It didn't seem believable at first. But it had the ring of truth. An unwanted one.
I had tried to overcome this barrier that had suddenly appeared. One moment, we were daily going to the gym, and discussing her ambitions. There were some things I needed help with, and I thought she was well placed, and willing to, but she was too busy, and the opportunity when it would be reasonable to broach the thoughts never happened.
When the accident occurred it was a minor thing. Except it became my fault. She had been trying too hard to impress me. Getting up very early, little or no sleep, and showing the lack of judgement peculiar to the very tired. The accident itself was minor, a slight bump on an illegally parked vehicle. Only the local gym gave her personal details to the the driver of the other car, and the driver, and some friends, intimidated her into giving them a lot of money. She only told me about that later. I didn't say anything about my concerns, but she could have been killed for that money.
She went away soon after, and cut me off. A month passed, and she returned to her home, but didn't tell me she had returned. I had tried to make things right in the meantime, but felt that it wasn't me that she had an argument with. A mutual friend brokered a meet, but when faced with discussing what I had wanted to, I tanked, thinking it would be better another time.
We are in her car, and she is trying to tell me what she thinks my problem is, seeing as I'm apparently unlucky.
"You could do anything, but you seem to worry about the consequences. You should just go for it."
Luckily, I slept on the advice, instead of attempting it in the car. The next day, when I made a pass at her, she made it clear that that was not what she had meant.
A fortnight passed, and then a few more days. When the friend brokered another meet. This time she spelt it out. She didn't like me. I made her skin crawl. Her parents didn't trust me. I was never to try and see her again, or her family. She had tried to be nice to me, but I didn't seem to respond well to that. We were still friends, if we ever might meet in public, but not good friends. She left a bag of things I had loaned or given her over the years. And a gift she said she had meant to give at Christmas time.
Afterwards, I couldn't bring myself to open the gift. I had never got one from a woman before. It seemed to have so many more possibilities left unopened. A month passed, and then a few more days. It dawned on me. She had tried to be nice, much as someone would for a wounded animal. But she didn't like me.
Son got text just before father drowned
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
THE two sons of a British tourist who drowned while swimming at a Gold Coast beach have told of their shock at their father's death.
David Ball, 62, had been swimming at Burleigh on Good Friday when his female partner, Linda Franklin, got into difficulties and he tried to help her.
However, he soon found himself struggling in the water and was dragged unconscious on to the beach.
Surf lifesavers were unable to revive him.
Mr Ball's son Philip, 31, said he was heartbroken by the death of his father, who had sent him a text message on his mobile phone just minutes before the tragedy.
"He texted me saying he was sat on the beach drinking rum and coke and said `it doesn't get much better than that'," Philip told The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Britain.
"And then, five minutes later, I found out he was dead.
"The last thing he said when we talked earlier was `I love you' and it was not often he would say that on the phone.
"It doesn't seem like he's not going to come back. I can't believe I'm never going to speak to my dad again. It just doesn't seem real. He will be sadly missed."
Philip's older brother Gary, 37, praised his father's efforts to save Ms Franklin.
"That's my dad," he said. "He's not going to stand there.
"I am proud. He was a genuine all-round decent bloke."
Mr Ball's body is expected to be flown back to Britain next week.