Be Mine

Gloria accelerated away from the house. Relief swept over her. She would never

be going back. Back to her husband, Tim.

He would find the envelope with his name written neatly on it in his desk drawer in the study when he returned from his trip to the Paris office. The desk drawer was the place they left each other notes, away from the scrutiny of Mrs. Maggs as she flicked around with the duster.

Gloria glanced at her watch. Tim would be at Heathrow Airport by now, waiting to board his afternoon flight.

She headed out of a misty London and down to the little hotel by the river where she had so often met Simon for stolen hours of ecstacy.

The car crunched over a blanket of crisp autumn leaves in the hotel's car park. Gloria manoeuvred the car in next to Simon's. She took her overnight bag into the hotel, leaving her other luggage in the car.

Simon didn't know she had left Tim for him, and it was with a pounding heart that she knocked on the bedroom door.

Simon threw open the door. His dark good looks always took her breath away. Gently, he pulled her into the room pushing the door closed with his foot as he drew her into his arms.

Simon's lips brushed Gloria's auburn hair. They traveled down her face, searching for her mouth. With love and longing running through her, Gloria hungrily returned his kiss.

“Simon”. She took a deep breath. “I've something to tell you”. She flung her things onto a chair and turned and faced him. “I've…”

“And”, interrupted Simon quickly, “I've something to tell you…” He broke off. “But mine can wait. Go ahead”.

A sense of foreboding shot through Gloria. “What I've got to say isn't important”, she said as she sank down weak-kneed on the edge of the bed.

“The firm's won a contract to rebuild a chunk of Kuwait, you know, after the Gulf War”. He could hardly keep the excitement out of his voice. Sitting down beside Gloria he took her ice cold hand. “They want me to go out there”. He turned his head away. “I'm leaving next week. I'm going to miss you, Gloria”.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Five, ten years”.

“But what about us?” Gloria snatched her hand away and stared at Simon. He sighed. “You'll always be very special to me, you know that”.

“Well”, Gloria stifled a sob, “can't I come along too? I mean, you told me you loved me”.

Simon rose to his feet and paced the room, he ran his hand through his thick hair.

“I'd love you to come along, you know that. But the reason they've picked me

is because I'm divorced. No families, no partners allowed. I'll probably be living

in a tent for the first year”. He gave a thin laugh.

“If I refuse to go”, he went on, “it's redundancy for me. Architects are being

made redundant in droves. And where would I get another job? I'm over forty-

five, remember. Gloria, listen to me”.

Simon crossed the room and sat on the bed holding Gloria gently by the shoulders. “You've got Tim. You'll be all right with him. Accountants always do well out of a recession. You know I've always loved driving down from Birmingham to meet you here”. He stopped and looked around. “I'll always remember this room, and us”.

Gloria stared in shocked silence at Simon. Her whole world had just collapsed. She twisted her white hands in her lap, hearing Simon somewhere in the distance.

She thought back to when they first met. She and Tim had been introduced to him at a cocktail party given by a business friend of Tim last Christmas.

Gloria had been dazzled by this tall, dark stranger. He was everything Tim wasn't. Charming, debonair and attentive. Tim was dull, hardly ever taking her anywhere. Life with him was a cheerless existence of getting from one twenty-four hours to the next.

Two weeks later the phone rang. “Hello, this is Simon Carter. We met at the Clarkson's Christmas party. Do you remember me?”

Gloria could hardly breathe. She'd been thinking of no one else since that party. “No, I'm afraid I don't remember. I expect it's my husband you're after. You'll need the office number.”

“Ah, but it's not him I'm phoning.”

And he asked her out for dinner and of course she said no, she was a happily married woman.

Gloria was used to putting on a front to the outside world. To the outside world she and Tim were an ideal couple, admired and envied.

She often thought if they'd had children things would have been different. She and Tim had met at university and married as soon as they graduated. She didn't really love him but saw him more as an escape route from home. She had naively believed marriage meant independence.

In all the years they'd been married she'd never had a job. Tim believed a woman's place was firmly in the home. But he didn't mind her doing good works in the local community.

“Why don't we get dressed up and go to the West End for a night out?” Gloria suggested to Tim the day after Simon's call. “Tim, are you listening to me!” he was sitting his desk in the study.

