Art: Cryil Larvor
LOVE BY DISTRACTION
by Norbert Kovacs
The man likes the other woman as much as he does his wife. He smiles over it when he buys his lover flowers as a surprise. He sets the bouquet in a vase in her apartment before they go make love. He guesses how long he might continue seeing her and stay happy.
Sometimes, the man and his wife go away. They have a vacation home on Long Island, where she likes going. He uses the visits to make up for his affair, if just in his mind. He serves his wife breakfast in bed. He takes long walks with her on the beach and drives them into the nearby town. They wander the shopping district, peeking in the windows, buying souvenirs. He likes this easy time. He remembers the vacations when they return to the city. He feels he did right each time indulging his wife. Within a day of these trips, he resumes seeing the other woman.
The man goes to a party that his lover throws. She sets up several tables with drinks and plays soft music on the stereo. The guests are diverse, just past college age. Many are new to the city, ambitious, eager to meet people. The man and his lover mingle with them. He loves the party’s ambiance, the luster in eyes, the easy motion of bodies. He watches a young woman tell a joke and spill her drink when she laughs. Amused with this scene of mirth, the man draws towards his lover. He talks with the guests she talks to and smiles more than he might otherwise. Slowly, the two of them move to the side of the room; they lean against the wall there and he kisses her a long time. He never kisses his wife so. He enjoys that he is doing it here.
The man goes home late. The party has given him youth and life. At his apartment, he holds and clasps his wife in greeting. He explains that his colleagues had kept him at the “business event” where earlier he had claimed to go. “Well, it’s good you’re home,” his wife says. He finds his wife’s body warm beside him; he thinks this strange after his excited evening. He parts with her and goes early to bed, alone.
The man eats dinner at home on a day the party’s excitement has faded. His wife serves him roast beef, rice, and asparagus tips laid on a porcelain plate. He enjoys the meal. He savors the juicy meat. He thinks of his mistress whom he will see the following weekend. He has told his wife that he will be at a conference. Chewing on his rice, he imagines his beautiful, charming lover awaiting him at her apartment. He speaks quickly with his wife. He compliments the food she has made. She grows pink in thanks and he finishes his food with a smile. He feels he can talk with his spouse all evening. His wife seems glad of his eagerness and studies him with bright eyes.
The man is excited when he leaves home to see his lover that weekend. He strides quickly over the sidewalk, his suitcase rolling behind him. I could run to her, he thinks but decides to walk. At her place, he embraces his lover and they quickly forget their restraint. The two kiss heatedly in the apartment entry way. They collect themselves and walk to her bedroom. He believes he has the energy to maintain his drive. He finds, however, he cannot. Between their episodes, he sits and talks with the woman in bed. She draws out the conversation.
“You like it here with me?” she asks.
“Of course. I come when I can.”
“You could come more often.”
“Remember that I have a wife. I can’t leave her whenever.”
“Does she attract you?”
The man considers. “I’m used to her. We make a comfortable pair. Everything you’d expect from living with someone so long.”
The lover tilts her cheek onto a hand. “I’d be a comfort, too, the more we got used to each other.”
“Would you?”
“Sure. And wouldn’t you want a more exciting spouse?”
The man smiles. “No.” He studies the curves of his lover’s beautiful body. “Really, I like her.” Without another word, he maneuvers next to the woman and they embrace again.
In the author’s words:
Norbert Kovacs lives and writes in Hartford, Connecticut. He has published stories in Westview, Thin Air, STORGY, Corvus Review, and The Write Launch. His website is www.norbertkovacs.net.
About the artist:
My Black Bird artist name is a wink to the crow who is an animal who is often hated by his appearance as the black cat, but who is also revered by a tremendous amount of culture and seen as one of the smarter animals capable of counting and speaking. Speaking … and I have already seen it. I have always drawn, painted and photographed. I wanted to be a cartoonist in advertising or photography, but I went to study in business and computer science.
For 15 years I worked in the directions of information and computer security. 2 years ago I stopped to return in my first love the art and the human. My influences are vast; I was born in the 80s in the northern suburbs of Paris where social and cultural diversity is enormous. The 80s were a huge source of artistic inspiration. In addition to contemporary art and all other movements, there was the appearance in France of graffiti, manga, hip hop, computer science and the evolution of photography and television. All this has to influence.
Since my return in the art, I exhibit in the galleries. The Lavomatik, also proposes music, the book …. ART21, a gallery in Montmartre, a district which likes and others a little everywhere. My other activity is in the human and the association. I collaborate with many associations that have been used as a means of communication and income. I collaborated with associations to help orphaned children, children in difficulty, migrants and give them the means to express themselves through Mixart art. An association for the protection of the oceans Bloom. An association against skin cancer. Associations against poverty and exclusion: Emmaus, restaurant of the heart… J organizes painting workshops with children or disabled people and also grafiti classes.
My inspirations are unlimited, including painting or in pictures, and I like mixing the two. My philosophical tendencies are in sharing, cohesion and construction or reconstruction away from destruction. My tips are simple. Create with your heart and share your art positively. For my art, I use all media and types of paints, but I have a preference for acrylic and aerosol: street art tools, and for digital photography and desktop publishing.
To contact me, I am in the gallery Art21, otherwise by Facebook https://www.facebook.com/The-Black-Bird-BLB-465375923644961/. My project with the origamiist Manuel Belhamissi https://www.facebook.com/Origami-custom-MBLB-concept-804841046289656/Instagram to Cyril Larvor or by mail for all personalized orders cyril.larvor@gmail.com. Long live art.