Difficulties became apparent with the pregnancy after about six months. For the last two months Mary was confined to bed. The birth was difficult. The skills of the doctors saved both the life of Mary and the child, who they named Maria. But Mary could not have more children. Maria was small and sickly for a many months. When she recovered from the initial life set-back Maria thrived and was a normal healthy child. Notwithstanding her good health both Mary and Joe fussed over and were protective of Maria. She became their little angel.
From a young age if Maria wanted something she usually got her way. She learned to control her situation, but was never greedy. At school she was not actually social but she did not upset her peers either. She admired the teaching Nuns and was very well behaved for them. She learned her religious studies well and was star in her bible studies at the Church Sunday School. She absorbed and took the Ten Commandments to heart. Her father imbued a sense of pride and independence. He advised and guided her to be self-reliant. That self-reliance translated into never being beholden to anyone. If someone did a good turn for you, it was to be regarded as an obligation one must reward in some way to wipe the slate clean.
As time went on Maria showed an aptitude for drawing and painting and also languages. The family spoke their native language at home and English elsewhere. Maria sailed through Catholic High School. She joined in various after school activities when she could lead these activities. Maria was the first in her whole extended family to go to University. She majored in French and took a minor in Art History.
It was clear that Maria organized her life such that she was able to control her circumstances. The self-reliance nurtured in her early days stood her in good stead. Maria's interest in boys was minimal, but she did acquire a few male followers. Maria was attractive with long dark brown hair and had blue-grey eyes. She was self-conscious about her Roman nose and subconsciously deflected attention from her face by wearing tight sweaters that showed off her well-developed breasts.
Maria did not share well. Many regarded her as selfish. But she was generous when she was the recipient of some good deed or gift. She always seemed a little off kilter in her response to others. She also developed a large personal space around her, so she rarely allowed anyone within two feet of her -- she was always back peddling when in face-to-face conversations. She always tried to get a seat on her own on a bus or train. It was observed and found to be an amusing quirk by her cohort.
Maria travelled to Quebec and studied there for one semester. She took one semester in France during her final year at University. Early on in France she met Jacques. Maria was initiated into the mysteries of intimacy and sex, but before doing so her good Catholic upbringing kicked in and she insist they become engaged. The engagement legitimized her behavior, and gave her the control she needed to follow through. The engagement did not last more that six weeks after Maria returned to Canada.
Maria decided she wished to teach. Attending teachers college she knew she had made an excellent decision -- she had found her calling.
After the first few years of teaching French to High School students she found she was missing her art. She started taking art classes at the local community college at nights and on the weekend. Eventually she worked her way to a diploma in Fine Art. Her Art Diploma allowed her to start teaching art. Eventually she taught art exclusively.
At one of the Art classes at the Community College she fell into conversation and slowly became friendly with a man, John, who was 25 years her senior. John was not too pushy. He was married. He was not looking for girlfriend and therefore deemed interesting and safe by Maria. He presented himself as being open to a more intimate friendship but never pushed the matter. Maria kept John at arm's length. They caught up with each other from time to time. Sometime it was more than a year between contacts.
Over the years Maria had two more engagements, and the latter revealed to her that she had to give up the independence she so valued to enter into marriage. She lived alone in her own house doing what she pleased when she pleased. Her life was devoted to teaching in the school year -- the students were her children and family. In the long summer vacation she travelled to Europe and the Balkans.
She stayed in touch with John and they continued to meet over the years, which gradually turned to decades. He painted her portrait a few times. They became easier with each other. He teased her about posing nude for him and she told him that only over her dead body. Her personal space had diminished over the years and she would give people a hug.
One day when John was feeling a bit frisky, during a greeting hug, he almost had his arm broken by Maria when he slipped his hand under her sweater on her back during the hug. He teased her to give him a departing kiss if they had been out to something like an exhibition opening. She always rebuffed him with good humor. They were good platonic friends.
One Spring day at school Maria suffered a very strong allergic reaction to some spay-on glue. She was rushed to hospital and was successfully treated. Maria was going to leave it at that. On learning of the incident, and having witnessed his wife go into anaphylactic shock, John strongly advised Maria to always carry two fast acting antihistamines with her at all times. Against her wishes he insisted she consult a doctor about the incident. The Doctor confirmed she should carry the antihistamines.
In early July when Maria was alone at home an insect that had entered the house earlier in the day settled in her bedroom. It stung Maria as she got into bed. Maria began to feel a bit faint after a few minutes and her arm began to swell up. Maria knew what to do. She quickly found her antihistamines and swallow two. She still felt faint and called 911, going to the front door and cracked it open before passing out. The EMS people found her and took her directly to the hospital, where she recovered.
The Doctor told her later that had she not downed the antihistamines so promptly and been able to call the EMS it was unlikely she would have survived. This shook Maria. She also acquired an Epipen.
As her nature dictated Maria felt obliged to John to reward him for the assertive advice he had given that most likely saved her life. The idea of John's recognition became something of an obsession. This presented Maria with a problem -- she had no idea what to get him. He was reasonably rich and generally seemed to lack for nothing. She felt her paintings were not up to his standards so they were a non-starter. Taking John out for a meal would be nice but did not match up to the obligation. She was genuinely stumped.
She ran her mind over their past conversations for clues. Maria had almost total recall. She thought about how he teased her. Notwithstanding her vehement rejection of posing for him nude, one of his recurring teases, she was flattered by the idea and had played with it in her private fantasies. She was equally flattered by John's wish to kiss her after an outing, but he was married and it ran counter to her values.
These thoughts crept into her thinking as she weighed possible recognition of his life saving advice. The reward must match the value of the service, which was one of being given life. She was deeply conflicted, but could not think of anything short of giving herself to him, just once, to rebalance the obligation. She made plans. She both horrified herself and was at the same time become excited and aroused.
"John, Maria here."
"Maria. It's been months, how are you. Back into the grind?"
"I'm fine. I have a favor to ask." Maria was not great on the small talk -- she always weighed straight in. "My trip to Europe this year cost me less than I had budgeted and I had enough left over to buy myself a new computer."
"Hey, you found yourself a sugar daddy at last!"
"John! I'll ignore that." She smiled to herself. "Oh, John you never change. No - well I'll explain when I see you." Maria was determined not to be deflected from her plan.
"I need help setting the computer up for a new e-mail account. Can you help me?"
"Sure. Shouldn't take long"
Maria's plans rested on having John for a few hours at least. "Actually John its more than just the e-mail. I need help understanding it -- may take a while."
"That should be no problem. How about a Saturday morning -- next weekend is out. We've got visitors, but the following would work well for me. My wife will be away -- you can cook me a meal." Maria shuddered. She had as long as she needed with John.
"Ok, then. Lets make it for, say, ten in the morning on the 26th. I'll serve you lunch. I've a lot to tell you." Maria was shaking with fear and excitement.
"Done. I'll call you if anything crops up to prevent me coming over to your place. Can I bring anything?"
"Nothing. Just yourself. See you on the 26
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