“I’m so sorry, Damita. I swear to you, it will never happen again.”
Damita wanted more than anything to believe him. However, nagging deep down in her gut was the realization that a person’s true nature seldom changed. What she needed to know more than anything was what Neal’s true nature was? Was he the kind and gallant gentlemen who always opened her car door, would never allow her to pick up the check and who got down on one knee to propose; or was he the violent man full of rage that had not only hit her, but had lied to the police about it in order to protect his own skin?
“You know what I would love to do?” Damita suddenly asked.
“What, baby?”
“Remember those lazy Sunday afternoons when we first started dating, when we would order in, and laze around all day doing the crossword puzzle together, in our pajamas?”
“Yeah, I remember. Those were good times,” Neal agreed.
“Well, since we’re not going to Jamaica, we’ve got a week of no work, no family and no friends to interrupt us. We can use the time to get back to where we were.”
“Baby, I love the way that sounds.”
Neal reached for Damita and this time she didn’t jump. They kissed one another passionately and Neal couldn’t help but be aroused. Despite Damita’s desire to begin anew, she soon realized that forgetting wasn’t quite as easy as forgiving. As she became aware of Neal’s burgeoning erection, she wondered how she would handle her lack of sexual desire for him. For her it was new territory. Since they had been together all she had ever wanted to do was make love. Now, when he touched her, she couldn’t help but picture him hitting her. The memory was indelibly etched in her brain.
“How about we get a juicy burger from Jackson Hole?” Damita asked, shifting gears.
She hoped she hadn’t noticed her hasty retreat. She really did want their marriage to work but there were still scars left to heal, both physically and emotionally.
Both that night and the next day Neal attempted to get physically intimate with Damita and she was disinterested. It was clear to both of them that eventually the tension was going to build.
“I was thinking we’d go out for dinner tonight,” Neal said.
“That sounds good to me. I hope we don’t run into someone we know.”
“I doubt we will. I have someplace special in mind.”
After they had both showered and changed and Neal was standing in front of her in his tailor-made navy blue suit, she suddenly remembered what a sexy man he was. She was attracted to him all over again. The classic fresh scent of Dolce and Gabbana Masculine against his skin, played with her senses. She considered joking with him that he was definitely going to get lucky tonight, but kept her thoughts to herself.
Once outside, a luxury sedan was waiting at the curb to take them to dinner.
“Your chariot awaits, wife.”
“Thank you, husband,” Damita responded playfully.
Neal opened the car door for her as he always did. Damita slid over and waited for Neal to join her. The closeness of him brought back so many pleasant memories she had come close to forgetting.
“You smell incredible,” she whispered into his ear.
Their troubles forgotten, the ride into Midtown Manhattan was like old times. They laughed and talked about their plans for the future. Within twenty minutes they arrived. They were in Rockefeller Center. Damita knew exactly where they were going. Neal’s choice for dinner could not have been more perfect. They would be dining at The Sea Grill; the same restaurant where he had proposed.
Damita got out of the car and looked around Rockefeller Center, smiling broadly. Despite their recent troubles, her pleasant memories of their relationship had survived. Once inside the restaurant those memories came flooding back even stronger.
As Neal removed Damita’s jacket, she realized why it was that he affected her the way no other man ever had. In so many ways he was a throwback from another time. As far as she was concerned the age of feminism brought with it the loss of so much of what made it so wonderful to be a woman. There was a time when it was commonplace for a man to open a door for a lady, to help her with her coat or even stand when a woman entered the room. Neal was only thirty-seven years old, but somehow he was a gentleman in ways that had been long lost to most men his age. She wondered if it was because of this that he hit her or in spite of it.
Deep in thought, Damita’s blank stare alerted Neal to the fact that she was distracted.
“Where did you go just now?” Neal asked.
“Huh?”
“You were thousands of miles away.”
“No, I’m not. I’m right here. I was thinking of all the reasons I love you.”