Moments of intense emotion are what make up romances. The next three pages are dedicated to those moments. Enjoy

Chapter III

She lays on her bed wrapped in sheets of purest cotton and she wonders if he's thinking about her. The sunlight is strong in the early summer morning. She stretches and sighs. The violin sings to her through her clock/radio. Someone is plucking a harp, softly though, as if afraid he will overpower the singing violin. It is an apt metaphor for her and him.

He does not come on too strong, in fact he almost doesn't come on at all. Somehow this makes him stronger to her. She searches her mind to find apt analogies. It is as if he is some light scented perfume that wafts into a room--so light it becomes nearly imperceptible to the senses. It is now an accepted part of the senses--they note it no more. But when their mistress leaves the room, they are alarmed to find it no longer there and are heightened--trying to find it again. The pain and longing is strong then. Yes, she decides, he is like that perfume. The perfume that isn't noticed until it's gone. By then she is so used to him that she's lost without him. Without realizing it, he has become necessary to her.

This alarms her. She is not one for making others necessary to her. It is too much like giving up herself, to make room for another. Another who might not understand her sacrifice. Another who would leave her hungry. It is a sobering thought--this. When, she wonders, did he become necessary to her? When did his smile stir her so? When did his touch pulsate through her? When did she lose herself to him? And would she ever be able to get herself back? Would she even need to? Could she trust him with this?

She lay there, wrapped in ivory sheets of soft cotton and cried. She did not know if it was sadness or happiness. She did not like to cry. Again, it was too much vulnerability. She prided herself on her strength. She had always known that her core was much too soft--but she had built, brick by brick, a wall. This to shelter her. And now, somehow, softly and sweetly she was no longer alone inside her shelter.