1. Once upon a time,
in a kingdom far away,
Copy !req
2. a certain man
and a slightly less certain woman
Copy !req
3. kept bumping into one another.
Copy !req
4. They seemed to meet everywhere.
Copy !req
5. On street corners.
Copy !req
6. At parties.
Copy !req
7. It was almost as if
they were dating accidentally.
Copy !req
8. And then, after another chance meeting
Copy !req
9. at a wealthy lawyer's new son's briss,
Copy !req
10. they decided to pick a time
to bump into each other on purpose.
Copy !req
11. Saturday, 10.30.
The hottest new restaurant in Manhattan.
Copy !req
12. Samantha's PR firm
was handling the opening.
Copy !req
13. - Hi.
- Hey.
Copy !req
14. So, isn't Brian great?
Copy !req
15. Charlotte had a new boyfriend.
Copy !req
16. He had her big three -
looks, manners, money.
Copy !req
17. He wants to buy a painting from my gallery.
Copy !req
18. Love and a commission,
she couldn't have been happier.
Copy !req
19. - All right, it's official, he's late.
- Who?
Copy !req
20. - Mr Big, who else?
- Carrie, that's great! Is it a date?
Copy !req
21. No, he called it a "thing".
He said meet me for a drink thing.
Copy !req
22. He never used the "D" word.
Copy !req
23. Well, thing is good.
Thing comes before date.
Copy !req
24. Let's hope so. All right,
I'm gonna go in. See you in there.
Copy !req
25. Where did Skipper go?
Copy !req
26. How can you date that younger guy?
They're so unfocused.
Copy !req
27. We're not dating, it's a fuck thing.
Copy !req
28. Girls, isn't this fun?
I've turned away 20 so far.
Copy !req
29. People are actually crying.
Copy !req
30. Something came up.
He's not gonna meet me.
Copy !req
31. Listen to this and tell me
if he's not meeting me as a date
Copy !req
32. - or not meeting me as a friend.
- All right.
Copy !req
33. Sometimes you need a second opinion.
With doctors, real estate, men.
Copy !req
34. Well?
Copy !req
35. I have no idea.
And I finished first in my litigation class.
Copy !req
36. How pathetic do I feel
asking you if a guy kind of likes me?
Copy !req
37. - There you are!
- Hey!
Copy !req
38. Carrie, Miranda,
this is the hottest chef in New York, Jon.
Copy !req
39. Jon. J-o-n. No "H", no last name.
Copy !req
40. His strudel
was so fabulous he didn't need one.
Copy !req
41. - And this is his very cute friend, Sam.
- Hey.
Copy !req
42. Sam? Who's named Sam?
Copy !req
43. - Me. Can I get you a drink?
- Oh, good luck, the bar is packed.
Copy !req
44. No problem,
the bartender's a buddy of mine.
Copy !req
45. - Miranda?
- Martini.
Copy !req
46. 20-something guys always know
the really important "B" people -
Copy !req
47. busboys, bouncers.
Copy !req
48. Plus, they have cute butts.
Copy !req
49. That's The Times critic. I'd better go.
Copy !req
50. Did I mention I'm sleeping with him?
Copy !req
51. Skipper!
Copy !req
52. He's lost. We gotta...
Copy !req
53. They stopped making martinis,
I got rum and Cokes, is that OK?
Copy !req
54. Well, I hate rum
and I hate Coke, but thanks.
Copy !req
55. - Martinis, ladies?
- Well, look at you.
Copy !req
56. - I was a waiter at TGIF.
- Fabulous.
Copy !req
57. - Hey.
- Hey.
Copy !req
58. - Sam.
- Skipper.
Copy !req
59. They liked each other immediately.
Copy !req
60. You want to see something?
Copy !req
61. Can you narrow that down a little bit?
Copy !req
62. Wait. I didn't...
Copy !req
63. No fair! Do it over. Let me see.
Copy !req
64. - Hey!
- Hey!
Copy !req
65. - It's you.
