I entered the salon later than usual, traffic was a bear and I hated having to run, especially in my suit. Being out of control was not my thing; I didn't like feeling the sweat collect under my arms and on the insides of my legs, it made me uncomfortable. I was relieved to have only two clients that evening, both regulars. I was dog-tired from conducting workshops all day and couldn't be asked to deal with the impending minutia of other people's lives. As I moved my finger down the page of my work diary I was surprised to see a new name alongside the last appointment of the day; 10pm -- Adriana Kaliano. Phyllis had pencilled someone in without mentioning it to me; a surge of resentment sparked as I pondered her unprofessionalism but decided to shrug it off. Thursday was after all my only late evening of the week; so I'd have to endure it. Lately, I found myself becoming cynical, short-tempered and grumpy; even my friends were beginning to avoid me. I knew I needed a change in my life and I had to do it soon. What I needed was a woman.
I begrudgingly tolerated every clumsy match organised by my well meaning friends but my heart ached for my true love Alicia, my wife; she died in a car accident. A moron truck driver ploughed into her black and white Beetle -- then she was gone. We talked about travelling and perhaps even living abroad. She was such an adventurer, a wild spirit. I was far too old-fashioned for her but she managed to persuade me into doing things I could never imagine; like Bungee-jumping, sky-diving and water-skiing. She was fantastic at everything, so free and alive. I miss her face looking up at me from the pillow, her rich auburn hair all dishevelled and her piercing brown eyes looking deep within me, reading my very soul. Work became my only solace; I worked because I had no one to go home to anymore. Three years without a woman's touch was driving me insane; I'd see Alicia everywhere and imagined us making love every night. I became obsessed her.
