When a Woman Loves a Man

The morning comes. Paul Grimes wakes up and gets out of bed. He looks at his wife Sheila as she lies on their bed. Sheila is a tall, plump woman in her early forties. Her hair is light blond, her eyes a pale blue and her skin bronze. This Irish-Italian dame was a real beauty once. Lately, things hadn't been great between Sheila and Paul. For starters, they were both working very hard outside of the home and hardly saw each other anymore.

Paul Grimes was a lawyer in the city of Atlanta. This tall, good-looking black man hailed from Boston but he had been in Atlanta for a while. The city had so many opportunities for black people. The mayor of the city was a black woman. There were black congressmen and many famous black businessmen and businesswomen around. Black folks loved ATL. It was theirs. Maybe someday the state of Georgia would have a black man or woman as governor. For these reasons, Paul loved his city.

If only things were good at home. Unfortunately, they weren't. Sheila had become a professor of women's studies at the local university. Like so many American women, she embraced feminism. Like so many ideologies, it had its good points and bad points. Paul was none too pleased about it. Oh, he liked his wife's intelligence and independence but why did she have to join the legions of man-bashers he encountered so often? A man's home was his castle and lately, Paul felt like a stranger at home. He and his wife hardly made love anymore. All her free time was spent shopping with her lady friends or watching talk shows. There was no love. Things were not going well.

Paul went to the kitchen, and made himself breakfast. He had gotten used to this. His wife's lack of love. The lack of communication in their relationship. The end of their marriage was coming. He could feel it. He remembered a time when they were crazy about each other. Back then, they were both college students and very much in love. Yeah, those were the days. He remembered their first date. They went out to the mall. The young black man and the Irishwoman. Together for the first time. They looked so good together. They were the envy of the campus. The best-looking couple. The one with the promising future. They got married. Twenty years later, everything was falling apart.

Lately, Paul had been having an affair with Elisabeth Sanchez, a young Mexican woman who worked for the office next to his law firm. Elisabeth was a lovely Latin gal and she was quite fond of the handsome older black gentleman. At first, they were just friends hanging out. Then, things changed between them. Paul confided in her. He told her how much his wife had changed. There was no longer any love between them. They didn't go out anymore. Hell, he couldn't remember the last time they kissed. Yeah, the passion was gone. To be honest, Paul didn't love her anymore.

Elisabeth, the feisty Latin tomboy became Paul's friend. Sometimes, they hung out and went to the movies. They were just friends. Paul was forty years old. Elisabeth was a law school graduate studying for the bar exam while working for her uncle, a former supreme court judge. When Paul looked back on it, it seemed inevitable that things would evolve between them. It had been a year since Paul last made love to his wife. He had tried to change his wife's mind. He tried to communicate with her. He bought her flowers. He showered her with gifts. He even offered her a romantic vacation. As always, she turned him down. Her passion was for her work as a college professor. He didn't seem to matter to her. This crushed poor Paul's heart.

One day, he went to Elisabeth's place and that was the first time they crossed the line. The invisible, intangible boundary which separated friends from lovers. Well, they crossed it alright. Paul had been sitting in the living room, watching a football game. He loved football. He was a star player in college. His wife didn't like the game. She considered football players to be nothing but brutes. She didn't understand the beauty of the game, the sense of camaraderie a man felt for his teammates and the unity they all felt bound by. Sheila never got into sports. She was a cold-hearted and cynical intellectual.

Elisabeth was so different from Sheila. Elisabeth had been raised by a single father in New Mexico. She loved sports. In college, she was on the women's rugby team and also played volleyball. Sometimes, she and Paul went to her old college campus to support the football studs when they played against rival teams. Elisabeth's younger brother Bruno, a tall, twenty-something brawny stud played on the college football team. Elisabeth was quite fond of her brother. She introduced Paul to him. Yes, Elisabeth was one woman who was quite fond of the men in her life. Paul felt glad to know her.

Yeah, there he was on her couch, watching the football game. Elisabeth stepped out of the shower, wearing a bright blue towel. Paul turned around, and saw her. He stared, unblinking. Elisabeth smiled at him. She looked at this good-looking older black man and she saw in him all the man she could ever want. He was a good man who unfortunately lived with a woman who abused him mentally and treated him like dirt. He deserved better than that. How she wanted him. He rose from his couch, and smiled at her. She smiled at him, and gestured for him to come to her.

Paul rose, his heart thundering in his chest. He went to her. Elisabeth smiled, and embraced him. They kissed. It was something both of them had wanted to do for a long time. Elisabeth took his hand, and led him to her bed. Gently, they embraced one more. He kissed her. Smiling, Elisabeth dropped her towel, letting Paul see her as she truly was. Paul admired her sexy body. The tomboy was a really beautiful woman. Tall, curvy and fine-looking. She had a cute face, firm breasts, firm bubble butt and an athlete's form. Yes, she was beautiful.

The two of them smiled, and began to explore one another's bodies. It was a want, a need from deep inside. Naked, they playfully wrestled on the bed. Elisabeth climbed on top of Paul, and they began to make love. He caressed her fine sexy body. Her pretty face, firm breasts and fine buttocks. Elisabeth straddled him, and he entered her with one firm thrust. She gasped as she felt his throbbing manhood inside her. At last, they were one. Paul looked into her eyes. They smiled as they made love. She rode him for all she was worth, and he thrust into her. He was filled with the desire to possess her, and she was his very willing mate. They made love until ecstasy rocked both of them, and they lay in bed, exhausted. Entwined in each other's arms, they smiled. Yeah, at last they were together. Neither of them knew what tomorrow had in store for them but they had tonight. For now, it would have to be enough.