- I've been looking all over for you.
Copy !req
66. And here you are, holding a tongue.
Copy !req
67. - Your message said you weren't coming.
- I said I'd try to make it for an hour.
Copy !req
68. Well, yeah, but then you said that
Copy !req
69. - What did I say?
- Never mind, never mind.
Copy !req
70. You're here, you have an hour.
Let's have a drink.
Copy !req
71. I was outside trying to get in for 30 minutes,
and inside looking for you for 20.
Copy !req
72. That leaves me with just
enough time to tell you that, I'm out of time.
Copy !req
73. You have fun.
Copy !req
74. Men in their 40's are like
The New York Times crossword puzzle.
Copy !req
75. Tricky, complicated, and you're never sure
you've got the right answer.
Copy !req
76. This place is tired.
Copy !req
77. - Do you want to get out of here?
- Sure.
Copy !req
78. Why not?
Copy !req
79. A short cab ride later,
Samantha, Jon, no "H", Sam and I
Copy !req
80. found ourselves at the nearby
20-something club.
Copy !req
81. I can't believe you made
Jon leave his own opening.
Copy !req
82. He's too happening to be
seen someplace borderline tired.
Copy !req
83. It was a tough town,
hot places had the life span of a medfly.
Copy !req
84. - Samantha, everybody is in their 20's.
- And so are we.
Copy !req
85. As I glanced around the room, I was amazed
at the variety of 20-something guys.
Copy !req
86. The groovy guy.
Copy !req
87. The corporate guy.
Copy !req
88. The jock guy.
Copy !req
89. The underage guy.
Copy !req
90. There you are! How are you?
Copy !req
91. - Big couch.
- Oh, here.
Copy !req
92. I don't weigh too much?
Copy !req
93. You weigh like nothing.
Copy !req
94. What's cuter than that?
Copy !req
95. As we took a swig
from our pony necked beers,
Copy !req
96. I remembered another
type of 20-something guy.
Copy !req
97. So, what's it like to kiss with that thing in?
Copy !req
98. You want to find out?
Copy !req
99. The really good kisser guy.
Copy !req
100. Hello.
Copy !req
101. - I am so fucked.
- What's wrong?
Copy !req
102. No, I mean, literally.
I've been fucked every way you can be.
Copy !req
103. If you keep talking like that,
I'll have to charge you by the minute.
Copy !req
104. As I searched for my morning Marlboro Light,
Copy !req
105. Samantha proceeded to give me
a run down of her night with Jon.
Copy !req
106. No "H", no inhibitions.
Copy !req
107. We did it with him on top. Me on top.
Copy !req
108. Me on my side.
Copy !req
109. Him on his side?
Copy !req
110. Oh, my God, yes.
Copy !req
111. On his back, on his side, on his face.
Copy !req
112. - Have you ever done that?
- It's too early to remember.
Copy !req
113. Well, do it immediately. It is fabulous.
Copy !req
114. These guys in their 20's, are up for anything.
Copy !req
115. How did it go with you and Sam?
Copy !req
116. We kissed.
Copy !req
117. Just kissed?
Copy !req
118. No. We just kissed for five hours,
Copy !req
119. at the club, in front of the club,
on the corner of the club.
Copy !req
120. I forgot how much fun it is
to just kiss, you know,
Copy !req
121. even if I did only get
two hours sleep.
Copy !req
122. I didn't sleep at all.
Copy !req
123. As Samantha went on about
her sexual escapades, I glanced at my arm.
Copy !req
124. There it was in Bic blue.
Copy !req
125. 20-something Sam's phone number.
Copy !req
126. I had this urge to call but I'd just left him.
My lips were still swollen.
Copy !req
127. Why this sudden craving?
Copy !req
128. Are men in their 20's the new designer drug?
Copy !req
129. Yes, Samantha, Miranda and I
were all recreational users,
Copy !req
130. but were we getting into
something we couldn't handle?
