Card Sharks by Liz Maverick Page B

going to concentrate on if you didn’t have a boyfriend? Yourself and your friends and your family. Women weren’t alone at this age because they’d spent too much time thinking about themselves; they were alone because the men simply weren’t good enough.
    She’d just read a newspaper article about how smart women had a much harder chance of finding a mate because A) men preferred stupid women, and B) both ugly and gorgeous women preferred more interesting men. And there just weren’t enoughinteresting men who preferred smart women to go around. And of those interesting men who preferred smart women, just like Donny, the vast majority in L.A. were apparently too busy playing poker with their other male friends to be in the right place at the right time to find the women in question.
    Marianne walked out of the kitchen and placed the tray of drinks down on the coffee table. She wiped her hands on her sweatshirt. “Do you think I should freeze my eggs?”
    Bijoux looked at her over the magazine. “Come again?”
    â€œMy eggs. Should I freeze them, just in case? It’s the latest thing. So that if I don’t meet a guy for a long time, my eggs will still be young even if I’m not.”
    â€œThat’s just . . . wow. That’s just . . . wow. Well, I think you should do whatever you think will give you the most peace,” Bijoux said.
    â€œYou don’t sound too convinced.”
    Bijoux studied Marianne’s face for a moment. “Well, personally, I don’t want kids with freezer burn.”
    â€œOh, for God’s sake.”
    â€œI’m just saying. The technology’s still too new,” Bijoux said. “It’s early yet. They may come up with some better techniques. Don’t be rash.”
    Marianne sat down on the arm of the couch. “I’m just beginning to think . . . I mean, I keep trying to think how it would work, and it seems like it would . . . but it just doesn’t. . . . You know what I mean?”
    Bijoux looked up, quirked an eyebrow, said, “Uh-huh,” and went back to her magazine.
    â€œI simply can’t marry Donny.” Marianne threw up her arms in despair. “We’d kill each other. I’m quite sure of it. There’s just way too much drama. If we were meant to be together, we’d be together. But we’re not together. We’re together and then we’re not together. We’re obviously not meant to be.”
    Bijoux slowly closed the magazine and folded her hands together on top. “You know what’s going to happen after I leave here tonight?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œYou’re going to call up Donny, have sex, be sort of happy you did and sort of sorry it happened, decide for the umpteenth time that you must get on with your life and find somebody new, and then do the whole thing all over again. Nothing will ever change and you’ll repeat the same scenario over and over again.”
    â€œThat’s not true. I’ve sworn off him. I was right next to you at SportsClub, putting myself out there.”
    Bijoux blinked up at her. Marianne sighed. There was nothing to discuss. That look said, Same old, same old, and that was exactly what it was. “I’ll get the tapas.”
    She came back out with the tapas tray and arranged everything on the table, and settled in on the couch next to her friend. Bijoux looked at the little bowls. “I need to learn how to do that. That’s really cute. Was it hard?”
    Marianne cocked one eyebrow. “I put the little snacks in the bowls. No, it wasn’t hard.”
    â€œWell, you mean, it’s not hard for you.”
    Marianne just started laughing and opened up the jar of maraschino cherries. “Your turn to pick.”
    Bijoux thumbed through the TV Guide. “It’s already started, but Pretty in Pink, I