I’VE TAKEN A LOVER
She sits at the foot of
her bed, her blouse soaked in tears. The air in the room is hot, heavy with
sadness. She has never been in pain like this before. It is a tearing of spirit
that refuses to be assuaged.
“He doesn’t deserve you,” the man says to her. He sits across
the room, his arms stretched out for her to come to him, but she refuses. He
has sat there all night trying to talk to her, but her tears keep flowing.
Nothing he has said has penetrated her pain.
“You don’t know him! He is a good man! I want him back!” she
gasps, rocking back and forth. The words come out garbled, thick with phlegm
and tears.
“He does not want you, but I do. Come with me and forget him.
Why torture yourself like this when you have someone who truly loves you?”
“But I don’t want you! I want him!” she moans. The tears
continue in abundance and she cannot catch her breath. All that matters is the
man who left her. She has wracked her brain trying to figure out what she did
wrong. How could he not see how much she loves him? How could he be so cold and
cruel to return a love so pure with infidelity?
“I may not have his money or fancy charm…I know you don’t see
me as handsome as you see him, but…” the man hesitates, choosing his words
carefully, “but I do have something he will never have. I have a heart that
beats only for you. I would never hurt you in this way. The love you feel for
him should be mine. I am here to earn it, to treasure it. You only need to open
your eyes and your heart. I am here for you.”
She continues to sob uncontrollably. The man patiently
watches her. She is in such turmoil that nothing seems to matter anymore. The
cursed memory of walking in and finding him with that bitch, doing things that
she would have sworn he would have only done with her plays itself over and
over in her mind’s eye. More tears now as she remembers the look on his face,
the love in his eyes directed toward another woman.
“How could he?” she gasps. “How could he betray me like
this?”
“Because he sees you as just another woman, another notch in
his belt; he never truly loved you. But I do. I love you and I want you to come
with me. Leave this forsaken room, come with me.”
“Why should I?” she seethes. “You will do me the same way!
You will get what you want and then do me the same way! Do you have any idea
what I sacrificed for that man? What I went through to show him how much I love
him?”
“I could never hurt you,” he says softly. “I would treat you
like a queen forever. I know what you gave up for that man, and it is just more
proof of how undeserving he is to have so much of your heart. If you gave me
but a tenth of the love you’ve given him I would be happy.”
“But I don’t love you! I don’t see you the way I see him! I
would not be true to you or myself if I went with you!”
“If you just let me show you how much I truly I love you, in
time you would reciprocate. It is love’s nature to reproduce itself. You only
need to understand that I really do love you. I know you don’t find me attractive,
and I will not force myself upon you. As happy as I am to be with you now, it
hurts me to see you in such distress over someone so unworthy. Let me prove my
love for you. There is no reason for you to feel this type of pain over a man
who could not care less about you. I love you.”
The tears will not stop and she wishes this wretched night
could somehow be nothing more than a nightmare. How could he have done this to
her? How could the man who she swore was her soul mate desecrate the sacred
bond she felt with him? The pain reaches deep into the marrow of her bones and
there is no way to shut it out.
“How could he?” she cries again, not expecting an answer.
“Because he is a fool; you gave him your love, your body and
your mind. Any man worth the salt in his blood would have looked upon this as
the ultimate blessing from an overly generous creator. This man took it for
granted. Had you given me this wondrous gift I would treasure it for all
eternity. I love you.”
“Stop saying that; I don’t want your love! I want his!”
“But you have mine. Am I truly so hideous to you? Is my lack
of his physical attributes really so important? True love cannot be based on
such trivial things. The body grows old, sinews wither and outer beauty fades,
but true love glows eternal.”
“I remember when he said such pretty things to me. I remember
him holding me in his arms and looking deep into my eyes, swearing he would
never leave me. And then I walked in and found him deep inside a woman I
trusted, telling her the same thing.”
“Because he lacks the intelligence to see what I see before
me; there is no need for you to be this sad. Come with me; let me comfort you.
Forget him.”
“He will return to me. He’ll grow tired of her and he’ll come
back to me!”
“We both know that will not happen. He will grow tired of
her, true, but he has already grown tired of you. He will simply move on to
another woman.”
She sighs deeply, letting herself realize the truth of his
words. The pain will not dim. The tears will not stop flowing. The image of him
panting heavily grinding into another woman will not leave her mind. She
doesn’t remember how long she stood there, rooted to the spot watching them.
The shock of it numbed her so that she couldn’t catch her breath. She watched
him pull the woman’s leg up and thrust harder and harder. The room reeked of
raw sex and the tang of the woman’s perfume.
She was surprised by her first reaction as she stood silently
watching the only man she ever loved writhing in contorted bliss with another
woman. The beating of her heart was drowned by their blissful moans. Finally
she left in a daze and now she finds herself crying in her bed, with a man
telling her he loves her.
“Come with me,” he whispers. “And you shall know sorrow no
more.”
She exhales in defeat and merely nods. The man crosses the
room and sits beside her. “You have made a wondrously wise choice. In time you
shall forget this fool and his broken promises.” He caresses her hair and she
shivers from his cool touch.
“If I am to leave with you, let me leave a note just in case
he decides to return.”
“Very well,” the man replies. “But he shall never be able to
take you from me.”
She wipes her eyes and retrieves the writing pad from her
nightstand. Her hand shakes, but he gently holds it steady as she writes.
The man embraces her.
If you should find this note, know that I have taken a lover
who has sworn never to leave me as you did.
His name is DEATH…