Who Loves Her? Read Online Free PDF Page A

morning came earlier than she had expected.  With the alarm she recalled her thoughts from the previous night even before opening her eyes.  Susan felt the wistful longing of dreams left unfulfilled.  “STOP IT!”  She groaned to the empty room as she rolled out of bed.  Muttering softly, she stumbled into the bathroom.  Her eye make-up was streaked from the night before, and she was faced with a Marilyn Manson look-alike in a blonde wig.  “Harris is a great guy.  Fate makes it all work out.  You’re going to have your picket fence, a boy and girl named Olaf and Greta and…” the vertigo took over for a minute.  In defiance, she kept going.  “You are going to forget Bob and try your level best to be the picture-perfect devoted wife from now until the end.”
    Showering quickly , Susan knew she would still be late for work.  As she stepped from the shower hurried but refreshed, her reflection caught her eye.  Her movements slowed as she turned slowly watching her waist flowing to reveal the slowly traveling curve of her hip to her ass.  She inspected her body in a slow, thoughtful manner before realizing herself.  And with her flippant, characteristic way she exclaimed: “Damn, girl.  You look good.  A woman like that has to be going places!”  Suddenly Harris and her white picket fence looked great again, and she just tried to forget the longing she had felt the night before.  Besides, she had to get her story straight for Nina.
    She was relentless .  “I went to the hardware store and blah, blah blah.  Then Bob mumbled congratulations and asked about sandpaper, blah, blah, blah…no big deal, Nina.”
    She would rehearse it more in the car so she could sound convincing.  Convincing of what? Susan thought to herself.  She really could not figure out why she felt obligated to tell Nina anything about Bob or Harris.  Sometimes it seemed the two of them were actually one person.  A vague sense of irritation was growing in Susan’s mind as she wondered about the powers of Nina.  Strangely it seemed Nina had a sixth sense to pop up and rescue her from her tendencies for overreaction.  It is true they knew every secret about each other, but surely in the ways of adult love, a girl was entitled to a little privacy!  Still, Susan knew she would not be able to shake Nina, and she must be prepared for Nina’s fifth inquisition about her run-in with Bob.
    Susan had only gotten away with lying to Nina about how she felt a few times, and this had to be one of them.  She needed a Nina Academy Award in a big way if she had any hope of maintaining any sense of privacy regarding Bob.  With silly thoughts of imaginary awards and the soft hum of the hair dryer, Susan’s mind began to drift, and as always, her thoughts found Bob.  Susan smiled as she remembered the first time Bob had come to the rescue.  Just like a six-year-old Superman, he showed up magically to help when she was hurt and in pain.  She smiled at the memories.  Susan laid her brush down and touched the bristles as she remembered the first time she had met Bob.  As many young loves begin, a playground and swing had provided the perfect opportunity.
    W hen Susan was in kindergarten, she fell from the school swing.  She lay crying in the dirt, her wrist screaming with pain and growing black from the broken bone inside.  Bob hugged her, and walked with her to the school nurse.
    He had insisted then in his six-year-old authoritarian way that he be the one to make sure she got home.  When her mom came to collect Susan, he stood alone and disappointed at the curb; a small, solitary figure standing alone in defeat.  She smiled and watched from the backseat until they had turned the corner.  In that instant, an image was burned into her soul.  He was a pristine image of innocence; golden hair twinkling in the sun framing earnest worry on his small face.  Without awareness in that slight moment of time, Bob had become a part of