It was as if the scene had been frozen in time. A breathless, heart-stopping second, in which her whole life changed.  Yet she hadn’t been able to grasp it.  Afraid of her own feelings, and so guilty, as she’d heard his words.

“Why do you keep saying no? I see the longing in your face, and it matches my own.  One day you’ll own up to it. Eyes are windows to the soul, and yours are open wide.”

She’d watched his sagging shoulders, as he walked away, with a great lump in her throat. Aching to tell him he was right, but unable to say it.  There was just too much to lose.  How vivid was the memory of that moment, a month earlier. How miserable she felt today.

If only Geoff had said those words.  Life had been so different once.  This was just another hateful Monday morning. She didn’t want to feel the way she did, but couldn’t help it.  Geraldine sighed, heaving her stocky frame, unwillingingly, from the bed, and stumbling into the bathroom.

Her mirror –image didn’t help.  Five-three, short black hair. Green eyes veiled by thick glasses.  She always dressed so frumpily, too.  Was this her subconcious response to Geoff’s indifference?  If he wasn’t bothered, why bother herself?  No. That was too easy an answer.

Last night, the dreams again. An impossible itch, but was it really in that unreachable spot, between the shoulder blades, or did it run deeper? Her thoughts turned to earlier, that same morning. She’d been woken by his shout, from the bottom of the stairs.

“I’ll be off in a couple of minutes, Gerri!”

Geoff’s rush to get away was plain, again, as it had been on every Monday morning for the past month.   Hating both the coldness and  her own weakness, for accepting it, she scowled.  His interest had faded, and his grudging efforts in the bedroom, prompted now, always, by her, made her weep with frustration.  He was always too pre-occupied to notice, or to care. Geraldine wanted to feel loved, but she didn’t.