Copy !req
131. OK, we were attracted to younger men
for various reasons.
Copy !req
132. But I couldn't help but wonder,
what do they see in us?
Copy !req
133. Women in their 30's are just so grateful.
Copy !req
134. Every bullshit, nice thing you do
is like throwing food to the starving.
Copy !req
135. They give great head
and know a lot about wine.
Copy !req
136. They remind me of my mom.
Copy !req
137. They know who they are
and what they want. And I like that.
Copy !req
138. Two words - smart, pussy.
Copy !req
139. Later that week,
Miranda and I compared notes.
Copy !req
140. Shouldn't we be dating men our own age?
Copy !req
141. Good luck finding one. There are no
available men in their 30's in New York.
Copy !req
142. Giuliani had them removed
along with the homeless.
Copy !req
143. What's really going on here?
I mean, is it younger men feel safer?
Copy !req
144. What's really going on here is sex.
Copy !req
145. Good old-fashioned, eager to please,
do what I tell you to, eagle scout sex.
Copy !req
146. But I'm not having sex.
It's a kissing thing.
Copy !req
147. So what's the big deal? It's just a fling.
Copy !req
148. It's not like we're throwing out
our schedules or anything.
Copy !req
149. Sweetie, I gotta go.
I'm late for a meeting with my editor.
Copy !req
150. I didn't want to tell her
I cancelled lunch with my editor
Copy !req
151. to go to Banana Republic
and help 20-something Sam pick a shirt.
Copy !req
152. As I helped him try them on, I thought
he's sweet, fun, and I think he likes me.
Copy !req
153. Could he be more than a fling?
Copy !req
154. Could he be a potential boyfriend?
Copy !req
155. Please. This isn't Gap.
Copy !req
156. And speaking of potential boyfriends.
Copy !req
157. Later that week the crossword puzzle
asked me to meet him for a drink, blank.
Copy !req
158. Not quite a date, five letters, starts with "T".
Copy !req
159. Whoever this is, I can't talk.
I'm late for a drink thing.
Copy !req
160. I just need five minutes. I'm meeting Brian
later and I don't know what to do.
Copy !req
161. - About what?
- Well, last night after a movie,
Copy !req
162. we were walking down 2nd Avenue...
Copy !req
163. Four minutes, Charlotte!
Copy !req
164. I can't just blurt
out what he asked me, it's embarrassing.
Copy !req
165. What did the perfect boyfriend ask?
Copy !req
166. Meet me in front of your
apartment in ten minutes.
Copy !req
167. OK, words are essential.
Tell me exactly how he worded it.
Copy !req
168. We've been seeing each other
for a couple of weeks. I really like you.
Copy !req
169. Tomorrow night after dinner,
I want us to have anal sex.
Copy !req
170. OK, next stop is gonna be
62nd and Madison.
Copy !req
171. - 62nd and Madison?
- We're picking up Miranda.
Copy !req
172. - No, God, no.
- Yes, and then we're picking up Samantha.
Copy !req
173. Sweetie, you need all the support
you can get and I'm late for drinks with Big.
Copy !req
174. Oh, that's great.
Copy !req
175. Even in her state of abject blackness,
Charlotte was a dating optimist.
Copy !req
176. - It all depends. How much do you like him?
- A lot.
Copy !req
177. Dating a few months until
someone better comes along a lot?
Copy !req
178. Or marrying him and moving
to East Hampton a lot?
Copy !req
179. I don't know. I'm not sure.
Copy !req
180. Well, you better get sure real quick.
Copy !req
181. - You're scaring me.
- Don't scare her.
Copy !req
182. It's all about control.
Copy !req
183. If he goes up there,
there's going to be a shift in power.
Copy !req
184. Either he'll have the upper hand or you will.
Copy !req
185. There's a camp that believes whoever
holds the dick, holds the power, but...
Copy !req
186. Hello! You're driving.
Copy !req
187. The question is - if he goes up your butt,
will he respect you more or less?
