Lesson 3, The Forgotten

His eyes had always traced a woman’s body. It raised his heart rate and caused butterflies in his stomach. Even married women were subject to his lust.
“Hey Craig,” Samantha and Erik came and sat down in the booth and ordered a beer. Craig ordered a ginger ale. He ignored the passing feelings going through his body from all the women in the bar. He was very interested in comparing and contrasting all the women with their unique beauty. It was always temporary though. Eventually he would start to doubt he was even worth anything to women, as if they would never see his value.
Craig focused his attention on his friend and his wife. “So Samantha what’s new with you?” Craig asked. She had been quiet while Erik, her husband, and Craig caught up after several years of not seeing each other.
“Jack and Steven are old enough to go to school, so I’ve been looking for work. I’ve also been going to the gym. Ive almost got a six pack.”
Erik jumped in,” her butts bigger too,” Craig and Erik laughed with each other while Samantha blushed and looked down.
Craig was aware of how beautiful Samantha was. He could feel it when she blushed and when she smiled. I would do anything for her if she asked, Craig thought. He knew she was fiercely loyal to her husband and children though, but still.
“So Craig, Have you met anyone yet?” Erik asked
“No… Not like Sam. No keepers.” Samantha and Erik looked at each other and laughed.
Erik responded encouragingly,” Keep looking man, you’ll find someone.” But Erik didn’t know Craig’s situation. He didn’t know how damaged he was. His mental illness and his body. He had aches and pains like a 50 year old but he’s only 28. Craig suffered from hallucinations. Every time he was out in public he had paranoid delusions too. He couldn’t tell whether women were into him. He couldn’t trust his instinct. Most of the time instead of thinking he was feeling chemistry, he thought he was lusting. How could he know different? He had too many feelings for too many women he thought were beautiful and he could only hope someone would make it obvious one day that he is worthy.
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Erik and Samantha were walking to their parked car in the parking garage. Erik sighed,” Are you ready for this honey?”
“Yeah, why? What’s gonna happen?”
“He always projects exactly what he’s feeling. By the end of the night he had you on a pedestal, wished he could have you, and started feeling sorry for himself.”
Samantha blushed and smirked.”I have that effect on many men.”
Erik and Sam laughed. They kissed each other and got into the car.. Erik was protective of his wife. He looked around, casing the area for potential problems. He was used to much bigger cities with much more sophisticated crime. Here in my home town, the night will be easy going, he thought. Their night wasn’t over. They had dinner plans and were meeting up with their other friends later on.
“Should we have invited him to come along with us?” Samantha felt guilty for just having a drink and leaving.
“No honey, he will zap all the energy out of you. Trust me. We were good friends once but something happened to him.”
“What?” Sam asked.
“He just stopped being who he was and became a coward. He started feeling sorry for himself. Oh… it was after his shoulder surgery sophomore year.”
“Erik, you two wrestled together right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, did he seem lost after his surgery?”
“If he did, he hid it well.”
Samantha asked,” What was he like?”
“arrogant . Oh! He was overcompensating.”
“ He acted all big and tough and made a joke about everything. They weren’t always funny but people laughed anyway, if only at him.” Erik thought he understood what Sam meant now about Craig’s overcompensation but he asked to make sure,” So you think he forgot who he was?”
“Doesnt that make sense?”
“Yeah,” That explains a lot, Erik thought as he turned the key and put the car in reverse. He looked at his wife as he was preparing to look behind him.” There’s nothing we can do about it honey. He’s on his own now.”
She said,” I hope that doesn’t happen to our kids.”
Erik backed the car out of the space and as he put the car in drive he said,” It wont honey, I promise.”