In response to Writing Love series.
One hot summer day, to be precise, one Friday the thirteenth of August, at about a quarter to three in the afternoon, I fell in love.
I know the exact moment because together with Laura we were sitting in a Café in the main square, in the city of Venice sipping Latte and I looked at my watch and wondered why the Art dealer was late, then in that momentary silence of anticipation, I turned back and looked at Laura in her beautiful summer dress, complimenting her long black hair and her sky blue eyes that were searching through the crowd and I said to myself: -
“This is not just flirtation, lust or infatuation, it wasn’t the Venetian air, I am deeply, madly in Love with this girl”.
Damn, I should had known better before I let my heart go, I’ve been married to Shirin for six month and Laura was living with her boyfriend for two years, what was I thinking?
And to think, out of all people, me, who witnessed my own mother’s betrayal with my father’s best friend. I’m not like those irresponsible heartbreakers who don’t blink an eye when they break someone’s heart. I am a nice guy. I never cheated but this girl had a hold on me. She was my soul mate; this was a cruel game of fate that I should find her, but too late.
I followed life like a recipe book.
I’m Iranian; so I thought go and find a nice Iranian girl.
I met Shirin, and we dated, and she being a traditional girl, and I had a rebound from a long sexually intensive, but pointless relationship thought the best thing for me would be to find a sensible girl who wants to build a life, she was lovely, a wonderful person. What was I doing, falling for this Irish girl?
Laura like me liked poetry, especially Seamus Heaney. Her cheeks turned rosy when she was tipsy, and witty, always witty and we only drank good quality wine. We discussed modern Art, talked about Marcel Proust, and talked of best love making in English literature and laughed. She said she makes love and kisses like it were her last hour on Earth, we were good friends and intimate, and we told each other almost every secret. She looked like a water nymph and she had let loose like a wild gypsy, She danced bare feet in the Venice square.
That night seeing her being so frivolous, and after the way we drank wine we kept gazing at each other, In the Hotel elevator I kissed the back of her neck. She turned around and I didn’t know what to expect. She turned around and gave me the most luscious kiss I ever had. I should have felt guilt, I should have stopped there and then but I didn’t. It all seemed natural with a woman I thought I loved.
The next day Laura and I were sitting in the speed boat taxi and leaving Venice. We both didn’t know how to handle what we had done. I knew Laura; she wasn’t jumping in bed with a colleague after every wine drinking session, I was smart enough to know she really felt for me the way I did for her.
She broke the silence. “I know last night was wonderful; I just want you to know that however you want to play this is ok with me. Maybe we shouldn’t have…”
I put my finger on her lips and she didn’t continue, we just looked at each other the way we looked at each other that night I kissed her hand and we kept silence.
I worked with Laura for another year, we both knew that the night we had was not a one-night stand, and that we were badly timed soul mates. We remained good friends but never the same, but when she left I let her go.
I played the good husband well. Shirin and I had a son, and we grew to love each other but in a different way from how I had passionately loved Laura.
I saw her fifteen years later in an Art auction, she looked as beautiful as she did then and when she saw me despite all those years, for a moment we looked at each other the way we did that night in Venice, and her cheeks bloomed with a cheeky smile, the way she did back then.
She kissed my left cheek and said “hello silly!” She was right, I was silly I should had damned everything, burned in hell, to be with her but didn’t!
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ramintork jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Wed Aug 26, 2009 01:34 PM PDTGreat story. I enjoyed reading it.
In my humble opinion, your protagonist was not as silly as you make him out to be. In his position as a married man he made the right decision.