A TYPICAL MAN E-Book

Abbie Christensen

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 245

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Frank Martin, a banker in NYC, was lucky to survive a car accident on New Year’s Eve and was promised three wishes - one each year – after survival. He could not remember why he speed away angrily from the party in White Plains and was actually dead for a few minutes. Money cannot buy the love of the woman, he fell in love with and he was blind to the danger, which surrounded him, due to his actions.

Leseprobe

A Typical Man

@ 2015

Abbie Christensen

Vorwort

There are many songs included to intensify the feelings of the characters. If possible, you can click on the link and hear the song while reading. I have included the lyrics.

It`s A Man's Man's World

James Brown

This is a man's world This is a man's world But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing Without a woman or a girl

You see man made the cars To take us over the road Man made the train To carry the heavy load

Man made the electric light To take us out of the dark Man made the boat for the water Like Noah made the ark

This is a man's, man's, man's world But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing Without a woman or a girl

Man thinks about a little bit of baby girls And a baby boys Man makes them happy 'Cause man makes them toys

And after man's made everything Everything he can You know that man makes money To buy from other man

This is a man's world But it wouldn't be nothing Not one little thing Without a woman or a girl

He's lost in the wilderness He's lost in bitterness He's lost

3 Wishes

As if traveling by a hushing express train, the thoughts were constantly changing their views in the mind of a young man taking a long curvy dark road home. Did he want to go home to his lonely apartment or should he turn around and return to the New Year’s Eve party, which he enjoyed until a fateful moment? He felt furious and jealous of the man who kissed his girlfriend before midnight, when it was allowed and could still visualize her surprised face as she noticed he appeared. Was he acting like a child? She probably thought so, and why should he ruin his relationship of two years because of a kiss? A kiss? What did this kiss mean? Should he forgive his loved one of two years for whom he moved to New York, leaving behind his farm and parents in the Midwest? She stole his heart and therefore, he had no choice but to follow her to the east coast.

Ben Arnold decided to turn around on the dark road at the next possible right turn and slowed down his old car. He drove off the main road and could not believe what appeared out of the dark bushes, only visible through the bright light of the full moon still laughing down onto earth with all its fools. A terrible sight frightened him as he neared the car wreck and saw the blood stained white shirt of an unconscious young man. Was he dead? As he approached the seemingly lifeless man he heard a loud explosion in the sky, was frightened and thought at first, someone was shooting at him. He fell to the ground, covering his head, until he noticed the colorful lights of the firework exploding nearby which brought back his senses, and he knew what to do.

After feeling the pulse of the man to see if he was alive, he took out his mobile phone and tried to call the ambulance, which was naturally not so easy at midnight where everyone wanted to wish their loved ones a Happy New Year. At last, he got through, and after waiting impatiently for what seemed like an hour, they finally arrived. Now they could take over the responsibility for the life of this half dead man so that he could hurry back to wish his girlfriend a happy New Year.

The ambulance men carried the injured man into their truck in which the first-aid doctor plugged his heart frequency onto the machine and checked all fatal injuries. Shortly after viewing the waves on the display, the heart stopped beating. The man died. The white shirt turned increasingly red from the bleeding wound, which first had to be stopped and they then prepared the use of the electrical shocks to bring his heartbeat back.

His soul traveled through the long tunnel with the blinding light at the end, as so many people have already explained after the electrical shock brought them back to life. Frank Martin hallucinated, speaking to an angel who he met in a foggy environment, like the riverbed on an autumn morning, where you can only hear the big hungry birds crying.

“I don’t want to die,” Frank screamed within, standing next to his lifeless body, sliding into oblivion, looking down on earth and then at the translucent form next to him. He felt desperate and his only thought was to delay his death as long as possible. It seemed as if he screamed at an angel, explaining him that he was not yet ready to die and wishing to remain alive in order to live a better life, then there was still so much to discover.

His wish was fulfilled as his soul returned to his lifeless body and his angel promised him much more - he would get three more wishes, one every year.

“You think that there have not been enough fulfillments in your life? If I give you a second chance, you will live more intensive and enjoy life more than up to now?”

“You can have your life back and even more. I will give you three wishes, which you should choose wisely. One you can speak out now, the next one in one year at this time and the last one a year later. Therefore, you have a lot of time to choose your wishes logically and not make any mistakes. What has been your biggest dream or what have you wanted most in your life, which would make you happy?” Without thinking long, the answer shot out of his mouth as a bullet out of a gun. “A lot of money: I want to get very rich, then money makes the world go round and you can buy anything you want,” was his answer. Already as a child he dreamed about being a rich man and living in a villa with a swimming pool and a beautiful wife.

