Dating : COVID-19, SEX AND THE CPAP MACHINE

The news was filled with glum numbers regarding people who had been infected by the Covid-19 virus and there were no signs it was slowing down. Danny Levitan considered this from his apartment at Yonge and St. Clair in Toronto. He had been invited to stay with his girlfriend Aimee Monschew and he was thinking about the pros and cons. They had only been dating for two months before the world changed.

Just before Covid had appeared on the scene, Danny had been to a sleep clinic where he had been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. The Doctor had prescribed a proven and tested answer, a CPAP machine. Dr. Drexel explained that it would stop Danny from being tired and would improve his quality of life. It would play a tremendous role in helping to lower his blood pressure and his red blood cell count , it would also emliminate snoring. ‘’Danny I promise you’re going to love the change the CPAP machine will bring to your life, it will enhance everything.’’

After making sure he had everything he could possibly need, Danny left his place and headed for suburbia, which was Thornhill, a community twenty five minutes North of downtown.

Danny’s drive down Yonge Street was fast and easy. As he drove past the Yonge and Eglinton corridor he noticed that every other store had a for rent sign in the window. Retail was getting killed in a major way. Many of his favourite restaurants were shuttered. It was game over for them. Covid-19 had really wrecked havoc on business and it was anyone’s guest if things could ever go back to normal.

Aimee lived in a very nice house. She had bought it right after University and had seen the value appreciate over the years. She was a Periodontist, and did quite well, but like everyone else, her business had dropped way down and she had concerns.

Danny was a Stockbroker and he could feel a seismic change in the industry. During the pandemic, a couple of his larger clients began trading from home using different easy and accessible platforms, and it made him nervous. They both had called to share success stories with him. One of the guys, Leo Francis said he enjoyed being ‘’hands on trader’’ and didn’t know if he could ever go back to the old way of buying and selling stocks. This had caused Danny to think about a career pivot, but what exactly would he do?

He had met Aimee the old fashioned way, online. He had been in a relationship with a wonderful woman, Marla, but things had ended after his Dad passed. Danny wanted to abstain from sex during the mourning period or Shiva and Marla was opposed to the idea. She had unilaterally ended their relationship. She didn’t like him putting religious beliefs over her needs.

After resisting the whole dating scene for six months, Danny jumped back in and the first woman he met was Aimee. She was newly divorced and wanted to be back in a normal, healthy, committed relationship that would lead to something long term.

They had been on eight dates and each one was better than the one before. Danny thought he had found his soulmate and he was sure Aimee felt the exact same way. What Aimee didn’t know was that Danny had a CPAP machine. They had made love a couple of times, but he never stayed over, he always exited not long after they were done. Danny knew another side effect of Sleep Apnea was heavy snoring and he didn’t want Aimee to hear him sounding like a Gorilla.

As he got closer to her house, Danny wondered how he would introduce the idea he slept with a CPAP machine. He thought if she found it awkward or uncomfortable, he would be respectful, understand and move on. Not everyone wanted to be involved with someone who had a medical condition, and at the end of the day, Sleep Apnea was a medical condition.

Aimee immediately opened the front door and walked out when Danny pulled his Range Rover into the driveway. There were two neighbours watching intently as they embraced. ‘’Good that will give them something to talk about for the next couple of hours.’’ Danny grabbed his bag and Aimee led him by the hand into the house. A big Golden Lab came running over to check him out.

Danny smiled ‘’Nice to see you again Waldo, we’re going to be together for a while.’’ Aimee showed Danny a drawer in her dresser in the bedroom and invited him to use it. She then took him to the en-suite bathroom. ‘’You get the right sink and I use the left, I sleep on the left side of the bed, is that okay ?’’ Danny smiled ‘’I thought we’d sleep together in the middle.’’

Aimee was five foot two and had long black hair and when she smiled she lit up the room. ‘’I’m a cuddler so be prepared. You usually run away, so now I get to snuggle you all night long, that will be so nice. I’ve actually been dreaming about it.’’

Danny felt a gnaw in his stomach. He walked over to the right side of the bed and saw there was an outlet where a lamp was plugged in. He also saw a chair which he knew would have to be moved to put his CPAP machine on, and he silently sighed. What would Aimee think in the middle of the night when she looked over and saw what looked like a B35 Fighter pilot beside her.

The weather wasn’t bad out, so Aimee suggested they sit on the patio and enjoy a cup of coffee. Danny mentioned he preferred tea and Aimee pulled out a box with all kinds of choices. Danny went with Peppermint and Aimee told him to make himself comfortable and she’d be right out. When she opened the sliding door, Waldo ran out. Danny followed and looked around. It was the first time he had been in her backyard and he was impressed. Aimee had a beautiful garden and a professional looking Barbecue. The wrought iron table had a big umbrella and the whole yard was peaceful. The chairs had very comfortable seats and Danny sat down and took in the relaxed vibe.

The sun was streaming onto his face and his eyes were closed when Aimee came out holding a tray. There was his tea, her coffee and two slices of marble cake.

‘’When I’m not doing my dental work, I Love to bake. It’s my favourite thing in the world. I find it lets you escape. I’m not a stickler for recipes so I’m always experimenting. As an example, when I made this marble cake there was no suggestion for adding cinnamon, so I decided to do it myself. I think it turned our really well, what do you think?’’ She looked at Danny like he was judging a dog at the Westminster Kennel Show.

He took one bite and he wanted more. He wanted more of Aimee, more of the peaceful feeling he felt inside, and more cake. ‘’Seriously, it’s tremendous. If being a Periodontist doesn’t work out, you could become a professional baker.’’ Aimee responded with a huge grin. ‘’My Mom and Sister are the same. We all love baking, I think we inherited it from my Bubbie.’’

