Short-stories

                 Wills Collapse

          I went inside for the simplest of the reasons and I left with
          a wife, children and a reason to work hard; take care of my family. I didn�t
          know she was going to be there and neither did she. My whole purpose of
          being there, buy a book. My fortune, however, was to find the perfect woman
          looking for the same book, the last one on the shelve.
              That innocent gesture for my part would be the
          stone that started the avalanche. Why? Because at every move we made we
          got deeper and deeper into a dark cave without an exit. I just could not
          avoid offering her the book, even though I took it sooner. Not to those
          green eyes looking at me. Not to the golden hair being caressed by those
          pretty hands of her. Not to that face that moved graciously on top of that
          wonderful body of hers. Being the fool that I am, I wanted to be a gentleman
          on a society gone by now on the road of materialism and selfishness.
              But why did I care? I was not thinking of that
          at the moment. For those brief seconds I didn�t care if society was selfish
          or not, I didn�t even care if the world came to a stop. In fact, for those
          few seconds, it did, at least to me, and I used the free time to analyze
          her and her ways as much as possible, trying to get an impression of her
          I could remember. Instant classification. That is what all came to be.
          A perfect being, imprinted on my memory, which was eager to enjoy it for
          the rest of the time I could remember her as she was at the store.
              That simple look of her eyes at me, meant she
          was going to marry me, whether I wanted this or not. Of course she didn�t
          realize it at the moment, but it was like a snake being attracted toward
          its pray. I could not resist the chemistry among us and for that I would
          not feel like myself again for the rest of the week.
              I met her again in the cafeteria a few days later.
          What a shame she was eating and had company. I met her yet again at the
          entrance of the engineering building. What a shame she was walking so fast,
          obviously running late for her class. At last I met her once more sitting
          on a bench, probably waiting in between classes. I sat down, next to her,
          and asked her if she was using the book already. She said yes with a smile
          and then commented that too much, in fact, for being so early in the semester.
          Her teacher was not as magnanimous as mine was, for I had gotten handouts
          with all the important material from the book perfectly organized and resumed.
          They even had the important graphics we were supposed to know.
              I offered her photocopies of the handouts, and
          when she agreed, we planned on meeting again for me to give her the photocopies.
          By now she thought I was one of the most polite guys she had ever met and
          was more interested in knowing more of me than getting the handouts. I
          had pulled a three pointer, and didn't know I knew how to play this game.
          But, of course, this is a game with no rules, at least not the same one
          for everybody.
              We talked for a while about us when we met again
          for the photocopies and by now she was, I had no doubt in my mind, perfect.
          Perfect for me. She was not the perfection from fantasies, but the perfection
          from this imperfect world. She just was the best I could ever expect in
          the real world. I knew I could not let her go and I think she knew the
          same about me too. It was mutual; two horses pulling from the ropes at
          the same time. However, instead of a man tied with the ropes at the horses,
          it was our life as individuals we were tearing apart. It was a one-way
          street and there was no going back.
              That is what I call love at first sight. Not
          because you love instantly, but because you know instantly that, that is
          the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Her name is Jacqueline
          and she is out of the market. Look out for her, for she has a jealous boyfriend.

          Francesc Beltran

          Copyright: Francisco Beltran 1998