Wilson's Hard Lesson (96 page)

That had definitely caught her attention, but then the rest
of it even more so:

34-year-old widower seeks new wife to help raise my son.’

There was a phone number and e-mail address underneath.

She giggled slightly as she re-read it. It was very forward
of the man, asking for a bride straight away like that. Why didn’t he just ask
for a nanny? But then, she supposed, he wanted a partner too…someone to live
with him, take care of him, like his previous wife had. A part of her felt a
little sorry for him too. He’d lost his wife. That must have been hard,
especially if they’d just had a kid together.

Anna sighed and folded the newspaper in half, tossing it
onto the coffee table. Who was she kidding? There was no way she’d ever have
the confidence to reply to an advert like that, let alone go along and actually
meet the guy and marry him. Marry a complete stranger? What if he was a
psychopath? Even if he wasn’t, he probably wouldn’t like her anyway. He
probably had loads of replies from much prettier, more confident girls whom
he’d much rather make his wife.

She sipped her coffee and put the whole thing out of her
head, or at least, she tried to. She tidied up the apartment a little then made
herself something to eat seeing as it was nearly 5. She ate in front of the TV
and spent the remainder of the evening there, relaxing and watching films.

When she went to bed that night, her conscious mind had
pretty much forgotten about the advert, but her subconscious mind apparently
hadn’t.

She fell into a restless sleep where she imagined her arms
around a small baby boy, singing to him, feeding him, changing his nappy and
putting fresh clothes on him, all while a tall, dark handsome man watched over
her smiling. Then, when the baby was asleep in bed, the two of them ate dinner
together, with candles and wine, looking across the table into each other’s
eyes.

He was gorgeous, this man of her dreams. He didn’t have a
name, but he had a deep, sultry voice and he told her how beautiful she was.

After they’d eaten, he literally swept her into his arms and
carried her through to the bedroom, laying her down on the soft, silky sheets
and making love to her, in a dimly lit room with candles flickering in the
background. It was the epitome of cheesy romantic movie sex, but it obviously
did the trick for Anna. After her in dream orgasm, she woke up feeling
extremely hot and wet between the legs, as well as slightly embarrassed. Still,
she ran her hand southwards and spent the next five to ten minutes masturbating
and bringing herself to orgasm before she got up out of bed to take a shower.

Unlike the previous evening where she’d managed to push it
out of her mind, the thoughts of the advert and the mysterious 34-year-old
widower who’d placed it were now firmly at the forefront as she ran through all
the pros and cons and tried to convince herself that it would be a good idea to
reply, whilst simultaneously telling herself it was the worst idea ever,
arguing silently inside her head.

Her entire Sunday was taken up with it.

She picked up the discarded newspaper from the previous day
and read through the small advert at least another four times, probably six or
seven realistically.

By lunchtime, she had opened up her laptop and was sat on
the couch carefully typing in the man’s e-mail address into a brand new, as yet
untitled, e-mail.

It never got a title. It went in the trash.

By mid-afternoon, she’d started another e-mail. This one
made it a little further. She actually gave it a title – ‘hello’.

Then that went in the trash too.

There were several more attempts. Each time she backed out
and lost her nerve at the last minute, although each time she got a little bit
further. A better title. An introduction. Giving her name, telling him about
herself, asking a couple of questions.

The final occasion, she’d written out pretty much the entire
e-mail before scrapping it. This time it didn’t get deleted entirely though. It
got saved in the Drafts section.

Then, at around 8pm while she was finishing off her dinner
in front of the TV, she dragged over the laptop again and opened up the draft
to re-read it.

‘Mail order bride??? A response to your ad!’ was the title.
She was trying her best to keep it light hearted and fun, hoping he had a sense
of humor.

It carried on:

‘Hi there!

