Fall from Grace by Arthurson Wayne

Author:Arthurson, Wayne [Arthurson, Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Forge Books
Published: 2011-03-29T04:00:00+00:00

24

I forgot how Joan could always take my breath away. She wasn’t what one would call a classic beauty, she didn’t have the Botticelli features, didn’t have the alabaster skin, a cute button nose, or all the accoutrements that men are told defines beauty. If you focused on her features individually, her wide eyes, her small mouth, her tall, big-boned body, you wouldn’t look twice. However, if you took in the whole package, it was something to write home about.

She also had a presence, a charisma, created by her keen intelligence that caused almost everyone to watch her as she entered a room, even though they had no idea why, since she didn’t possess the lean glamour of a supermodel or the hourglass figure of a centerfold model.

So when we started dating, there were a bunch of other men hovering around, teachers, a lawyer, a car salesmen, and a district agriculturist—typical small-town professionals—and they still attempted to be part of her life when we became an official couple. They cornered her at parties, asked her out for coffee after school, pretended to be her friend, and all the time she was oblivious to their attempts to upgrade their friendships. It was only after we got married that she realized the truth, because, one by one, her old male friends disappeared.

And even though she married me, I never understood why. But that feeling was typical for your average male who doesn’t believe he is God’s gift to women. You never understand why you were chosen, even when you are told the reasons. You are happy that you were chosen and sometimes you can go for a very long period without questions, but every so often you find yourself staring at your wife, wondering, Why? Why me? What made me so special that she chose me over all the others? What did I have that the others didn’t? And then when she notices that you are looking at her, she can’t help but wonder what the hell you are doing.

“What are you thinking?” she asks.

And the only thing you feel comfortable in answering her is, “Nothing.”

Joan had a few more wrinkles and gray hairs than the last time I saw her, but nothing about her had really changed. She still commanded the attention of the coffee shop when she walked in and she still took my breath away, especially when our eyes met. A shiver of excitement ran through me when that happened, the same shiver I used to get as a teenager and some girl that I had a crush on happened to look my way.

Unfortunately, the look of disappointment on Joan’s face also reminded me of those same teenaged crushes. No doubt those girls were disappointed that I was the one watching them, and Joan was probably disappointed that I had managed to turn up. I was also glad that the bruises on my face from my attack a couple weeks ago had faded. They would not have made a good impression.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.