© 2025 JoshFrom53
Dear reader.
For a long time I was in doubt whether to publish this on.
Then the question became: in which category does it belong?
Loving Wives? Romance? Neither category covers it, so I decided on Novels and Novellas even though it isn't very long.
This is a story about two people who are not meant for each other.
There is a slight burn and little sex in it and if you look for 'fast and furious' this is not for you.
I don't know where this came from. It just nestled itself between other stories I'm working on. I hope you enjoy it
WollyBuffalo did the hard work. He edited it for me for which I'm grateful. thanks.
Prologue.
The elderly woman sat behind the wheel of her car. Her name? Elin Hull.
At 76, she was in reasonable shape for her age, extremely wealthy and to her great regret, very much alone.
In her hands a pair of binoculars. She had used them to observe a man sitting in his front yard.
Elin noticed that the man, who was 75 years old, walked upright and hardly showed the unsteadiness and jerkiness most elderly people show when moving around.
The man of her interest, Patrick Thompson, was restless. It was as if he was impatiently waiting for something.
He walked around, removed some dead leaves from the Japanese Barberry and looked down the street again and again, never noticing Elin sitting in her car.
Finally, another car rounded the corner and Patrick's head shot up. He looked hopefully at the car and suddenly a wide smile appeared on his face.
The car parked and a woman in her mid-forties stepped out, walked around the car, opened the passenger's door and helped a much younger woman holding a baby out.
Elin studied the woman and found a lot of resemblance to Patrick who hugged the woman and kissed her forehead.
Patrick walked over to the younger woman holding the baby, kissed her cheek and was handed the baby.
Through her binoculars Elin noticed tears appearing in Patrick's eyes before they went inside. She sat back in the car, her memory replaying the reason for her regret.
Chapter 1
Forty-eight years ago.
Elin and Patrick were for five years married to each other.
Elin was working for an investment company and Patrick was a teacher at a primary school. They had just decided that their marriage was solid enough to start a family.
Both would start working part-time. Elin four days a week and Patrick three and would become a tutor at home if the occasion arose.
**********
Out of the blue Elin was offered a promotion and without a second thought she accepted it, even though it meant that working part-time was out of the window.
Worse, it meant working weeks of sixty hours and more.
At home, during dinner, she told Patrick what happened and that she had decided to accept the offer. She also told him that consequently having children was out of the question for the foreseeable future.
Patrick took it badly. He asked where his participation in this decision tree was showing as he was the other half in their marriage. That, in turn, inflamed Elin and she told him that it was her life, her body and therefore her decision to take. She was an emancipated woman after all
When Patrick retorted that emancipation meant equal rights for men and women and not reversing the classic roles, Elin went nuclear.
Harsh words were said, like Patrick was an inept, spineless wimp without ambition. After saying more things that never could be unsaid, she stomped to the bedroom leaving her husband destroyed behind.
At 6:00 a.m., after a sleepless night, full of worries, Patrick decided to go for a run, to clear his mind. He had a class full of children to take care of.
When he got back, he found Elin in the kitchen having supper. At the door was a suitcase. He looked at it and Elin told him that she was going to stay in a hotel for a while so that their tempers could cool down a bit.
Patrick looked at her, sadness carved into his face, when he asked why it had to come this far, they always were able to talk themselves out of their problems, Elin bit into him that it was his rigid conservative attitude.
That said, she donned her coat, took her suitcase and left without saying another word. During the rest of the week Patrick tried to call her, to no avail. She refused to answer his calls. Finally, Saturday, he gave up and prayed for the best.
**********
Monday, it was obvious to every colleague of Patrick that something was seriously wrong and they started to ask questions. The only answer Patrick gave was that there was trouble in paradise. After a short interlude everyone went to their classroom.
That afternoon, during lunch break, most of the staff of the school were in the coffee room when the concierge announced a visitor for Patrick Thomson.
Patrick looked up and the woman handed him an envelope telling him that he had been served and walked quickly out of the room.
A deadly silence spread around the room when he opened the envelope and went white as a ghost.
The vice-principal gently took him by the shoulders and led Patrick out of the room. She took him to her office and called a legal advisor.
The man said that whatever happens, the divorce was a done deal and Patrick couldn't stop it whatever he tried. It looked like he was offered a fair deal. It was for him to decide if he wanted to fight it or not.
Patrick took the papers and signed them. He told himself that it seemed that Elin would be happier without him holding her back. Next, he asked the vice-principal if he could be transferred to another school since he wanted to leave in order to try to make a restart.
