I was leaning against the bar in a lively dance club, drink in hand, observing the energy on the dance floor, hoping to find someone to have a good time with that night. Whether it would be at my place, which happened to be a hotel room at the Hyatt Regency – Seattle, or her place, didn’t make much of a difference to me. It was a Friday night, and the club was bustling with a crowd of people. I was on the lookout for an attractive companion, someone who stood out from the rest. I was a man on the prowl, searching for some excitement. And to top it off, my marriage had just been annulled, giving me cause for celebration.

Yep, I gave marriage a shot, but it barely lasted five or six weeks. I took the plunge, thinking it would bring stability, but it wasn’t meant to be. Within the first month, I found myself cheating on my wife. I wasn’t proud of my actions, but I owned up to it and told her that monogamy wasn’t my strong suit. It just wasn’t in my nature. Surprisingly, she forgave me and asked me to do better. Well, that lasted about a week before I found myself in another woman’s embrace. She forgave me for that one too. Big mistake. Two days later, I was fooling around with her best friend. It was at that point my wife realized I was a lost cause. She kicked me out and forgave her best friend instead of me.

If my wife had known about all the other women I had been involved with in the week leading up to our marriage, maybe she would have had second thoughts. But technically, I was single at the time, so I didn’t consider it cheating. Since our marriage lasted less than six weeks when the third indiscretion occurred, she opted for an annulment rather than a divorce. She didn’t want the social stigma of a divorce attached to her name, so her father arranged for the annulment. I didn’t care much about it. I didn’t need any financial support; I had my own money.