STOLEN LOVE

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MARTINEZ

Martinez had a tall and huge stature and blue-grey eyes. He was not extremely muscular, with 8-pack abs, or biceps. However, he could stand out in a crowd, which was mostly due to his way

of carrying himself. Martinez was handsome. He had a perfect way of dressing, and he always looked cute in his outfits. He was very smart and as serious about his studies as I was.

Martinez was attending school on a full-ride academic scholarship. His major was medicine and surgery.

Martinez asked me out during the second week of class when we met at the school's cafeteria, and we dated off and on for the rest of the semester.

I wished we dated a lot more, but Martinez didn't take me out more than once a week. He said he liked me and enjoyed being with me, but his ambitions for the future took priority. I would discover that Martinez’s ambitions always took priority.

For the next nine months, Martinez and I had about the same relationship that I had with Richard Jones. Martinez claimed he didn’t have time for a real relationship with me. He even insisted I date other men and continue seeing Richard.

Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with Martinez. I was twenty-four years old and it was the first time I’d ever been in love. When I fell, I fell hard this time.

My patience and determination with Martinez paid off at the start of the second semester of our senior year.

By then, he was close to completing Medical School, and I was also close to completing Law School. His scores were good enough to earn him a seat for his housemanship the following September, and mine were enough to make me eligible for Law School.

He finally became open to a future together for us. In March of that year, John Weaver offered me a job as a Legislative Assistant with an excellent starting salary. The work was so engaging and time consuming. That same night I received a diamond ring Martinez must have bought at Zale. I felt like the happiest lady on the planet when he proposed, and I accepted.

We got married that June right after graduation. Martinez did not want a big formal wedding, so we repeated our vows in front of a justice. My parents and sister were there, as was Martinez’s mother, Flora Douglas. Martinez’s father had deserted them when Martinez was five years old.

After a week’s honeymoon in Joggland, we moved into a rental apartment mid-way. We began our life as husband and wife, and it looked like Martinez was crazily in love with me. He did everything he could to make my life better as I focused on my work.

Our marriage wasn’t one of burning passion; instead, it was from the start a comfortable, sharing relationship.

Martinez was not a demonstrative person, so we weren’t always hanging all over each other the way some couples (my parents for a prime example) do. We were young adults, though, so that was good, right? The same criteria applied to s*x. The both of us enjoyed our lovemaking, but I hardly initiated it.

I also wasn’t in the mood very often; because the stress of work sometimes distracted me from feeling s****l. Martinez tried to adjust and accept that, so he made himself satisfied with our weekly sessions, believing everything would be better once I got a better job.

I guess my focus and engagement at work allowed Martinez to concentrate more on his job too, and I also understood all that it took in being a Medical Doctor. Sometimes, when he had to be away for the night, I would stay with his mother.

His mother was a licensed practical nurse and worked at an assisted care facility. I got along fine with my mother-in-law. She was nice enough but aloof, much like her son.

Mum and Dad liked Martinez well enough and went out of their way to show him he was part of the family. Martinez was always extremely polite and courteous to my parents but he felt uncomfortable with their very public displays of affection. Consequently, we did not spend much time around them. My sister, Joyce, on the other hand, didn’t pretend to like Martinez.

“Your relationship is all one-sided, Sandra. He’s using you and you are too blind to see it,” she told me.

I, of course, strongly disagreed with her assessment, so my relationship with her became strained, and we started avoiding each other.

When I started my third year working with John Weaver, Martinez secretly started building our dream home. The house was a thirty-five hundred foot split plan ranch.

We’d seen something like that featured in an architectural design magazine. Martinez made some changes to the basic plan and made sure the roof truss system was re-engineered to open up the living area while retaining the basic look.

With his connections with some engineering friends, and their being flexible with their construction schedule, subcontractors could use our house to fill in slack times in their business, and Martinez was able to build the house for a fraction of its real value.

Martinez enjoyed the whole process of construction. He loved the idea of turning a piece of ground and a blueprint into a home.

I was able to send my applications for another job one time while was on leave, and I was given a position with the prestigious law firm, The Legends.

After my commencement ceremony, Martinez drove me to the recently completed house. When I looked at him questioningly, he handed me the door keys. I was like a newly minted high-powered lawyer who had a home that reflected her new status.

That afternoon was the most excited I’d ever seen my usually low-keyed self. I was positively aglow as I walked through the house. I loved the brown granite countertops and the huge island in the kitchen. And the wood floors made of Brazilian Cherry inlaid with a Maple border blew my mind.

“Can we stay here tonight, Martinez?” I asked hopefully.