The Secret
The other day I found a book of proverbs on my bookshelf and one of the sections listed Beauty Proverbs and this prompted me to illustrate this story with some of these pearls of wisdom. If you find them intrusive I apologise in advance. Just read past them.
Have you ever noticed how most men are much more shallow than most women? I say "most," because there are always exceptions to the rule.
Even today when political correctness has sounded the death knell of beauty competitions there are many sports and pastimes where beautiful women are flaunted as part of the proceedings: professional darts, poker, or boxing to mention but a few.
And how many successful men do not have a beautiful wife or partner on their arm, however ugly that man might be. Whilst how many handsome men do you see in a relationship with a successful but plain overweight woman?
It would appear that the sexes have different values, and whilst most men are attracted to physical beauty, intelligent women often seek something more than physical attractiveness whether it be power, money, intelligence, personality, or quick wit.
A truly beautiful women does not need any of these things, although of course she may have them.
A beautiful face is admired even when its owner doesn't say anything. Danish Proverb
After I graduated with a first in Chemistry I chose to stay on at university to study for a PhD in colour chemistry and this was when I first met Mary. She was not beautiful.
She was tall, a little overweight, and she moved self-consciously and awkwardly. She appeared shy and unsure of herself. She had a sharp nose, angular features, and a mouth that was a little too big. Her best feature were her eyes which were soft and brown, although she had a habit of looking away if someone talked to her. She didn't make the best of things because she didn't dress well, choosing to wear shapeless unflattering garments which hid her figure, and neither did she use many cosmetics. She didn't know or care that
A woman gets thirty percent of her beauty from nature and seventy percent from makeup. Chinese Proverb
None of this bothered me of course. I had no interest in her as a potential mate. She was the cousin of my house mate Bruce. Bruce had been asked by Mary's parents to keep an eye on her after she had started at university on an undergraduate course a few weeks earlier, and she had visited our house on a couple of occasions to have supper. He was none too happy with this arrangement since he had a newly acquired girlfriend, and he was far more interested in bonking her than nursemaidIng Mary.
About a month into the first term on a Friday evening Bruce enquired what I was doing, and I told him that I had no plans. He told me that he had promised to look in on Mary but had arranged to see his girlfriend, and he wondered whether I could walk over to the hall of residence where she lived and make sure she was OK, and rather reluctantly I agreed. An hour later I knocked on the door of Mary's room and a voice said come in.
I went in and closed the door behind me. Mary was sitting on her work-desk chair facing the door whilst sitting on the bed was a beautiful blond woman.
She was around twenty years old with blue eyes and at first sight looked to have a good figure. It was readily apparent that she had large breasts which were outlined by her white sweater. She stood up as I entered, and before Mary had time to introduce her, said,
"Must go. Nice to meet you. See you in the morning then Mary."
And then she was gone. But not before I had time to appreciate her long legs and perfect bum filling her perfectly fitted jeans.
"That was my friend Denise. She lives down the corridor."
And she went on to explain that Denise was her best friend at university, and they were both studying geography. They went to lectures together and sat together in lectures, exchanging notes, and studying together. I remember thinking they were an oddly matched pair although I did not know Denise and so shouldn't have made this judgement.
What was certain was that I fancied Denise and wanted to get to know her better. To be precise I wanted to sleep with her. And I used Mary to get close to Denise.
I manufactured a chance meeting with them both in the student's union coffee bar and took to dropping in on Mary hoping she would be with Denise. Eventually I was able to take them both out for a drink. And shortly after that I asked Denise to come to the cinema with me and she said yes. At the time I had never heard of the saying,
Beautiful woman. Beautiful trouble. Jamaican Proverb
At first our relationship followed its own inevitable path. The first evening when we went to the cinema I was the perfect gentleman, and then on our second date when we went to the pub I kissed her goodnight and things progressed naturally from there. Within a month we were sleeping together.
During this time Mary had settled into university life and Bruce and I were confident she could be left alone without our continued supervision. Nonetheless, although I no longer visited Mary in her room I still saw her regularly since she remained firm friends with Denise.
During the Christmas break the halls of residence shut for three weeks and the students who lived there went home or moved to alternate accommodation. Denise's father was a major in The Army and had been posted to Hong Kong and she had decided to stay in the UK over Christmas.
Nothing was more natural than she come and stay at my house. My parents were in The States, and I was at a loose end. And for a while it was perfect. Denise was on holiday, and I could be flexible in my work pattern. We fucked our way all the way around the house and back. And then we started again. But this was not love making since I didn't love Denise and she didn't love me. Nonetheless she was good in bed, and on the sofa, or across the dining table.
She was also a slob. She didn't clear away her dishes, or washup, and she was extremely untidy, and she couldn't cook. She took for ever in the bathroom in the mornings "making herself look beautiful." I was relieved when she moved back to hall in the New Year.
For the New Year celebrations, we had been invited to stay at Mary's parents' home. Or should I say Denise had been invited and she had then asked if I could accompany her. Mary came from a small village in the Yorkshire Dales and her father was a farmer. She had two elder brothers one of whom worked on the farm and one of whom was a qualified veterinary surgeon.
Mary's mother and Mary were the perfect hostesses and worked hard to keep food and drink coming to the New Year's table. There were seven of us at the table and we all did our bit to fetch and carry. Except Denise. She sat at the table looking beautiful and flirted with the men.
Only one other noteworthy thing happened that weekend, although I didn't understand it's significance until much later. Mary's mum had been talking to Mary when Mary suddenly looked at Denise who was listening in, and Mary appeared to flush with what I thought was embarrassment. As Mary hurriedly picked up plates from the table and left the room her mum glanced at me briefly. Moments later I saw Denise smiling to herself. And then the normal buzz of conversation at the table returned.
Sometime after the New year my relationship with Denise slowly cooled.
She had never been a great timekeeper, but she gradually kept me waiting for her longer and longer when we arranged to meet. She would sometimes be half an hour late and there was always an excuse. I also started to notice that we were doing more of the things she liked to do than I did, and we started to grow slowly apart. But she was beautiful, sexy, and fucked like a bunny, so I was happy to continue to see her. Although why she continued evades me. Sometimes I imagined she knew my secret but then if she knew why not try harder.
And then in late spring things came to a head. We had arranged to meet in a local pub and as usual Denise was late. Only this time she was really late and after 40 minutes I called over the publican who knew us both. I told him that I was going to the Postgraduate Centre and asked him, if and when Denise came in, he could tell her where to find me.
Two hours later an angry Denise arrived to find me happily chatting to a girl at the bar and after a short and bitter row our time together was over.
I was surprised to find I was relieved to find myself free again. I had never enjoyed ending relationships and was happy that the inevitable had happened. However, I was left with one immediate problem. I had two tickets for the Hall Spring Ball but no partner, and I had two weeks to find one.
That evening I mentioned this to Bruce. I can still remember what he said next.