I saw your ad in the newspaper yesterday and it definitely
caught my attention. ‘Wife Wanted’, wow, what a headline! Are you planning to
marry the said person immediately or is there some kind of trial period first?
What if the person replies and you don’t even like each other and then you’re
already married and stuck?! Sorry, I just have so many questions, but I find it
really interesting!

Anyway, I should probably start by introducing myself. My
name’s Anna and I’m a single girl from New Jersey. I’m 28 and have always
wanted a family but have never been able to find the right person to settle
down with, probably because I don’t really go out much except to work and I can
be kind of shy sometimes, and awkward! You can probably tell that by reading my
e-mail.

I really love kids and have always wanted one – or two! I
don’t know how this works but…I guess I’d like to apply for the position! I’d
like to know a little bit more about you first though, if that’s OK.

Lots of Love,

Anna.’

She read it through a couple of times. It was clunky in
places and wasn’t perfect, but then, she wasn’t sure she wanted it to be. She
wanted to give an accurate portrayal of the person she was, so that he could
decide for himself and not be under any illusions about her.

By this point in the evening, she’d had a couple of glasses
of wine with her meal and was feeling a lot more confident and relaxed. Her
finger hesitated over the enter button, knowing that if she pressed it, the
e-mail would get sent and she wouldn’t ever be able to retract what she’d said.
It was a big decision. Still, she could always say no at the last minute if she
changed her mind and didn’t like the guy. No one was forcing her. This was a
free country.

She bit her lip and aggressively pounded down on the enter
key, hitting send and watching as the e-mail was dispatched into the ether of
the world wide web, wanting to just do it and get it out of the way before she
had another loss of confidence. It was too late now; it was gone.

Her heart skipped a beat and she felt a rush of excitement
and adrenalin. This was insane. What the heck was she doing? Her mother would
probably say she was mad, if she was still around, and a part of her did feel
kind of crazy, but it was also thrilling. She’d never done anything like this
before. She’d always been the sensible one; the one who came home first, who
didn’t get too drunk at college because she had lectures in the morning, who
always tidied up and kept the place looking nice. Perhaps she finally needed to
do something a little wild, something that was purely for her and not for
anyone else, something she wanted, something fun.

She finished off the bottle of wine and was in a good mood
for the rest of the night. There was a high probability that he wouldn’t even
reply anyway so she was trying not to get her hopes up, and she certainly
wasn’t overly worried about it anymore.

She checked her e-mails before bed but nothing had come
through, so she crashed out around half eleven, remembering to set her alarm
for work in the morning.

As usual, she woke up feeling as though she hadn’t had
nearly enough sleep, and rushing to get ready, grabbing a shower and forcing
herself into her scratchy, dull work clothes, the falling down tights and the
awkward, uncomfortable heels, not having time to check her e-mails before
rushing out the door. She didn’t even have time for breakfast, but that was
normal for her. She always grabbed something when she arrived, from the work
canteen, along with her morning cup of coffee that would keep her going until
lunchtime.

She said hi to her work colleagues as she came in and sat
down at her desk in the shared office space, everyone chatting and gossiping
and catching up about what they’d been up to at the weekend. Anna stayed quiet,
like she usually did, just listening in to what was said and laughing at the
appropriate moments or giving an appropriate responsive comment back in return,
such as ‘oh gosh’ or ‘that sounds amazing’ or ‘how funny’. She generally much
preferred to listen rather than to speak, and her ‘friends’ at work had gotten
used to that.

The majority of the time, they didn’t even bother asking
Anna what she’d been up to at the weekend, as her answers were always the same.
‘Oh, nothing much’, ‘this and that’, ‘just watching TV really’.

This time, she actually did have something interesting to
tell them, but she couldn’t. Of course she couldn’t. ‘Oh yes, I replied to an
advert in the paper. Some guy was looking for a wife to raise his kid.’ So once
again, she stayed silent and just listened, occasionally responding with the
odd word to join in the conversation sufficiently. Then she offered to refill
everyone’s coffee cups and conversation turned to sport, again something else
that Anna wasn’t really interested in.

