THE HUNTER AND THE PREY
They say that a man has no hope when a woman is on the
hunt. “They always get their man” beleaguered
blokes sigh. It seemed a fair comment as
Joy certainly had Kevin in her sights and tracked him until he finally
surrendered. Mind you he felt no pain.
I watched from the sidelines as the romance grew and
flowered like a beautiful, scented rose in a garden of weeds. No one manages to keep a secret in a tiny
country town and the new man in town became a hot topic on a Summer day at the
local pub. “Nice looking bloke” the
girls declared unanimously “a bit shy, but worth a whirl”. The local fellas held their breath, kept
their heads low over their beers and felt sorry for the poor innocent.
Joy had enjoyed a few flings, which in the beginning
were quite exciting, but tiring of it all she now felt it was time to settle
down. And there was Kevin in his crisp
white shirt, black tie, neatly pressed trousers and cleanly shaven gentle
face. A bit of a change from her usual choices,
mostly wild and wicked blokes all fancy free and not at all dependable.
A few discreet enquiries came up with the new bloke’s
history which she memorised much like a resume and decided that this time a
settled, respectable man was the go. The
town held it’s breath as she moved in to have a closer look. Dressed to kill in a skimpy mini sun dress, she
executed move one at the pub. The juke
box pumped out rock and roll as she danced closer. Kevin backed against the pool table and
stared her down.
“Not much of a
dancer are you” she purred. He smiled
uncertainly and froze like a rabbit in a spotlight. Move two followed swiftly “want to come to a
party” she invited innocently. He
blanched then nodded. “He’s a goner” the
blokes in the bar groaned “game over”.
Everything moved at the speed of light and this little
romance became a gourmet feast for the gossip mongers and bets were on for a
speedy wedding. Kevin was not as much of
a push over as they all thought. A
cautious and often mistrustful man, he had been badly burned by a vicious money
hungry ex wife and was not keen to front up for another trip down that road.
For a while they lived in separate residences. Kevin laughingly christened Joy’splace Chaos
and his Control, “too many crazies at your place” he stated firmly. Months
later to the delight of the local lasses who saw victory in sight he finally
moved in and cemented the relationship. The blokes prepared to pay up on all
bets and put it about that Kevin was a lost cause, then the silly sap proposed.
Joy was in girl heaven. The invitations
were printed, reception booked and the attendants were ready to search for
stunning frocks when Kevin got cold feet.
“It’s off” he declared, and went fishing. The blokes put their dollars back in their
pockets and it looked like a win to them.
Broken hearted Joy left town with her girly mates and flew to Bali for
some retail therapy and pampering. Stalemate!
Months later Joy, a little more cautious herself and
certainly older and wiser had decided being single was not so bad after
all. Her money was still her own and her
life revolved around work and play.
Kevin was still around, but not as the sun in her solar system. She certainly didn’t feel obliged to cook, clean
and care for him, which in a way made for a much easier life. To add a little
spice to the fruit cake a new bloke sidled into town and again the hunt was
on. This bloke was a little rough around
the edges, spacey and full of that airy fairy esoteric rubbish. “A change is as good as a holiday” Joy
claimed while enjoying coffee and cake with him at the local café.
Kevin looked a little worried as he served customers at
the local store, trying to keep his cool.
His woman was showing signs that she could be tempted to get serious
about this weirdo. The local blokes were
a bit confused the odds were even and no one stood to collect on the bets. Joy appeared to be totally besotted.
Unable to contain himself Kevin fronted up at her door
demanding an explanation. “But you called the wedding off” Joy exclaimed. “Well I’ve changed my mind” Kevin roared “the
marriage celebrant is free next week to do the deed”. Joy ‘ ummed’ and ‘aahed’ – “whatever” was her
bored reply. For the next few days she
appeared not to have a care in the world and was certainly not exhibiting the
symptoms of a besotted bride to be.
“It’s a non- event” predicted the local Tarot reader,
so the odds swung again in Kevin’s favour “he must be out of his mind”, was the
response of the local lads sure that he would do a runner for the second time.
Saturday dawned on yet again another perfect Summers
day. Not a cloud in the sky and warm as
a freshly baked cake. Speaking of which,
Joy had produced out of nowhere a two tier wedding cake and there on top was a
toe tapping bride, hands on hips staring down her run away groom who firmly
clutched his fishing rod. Kevin was
early, waiting in the rose garden for his bride. With a look of shock on his face he
watched her stroll up on the arm of his weirdo rival. Neat as a pin the fella had scrubbed up
pretty well, beard trimmed and hair freshly washed and neatly combed. Joy took
Kevin’s arm “say hi to my brother Tony” she smirked.
