Courting Mrs. McCarthy Read Free Page A

of his age, but this was largely his own doing. Nathan had taken a class in interior design at the local community center. He had been the only male in the class, but he didn’t mind because he now had a room that resembled one that might belong to a human with a much higher maturity level.
    Nathan climbed into bed to watch some of the shows that he’d recorded. House Hunters and the other programs on HGTV were some of his favorites since he had taken his interior design class. When he was older and had his own house, he would not have to pay someone else to decorate it. He was had aspirations to eventually work toward not needing a realtor either.
    After he had watched two episodes of the reality TV show, Nathan took a nap. Sleeping on the floor was not conducive to his REM cycle and he wanted to feel somewhat alert before he was expected to make small talk with the people of his yacht club. Most of these people regarded Nathan as more intelligent than his peers and he did not want to make them feel otherwise. They might be handy someday when he was in need of a job.
    Of all the extracurricular activities Nathan was interested in, work was not one of them. He didn’t need the money and at his age could not find employment that was of more interest to him than his current activities. Griffin did not share a similar attitude.
    Nathan had tried working with Griffin at the clothing boutique where he worked, but he did not share the same passion for fine clothing as Griffin. On top of that, Money was no object to Nathan because of his father’s guilt for not being around. Jerome sent lavish checks to his son as a substitute for love. Nathan occasionally took odd jobs to pass the time. He preferred not to babysit as the kids usually yelled too loud or made messes which he felt obligated to clean up.
    Instead, he sometimes served as a driver for the children of a well-off couple who traveled extensively to exotic regions he had often never even heard of. The family paid him far more than what he felt the job required and it provided him with a deviation from his normal routine.
    Sleep should have come easy for a weary Nathan, but it did not. He found himself checking his phone for contact from Sarah, even though the device would let him know if anyone was trying to get in touch with him. He did not want to contact Sarah first as he bore guilt for not fighting harder to keep their relationship intact.
    The root of the problem was that Sarah and he were fundamentally different people. Nathan had little trouble getting along with her friends, and Griffin was more than pleased with that state of affairs due to the potential possibility that one of Sarah’s friends might be interested in him. Conversation was never an issue. Nathan found it easy to talk to just about anyone, except for his father of course.
    But despite how agreeable Nathan was, Sarah had often said no to things he wanted to do. He once purchased a discounted kayak tour for the two of them, but she turned it down like everything else, and Griffin went instead.
    Another time, he wanted to go to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It was just the kind of romantic artsy date that Sarah was always going on about. A little too coincidentally, she was busy with plans just as he’d bought the tickets, so Griffin went instead.
    While Nathan understood that his ideas for grand adventure might not be necessarily appealing to everyone, he grew displeasured when he purchased a five-course meal at a French restaurant with the hopes that their aspirations for romance and culture could finally reach some middle ground. She declined and made an unfunny and dated joke about a dislike of snails. Nathan had to exercise restraint when it came to questioning this conduct unbecoming of his faux socialite girlfriend. Griffin went instead.
    The lack of compatibility wasn’t a huge concern to Nathan. He had read an article shortly after their courtship began that said the average