The bible study was a bit more contentious than the week before. The bible passages pertained to women serving and obeying their husbands, something that Joe was definitely unhappy with. He voiced his opinion rather bluntly which set off a vigorous debate. Voices were raised and tempers flared until Val, who was leading the session, brought things to a peaceful end. On the way home Joe was silent, almost to the point of being rude.
Maria decided to try and smooth any hurt feelings. “I really appreciated your comments tonight.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t you think there’s room for compromise? I mean, can’t we women serve our husbands in a more equitable manner?”
“No, Maria, you can’t. Whoever is serving is automatically below the other and I firmly believe women and men should be one hundred percent equal.”
“Oh,” she softly answered.
At her place she invited him in but he declined and there was no invitation for the weekend. She was saddened to realize he was not at church that Sunday nor at the bible study during the week. Finally, she called him the next day and asked how he was doing.
“I’m fine, Maria. Hey, look. You’re a nice lady, attractive, sweet. You’ll make some guy a wonderful wife but I think, no, I know it won’t be me. I’ll see you in church occasionally. Take care. OK?”
She hung up the phone with a disappointed sob. He was nice and in the short time she had known him, she found him very attractive. However, it wasn’t to be. Val, of course, was aware of the situation but pretended to be surprised when she told him that Joe was no longer a possibility.
—–
September — Cupid
Eros, Frigga and Cupid were beyond ecstatic when Val officially conceded. They each still had a chance! To celebrate they high-fived while continuing to trash talk each other.
With nearly six weeks to prepare, Cupid did extensive research on Joe trying to figure the man out. He spent hours reviewing Joe’s background and stumbled onto the on-line archives of Joe’s web browsing. It was fairly clear that Joe’s preference was for blonde, tall women. He had downloaded multiple pictures of well-endowed blondes, many of whom had little to no clothing on. Cupid quickly figured out that he’d have to find such a woman in real life to lure Joe to a long-term relationship.
He talked to Apollo, receiving permission to arrange for the perfect woman to move to Centerton. Cupid would make sure Joe met her on the Labor Day weekend.
There was a large community picnic sponsored by several community organizations on the day before Labor Day. On that Sunday, Joe found himself with a sudden urge to go to the picnic. He rationalized it as a chance to mingle with people. Other than Maria and Val a few months prior, he really hadn’t met that many people in town. Most of his work was remote and his outdoor activities were all solo.
At the picnic he wandered around, nodded to several people and enjoyed the excellent bar-b-q. As he was sitting at a table and finishing off his corn on the cob, a vision of beauty walked up to him and asked to sit down.
She was gorgeous! Long blonde hair hung to her mid-back, her button nose was cute as, well, cute as a button and she had a smile of deep red lips. Under her thin T-shirt were a pair of very promising breasts, each the size of small melons, and below that was a bare midriff featuring a tiny pendant through a navel piercing. Tight jeans hugged her luscious hips and surprisingly cute feet rested in her flip-flops.
“Yes, please, have a seat.”
“I’m Vakker. You?” she asked with a tiny accent.
“Uh, Joe. You have an interesting name. Where does it come from?”
“Norway. I grew up there.”
“Does the name mean anything?”
“Yes. But I am embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“It means pretty.”
“That’s perfectly OK. Bella is an Italian name that means beautiful so Vakker is a fine name. How long have you been here?”
“Just last week. Oh, here is my good friend. Joe, please meet Quinton Pemberton Dalton,” she giggled.
“Oh, Vakker, you know I hate that full name,” he laughed, “Hi, I’m Q. P. Dalton. Some people just abbreviate the whole thing and call me Q. P. D.”
“Nice meeting you. You live here also?”
“No, I just helped Vakker with the moving. I’ll be here no more than a month or so. By then everything should be settled, I predict.”
The three of them sat together for nearly an hour. Vakker seemed to really enjoy Joe’s company though most of the conversation was between him and Q. P. D. She did add a little bit now and then, however. Eventually Q. P. D. stood to excuse himself leaving Joe and Vakker alone.
After grabbing a second beer for each of them, Joe asked Vakker if she’d like to stroll around the huge park.
“Ja, I mean yes. I love valking. I hike, too. Do you hike, Joe?”
“Yes, I do,” he answered, delighted that she wouldn’t crash and burn after such a short hike as Maria did.
“Vell, then I shall invite you, no? Vere do we go?”
“Uh, there are several places nearby. How far do you want to go?”
“Maybe ten or twelve kilometers. I zink dat’s six or seven miles, no?”
“Yeah, sounds about right. Let’s trade numbers and I’ll call you to set things up for next weekend.”
“Can you go soon?”
“You mean this week sometime?”
“Yes. I have no vork yet. Can you take off a day?”