First wish

The electrical shocks brought his heart back to function and after a few seconds of death, Frank was alive again. However, he was in a coma and in a very bad condition. They carefully rolled his heavy bed into the intensive station after the operation, where the doctors did their best to save his life. Will he live or will he die?

Amazingly, and to his doctor’s surprise, he woke up after two days. A lawyer showed up after finding out his whereabouts and although it was January 2, he had to work and inform the sick man of his inheritance, as well as the death of his aunt. Frank got sad hearing the bad news but after finding out what he inherited, it was more endurable. Was this his first wish that came true? Did his aunt have to die in order to fulfill his wish? Her sudden death was due to a heart attack so he could stop thinking it was his fault.

The recovery took a few months and he could not wait to go back to work so that he could invest some of his fortune in the stock market on Wall Street and multiply his money.

His colleagues in the bank in Manhattan were all glad to see him again. As usual he commuted by train and subway from New Rochelle, a suburb. He has done that already so long, that it became a morning routine although sometimes after work he would stay overnight in a hotel in the city, whenever he picked up a woman in the bar near his bank.

In New Rochelle, he lived in a small house in the south end that belonged to his aunt, who had more houses in Westchester County, which she inherited from her rich stepfather. She also bought many gold stocks that were now worth a fortune with an upward tendency. Actually, he hardly ever visited his aunt because he was too busy living his own life as a single and following his ambition and fulfilling his longings – if you know what a young man yearns for.

“Hey Frank. What did you do to yourself, you look horrible,” laughed his colleague Peter Jones, who missed him the most because they usually went out together after work to the bar nearby, usually finding a woman for a One-Night-Stand. This practice seemed typical for the working force of these successful young people in the city that never sleeps -as often was said-, not just by men, but also women with a successful job, none of them wanting to lose their freedom to do as they wish. Frank already brought his small suitcase in case he spent the night in the city, as he has already done pretty often. He contemplated moving to Manhattan now that he was a rich man and started searching in the newspaper and internet.

However, the person most joyous about his return was his colleague Barbara Sutan, who hurried to be the first person at work to welcome her beloved Frank back in order to let him know, how relieved she was to hear that he survived a terrible car accident. “Frank, it is so nice to see you again. I am so glad that you are back healthy and I really missed you,” she gave him a kiss on his cheek but he quickly turned away. His eyes met those of Peter and they communicated without words as if to say, she was nerving him again. That hurts so much.

Barbara hoped that he would now change his ways after experiencing such a horrible crash and she would be more accepted; that he changed his cold treatment and learned to be more loving, thanks to having a second chance on life. However, he was the old Frank, as always. “What did you do to your hair?” he asked surprisingly with a horrifying expression as if she did something wrong. “Don’t you like my new hairstyle?” She whispered shyly now that her built up courage to greet him disappeared and as usual, since she started loving him, she felt as small as a mouse. Without an answer, he turned to the next colleague who came along to greet him.

Barbara returned to her desk and served her eager customers successfully because she did a good job and had a good hand helping bank customers to invest their money in the right places. Now and then, she looked shyly with red cheeks at the desk further up where Frank worked, then seeing him made her blood pressure rise. He was also a good banker serving his customers to invest their money in the right stocks, as well as his own. He did not need to consult any other colleagues.

After work, Peter convinced Frank to go out to the bar around the corner and naturally all his friends there were glad to see him again. He explained what happened on New Year’s Eve, although for some reason, he could not remember why he was frustrated when he left the party in White Plains to drive home although he had already drunk a lot of alcohol. On the way home on the dark curvy street he drove too fast and lost control of his vehicle, which flew like a racket over some bushes and landed on the field. He must have had a guardian angel, because if the driver of the other car had not found him in the dark, he probably would have died due to the loss of a lot of blood. Thanks to this man, - he did not know his name; the ambulance came and saved his life. He was even dead for some time and saw this bright light at the end of a long tunnel. He told the barkeeper that he would give out a round to all the people here because he felt so happy to be alive.

