Smashwords Edition
2012
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.
Copyright © 2012 Louis Kahn Nin
I was a 21-year-old
literature student at the university and my wife-to-be was studying
anthropology. She was 19. I saw her occasionally around the campus.
She was quite attractive and usually wearing sexy clothes, revealing
the secrets of her slender body. I admired her but I did not think
for even a second that I had a chance, although when I saw her she
was usually alone.
There
was a Harold Pinter play performed by students in the drama
department at the campus theatre. I could not find anyone to go with
me, and because I loved Pinter’s work so much I could not miss the
show, which had only three nights, so I went alone. The theatre was a
small black box almost full. The seat next to me was empty. The show
began a little late and after five minutes, someone sat quietly in
the empty seat next to me.
“Did I miss much?” a woman’s
sultry voice whispered.
It was her.
I smiled and
said: “They’ve just begun.”
She leaned against her seat.
We watched the show until the end of act one. During the 10-minute
intermission, we chatted. I was uneasy—I was talking to my dream
girl, after all. I relaxed; she was friendly and modest, which I
wasn’t expecting. During the conversation, I realized she wasn’t
just a Barbie doll, she also was an intelligent woman and we had many
things in common. She liked music and drama; she noted the
inter-related nature of literature and anthropology. She said she
also wanted to play bass guitar but could not find time. I was also
interested in music and I played guitar—that was the common thing
that brought us together. After the concert, we said cheers and went
to our separate ways. I was feeling happy, charmed but still
hopeless.
***
A few days
later, I was eating lunch at the commons and I spotted her. She was
looking for a place to sit. She saw me too and I invited her to my
table.
“Hi,” she said.
I greeted her back and she sat
next to me.
“My name is Andrea, by the way.”
I didn’t tell
her I already knew.
We chatted about music, the Pinter play, and
the bass guitar. I suddenly said to her: “You know, Sting will be
in the city next week to perform. Would you like to go with me?”
She
hesitated and said: “Sure, why not?”
“I’ll get the
tickets and call you,” I said. She wrote her number on a napkin.
She asked: “And your name is…?”
“Angus,” I said.
“See you then, Angus.”
***
The Sting concert was the start of our
friendship. During the semester, we went to other concerts, movies,
theatres; we sang together and laughed at our bad voices. She liked
to sing while I played guitar. We became good friends and shared a
lot.
She had a lot of money. While I was living on campus, she
was living alone in a city flat. She had her own car. I had to spend
my money carefully. She told me she was working at an agency,
modeling jobs. Sometimes she would cancel the events we planned or
sometimes she left our dates early for a job. I had never seen any
photos of her modeling but I never suspected anything nefarious.
I fell in love, like the fool I am for such things. Despite my efforts at intimacy, she always kept her distance. She did not have a boyfriend, nor did she have many girlfriends. She treated me just as a chum. I did not have the guts to confess my feelings…
***
We were at a pub. I
was drank five pints of ale for courage.
“There’s something
weird with you today,” she said.
I took a sip and said:
“Andrea, I have to tell you something…”
She looked into my
eyes and rolled her own eyes and said: “Oh, bloody
don’t.”
“I have to.”
“Well,” she said and
shook her pretty head. “Let me tell you something first. You are a
very nice bloke, Angus. The last thing I want is to spoil this
friendship.”