TO TAME A HERO

CHAPTER 7

LOVE IMPULSE

There he stood right in front of her, a giant of a man and every bit as intimidating as she had thought he would be. What was he thinking? His expression made it difficult to read what was going through his mind.

Susan had the uneasy feeling that he wanted to have his way with her and wondered if she was really going to resist if he tried. Maybe it was a mistake to have invited him to her dinner party.

"Good evening," Dr Kelly said.

Susan nodded with a little smile.

It would be easy, too easy, Susan thought, to fall for a man like Dr Kelly with his fatal charm. She felt herself fantasizing what it would be like to be kissed by him again.

"Oh, so you know each other," Rosalind looked at her friend, then she looked at Dr Kelly.

Susan could see that she was impressed by him. He was wearing a dark brown three-piece suit and tie that fitted his athletic figure to perfection. He was a sort of challenge and that intrigued Rosalind.

"Rosalind, this is Dr Kelly, he is a paleontologist at the Colton Museum. Dr Kelly, this is Rosalind."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Same here," Rosalind smiled.

As she handed him his whiskey with ice, he said: "I brought these for our lovely hostess," he said, before offering a bouquet of red tulips to Susan.

Susan took the tulips and said thanks.

Grabbing Rosalind by the arm, she said: "Come Rosalind, help me put these in water."

"It's him, is it not?" Rosalind said the moment they were alone in the kitchen.

"What do you mean?" Susan tried to appear as innocent as possible while she looked for a vase.

"He is the one you wanted to base your fictional hero on."

Susan nodded as she carried a royal hand-painted, blue flower vase to the sink and filled it with water.

Rosalind raised a suspicious eyebrow as she looked at her friend. "Are you friends now?"

"I wouldn't call us friends. That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"Then why are you inviting him to dinner?"

"To show him that I am a published author."

"Why the need to show him that you are published?" Rosalind prompted.

"That's a whole conversation for another day." Susan shook her head as she arranged the red tulips into the vase.

"He didn't believe that you were a published author?"

"Yes," anger flashed in Susan's eyes.

They went back to the parlor, to which Susan asked: "What would you say about a man who fights with a lady each time that he bumps her, mostly by coincidence."

"Fights with her?"

"Yes, he fights with her."

"I think he likes her."

"What? He likes her?" Susan hissed with shock.

"Yes, the love impulse in men sometimes reveals itself through conflict."

"The love impulse?"

"Yes, I think that man has a fixation on the lady in question."

"A fixation?" Susan was surprised but contemplative as she looked in Dr Kelly's direction.

Fabrice and Pip arrived soon after. When she was done serving them their drinks and chatting for a moment, Susan decided it was time. Picking up her iPad, she walked over to Dr. Kelly.

"Can I help you with something?"

"I want to show you proof that I am a published author," she held up the iPad so that he could see the w*******l and the number of reads it had.

"Why are you showing me this?"

" I am showing you proof."

Dr. Kelly stirred at the screen again but was still at a loss as to what it all meant.

"Do you see my name on the cover and the number of reads it has?"

"Yes, I can see that," he muttered.

"So I was justified in calling myself a writer."

"And you went through all this trouble just to prove that to me," he casually sipped his drink.

"No, I did not."

"So you are published, congratulations," His tone was sarcastic.

"I know what your problem is," Susan said as she clutched the iPad to her chest. "You have a fixation on me. "

"What?" He raised one eyebrow.

"Yes, I think you like me, Dr Kelly." Susan said with a small voice.

"Young lady, I do not like you nor do I have a fixation on you."

" Dr Kelly, why? Are you angry?"

"Well, I am getting there."

"The love impulse often reveals itself through conflict."

"Excuse me?"

"The love impulse….."

Susan, glancing at her slim gold wrist-watch, nearly gasped.

"Oh, it's time to serve dinner."

She turned away before they could finish their conversation.

Dr Kelly and Gloria Rivers walked through the main park with two pugs on leads, as the wind blew gentle kisses on their cheeks.

They were both delighted to be out on such a glorious day and their heads were held high as they walked past blooming white roses. Families with children were also out, indulging in picnics and playing croquet on the green grass as the trees waved their branches with the passing breeze.

"I went out to dinner with Christina and Greta last night," Gloria began as they walked, "a couple were seated at the table nearest to us. And they were sharing a chocolate cake together. The moment was fleeting but had such an unspoken tenderness."

"It seems like they made quite an impression on you," he teased.

"They did and I wondered whether they met on Tinder or had they met in real life?"

"With where we are currently, it's likely they met on a dating app."

"I would not be surprised. I was shocked to find out that dating apps have 75 million active users."

"We are in the age of technology so don't be shocked."

"Horace."

"Yes, dear."

"Dating has never been my forte, and in this current climate of meeting potentials online makes me doubt myself sometimes."

"We live in an online world now and our lives can't be disentangled from it. Even if you ditched the apps and try to meet people at parties or social clubs or even through friends, you can still go to i********: and see what they have been up to."

Gloria looked up at Dr Kelly with a gentle nod as they walked on with the French pugs.

That same day, Susan was also out with the boys skateboarding in the park. She wobbled her way after them as they turned and twisted their way up the slope.

Dr Kelly and Gloria decided to have a seat and relax for a while. They sat on a bench that faced a large square-shaped pool bordered by colourful flowers. Gloria fed the pugs treats.

Then he heard a lady shrieking, followed by laughter.

The voice felt familiar.

Dr Kelly began looking around until he spotted Susan waving her arms wildly in the air. She was laughing before tumbling over to the bottom of a slope. She had two boys with her, who were also shrieking and laughing at her as she playfully tumbled down.

Then up they all went again with skateboards. The boys rode the boards down the slope with ease.

Dr Kelly watched on with intrigue as Susan managed to reach the bottom of the slope still upright on her board. He saw the pride on her face after her accomplishment.

As he stirred at her laughing and shrieking with the boys, while waving her arms wildly in the air.

Dr Kelly began to smile without realising it.