The Things We Do For Love

The Things We do for Love.


She brushed her thick black hair with quick short strokes
watching it fall around her face heavy and glossy as molasses. Her
thoughts raced around in circles like a stressed out rat in a very
small cage. " I promise I won't talk about it unless he does. Why do I
always spoil it when it is just beginning to go so wonderfully I'll
never know! I suppose it is as he says, I don't know how lucky I am. "



The brush moved with the same tempo as her frantic thoughts.
"I don't know why I even mentioned to him that I had seen him kissing
with Carol in the garden, sometimes even I think that I am a complete
idiot!"


She put the brush down softly on the dresser making sure that
the handle was at right angles with the dresser edge and that there was
no hair left in the bristles. He liked everything just so! His
favourite quote was, "Everything has a place and everything in it's
place" That was out of his mother's Bible, another was "Cleanliness is
next to Godliness." When they were first married she had laughed about
it but not anymore, the honeymoon was over.


The rich smell of coffee filed the room just as she heard the
alarm clock begin its strident call. She checked the toaster, yes the
toast was coming on nicely and she had the bacon nearly crisp, the eggs
beaten and waiting ready to be scrambled as soon as he appeared in the
doorway, today she would make it up to him! "God please let him be in a
good mood! "
She sent a heart felt prayer to the God she no longer
trusted.


She heard his footsteps on the stairs, "Good morning
sweetheart, did you sleep well?"
He did not bother to give answer just sat at the table and opened the
paper. She supposed that she had had that coming. Silent now she poured
him a cup of coffee and placed his breakfast before him. It was
perfect. "Don't you have any juice?" he asked without looking up from
his paper, She rushed to the fridge and quickly poured him a glass of
orange juice, his favourite.


He did not touch his breakfast. "I invited Caroline and Bob
to dinner this evening," he said not looking at her. "You could prepare
a roast, she likes that, and my other suit should be ready to be picked
up at the cleaners so get that will you?" He walked to the door, we
will be eating at eight, wear that little black thing I bought you at
Cavelari's and do something with your hair it looks awful. " He
left.


She carefully applied her makeup allowing herself a rueful
grin, at this rate she could always get a job as a makeup artist if she
ever she lost her business. Feeling as if she had been in some way
disloyal she hurried to the car, she was going to be late at the office
once again and would feel obliged to explain how she had slipped and
fallen in the bathroom. She did not think that she could take the
well-meant sympathy knowing that they all realised that she was
Richard's private punching bag! She wondered how much her father knew.



After work, in line at the Butchers she could feel the gaze
of the sales girls on her face. She should have been used to it by now
but it still bothered her. She straightened her back and walked to the
counter where she made sure that the roast would live up to the high
standard expected by Richard


When Richard arrived home at six o'clock, dinner was nearly
ready. She only had to turn on the oven for the roast. She had his suit
laid out on the bed and the bath ready for him.
Carol and Bob arrived in good time and Richard greeted them warmly. He
was always at his most charming when he wanted to impress a beautiful
woman. This was the Richard with whom she had fallen so deeply,
irrevocably, madly in love she relaxed enough to enjoy the conversation
with Bob about a new play he had been to see with Carol.
Julie was happy, Richard, confident in his charm and the knowledge
that he held Carol in the palm of his hand even smiled at her when she
called to him, "Richard, Bob thinks that we would enjoy seeing the new
play at the Rialto what do you think, shall we try it?"
He led Carol into the dining room, " Maybe,"
The evening was a success, "Julie, you are a wonderful hostess and a
really great cook." Bob kissed her at the door.


She did not expect the clap and when it came she flew across
the room smashing her head against the wardrobe, she saw stars and knew
that she would have a hell of a bruise the next day!
"And, " he asked, her hair tightly wrapped around his fists, "You
would love to go to the play would you, maybe with dearest Bob?" He
turned her face towards him, " You listen to me, I won't have my wife
behave as a whore flirting and carrying on as some no good slut. I am
fed up trying to teach you to behave like a respectable married woman.
You won't learn, can't even be trusted to cook a simple dinner. The
meat was dry. I hope you did not pay too much of my money for that
inferior piece of shit, and you would like to go to a play! Maybe you
would love to go with Bob? " He punctuated his tirade with hard slaps
to her face. She did not try to answer it would not matter what she
said.
He threw her to the floor in disgust; leaving her lying sprawled there
with her nose bleeding profusely he took his keys and slammed out of
the door.


She dragged herself to the bathroom trying to stop too much
of the blood falling on to the carpet. She turned on the shower as hot
as she could hoping to ease the pain in her body.


When Richard came home she lay shivering under the blankets,
He took gently in his arms,
"You see what you make me do, all I ask of you is that you behave like
a normal woman but you are never satisfied till you make me angry. He
made love to her in a way that almost made her forget what he had done
to her just a few hours before. Her nose started to bleed again but she
did not dare sniffle and wiped it unobtrusively on a corner of the
sheets. She hoped that he did not notice it when he awoke in the
morning She knew that he did not mean to hurt her; he really loved her.
Tomorrow she would try to do what she could to please him, why was she
such a stupid bitch?