It was Valentines day. Paula sat alone, listening to the
radio, depressed. All the dedications were by lovers, and she wasn’t
one.
Paula felt she had nothing to live for; nothing to get dressed
up for; nothing to even get out of bed for. Consequently, she was
sitting in her living room, at about two in the afternoon, still in
her nightdress.
She knew no way she could get a boyfriend. She had been a
regular nightclub raver, until she felt she would never find a
boyfriend there. She wanted the kind of boyfriend that never went to
clubs; a rare breed, she thought.
Paula was actually a very attractive girl; she found that boys
were all around her, all over her, all wanted her, whenever she went
to a club. However, it was precisely this sort of boy she did not
want. She wanted a boy to whom she would have to approach and ask out
herself.
She had been so depressed, she had tried a dating agency.
However, the boy she was matched with had just been the same as all
the other boys; all he wanted was her body.
Paula realised that finding a boy who liked her, as a person,
would be very difficult. She began to contemplate making herself look
worse than she was, just to attract someone kind, gentle and
considerate. She did not care what her future boyfriend looked like.
Just then, she heard a knock on her door. She slipped her
slippers on, and walked down the hall, towards the door. Opening it,
she saw a boy, standing there, with his hand on the doorbell.
“Hello?” she said.
“Hello. Look, I’m sorry to trouble you like this, but my ball
has just gone into your garden. I was wondering if I could go and get
it.” His words were hesitant, as he was talking to someone he had
never met before.
Paula looked him up and down. He was wearing a pair of dirty
white trainers, green socks, claret track-suit bottoms, that were too
short for him and had a small hole ripped in them near the right knee,
and a black sweatshirt. He was fairly tall; far taller than Paula, and
had medium-length brown-ish hair and wore glasses. Paula fell in love
with him almost immediately.
“Sure. Come through.” she mumbled.
The boy followed Paula through her house. She let him out of
the back door, and followed him into the garden. The boy looked around
a bit.”
“There it is.” he said. He walked over to a dirty green tennis
ball, and placed it in his pocket. He turned around. Paula was
standing right behind him.
“Please, don’t do that.” said the boy.
“Sorry.” replied Paula, with her head bowed.
The boy walked back towards her back door. As he walked
through it, he turned around. Paula was walking, very slowly, behind
him. She was practically stumbling, and she was slowly and gently
weeping. The boy walked back to her.
“I know it’s none of my business … but, .. is there
something wrong?” he asked, kindly.
Paula placed her hands to her face, and began to cry.
“It’s … you.” she weeped.
“I’m sorry.” he replied. “I’ll go, if you want.”
“No!” she wailed. “Please … please stay.”
They paused. Paula started to walk towards the door again. The
boy walked beside her, slowly. Eventually, Paula walked back into her
house, followed by the boy.
“What’s wrong?” asked the boy, gently.
Paula placed her arm around the boy’s waist. She then walked
into the living room, slipped off her slippers, and sat on the sofa.
The boy sat next to her.
“Please .. forgive me.” she hesitated. “I’m .. just so ..
lonely.”
“I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but … how can someone
as beautiful as you, .. be lonely?”
“I shouldn’t be troubling you with my problems, but … I
don’t have anyone special in my life.”
“I know what you mean. Today, of all days, you look around …
hear love spoken … it makes you depressed. But you? Surely someone
must like you?”
“Oh, yes. People do. But all they want is my body. No-one
likes me for what I am, my personality.” She began to cry again.
The boy put his arm around Paula’s neck. “You’re too beautiful
for me. I would never ask you out, as I would have thought you had a
boyfriend.”
“Thank you. But I don’t.”
There was silence again. Suddenly, Paula spoke.
“I take it you haven’t got a girlfriend.”
“No. Are you surprised? I’m not the greatest looker in the
world.”
“Well, I like you.” she replied.
The boy stopped, and stared vacantly into space. “What?” he
asked.
Paula leaned towards the boy, and gave him a quick peck on the
lips with her own. She kept her face close to his.
“What can you possibly see in me?” he whispered.
“Let’s just say its a woman’s intuition.” she replied.
The boy’s first thought was to run away. Paula, however, had
prevented this option by leaning on him. The boy relaxed; he wanted a
girlfriend, and this girl wanted him. Desperately.
“May I … kiss you?” she whispered.
“You just did.” he replied.
“I have so much love to give.” she said, warmly. “I want to
give it to you.”
The boy took his glasses off, and dropped them onto the floor.
Then he opened his arms wide.
“I too have love to give. Please .. may I give it to you.”
His answer came almost immediately. Paula fell on top of him,
and pushed her lips onto his. The boy’s arms closed behind Paula’s
back. Paula’s arms did the same. They stayed in that position,
kissing, for several minutes, squeezing each other tighter and
tighter. Eventually, they relaxed, and pulled away.
“I love you.” mouthed Paula.
“You don’t even know my name.” replied the boy. “You don’t
know anything about me, at all.”
“I know you are a nice, lovely, lovable, lonely person.”
The boy nodded. He stood up and knelt down on the floor. He
bowed his head, and kissed her feet.
“I love you and respect you. I will never do anything to you,
with you, without your permission. You can do what you wish with me,
to me, I will do it.” he vowed.
“What I wish?” questioned Paula.
“Whatever.” replied the boy.
“Very well.” she said, in wonder. “Lick my feet clean.”
The boy stuck his tongue out and began to softly, and
sensually, drag it along her feet..
“All right.” she said, still in wonder. “You can stop now.”
Paula brought one hand down, and grabbed one of the boy’s hands. She
pulled him up, and onto her lap.
“What about you?” she asked. “Do you want to do anything to
me?”
“Merely having someone to hold, love and kiss is enough.”
replied the boy.
“In that case,” she continued, “I order you to do something
sensual to me.”
“Like what?”
“Anything.” she demanded.
The boy pulled Paula onto the floor. On the radio, a song came
on – “Love is in the Air.” – they began dancing to it. After a while,
the boy kicked his shoes off. As the song crept closer to the chorus,
they moved their faces closer. They were still dancing; but by the
second chorus, they were kissing.
