ETERNAL FLAME OF LOVE

“What do you think about this book, Alex?” I asked ask I browsed around the adequately stocked bookstore.
“Don’t change the topic, Jimmy,” Alex gave a resentful frown, obviously crossed. “I really think you ought to have a girlfriend by now.”
“We come here to buy books, not to talk about love affairs,” I protested, still looking at the book.
“But you are 25 already, Jimmy,” Alex insisted. “Make hay while the sun shines. Well, look at Neil and me. We have our own children already but you are still a bachelor.”
Neil and Alex are my best buddies. We had been classmates since we studied in kindergarten. Nevertheless, they were all married long before.
“It’s for your own good,” he added. I kept silent, as I did not know what to say. Love could not pop out suddenly in the air, I thought.
As we shuffled to the counter, I was reading the book enthusiastically and did not see someone ahead of me. Then bang! A fairly young girl ...