Copy !req
188. That's the issue.
Copy !req
189. No, no-smoking cab.
Copy !req
190. Sir, we're talking up the butt.
A cigarette is in order.
Copy !req
191. Front, back, who cares?
A hole is a hole.
Copy !req
192. - Can I quote you?
- Don't be judgmental.
Copy !req
193. You could use a little back door.
Copy !req
194. - I'm not a hole.
- Honey, we know.
Copy !req
195. Look, all I'm saying is,
that this is a physical expression
Copy !req
196. that the body
was designed to experience.
Copy !req
197. And PS, it's fabulous.
Copy !req
198. What are you talking about?
I went to Smith.
Copy !req
199. I'm just saying with the right guy,
and the right lubricant...
Copy !req
200. - What was that?
- A preview.
Copy !req
201. Well, I can't believe it.
Copy !req
202. Same time, same place.
Just you and me.
Copy !req
203. Well, sort of. Meet my friend, Jack.
Copy !req
204. Hi, how are you?
Copy !req
205. Marvellous. My second divorce. The bitch
is getting everything the first didn't.
Copy !req
206. There he was, right in the middle
of my drink thing - Mr Marvellous.
Copy !req
207. Jesus, look at that beautiful woman.
Copy !req
208. I'm gonna go ask her
to join us for dinner. Excuse me.
Copy !req
209. He called me, crying.
Copy !req
210. Do you forgive me?
Copy !req
211. Here's what.
Copy !req
212. Why don't you two have a guy's night?
Copy !req
213. You know, talk, cry, shoot bear.
Copy !req
214. I'm way behind on my column anyway.
Copy !req
215. Here. Next round on me.
Copy !req
216. We'll do our thing another time.
Copy !req
217. Are you sure?
Copy !req
218. Abso-fucking-lutely.
Copy !req
219. I didn't know what I was supposed to feel.
Copy !req
220. Confused, sad, rejected?
Copy !req
221. I decided to walk to clear my head.
Copy !req
222. Also, I just left my cab fare on the table.
Copy !req
223. So I walked.
I walked 48 blocks in $400 shoes.
Copy !req
224. I just needed something
to take the edge off.
Copy !req
225. A little kiss to make me feel better.
Copy !req
226. But now, it wasn't working -
I wasn't getting the same rush.
Copy !req
227. Tonight, I needed more.
Copy !req
228. Uptown, Charlotte wondered when
relationships had gotten so complicated.
Copy !req
229. She yearned for the time when dinner
was followed by dessert, not lubricant.
Copy !req
230. I can't, Brian.
I want to, but I can't.
Copy !req
231. Actually, that's not true.
I don't want to.
Copy !req
232. Or maybe I do. I don't know what I want.
I'm afraid if I don't, you'll dump me
Copy !req
233. and if I do, then I'll be the up-the-butt girl.
I don't want to be the-up-the-butt girl.
Copy !req
234. Men don't marry the up-the-butt girl.
Who ever heard of Mrs Up-the-butt?
Copy !req
235. No, no, no. I can't.
Copy !req
236. I want children and nice bedding.
Copy !req
237. I just can't handle this right now.
Copy !req
238. Can we fuck the regular way?
Copy !req
239. Yes, please.
Copy !req
240. That night they made love
the Charlotte way...
Copy !req
241. polite and respectful
on 300 count Egyptian cotton sheets.
Copy !req
242. Meanwhile, downtown...
Copy !req
243. That was really great.
Copy !req
244. - You know.
- Yeah?
Copy !req
245. When you lay like that,
Copy !req
246. you have the cutest little wrinkles
on your neck.
Copy !req
247. Samantha realized as long as
she dated someone younger,
Copy !req
248. she would always be older.
Copy !req
249. She gave up 20-somethings
right then and there.
Copy !req
250. As Samantha went cold turkey...
Copy !req
251. I got in deeper and deeper.
Copy !req
252. - That was...
- Totally awesome.