He laid his pen down on the ledger he'd been poring over and glanced up. “Glo, I've got to go over these figures tonight. Why don't you read a book?” He adjusted his glasses and returned to his sums.

“I don't have to put up with this you know!” Gloria stormed, “I'm still young. Plenty of men find me attractive.”

“Darling!” Shocked at this outburst Tim rose and put his arms round his wife. “No one could love you or find you more attractive than I do.” He looked at her searchingly, an anxious expression in his eyes. “You wouldn't ever leave me, would you?”

Leave? Gloria had nowhere to go and no one to go to. And worst of all, no money and no job. The world had changed, had moved on. Everything was computers and wordprocessors, software and hardware. There was a new language and she had been left behind. She realized only too well that she was long past her sell-by date if and when jobs were being dished out.

She shook her head. “No, I won't be leaving.”

When Simon phoned the second time Gloria agreed to have dinner with him at a little hotel he knew by the river. It was arranged they would meet when Tim was abroad for a couple of nights the following week.

“I just can't stay in this house on my own and more when you're away!” Gloria suddenly declared at breakfast the day before Tim's departure.

“Oh?” Slowly Tim lowered the Financial Times and frowned. “What did you have in mind?”

She hesitated. “I thought I'd go to Doreen's,” she began, as, casually, she spread the marmalade. “You remember her – another volunteer with Meals on Wheels.”

Gloria bit into the toast. “She's got a spare room now her daughter's just got married. Actually, I had a word with her and she said I can stay whenever you're away.”

“I see.” Tim picked up his newspaper again.

“Yes. So I thought I'd go tomorrow and stay while you're in Amsterdam.” Gloria waited for a reaction.

“I think that's a good idea. You know how I worry about leaving you on your own.” Idly he turned the pages. “Let me have a note the phone number, will you.”

Gloria hated having to embroil Doreen in the deception. Yes, if Tim phoned she'd say Gloria hadn't arrived yet, had just left, had gone out or was in the bath – whatever was appropriate. She’d furnished Doreen with the hotel's phone number just so she could alert her if Tim phoned.

“I haven't done this sort of thing before, you know,” Gloria shyly informed Simon as they ate their dinner by candlelight on that first date.

“ And what sort of thing is that?” he enquired, a twinkle in his eyes.

“Well, you know…” Gloria stopped, confused. She felt herself going red. Was she reading more into this dinner date with Simon than he'd meant?

“Yes, I know,” he replied, with a wink.

They became lovers that night. They always met at the same hotel, taking the same room, whenever Tim was abroad. As far as he was concerned Gloria was staying with Doreen and, thankfully, had never phoned her there.

January blossomed into May and May mellowed into October. Gloria had never been happier, or felt more alive.

Now Simon was telling her he was off to Kuwait, and, with a pain surging through her almost too unbearable to endure, Gloria realized she would never see him again.

Tim would return from Paris tomorrow and she'd go back home to him

Gloria sighed. Where'd she got the idea that Simon would have wanted her to live with him in Birmingham, or anywhere else for that matter? She smiled at him and tenderly kissed his cheek.

“I don't want to hurt you, Gloria, you know that. It's just that I can't give up this chance.”

“I know, Simon,” she whispered. “I wish you all the luck in the world. You will think of me some time, won't you?”

Fighting the lump in her throat, Gloria walked over to the TV and turned it on. The news reader was saying something about fog stretching across the Channel.

Shocked back into life, Gloria looked intently at the screen. There had been no flights to or from the Continent the entire afternoon. The shot switched to Heathrow airport, with pictures of passengers sitting glumly on their luggage. All Continental flights had been cancelled until tomorrow!

Dashing over to the window Gloria peered out into the swirling fog that had descended over the hotel. If Tim had managed to get home he'd have found her letter telling him she'd found happiness elsewhere!

She snatched up her belongings and headed for the door.

“Gloria!” demanded Simon. “What's the matter, where are you going?” In a stride he'd put himself between her and the door. “Aren't we going to spend our last night together?”

“Simon, for goodness sake get out of my way,” she implored, giving him a push. “Didn't you see the news? Tim'll probably have gone back home.” She wracked her brain for an excuse – “I don't want him phoning Doreen's.”

