Getting Revenge...How Sweet It Is!

RAISE your hand if you've never considered a way to exact revenge and "get even" with someone. If your hand is up, you're either very forgetful, have a selective memory, or going through a "senior moment". It's part of human nature to feel mad and want to even the score.

And more importantly, you can analyze and justify it in your head, and that's how you cope.

Getting rid of a loser, even one you thought you loved, is better than being with one. Here's my story of revenge against an ex-boyfriend.

I dated Ron in college for months. I knew he was on academic probation but he didn't seem to be able to pull up his grades. Ron finally got word that he'd flunk out if he didn't leave, so he quit school. We were to spend his last weekend at the college together before he headed home and either went into the military or found a job.

We had plans; lots of couples stuff to do starting on a Friday night. He called me an hour before coming over to my dorm to let me know that an "old ex-girlfriend" surprised him by coming from a nearby college to say goodbye so if I didn't mind, he'd see her that night and see me the next day.

What could I say? Annoyed but trying to be reasonable, I agreed. We'd have all day Saturday to spend together. And, we'd spend Sunday morning before his bus left since he had to vacate the dorm that day.

Saturday morning came. He called again. His "ex" was still there, and wouldn't leave until late that night. Would I mind waiting to see him until Sunday?

Hell, yes, I minded. I remained calm as wheels in my head started turning. Ron apparently was dumping me for his "ex" and I didn't matter to him. Crushed at first, anger swiftly took its place and the word revenge planted itself in my brain. I had to do something to "get even".

Once again...but this time through gritted teeth...I agreed to his suggestion. But I was already formulating a plan in my head, one that would get the message through to his "male-ego" brain. Maybe he'd take note and not pull this type of "dumping" act again.

His plan was to leave at 11:00am on Sunday. The bus only came twice on Sundays...11:00am and 11:00pm. We were to meet after church at at a spot on campus we liked to go to for coffee. We'd then go back to his dorm and I'd help him carry his stuff up the hill and into town to the bus stop.

I never went to meet him. He called at 10:15 and I said I was on my way. He called again at 10:30 and I told him the same thing. His final call came at 10:45. It was too late for him to catch the morning bus, but now he'd spend the rest of Sunday with me and take the 11:00pm bus. Since he had to vacate the dorm at noon, he figured I'd let him leave his stuff in my dorm room and help him carry it to the bus stop that night.

Now was my turn. I knew I'd delayed him from taking the earlier bus. I knew he'd have to wait 12 hours for the next bus. I knew he'd have nowhere to store his things. With a nonchalant tone in my voice, I told him I would be busy the rest of the day but wished him a happy life and promptly hung up. I had visions of him lugging his stuff to the bus stop and sitting there all day...and that was my act of revenge. I had to quell the curious streak urging me to go "peek" and see if he waited there hopefully full of regret.

In my romantic suspense time travel romance book, Street of Dreams, Eileen wants to get even with Nick after his macho attitude and assumption that he was in charge of their mission to capture a killer. He hadn't taken much interest in her expertise in the era they'd traveled to, 1965. She tried to warn him of something big too come, but he ignored her...in his "I know what I'm doing" attitude.

So, Eileen doesn't tell him about the East Coast Blackout of 1965...and the fact that he'll get stuck in an elevator when she refused to get inside the elevator with him.

She got her revenge...and eventually helped him get out of the stuck elevator. Hey...it's a romance so that tiny taste of revenge satisfied her until worry took its place. Thoughts of "saving" Nick took over!

Authors: Do the characters in your books seek revenge?
Readers: What's your tale of revenge or "getting even"?

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