CASE #3: NORMA JEAN + GEORGE

SUBMITTED BY: NORMA JEAN
LENGTH OF RELATIONSHIP: 1 MONTH OR 3 YEARS (DEPENDING ON WHO'S COUNTING)
INFO: i met him at a friend's party. i was hesitant to go out with him but a few months later it happened. we dated for a month. he bought me the screenplay of E.T. because he knew i wanted to be a screenwriter. he took me on a surprise ice-skating trip and tied my laces for me. on the surface it seemed like everything was going well, but things started creeping up that were red flag warnings. he wouldn't kiss me or hold my hand in public. he would make screwy faces when i would refer to us as a couple. some friends saw us holding hands out in public once and he said: "oh, no. now they think i have a girlfriend". so, i eventually called him on it and after a week of denying, he finally fessed up and then we effectively broke up. he kicked and screamed about it a little bit, why i am uncertain to this day because he didn't want a relationship, but... despite the drama he stayed true to his goals, which are to devote himself to his job and because he's a big, pussy-boy scaredy-cat because of his mother (he's got some strange mommy issues) and an ex-girlfriend that wanted too much too fast (supposedly).

we see each other once or twice every 4-6 months and that's about it... the rest of the time is me ignoring him or yelling at him for being an ass (not returning phone calls). in fact, he actually returned my phone call yesterday and i asked him why he did and he said he was trying to be more human. we slept together a week ago yesterday. he has what i like to call a girlfriend that he intends on breaking up with. someone he's been seeing once every two weeks for the past four months. i asked why she's gotten four months and i only got one month. he said, if i think about it i've actually gotten three years. i am not sure if i should laugh or cry at that remark. i am pretty sure i don't feel content. his games and everything used to bother me, but i have grown numb to it these days, like a callous has grown over the sore spot. who knows... i guess i just woke up again and decided not to wait forever or to hold my breath.

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DATE: January 13, 2003
FROM: NORMA JEAN
TO: GEORGE
SUBJECT: How Larry David Destroyed E.T. & other Musings of a Relationship Gone Astray

Dear George,

I've come to realize that I haven't liked your treatment of me over the past several weeks. You likely feel you have been acting perfectly normal - maybe... what's normal though? Normal, like before we spent that month together? Yes, I guess you have been acting more like you used to - back then. Back then it was fine though because I didn't care one way or the other if we spoke to each other or saw each other - I mean, I never thought about you or even considered you at all. Things have changed for me now and for me only, I guess. I am sensitive and I simply can't go back to the way things were... back then. I get offended now that you don't call or reply to my emails promptly. Even having a simple conversation with you through email proves difficult, as you don't even respond to questions I ask you in the hopes of sparking a conversation. And you don't ask about me, or comment on my life when I say for instance, I had an interview or that I am broke. You say nothing. All I get is silence or banal comments about the weather or how much you wish you were like Larry David. This doesn't feel like a friendship, or whatever we so foolishly thought we would be after our "thing" ended. What are we? I think we are nothing. It's not even the same as before - there is all this underlying resentment coming from my end and endless amounts of guilt from your end, as a result of all that mothering as a child, no doubt. Or, perhaps the guilt feelings have passed and you now feel totally justified for what you did during that month and for what you do now. All I know is that it feels like I'm talking to a wall. It's hurtful and tiring, and I don't want any part of it anymore. I feel like I am finally getting to know you - the real you. Is this the real you? Is this what it's like to be your friend? Is this what it would be like to be your girlfriend? Or is this simply the way you treat girls after they catch on that you were only playing a healthy game of cat and mouse with them? Who was that person you pretended to be for that month? He was nice and considerate, funny and interesting - a real charmer, and I really believed that that guy liked me and cared about me. Where did he go? If you ever find him again, tell him to give me a call.

Norma Jean