Tyson & I headed to Sharky's on Washington to dance off some of our energy. Before I knew it, it was 1:45 in the morning, and they were shutting the place down. So we headed back to my apartment. 
It had been over six hours since we took the E. I was still feeling waves of energy and emotions coming and going. It felt kind of like riding a roller coaster. For 20-30 mins, everything would feel normal, then the high would kick in again. When that happened, I'd have the desire to touch Tyson, talk to him, and connect. No wonder they call Ecstasy "The Love Drug". I felt happy. Euphoric. Free. No inhibitions. Like a little kid. When we got back to my place, we hopped into the shower to cool off and calm us down a bit. I definitely felt sexual and super touchy-feely. But I didn't necessarily have the desire to have sex. When we toweled off, we climbed into bed next to each other naked and laid there waiting for our bodies and minds to settle down. I could also feel Tyson's erection poking me in my side.
ME: Will you be mad at me if we don't have sex?
TYSON: No, I won't be mad at you. I mean, I want to have sex, but whatever.
ME: It's just, I want to just lay here and feel you.
Tyson was silent.
ME: Plus, I heard that if you have sex while your on E it will never feel as good again.
He laughed.
TYSON: That's an old wives tale. I've had sex on it before, and afterwards everything was just fine.
I shrugged and cuddled in closer under his arm. A few moments later, I could hear his breathing level off. This was the first time he'd ever stayed with me through the whole night.
***
At about 9:30am, I heard someone moving around in my bedroom. I rolled over and wiped a little bit of drool off of my chin. The bed next to me was empty. I looked over and saw Tyson peering at his own reflection in the mirror, and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
ME: Good morning.
TYSON: Morning.
He walked over and gave me a peck on the cheek.
TYSON: I gotta take off. My roommate needs a ride to pick up her car from the shop.
ME: Ok. I'll see you soon?
TYSON: Sure.
He started out of the room, then turned back.
TYSON: Drink some orange juice and go for a walk or something. It'll help with the After-E blues.
ME: Thanks.
Well, the huge glass of orange juice I drank an hour later DIDN'T help. Neither did sitting in the bottom of my shower crying for no apparent reason like I was in some 1980's movie starring Molly Ringwald. I felt tired, depleted, and agitated. So I fixed myself a huge salad, then cleaned my apartment from top to bottom. By then, it was 4:30 in the afternoon. I looked at my phone. Nothing. No call from Tyson to check up on me and see how I was feeling. No call from my mom, or any of my girlfriends, not even a call from Marco. No one loved me today.
I tried to shake it off. Maybe Tyson was right. Maybe a nice jog would make me feel better. Instead of going on my normal route around my neighborhood, I opted for a run in Santa Monica near the stairs. I changed into a Dodgers baseball cap, and old pair of cut off sweatpants with a Univ of Miami t-shirt. I wasn't exactly winning any fashion awards today.
It was your typical Southern California day. Bright, sunny with tons of people outside being active. I remember thinking to myself, 'God it seems a bit TOO sunny out today. Can you scale it back a bit please?' Then I realized my attitude was probably just the After-E blues talking as I put on my shades and did a few rounds on the stairs. After stretching, I began a light jog towards the ocean. Wow. This really DID work, I was starting to feel better. Then I saw him. But NO, that couldn't be him! I stopped and dipped behind a palm tree as I looked at who I THOUGHT appeared to be Tyson sitting on a bench on Ocean Avenue with a tiny brunette. I took off my sunglasses and rubbed my eyes. He turned his face a little towards me and, yup that was him. My heart was pounding in my ears. I felt light-headed. What was wrong with me? Why was my body reacting like this? I'm sure it was just a friend, or maybe his roommate. Then he leaned over and kissed her, and my heart dropped into my stomach. The girl nuzzled up next to him and I could see that they were holding hands and their fingers were interlaced like lovers. He'd never held MY hand like that. Then he pulled the girl onto his lap so that she was straddling him and I almost lost my salad. I turned away from the scene and leaned my back against the palm tree trying to steady my breathing. Who was this girl?! Was it his girlfriend?? What was going on?
By the time I turned back around, they had gotten up and were walking in the opposite direction. I stopped myself from running up to them and saying hello. Probably because my feet felt like they were being held down by cement. I touched my face and felt wet tears on my cheek.