Aimee and Danny watched Waldo frolicking around and enjoyed the moment. Danny kept telling Aimee that he loved her cake. ‘’Without a word of a lie, best marble cake I ever tasted. You have a gift.’’ Aimee started laughing. ‘’Thanks, I knew I loved you, whoops, liked you for a reason.’’

Danny thought it could be love, he was enjoying one of the most idyllic moments of his life. Aimee must have been thinking the same kind of thing. ‘’You know when I met you, I was so tired of going on dates. I kept dating guys who had two interests, trying to impress me and getting me into bed. You were a gentleman from day one. Dating after divorce is not a picnic.’’

Danny shared his story about his ex girlfriend Marla and Aimee was amazed. ‘’She must have had one hell of a sex drive. That was kind of the opposite of what happened with me and my ex-husband Ronald. I’m kind of embarrassed to share the story, but I feel so comfortable with you I want to. I met Ronald just after I graduated from Dentistry. He had his own dental practice already established in Forest Hills, so he had an affluent, upscale clientele. He was eight years older. He had a Condo in downtown Toronto and was doing well. I bought this house and we dated for a while and then he suggested he could rent the Condo out, contribute to the mortgage and we could live together and then get married. We followed the script and had a beautiful Wedding. When we went on our honeymoon I was asking myself, did I do the right thing? I knew that was a problem, I should have been thrilled. Ronald had a huge ego and being married to someone is much different than dating him. Anyways, the first three months were so so, even though we had been living together it was different, I can’t explain it. After three months he didn’t seem to want to have sex. It was crazy, I’d put on lingerie and he’d go to sleep. It was crazy. I couldn’t understand why he was rebuffing my advances. It was different from your friend Marla, we were married and no sex in a marriage is a disaster. I have to admit I have a great sex drive which you’ll find out about tonight. So, things were limping along and then I found out what the problem was, her name was Vicky, she was his hygienist. She was the one living in his Condo paying rent, and she was the one he was screwing before and after our Wedding. I still don’t know why he married me, it was insane. Anyways, once I found out about his mistress, I understood why we weren’t having sex, he was spending all of his sexual energy on her. I showed him the door. He’s living back in his Condo with Vicky and I received a settlement I was happy with. I have to say he did screw with my brain.’’

Danny couldn’t understand why people self destruct. Aimee was a dream, it was obvious that Ronald was a dick. ‘’Don’t worry, I promise not to let you down.’’

They went shopping over at Sobey’s in Thornhill. They loved the place because it had a great kosher selection and they bought steaks and other food to last for a while. It was so comfortable that Danny felt pure bliss every time he looked over at Aimee throwing something in the cart.

When they returned to the house, Danny fired up the barbecue and they enjoyed a bottle of Chardonnay, a delicious Greek salad and Pasta Primivera. Aimee served Tiramisu for dessert.

They watched a cute movie on Netflix and at ten o’clock it was time to get ready for bed. When Aimee went into the bathroom, Danny unpacked his CPAP machine and set it up. He had brought a bottled of distilled water which he used to fill the CPAP reservoir. He then got his toiletries ready to set up in the bathroom. Danny had been with Aimee in the past, but he was nervous and didn’t want to ruin the night. When she walked out of the bathroom she looked like a vision. She was absolutely radiant. He kissed her and hurried into the bathroom. He set up his electric toothbrush, brushed his teeth, put on some after shave lotion. applied deodorant and headed back into the bedroom.

The love making lasted most of the night. They cuddled in the middle, laughed and made more love. It was the Greatest night in Danny Levitan’s life. He looked at the clock and it read four fifty two am, so Danny reluctantly slipped on his CPAP mask and hit the on button. He hoped he could wake up before Aimee and remove it so she wouldn’t have to see him wearing it.

At Nine, Danny rolled over and Aimee was not in the bed, he was still wearing the mask so the gig was up. He got up and walked into the kitchen and looked around the house and she wasn’t there. He called her name and there was no response. He decided to take a quick shower and get dressed. He would apologize for not telling her about the CPAP situation and leave. He could understand if she didn’t want to be with him. He was sure the machine made a humming noise and it had probably kept her awake.

After drying off, he walked into the kitchen and was greeted by a very enthusiastic Waldo. Aimee had just returned from walking him. ‘’I didn’t want to wake you up. Waldo and I had a great walk. Anyways, I need you to sit down, I’m making eggs and fakin’ bacon. I have the kettle on for you to have some tea, I thought today would be a nice day for wild blueberry. There is something that I need to talk to you about that I’m really upset over and I want to get it out of the way immediately.’’

Danny reluctantly sat down, he knew that he was about to get a dressing down about not telling her about the CPAP situation. She looked at him as she put some toast on the table. ‘’I have delicious Pear Jam, you’ve got to try it. Anyways I want to discuss a serious issue.’’ Danny braced himself, he actually felt very embarrassed and would leave if Aimee couldn’t sleep with him. ‘’You know I’m a Periodontist right, well I looked at your toothbrush in the bathroom and your head is useless I can’t believe you haven’t replaced it. I have an excellent new Phillips Sonic Care at the office and I want to go pick it up for you later. You have to get rid of that other toothbrush, it will drive me crazy.’’ She then walked over to Danny and gave him a soft and gentle kiss. ‘’Okay, I’m done, we can now enjoy breakfast.’’

‘’Uh, what about the CPAP machine?’’ Aimee looked at him. ‘’What about it, I appreciate you using it and not snoring.’’ That was it, that was the end of the conversation, Danny had built a mountain out of the proverbial mole hill.

That night when they were lying in bed, Danny confessed to Aimee that he loved her. She responded by saying that she felt the same way, and as long as he always used good toothbrushes, she looked forward to spending the rest of her life with him.