Relation Ships

"I'm not so good with Relation Ships," He said. Then, he looked around a bit and after his eyes settled back to his 102 degree hot coffee, he continued, "I mean I start out in the right direction, but most of my Relation Ships sink rather quickly after leaving the shore."

His friend put down his paper and spoke, "Shit, man, as least you got to take your shirt off and get some sun and maybe even get wet. That's the way I see it." And then his friend went back to reading the Sports page.

Then, a whisper came from behind him. Apparently, She had overheard his drowning and threw him this:

"Before I get on board to - or begin to build - any Relation Ship, I ask myself the Four Relation Ship Questions:

1. Am I attracted to them?
2. Can I be Good Friends with this person (do I enjoy their company and respect their views)?
3. Am I Good with being with them if they don't change a single thing about themselves, as they are Right Now?
4. Are they Good To Me?

If I can say "Yes" four times, then I know I'm in for some smooth sailing, usually - Not that there aren't unexpected cloudy days and a few thunderstorms here and there - but those are more to keep things exciting and have yet to sink any Relation Ship I've been on. Then again, I couldn't tell you who won the Chiefs game, last night - so take it for what its worth."

"Thank you," was all he could think to say.

She smiled at him and turned away and slipped back into her book.

His friend put down the paper, again, and said, rather loudly, "Dayuuum, she's hot. Did you get her number?"

"I'm not so sure that she's your type, dude" He replied, thinking of the fourth Question she was bound to ask herself, should she ever meet his friend.

And for the next thirty minutes, he thought of every girl he'd dated in the past year and how and why it ended.

And That kept him so busy that he forgot to ask who won the Chiefs game.