Part 1 Rosie and Jim
Jim Scott met Rosie Jones in High School. It wasn't a case of love at first sight. He was a year older than her, and she was, well, she was a more than a little different to all the other students.
"She was pretty, nobody truly disliked her, but she had a strange, eccentric way about her. She also very rarely understood jokes. She would look puzzled as if she could no more understand the joke than she could understand the works of Einstein. There were also other quirks in her character that were irritating or endearing, sometimes at the same time!
He found Rosie attractive, in a way, but didn't do anything about it, because his girlfriend throughout High School was Angie Cook. More about her, later.
Jim was of average height, of average good looks and his only quirk, if you could describe it as a quirk, is that his given name was not James, the name on his birth certificate was Jim Scott.
Although they lived in a moderately small town, Jim somehow lost track of Rosie and he met her again at a church cookout, several years later.
They got chatting about the old days and their conversation went so well that they decided to continue it over drinks in a nearby restaurant.
Jim had attended university and after obtaining a combined degree in English and media studies had obtained work locally as a copywriter, where his boss, Dave, was more like an older brother than an employer.
Rosie had decided against college and had worked in a coffee shop-cum-bookstore since graduating. You'll be pleased to know that the owner had resisted the temptation to call it Central Perk. It was, instead, enjoying the name "Books and Brews."
They had exchanged phone numbers and, by the end of that first week, it was obvious that there was a very big spark between them. That they were very much in love.
Six months later, Jim proposed to Rosie, she excitedly accepted and they were married in the same church were they had met. Her parents were proud as they could be, at the service. Jim's parents had died in a car wreck when he was 14, he had been raised until he left for college by his last remaining relation, an elderly aunt who died a year after he earned his degree.
Angie sent her apologies, she was unable to get out of her contractual obligation to be working in Canberra, and Rosie was given away by her father, Jim's best man was his boss from work, Dave and Angie's bridesmaid was her boss from work, Sally.
Being married to Rosie was very rewarding for Jim. But, at times, it was also somewhat challenging. It became obvious to Jim that there was something more than a little different about his beautiful, loving wife. Not wrong, exactly. But more than a little bit off.
He confided in her parents, Dave and Grace. They looked at each other, warily, and Dave seemed delegated to speak for the both of them. "Rosie was always a little different as a child. She was and is our only child, so we had nothing to base our concerns on.
"Eventually, though, we took her to the doctor and, after seeing some specialists, it was determined that Rosie had a very mild form of autism. There was, they told us, nothing to worry about, but they helped point out how things would probably be. And, on the whole, they were right.
"She is a little socially awkward at times, and she has no discernible sense of humour, as ytou'll have noticed, she has trouble relating to other people, sometimes. One thing I, well, we, are pleased about was that they were wrong when they said it would be unlikely that she'd ever marry. You've proved them wrong and you are so loving and patient with her, it is a joy to our hearts!"
Jim and Rosie rented a small two bedroom house not far from Rosie's parents' place. They could easily afford it, with their combined salaries.
They had plans, big plans. They talked long into the night as they cuddled after making love. They would have two or three children, perhaps a dog and they would save up and buy a proper, big house with a massive yard for the children and dogs to play in together, in perfect safety. But until then, Rosie was on the pill.
Nearly three years into the marriage, Jim noticed that things had started to change between him and Rosie. It seemed that she was somehow emotionally distancing herself from him. She began to criticise him for small, trivial issues. Some of which she was making up, it seemed to him.
At first, he blamed it on her condition, but after a couple of months when their sex life had come to a virtual halt, he realised that there was a fairly major problem that was changing their marriage. And not for the better.
It all came crashing down when Jim innocently used the computer late one afternoon. Rosie was doing some more late hours at the bookstore.