She returned with the coffees a few moments later then sat
down at her desk and logged onto her computer to check her e-mails.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She’d had a reply. From him. The man from the advert, who’s
name was Carl, apparently, according to the name that came up on the ‘sender’
section.

‘Re: Mail order bride??? A response to your ad!’ said the
subject matter.

Anna looked around her, glancing over her shoulder and
checking no one was watching. By that point, most people had finished their
morning natter and had started their work.

She clicked on the e-mail and opened it up.

‘Hi Anna!

I’m so happy to get a response from you. The advert hasn’t
really been as successful as I might have hoped. Perhaps I was being too forward
by asking for a wife like that or maybe I scared some women off at the mention
of a child. Either way, you’re in with a very strong chance of becoming my wife
if things go well between us!

I’d always intended to offer some kind of trial period just
in case either of the parties wanted to back out. This would consist of you
coming to stay with me and Jason (my son) for two weeks on a full time basis.
If you could get that time off work, that would be wonderful. If you were to
become my wife, I’d ask you to quit your job altogether to care for Jason and
be a stay at home mom. I have more than enough money to be able to support you
and although I haven’t been working since Jason was born, I intend to go back
to work as soon as I have found a wife.

If, at the end of the two weeks, you’ve decided this isn’t
for you, you’re obviously entirely free to leave and return to your old life,
although I’d appreciate it if you stayed for the full time just so you can
fully immerse yourself in this and get the whole experience. If you don’t want
to try anything sexual during that time, that’s also fine, but I’d be
potentially interested in trying that out if you were – we have to see if we
can make a bond together as husband and wife in the bedroom as well as outside,
after all!

You’re welcome to know some more about me. That’s perfectly
normal considering you might end up being my wife. I part own my own computer
gaming business which has been doing pretty well, so it’s safe to say that I’m
a bit of a nerd. I’m not much of a partygoer or a clubber. I’d much prefer to
stay in, cook a meal, and spend the evening playing on the PlayStation or Xbox,
or watching movies, than going out, although I’m happy to go out for the odd
romantic dinner and movie. I don’t mind stuff like that, just not a massive
socialiser, I guess. I don’t have that many friends, just one or two people
from work who I talk to occasionally but we don’t really hang out outside of
the work environment.

I enjoy cooking and am actually pretty good at it too, so if
you were my wife I would happily cook all the meals and you wouldn’t have to
worry about a thing – maybe just providing lunch for yourself and Jason, but
I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of doing that! Aside from cooking and gaming,
I like watching movies, especially horror, sci-fi and fantasy, and also any TV
shows in that kind of genre, as well as superhero stuff. I enjoy reading and
have a large book collection in a sort of mini-library section of the house. I
also really like music, well, who doesn’t? My favorite genres are punk, metal,
classic rock, grunge, alternative, psychedelic, 60s, actually pretty much just
about everything except for modern pop, R&B and dance.

I live in a nice part of state in a residential suburban
area, beautiful leaf covered road in the fall, and the neighbors are a good
three or four meters away either side, so we don’t really get bothered by any
noises or anything like that.

Well, I can’t really think of anything else to say about
myself, so I’ll leave it at that for now. The only thing I want to ask you in
return is that you perhaps send me a photograph? I feel like I’ll learn so much
about you when you come over that I don’t need to ask too many questions now.
I’ve attached a photograph of myself to this e-mail, just so you can decide to
run a mile if you don’t like the look of me. Looks aren’t as important to me as
personality is, so I’m fully prepared to offer you the two-week trial based off
your initial e-mail. You seem friendly and kind, and I liked the way you wrote.
Does that sound weird?

Anyway, I’m rambling, I’m so sorry. I do have the tendency
to do that sometimes. If you’ve actually read this far, then thank you, and I
look forward to hearing back from you hopefully soon.