“Just a minute.” He put a restraining hand in her arm. “When you arrived here this evening you said you'd something to tell me.”

“Did I? I've forgotten what it was. It couldn't have been important.”

Gloria's mind raced as she threaded her way home through the fog. If Tim had got there ahead of her and found the note, what could the say?

He'd feel wounded and betrayed. She'd tell him she couldn't go through with him. Yes, that was it - she'd say loved him more than she realized.

It was late by the time Gloria arrived home. Tim's car was parked in the driveway.

Biting her lip, Gloria opened the front door. All was dark and silent. She crossed the hall and went into the study.

Shaking, she made her way to the desk and, with a trembling hand, tugged the drawer open. Relief! The envelope was there just as she'd left it. She crushed it in her hand and shoved it in her handbag.

Wearily, she climbed the stairs to bed and Tim.

The beam of light from the landing shot across the bed. Tim was sound asleep. Gloria recognized the figure lying in his arms. It was Doreen.

(Sandra Golding is identified as the author of this Work)

Assignments:

Ex. I. Answer the questions.

1. Why did Gloria accelerate away from her house?

2. Where did Gloria decide to leave the envelope with the name of her husband?

3. Where was Simon going next week?

4. Where had Gloria and Tim been introduced to Simon?

5. What was Tim often doing at home after work?

6. What did she furnish Doreen with?

7. Did Simon and Gloria become lovers?

8. Did Tim read the letter Gloria left in the drawer?

9. What were the actions of Doreen?

10. How do you predict the end of the story?

Ex. II. Mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

1. Gloria would never be going back to her husband.

2. Gloria accelerated away tom the little hotel by the river.

3. Simon didn’t want to go to Kuwait.

4. Gloria didn’t like Simon from the first sight.

5. Gloria never had a job.

6. Gloria didn’t love Tim but saw him more as an escape route from home.

7. Gloria didn’t return home, she stayed in the hotel.

8. When Gloria returned home she saw the envelope wasn’t in the drawer.

9. Gloria wanted Tim to feel wounded and betrayed.

10. Gloria recognized the figure of Doreen lying in the arms of her husband.

Ex. III. Fill in prepositions.

1. Relief swept ____ her.

2. Tim would be ____ Heathrow Airport ____ now.

3. “ I’ve something to tell you” He broke ____ .

4. “ What I’ve got to say isn’t important”, she said as she sank ____

weak- kneed ____ the edge ____ the bed.

5. He could hardly keep the excitement ____ his voice.

6. He turned his head ____.

7. Gloria snatched her hand ____ and stared ____ Simon.

8. Simon rose ____ his feet and paced the room, he ran his hand ____ his

thick hair.

9. “ I’d love you to come ____ you know that”.

10. “ If I refuse to go,” he went ____,” it’s redundancy ____ me”.

Ex.IV. Match the definitions.

1. accelerate a) navigate

2. glance at b) draw in

3. mist c) to go away quickly

4. manoeuvre d) catch up

5. pull in e) stop a process or activity

6. longing f) brief look

7. interrupt g) thin fog

8. snatch h) desire

Ex. V. Find the right word out of four options.

1. Simon’s lips brushed Gloria’s _____ hair.

a) brown b) red c) reddish- brown d) reddish

2. Her whole world had just _____ .

a) broken down b) collapsed c) went down d) fall down

3. Gloria had naively believed marriage meant _____ .

a) home rules b) autonomy c) independence d) dependence

4. He _____ his glasses and returned to his sums.

a) adjusted b) regulated c) ordered d) adapt

5. “ I don’t have to _____ with this you know!”

a) reject b) destroy c) put up d) oppose

6. “ Darling!” Shocked at this _____ Tim rose and put his arms round his wife.

a) attack b) explosion c) storm d) outburst

7. It was _____ they would meet when Tim was abroad for a couple of nights the following week.

a) organized b) adjusted c) ranged d) arranged

8. Now Simon was telling her he was off to Kuwait, and, with a _____ surging through, Gloria realized she would never see him again.

a) ache b) pain c) hurt d) discomfort

9. I don’t want to _____ you, Gloria, you know that.

a) ache b) pain c) hurt d) discomfort

10. Gloria crushed the letter in her hand and _____ it into her handbag.

a) shoved b) pushed c) pulled d) took

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 628