Barbara arrived at this moment and was not sure, if she could count herself as one of his friends, now being treated to a free drink. Her goal was to convince Frank to love her because he was always in her head and without him, she could not be happy. Actually, she felt so miserable that sometimes she would have liked to die to stop all that pain deep in her heart. Besides, now that she has reached 30, she needed to hurry up to get children soon, before it will be too late. She looked at him with her watery blue eyes then she still had to overcome her pain from the morning, when he treated her so unfriendly. Practically every word he says to her breaks her heart.

She was one of the best in all her classes at school and her mother worked hard to enable her to go to college. Her father drank a lot and spent most of his earned money for alcohol; often he beat her mother, who worked as a cleaning woman, because she did not give him any of hers. Her fiancé Bob Dempsey was exactly like her father and she was lucky to get away from this aggressive man before he killed her. The day his beating brought her to the hospital was the day her reason finally woke up and she left him. She hated all men until she met Frank and then love settled again in her heart, but it takes two. Maybe it would be better to remain unconcerned in life to all around you.

After learning hard at all her schools, she got this good job in the bank -accomplishing what many other women hardly do. She should be happy that she had reached her goal and had a good salary, but was unhappy because she fell in love with this playboy, Frank. Maybe it would have been better for her if he had died in the car accident. Would she feel liberated and finally lose those chains that lock all her thoughts and soul to a man, who does not care at all about her?

She has never been in bed with him because he made the rule not to go to bed with any colleagues. Therefore, maybe if they did not work together, she might have the chance of feeling his warm body near hers and enjoying his embrace? She knew him well, this Casanova! Playboy! Macho! All you needed were your eyes wide open to see what kind of man he was, always looking sexy with those dark brown eyes, sporty masculine body and charming smile, with which he could get any woman he wanted to go home with him. He took them to the hotel around the corner and enjoyed his nights with different women, which she had to accept and could not do anything against it. Why does love hurt so much?

Frank caught the eyes of a beautiful woman at the end of the bar, stopped abruptly talking to Peter, and left the crowd behind in order to talk to this expectation for a hot and sexy night. “Hello. I am Frank. Are you new here? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before.” That might sound elementary but it usually worked. He raised his beer glass to hers. “I’m Mary, nice to meet you. You are the one who has been missing a long time. I have already been here a couple of weeks.” She was happy to see a new face because some of the other men have already been on her list of those, who she has already had in bed.

“I had a car crash,” replied Frank smiling and using his charm and his eye-catching look to communicate without words. “After some months in the hospital I’ve finally returned to daily routines.” He knew that she would not be able to resist his charm and smiled with his head bend to the side and an expression of joy in his eyes.

“Months,” she exclaimed surprisingly with a relaxed smile, knowing what his eyes were transferring to her.

He bought her a couple of drinks and the increased alcohol heightened their eagerness to share some nice hours together. Inside both were getting so hot fantasizing all the nice things they could do together and what good feelings will soon be shared that they hardly could wait to finally leave.

At the same time, Barbara remained at the bar, being nerved by someone who wanted to buy her a drink -which she promptly refused, knowing if she said yes, the men think you are prepared to jump into bed with them. Most of the men and women here were successful business executives looking for some satisfaction without any obligations afterwards. As usual, many pairs left the bar together and she knew what they were all planning to do but now her loved one, Frank, also found a One-Night-Stand. That hurt her so much because she would gladly be that woman on his side, lying next to his warm body, kissing his soft hot lips, enjoying his gentle hands and finally becoming one. This woman did not know how much luck she had to be chosen by such a special man.

Her blood pressure increased and her cheeks got red as if her face was burning. This idiot next to her was trying to catch her attention as the only man in her life left the bar with a beautiful woman on his side, who he will love, caress her naked body and enjoy wonderful feelings. “Leave me alone,” were the only words she could speak out as she quickly hurried out of the bar. Tears were running down her cheeks, catching a last glimpse of the love of her life, who did not even know how much she cared for him. Not noticing her steps, she walked onto the street, almost being hit by an approaching taxi which stopped abruptly.

She decided to take the taxi to the train station in order to catch the next train home and thought it would have been the best thing, if the driver drove over her and she died. Only death could be a solution now to all that pain flowing through her whole body, as if the alcohol she had drunk was some kind of poison multiplying the emotions. At the station, she was lucky that her train was still waiting and soon was underway to the Bronx, where she lived near the border of New Rochelle. There were only a few blocks that separated the house where Frank lived and her apartment, and she often drove around in his area. That was in the south end of New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City, where many people who worked in the city commuted daily by train, which she also did, leaving the car at home.

