Still single, to some

Leina has been dating Charles for almost 10 months. She has been rather slow spreading the word that she's been dating to some of her friends. For instance, this older Detroit friend from last weekend invited her son up from L.A. when she came to visit. He is 31. It was quite apparent that she thought that maybe she could set up her son and Leina, who was single, as far as she knew. It was only a little awkward when she learned about Charles, but they wasted little time dwelling on the failure. Naturally, they then tried to set him up with Angie, but it was not to be.

And just two weeks ago, Leina was emailing with a friend from Oakland. "You should come to our single people anti-Valentine's Day party!" her friend prodded. Perhaps Leina should have told her earlier about the existence of Charles. However, this was not the time. "I can't..." she mumbled, "I've got to go and do something with my family."