For ten years
she dedicated herself to the marriage.
She had been a good and loyal wife
to the man her parents had selected for her.
Tonight, however,
as she lay in the arms of the man
she had just made love to,
she wondered whether all this was worth it.
Of course,
her relationship with her husband
had given her a wonderful gift, her son.
Apart from that,
things had started to get stagnant between them.
It was not about the sex,
it was more about the little things
that happened between them after they made love.
The kisses and caresses,
sleeping into each other’s arms,
staring at each another until one of them slept,
the sweet whisperings,
all this had disappeared from their life.
But not tonight…
Tonight she felt special.
She felt alive.
She felt wanted.
She wondered whether it was appropriate
for her to be selfish for a change…
Be what she wanted to be,
do what she wanted to do.
In reality, she did not want to do this,
she did not want to sleep with any man other than her husband;
all she wanted was a little attention.
She wanted someone to tell her that she was beautiful.
She wanted someone to smell her hair
and take her in arms and make her feel secure.
She wanted that person to be her husband,
but he was not.
He was too occupied with himself,
too occupied with his work.
“I am doing all this for you, for our family”,
he would always say.
And, he was not wrong.
Was she selfish to ask for a little attention?
For him to notice that she was wearing his favourite dress,
to notice that she had just coloured her hair,
to notice and read her body language -
that she wanted to be loved?
Was it asking for too much?
Return to Main Page