Peter noticed the beautiful woman that left with his colleague too and he knew that Frank could get any one he wanted because of his charm, his attractive face, black hair and sporty body; but he was also lucky, most of the time. Although he was having an interesting conversation with the secretary of an insurance company, his eyes followed Barbara, as she hushed out of the bar. He knew that she loved Frank, but he did not know it. Frank’s motto was not to have any kind of relationship with employees of his bank, so Barbara had no chance by him; besides that, he never went out with blond women.

Peter thought, even if she loved him now, who knows if it would last forever, as it once happened to him when he was younger. He was so much in love that he even wanted to marry and was very enthusiastic about having a family, some kids; until one day the love of his life suddenly loved another man and all his wishes evaporated like boiling water. That hurt so much that he never wanted to fall in love again so he could avoid ever feeling all this pain again, unbearable aches in his heart, after being left all alone. He was doing a good job not opening his heart for another woman and just used them in bed for his sexual satisfaction, because this yearning had to be stilled.

He enjoyed his job in the bank and lived in a suburb, in an apartment in Westchester County. His parents moved to Florida because they were not keen on the cold winters and had enough money to enjoy their retirement in Miami. If they should ever die, he would inherit a fortune and also become a rich man like Frank. But he was glad that they moved far away because they had a bad relationship due to the fact, that they never had time for him when he was a child. He would have loved to have a brother or sister, because he could have had someone to play with all the time he spent at home alone.

After sharing some drinks with the secretary of a big firm, she agreed to go to the hotel around the corner, because she too enjoyed the same good feelings, yearning for some gentle hugs and hot kisses. Both left the bar with high expectations of a hot night together.

At the reception of the hotel, Frank was already known and always got the same room as usual, when he showed up with “his wife”. Mary worked in New York City in an architect office; was divorced twice and had no interest in any kind of relationship. After a couple of hours with a sensual man, she could start the next day much better than if she sat frustrated alone at home.

They shared a hot shower with sensual kisses before slowly stumbling into bed. They did not need to talk; only the hands and eyes were moving to communicate their wishes. Each of them knew that this would only be for this night, because that is the only way to avoid falling in love with someone. The hungry body got what it needed, the intelligent brain stayed free to work hard during the day and the other nights were spend relaxing at home and sleeping alone.

“I hope you are not going to ask if you were good. I hate to hear such nonsense,” Mary spoke after both finally relaxed from the sweat bearing movements feeling totally satisfied and in ecstasy, better than any drugs could stimulate. “Where do you live”? She asked quietly then a little conversation had to be accepted.

“I live in New Rochelle, not far from the train station, so it is easy for me to get along without a car. Since I demolished my car, I have not yet bought a new one. I am considering moving directly here into the city, maybe I’ll find a nice apartment on Fifth Avenue.” He said that as if it was a thing people do every day.

“You are kidding,” Mary turned her eyes around. “An apartment on Fifth Avenue was unreachable and not payable. Or have you got this donkey from that fairy tale, the one who produces gold instead of manure?” She loved the way he smiled and his big lips invited her to kiss them, because they were so soft. They kissed passionately and all words again were useless; only the good feelings had priority.

Frank put a lot of his money on the stock market and had to wait until he could get his hands on it again. However, if all went well and he multiplied his input, he will be even richer than he was now. His aunt had five houses in Westchester County that all brought him a regular income and owned many stocks in gold. Now that she died, everything belonged to him. This first wish from the angel came true and he was a very rich man. But was he happy?

Mary did not want him to think she was curious and decided to tell him about her life. “I’ve been married already twice. The last man was a rich movie star and I received a lot of money by the divorce. Actually, I don’t need to work anymore but that would be boring; besides, I learned enough years to become an architect and now I am ‘living’, having a good time, enjoying good sex with a handsome man. What could someone want more?” She meant what she said and gladly gave him a compliment then this man was terrific in bed.

“That sounds like a good life,” replied Frank and thought that it was a good idea not to give up the job only because one was rich. “Yeah, my first husband was a big mistake because I still was too young when I got married. I caught my second husband with his secretary in my bed when I came home earlier from work which made me furious because I really loved him so much. Why could he not be true to me? If he had loved me enough, he would not have gone to bed with another woman. Who knows how many lovers he had! I packed my bags in the same night and told him, that was an expensive love act and he should marry her. First, he had to pay me out. You can understand that I will not mention how much.”