Thanks again,

Carl.

xx’

Anna read the e-mail several times. Her heart skipped a beat
more than once, and she felt an excited little knot form in her stomach that
she thought might explode at any minute. She really wanted to squeal or scream
or to jump up and down or something, just to let it out in someway, although
she couldn’t now because she was at work.

She hadn’t even opened the picture attachment yet. She was
just falling in love with his words and his personality. Everything about him
just seemed…so perfect for her.

I’d much prefer to stay in, cook a meal, and spend the
evening playing on the PlayStation or Xbox, or watching movies, than going out,
although I’m happy to go out for the odd romantic dinner and movie.

That was her. That was exactly her! She wasn’t
much
of
a gamer, mostly because she wasn’t all that great at it, but she did at least
own a PlayStation and a handful of games, and it’d be nice to have someone to
play them with. It was more just the idea of staying in that she could relate
to, of not wanting to socialize all that much.

I don’t have that many friends, just one or two people from
work who I talk to occasionally but we don’t really hang out outside of the
work environment.

Again, that was her. That was exactly her.

And then there was his taste in movies, TV shows and music –
all almost a perfect match for her. She couldn’t wait to cuddle up with him
watching a horror movie, or sit and listen to some Stooges together and rock
out.

By this point, she wasn’t even
that
bothered about
what he looked like, but of course, she had to find out sooner a later, and it
would give her something to picture when she thought of him.

She clicked on the attachment and the image came up on her
screen a few seconds later, large and striking.

“Wow,” she murmured under her breath.

He was absolutely stunning.

He had dark brown hair, almost black in color, with a slight
wave through it, short and mostly slicked back off his forehead but with a
couple of soft, fluffy looking curly bits that fell down and gave the whole thing
a messier feel.

He had perfect curves and angular features, a jaw line she
thought she could cut herself on, and the most distinct and beautiful cheekbone
structure. His nose was exactly the right size for his face and not too large
or crooked or anything like that, and his lips were shaped like a cupid’s bow;
they looked so soft, pink and…well…kissable.

His eyes were a cross between blue and green; a sort of a
bright, shimmering turquoise color that seemed to sparkle right through the
photograph and connect with hers as though they were looking into her.

She shuddered slightly and snapped out of the daze she’d
found herself in. He was definitely a lot better looking than she could have
ever imagined or hoped for and she was suddenly quite nervous about showing him
her photo. Surely she wasn’t good enough for someone attractive like him?

She discreetly took a selfie on the work computer, doing up
her hair and tilting her head to pose as best she could, before replying
straight away:

‘Hi Carl!

Thank you so much for your speedy reply.

I’m definitely still interested, and am actually surprised
and pleased that a lot of your interests match up very well with mine.
Hopefully we’ll get along just great!

I should be able to get the time off work for the trial
period seeing as I’m owed a holiday anyway. When would it suit you for me to
come over? Next week?

I’m attaching a photo as requested. I took this literally
just now on the work computer so it isn’t very good and I don’t look how I
normally do, because I’m wearing this horrible scratchy suit I have to wear for
work and I hate it! Most of the time I wear relaxing slouch around kind of
clothes so I can be comfy – onesies, PJs, joggers etc. I do get dressed up and
put make up on when I go out, which isn’t very often because, like you, I’m not
much of a socializer! I also normally have my hair down.

Anyway, I promised myself I’d make this e-mail a short one
so…see you soon!

Love,

Anna xx’

She hit send, then tried to concentrate on her work,
although half an hour later she got another reply, that sent her whole day off
kilter and set the wheels in motion for the next two weeks.

‘Anna,

You are absolutely stunning! Thank you so much for the
photograph. I really can’t wait to meet you. Next week would be perfect. I
really hope you can get the time off!

Lots of Love,

Carl xxx’

Her heart fluttered and she blushed a little. OK, a lot. He
liked her. He actually liked her; thought she was attractive.

She squealed quietly and got up from her desk to go and see her
boss and ask for the time off.