notice. Harold was giving me an extra thirty days’ exception. “Happy birthday.” I closed the door, walked over to the kitchen table, removed Harold’s glass and returned it to the cupboard. I returned to the table, popped the champagne, filled the lone glass, lit the candles, tried to think of a wish and couldn’t. I blew out the candles in three attempts and made my way to my fifteenth-floor balcony. Standing outside on my balcony, I stared back inside my apartment, studying my reflection in the patio door. The face of a 39-year-old man looked back at me.
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About the Book
The day of his thirty-ninth birthday, relationship counsellor Gus Adams was completely alone. He was supposed to have a birthday bash, surrounded by friends and coworkers, but everyone cancelled for this reason or that. Gus—left with a silly Staples birthday banner and chilled champagne, sans company—realized he had no one upon whom to depend, no one to love.
With sudden determination, Gus decided to find love—real, substantial love—before his dreaded fortieth birthday. After all, he knows how to make a relationship work. He spent his career listening to other people talk about their relationships. He knew what worked and what didn’t, but Gus hadn’t been in a romantic relationship in over ten years, since a heartless vixen tossed him out on the metaphorical curb.
A lot had changed over the past ten years; Gus placed all his conviction into fast-tracking his soul mate through the polished hands of a professional dating service. Soon, he’d be overwhelmed by free spirits who barely made it past date number one. Following forays into adultery, whip wielding seductresses, extortion, drinks spiked for male enhancement and a mandated admission to John School, Gus wondered if he’d ever make it to date number two.
About the Author
Kevin Zdrill recently left a career of nineteen years in the financial services industry to complete his bachelor’s degree in social work. He is now a social worker in the field of mental health. He and his wife, Anna, recently celebrated the birth of their first child; they live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.