Romantical; I’m not even sure if that is a word. My spell check already has it underlined so it must not be. Despite what Mr. Spellcheck says, I like the word. I first heard it when watching the movie, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. You know the one where Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo play drag queens. One of my favorite movies too.

Where this is all leading to is about the guy I have been dating for about a month now. If you keep up with the forums, the dating thread, you will notice that I mention him quite often. If you don’t then let me give you the back story on Rico (the name I have given him in the dating thread). The first guy I have dated or been intimate with in over two years.

He is 31 years old, Puerto Rican and from another city in Pennsylvania. I first met him during the summer when he was at my friend’s house. My friend is his ex sister-in law. I am still not clear on what made him move here... trying to be close to his son or thinking he was going to get back with his ex. And my friend is trying to help him get over her sister by introducing him to me after he inquired about who I was.

Rico really is a sweet guy. He can be funny and at times can also be shy. But he can also be too nice or easily played which I have seen his ex do to him when it comes to his son. Since we are not in a committed relationship, I try to stay out of it. I know he pays support to his ex for his son. I see how she uses their son in childish little games by allowing Rico to see him when she feels like it. But I also see how it stresses him. Indirectly, it also affects me. I have given him advice on what to do about the situation but he still lets her play her games. This is what I don’t understand. Why should he be concerned about her feelings, when it is obvious that she doesn’t give a damn about his feelings?

I want to say something to my friend who hooked us up but at the same time, I am not trying to get involved in all the drama. My life and my home is drama free. The last thing I need is to take on someone else’s drama. That happened once when Rico came to visit me and his ex started blowing up his cell phone. After that episode, I told him when he comes to see me that he has to turn his phone off.

Sorry, I got to rambling. Let’s move forward to today when I get a call from Rico. He actually called a few times. The first time, it was from some place loud. I am guessing it was my friend’s place because she has 4 kids and it’s never quiet. He called to see how I was doing and that he would call me when he got home. That call lasted about 3 minutes. Maybe about an hour later he calls me back but before we can even get into a conversation, he asked if he could call me back. I say sure but I’m getting a bit frustrated at the same time. Refusing to sit by the phone and wait for him to call, I go fix myself something to eat. When I get back to my room, I check my phone and see that he has called 3 times. I also see that there is a voice mail message so before calling him back, I check it. In his messages he sounds frantic, so I call him back but I get no answer. Before I can even put my phone down, he calls.

Still sounding frantic, he explains the reason that he ended the call was because his ex was calling. I wasn’t thrilled to find that out but my thinking was it could have had something to do with his son.....WRONG!!!!! He goes on to tell me that his ex was cussing him out because my friend (the one who hooked us up) had told her that Rico and I go together. Hmmm, my first thought was ?why was she so concerned if we did or didn’t go together?? She has a married man as her man now. And why the hell did he even care what she thought?!? This brought about my internal RED ALERT signal. Does Rico still care or even worse, still love this woman?

Then he goes on to ask me if my friend called me. Uh, no...Well, if she does, don’t answer the phone...Don’t text her....I’ll handle this, promise me....My response was....whatever....click... I hung up the phone. But my RED ALERT is still going strong....And I am not liking it....

Time for some good green and a glass of Arbor Mist.....