BOOTS TO THAT END

Whatever the significance of last night’s rather frosty showing at dinner, it should be obvious that there is no decrease in the likelihood of carnal congress between Veronica and Emilio. Each weekend sees this point reiterated in no uncertain terms, and no matter whether the two of them are comprehensively satisfying the charter set forth by their combined fantasies or managing only to effectuate what Veronica dismissively refers to as “a short pop,” there is considerable mutual support for the activity. Phone calls during the workday from him to her and, less often, her to him help to maintain interest during times when the two of them are able to look at or touch one another, and although the recent success of her screenplay caused him to feel secondary in importance during the better part of the autumn, there has been no lasting diminution in his enthusiasm to impress her with his fervor.  Even so, in a relationship that is now in its fourth year, various changes have been made in the spirit of adjustment, whether in strategy, physical stance, or the mental state that accompanies the onset of licentiousness. For just one example, Veronica has expressed a desire to be in control without asserting control, speculating that this inclination originates in the manner in which she and Emilio initially took up as a couple, each of them a refugee from a happy but ultimately unsuccessful marriage, each returning to the other with the idea that they might, as a pair, reset the charge, concupiscent and otherwise, of the rendezvous they conducted with others when they were in their early twenties. For his part, Emilio wishes to make it clear that he has always believed Veronica to be the most beautiful woman in the world, in fact in the history of the world, and that his conviction is equally a source of erotic inspiration and erotic intimidation. Both are optimistic that they will soon return to the state of balance that will illustrated conclusively that their machinery, mutually speaking, is as good as whatever it is aimed at, and that will in turn occasion a lessening of analysis and an expansion of experiment. Victoria is already picking out boots to that end.

 

©2021 Ben Greenman/Stupid Ideas