Wisdom of a single advice columnist changed everything.  

When I moved out, I took only the clothes I could carry, my two decade old writing desk, my office chair, and the books on my keeper shelf. 

Walking out of a decade plus marriage was the easy part. Getting my self esteem back was much harder. 

Once I healed enough to realize I was okay, I was ready to start dating again. #50firstdates was born. Fifty dates seemed like enough to meet Mr. Right or Mr. Right Now. 

Dating in middle-age was nothing like I thought it was going to be. Follow me on my real-life journey… 

If there’s one thing Isabella Aconi doesn’t want to repeat, it’s her mother’s mistakes. The last thing she wants is to rely on a man for the roof over her head and the food in her mouth. Despite her promise to herself to do things differently than her mother, Isabella finds herself exactly where she doesn’t want to be. 

A wardrobe malfunction during a music awards show is threatening her job at the television network where she’s worked for the last five years. Her position at CBT isn’t exactly the future she dreamed for herself as a child, but it’s all she has, her friends and family having long ago abandoned her. Sugar baby to the man who got her the job, she’s not sure what will happen if she gets fired by her new boss, her first love who dumped her when she was sixteen. 

The music starts. I swing my hips to the thumping bass. Oh, so slowly I slip one button through a hole, then another, then another. I ease the black silk from my shoulders and toss it right toward her. 

I watch her pale glossy lips form a big ‘O’ before she catches it like a major league baller. The flashing lights blind me. Between beats, I can see her blue eyes zeroed in below my waist.  

I know what she wants. I give it to her. With a zip and a tug, the leather pants join the rest of my clothes. In my skin tight briefs, I dance just for her. With the last chord of the song, the stage goes dark.  

I know when the lights come up again, another guy will be dancing in my place because this is my last time. I’m not doing this ever again. It’s too bad I didn’t get her name. I really liked that shirt. But not enough to go back and claim it.  

If she wants me bad enough, she’ll have to find me.