Frank had enough himself and was not interested in her money, and would definitely never want a relationship with a woman who has already been divorced twice.

Mary talked on further. “He did marry that woman one day and I suppose he loved her more than me. You cannot trust any men these days. I don’t think there is one true man in this world. They all do so innocently but are all wolfs disguised as sheep.” She will never forget the pain she felt after being cheated on and deserted from the man she had loved so much. If she had a gun at the time she got home to see them both in their bed, she probably would have shot both of them.

“You can certainly not depend on me being true. I want to be free and live my life as I wish without a woman dictating me what to do or not to do. I love adventure and good sex. You cannot constantly have sex with the same woman because that gets boring.” Frank wanted to enjoy his life and do, what he wanted to without having any woman telling him, what not to do. As a child it seemed to him as if his older and younger brother got all the attention of his parents. He wore his brother’s old clothes which aggravated him more than he showed. Both brothers went to college but his grades were not very good because he was not motivated enough and drank too much alcohol to forget his disappointment and lack of love, which he felt he deserved. Actually, he was an unhappy child and although he had good friends, he never felt loved at all. Therefore, it was also difficult for him to love someone and he preferred having sexual relationships without any obligations.

They both shared the same opinion not to see each other again and that was why they should do it again now. Stop talking and make love. These good feelings cannot be described; they have to be felt.

The next morning Peter saw Frank changing his shirt and shaving in the bathroom of the bank. He too had his little suitcase at work for such situations because he also had to commute to the suburb; living in the city was too expensive. They needed no words to explain what a wonderful night they both had. One glance at each other showed the sparkling satisfied eyes, which said more than any other words. Both went back to the routine work, greeting customers in the bank and helping them invest their money in a way that it will multiply itself.

Barbara arrived in the city with the morning train and took the subway as usual to work. “Good morning”, she said politely to Peter and Frank without getting any reaction and she knew what they were thinking. She lived in the Bronx, struggled all the way up to a successful job in the best bank in the city and the men did not accept her. It was as if she insulted them daily because she got the same payment as they did, but could not be as intelligent as they were. She was blond, that said everything. Blond women always get prejudiced as having a brain the size of a pea.

She knew about their small suitcases and their experiences in the nighttime. They smiled at each other and did not turn around to greet Barbara, who walked to her desk and started working as all the others in the bank. They had a good working climate and job conditions as well as excellent payment. Being a banker can be very satisfying and was never monotone. People always needed a bank and it seemed to be a protected job, so that no one had any reason for fearing unemployment. Some bankers built houses in the suburbs for their family and were sure to be able to pay the mortgage due to their secure job in the bank.

After work, Frank took the subway to the train station and commuted as usual by train to New Rochelle. Now that his aunt died, there was no reason for remaining in such a dying old town. When he was young, he used to go up and down Main Street and there were so many shops to walk through, like Bloomingdales with five floors. That was always fun acting as if he had a lot of money and trying on expensive clothes. He and his friends had a good time at the mall or walking down town at night when they still had three cinemas and some bars and discos. Sometimes they entered the cinema on the rear side – when the door was open- and were able to see many films for free because the woman working there crossed the street to buy something to eat at the deli.

Now the main street looked like part of New York City with all those locked up shop- fronts against burglaries. The closed cinemas looked creepy, the discos disappeared and many shop owners left, because most of the people went shopping in the mall. It seemed as if the inhabitants of the Bronx increasingly moved to the neighboring suburb of New Rochelle, not just expanding the border but also bringing an increased crime rate with them.

Tonight was Friday and Frank usually played cards with his good friends, who he knew since elementary school. His best friend Paul De Sales picked him up and they drove to the north end of town to the house of Mike Thompson, who was married. They met their single friend, Tom the butcher, there to play Poker.

Mike lived in beautiful huge house, which always had wonderful lights at Christmas time whenever Frank used to drive around to see as soon as he had his driving license. All could sleep in the guest rooms after drinking a lot of alcohol, which always accompanied playing cards. The evenings were a good opportunity to see each other weekly for already many years and although all grew older, all drank as if they still were teenagers.

Mike’s wife was so loving and understanding, and if Frank ever should get married, then he needed a woman as devout as Eve. She did everything for Mike and his friends so that they all enjoyed their evening at their home. Sometimes she baked cookies or a cake and always placed enough beer in the refrigerator. Eve was the perfect wife and Mike knew he was such a lucky man to find such a wonderful woman.