Late Autumn Puppy Love by Anna Maria Cattoni (book suggestions .txt) 📕

was in the middle of it all. Even her grumpy old aunt was close. Suddenly, they were laughing and feeling very close to each other.
For both it was a warm feeling creeping up from the inside. A part that they had been sure was not there since it had been asleep for a very long time.

Gradually they began to see each other almost every day. Either in the park or for a late evening stroll through the neighborhood, or dinner. Sometimes, Gordon walked to the mall and stood looking at Mary through the window of the shoe shop. She would acknowledge him with a smile and then back she went to her customers.

It was on a very cold evening when they finished dinner and he was walking her home. A gust of wind caused Mary to lose her footing and Gordon held her. He was embracing her and could feel her trembling in his arms. Both stood still, barely breathing, looking at each other, unable to decide what to do next. Mary felt her head spinning, Gordon felt a rush of blood to his temples. Both were feeling they wanted to stay like that for always. He wanted the world to stay still forever in the same position and the same time, never to let go of her.


Mary was surprised and all of a sudden an unknown feeling welled up in her and tears came to her eyes.
She had never had a real boyfriend, boys shunned away from her. She had never been pretty or witty or smart. Boys asked other girls on dates, not her. Her mother died when she was seventeen and she left school to go to work and help her father financially. Her mother had always managed what little money he brought to the household and she always had a dress to sew or a sweater to knit to supplement the income.
When her mother passed away, Mary took care of the house and also helped with the income. Her father simply could not do more than the six hours work as a cutter at the leather factory.
In any case, there wasn’t much of a life for her waiting outside her house or the shoe shop where she started working.
Gordon’s dinner invitation was the first one she received from a man who was not a family member, in fact, Gordon had been her first date and she was fifty six by now.

The weather changed for the worse and it started raining. Still holding her close and determined not to let go, Gordon said his apartment was closer than hers and they could stay there until the rain stopped. She nodded her head and the two started running for the entrance to the apartment block.

Sometimes things happen when you really, but really are not expecting them to. Gordon took her overcoat and hanged it where it would receive the warmth of the stove so it would dry. He told her to make herself comfortable and he was bringing hot tea.
They were sitting side by side, one hand holding the mugs and one hand holding the others.
That is when the lights went out not only on the city but on Gordon and Mary too.
Next morning they were still holding each other tightly. Gordon woke up first and looked at Mary still asleep. He turned to her slowly and just laid there looking at her sleeping, feeling so good inside him he could have shouted it to the whole world.

Mary woke up with a start, she sat in bed and looked at Gordon who was holding her and smiling at her. She remembered and laid her head on his shoulder hugged him tightly and decided that was the best place on earth to be forever.

Without having said it, they both decided they were taking the day off and stay together at Gordon’s apartment. This was a first for both of them – not showing for work. She cooked breakfast and they ate at the tiny kitchen table, holding hands and parting to pick up the fork, kissing over the mugs, sipping and smiling at each other.
They sat on the carpet in front of the stove, hugging, talking and it was almost afternoon when they remembered lunch. This took the form of a pizza ordered from the pizza parlor across the street.
Night came and Mary remembered there was a real world outside. A world she had to return to whether she liked it or not.
Gordon did not want her to go but understood she had to. They would meet after work and stay together. He made her promise she would wait for him to pick her up at the shoe shop and walk with her to wherever she wanted to go.

That day at the office, his colleagues asked him what had changed, what had happened, he looked different, he was wearing an unknown smile and he had even joked with one of the clerks.
Every time someone asked the question, Gordon in turn asked if they had heard about something called puppy love. The answer was always yes and it was for young people, young pups.
Gordon would then smile and answer that middle aged and even old people could also feel like young pups, even in the autumn of their lives.

It was almost closing time and Gordon could hardly wait to see Mary again. He closed the computer, tidied his desk and went out the building.
He was in front of the Mall, waiting for the green light in order to cross the street
when he saw the ambulance parked, the siren still sounding and two paramedics carrying a stretcher.
He could not see clearly from across the street, but then the light changed and he went towards the Mall’s entrance.
Then he saw the whole picture. The stretcher was carrying his Mary. A drunken driver had run her over while crossing the street. She had died instantly.


Gordon Tenner closed the computer and tidied his desk before leaving.
Another boring and uneventful day was over.
He left the office building and walked slowly towards the park. He was in no hurry; nobody was waiting for him anyway.

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Publication Date: 03-04-2009

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