2002 was a memorable year because it was was the year I started going out with Veronica. She was a stunning blonde with the face of an angel and the body of a Greek goddess. She had long curly blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, a flawless complexion and a "Colgate" smile. She was one of those stunning creatures that caused car accidents every time she walked down the pavement. I don't why but a beautiful blonde is so much better than other beautiful women. They have a sexual charisma that other women just don't seem to have. They have an erotic aura about them a kind of sensual magnetism that draws men like flies.
All my mates were a little peeved to say the least that she had chosen me over them as in their humble opinion she was out of my league. And if you want to know the truth I couldn't understand it either. She could have chosen anyone. She could have chosen a billionaire, a duke, a rock star a film star. She could have chosen someone who was tall dark and handsome. But she hadn't she had chosen me instead. And it was true. She had chosen me. She was the one who had made the first move and done all the running and it had taken me a while to cotton on that it wasn't a joke and this vision of female perfection really was attracted to me and really did want to go out with me.
I remember her telling me one day that what had attracted her to me was the sound of my voice and the colour of my eyes. Plus I was sweet, nice, funny, trustworthy, and reliable. She didn't mention that she thought me sexy (which was slightly disappointing) or that I looked like Bill Wyman, not that it mattered. But she did tell me that I was the nicest boyfriend she had ever had. I was tempted to ask how many boyfriends she'd had but decided against it. Though I have to admit I did wonder who these mystery boyfriends could have been and why they had let her slip through their fingers because she was every man's wet dream. None of that mattered now though. I was the luckiest man alive and I pinched myself everyday to make sure I wasn't dreaming. How wrong I was.
It was while we were on holiday in Turkey about fifteen years ago when it all started to unravel. We were going on a day trip arranged by our hotel to some Roman ruins about twenty kilometres away next to a lake. The coach driver and our guide were both local men big and dark and swarthy with heavy stubble on their faces. The driver was middle-aged with a bit of a gut while the guide was a younger who wore a shirt open at the front and a size to small so that the ladies could see his muscles and hairy chest. He smiled a lot and made a lot of small talk with everyone and made a point of stopping to chat to all the women on the coach and he paid special attention to Veronica. But I was used to that and so was she.
"Hello beautiful lady," he would say every time he passed us in the aisle and Veronica would smile sweetly and he'd try to make conversation by asking; How did she like Turkey? Was this her first time? Was she enjoying her holiday? Was she English? Where did she live in England? What did she like to do in her free time? Did she like dancing? Why wasn't she married? Why didn't she have any children? And so on. It was none of his business but she humoured him with answers a politician would have been proud of.
The Roman ruins were impressive and we spent a couple of hours exploring piles of stones and wonky pillars. Then we had lunch and did some more exploring and while Veronica had a dip in the lake I was decided to climb a nearby hill for some reason. When I got to the top I noticed the guide walking among the resting tourists and then coming to a stop to have a talk with Veronica who was wearing a bikini that revealed more than it should have. It was a long talk. A bit too long for my liking so I decided to make my way back.
"What did he want?" I asked her taking my place next to her.
"Nothing much. He just wanted to know if we were having a good time."
I doubted it. If that's all he asked it took him a hell of a long time to ask it. But I decided not to make an issue of it and decided to settle down and read my book.
"Oh well if you're going to read a book I might as well read too," said Veronica all of a sudden rising to her feet.
"Where are you going?"
"I left it in the coach."