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Their lips locked into a
frenzied exchange of lust. Celia's blue dress flew across the room and
landed on the piano. The buttons fell from John's shirt. Ten fingernails
penetrate the muscles of his hairy chest. The first time, in his 17 year
marriage, he was making love to someone else. He picked her up and
carried her to the bedroom...
John was supposed to be back home that Friday night. But, he was unable
to reach an agreement with the people from Motorola. So, he will have to
give one more day to these negotiations. On the phone earlier, his wife
had a fit. How could he miss his son's graduation? How could he? But, he
had a job and he had to keep it.
His wife was furious, that is probably why he went to The Anthem...
After the phone conversation, he left the hotel and walk aimlessly in
this city foreign to him. He was in a business trip. He was lonely. He
felt frustrated, on edge. The Anthem looked like a retreat. Some air of
coziness. Ideal place to have a drink among a happy-hour crowd...
Across the bar, a girl was looking at him. Asian type. Long, long dark
hair. Almond shaped eyes. Sweet almonds, indeed. Beautiful girl. They
made eye contact. She smiled... He moved to seat next to her...
They talked. She was 25. She was a PhD student at the University. Her
dissertation was not going well. Her week was sterile. She was
frustrated, on edge. The Anthem was her hang-out place. She came to
drink up her exasperation.
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A few hours and many cocktails later, he invited her
to the Hilton, where he was staying. She proposed him to drop by her
apartment located two blocks away.
Once they crossed the threshold of the apartment, they fell in each
other's arms. Now, in the bedroom, they were sweating profusely despite
the air conditioner. So intense a pleasure, they were both screaming...
John felt an electrical jolt going down his spine into his thighs.
His eyes revulsed in their orbits. He shut his eyelids. Blood flowed out
of his brain. His whole body arched awkwardly, quivered, trembled.
Somewhere, in the far, he heard Celia screaming desperately. He felt her
nails and her teeth in his flesh. A delusory attempt to hold on to the
thread of consciousness. Then, their two bodies, fused, ignited,
exploded....
An eternity later, they looked into each other's eyes and started
laughing. John had never had such a lightning moment since the days of
his honey moon. He could not even feel guilty... They cuddled into each
other's arms, afraid to breathe, afraid to break the spell.
Celia's watch beeped. She asked John to pick up her medications on the
night stand. He handed the first bottle. No. Not Tylenol, not the cough
drops, not Afrin either. The yellow one. By the Crixivan. It was time
for her AZT...
Three months later, John tested positive for HIV. He sincerely did not
know that The Anthem was a meeting place for people living with the
virus which causes AIDS...
(Odler Robert Jeanlouie, Monday, June 7, 1999)
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