Copy !req
253. I was hooked. Gone.
Copy !req
254. Who cares about age, crossword puzzles,
the cab money I'd left on the table?
Copy !req
255. This felt so good.
I'd do anything to keep this high.
Copy !req
256. And just when I thought
I couldn't get any higher.
Copy !req
257. He spooned me.
Copy !req
258. I woke up wanting more, or maybe not.
Copy !req
259. In the grey morning light,
everything looked completely different.
Copy !req
260. Candles from Urban Outfitter,
dirty laundry, a pizza box.
Copy !req
261. Suddenly, reality hit.
Copy !req
262. I'm in a 20-something apartment.
Copy !req
263. - Morning, babe.
- Morning.
Copy !req
264. Fuck! I had this amazing dream.
Copy !req
265. My father and my ex-girlfriend
were, like, dead or something.
Copy !req
266. How you doing? Nice to see you.
Copy !req
267. - Coffee, I need coffee.
- It's in the kitchen.
Copy !req
268. And I had these big hands,
like big aluminium hands.
Copy !req
269. And I lived in this like big missile silo
that was totally nuclear
Copy !req
270. surrounded by like my enemies and shit,
and one by one, they'd run at me.
Copy !req
271. They got inside somehow.
I don't remember, but they'd run at me
Copy !req
272. and I would crush them to pieces
with my big aluminium hands.
Copy !req
273. I, like, crushed this one guy.
He had no face and stuff, but I crushed him.
Copy !req
274. I could crush anything
with these big fucking hands, man.
Copy !req
275. You don't have any coffee,
you don't have any coffee filters.
Copy !req
276. Oh, I'll make that.
That's all right.
Copy !req
277. Oh! And you were in the dream.
Copy !req
278. As this beautiful unicorn woman
with glass eyes.
Copy !req
279. You, coffee. Me, bathroom.
Copy !req
280. That would make a kick-ass song,
wouldn't it?
Copy !req
281. - Unicorn woman.
- Coffee.
Copy !req
282. Oh, that's my roommate.
Copy !req
283. Every fibre in my 30-something being
was screaming, you're too old for this.
Copy !req
284. And just when I thought
I couldn't sink any lower.
Copy !req
285. I need toilet paper!
Copy !req
286. I'm just using the last
of it to make the coffee.
Copy !req
287. I decided the way to break free was to move
from one addiction to an even bigger one.
Copy !req
288. Shoes.
Copy !req
289. A couple of blocks
and way too much money later,
Copy !req
290. I realized I had just entered
an interesting chapter in my life.
Copy !req
291. I had out-grown the boys of my past and
not quite grown into the men of my future.
Copy !req
292. Hi, how are ya?
Copy !req
293. Why is it in a city of ten million men,
Copy !req
294. you always see the one you don't want
and never see the one you...
Copy !req
295. - Hi.
- Hi.
Copy !req
296. - What are you doing down there?
- Oh, it's a wobbly table.
Copy !req
297. Guess I have the touch.
Would you care to join us?
Copy !req
298. Hinge.
Copy !req
299. What?
Copy !req
300. Your crossword puzzle.
Five letter word, to bring together. Hinge.
Copy !req
301. Well, nice seeing you. Bye.
Copy !req
302. Excuse me.
Copy !req
303. Just so you know, I would have gotten
hinge on my own. Maybe.
Copy !req
304. I have no doubt.
Copy !req
305. Now Jack's hooked up, I'm single again.
Maybe we could have dinner sometime?
Copy !req
306. I don't know. I'm good at crossword puzzles.
I'm not so good at people puzzles.
Copy !req
307. Anywhere you want. Just you and me.
Copy !req
308. Call me.
Copy !req
309. As I walked away, I had a thought -
Copy !req
310. maybe all men are a drug.
Sometimes they bring you down
Copy !req
311. and sometimes, like now,
they get you so high.
Copy !req
312. Damn.
Copy !req
313. It would have been so cool
if I hadn't looked back.
Copy !req