A Quiet Place Read Free Page B

meant. The lines of her figure had softened and rounded. She’d always been charming, but as she approached her mid-thirties that sweetness had changed to a more mature sexiness.
    â€œUgh. I had a bad experience today. One of the women in my haiku circle told me she’d always assumed I was a bar hostess or something. She’d heard from one of my friends that I wasn’t, but found it hard to believe. Is that how people see me? I’m going to have to start wearing frumpier clothes from now on.”
    But all the frumpy outfits in the world wouldn’t have disguised her sex appeal; they’d have simply served to highlight the sexiness beneath the surface. To be honest, it had nothing to do with the clothes – it was her body.What had always been her sociable and open behaviour now came across as a little flirty. Asai saw it after this conversation, even in the smallest gesture.
    They say a woman in her thirties is in the prime of her life, thought Asai. It was only natural that her body would change. This exact topic had come up when Asai had been out drinking with his colleagues after work. One of his colleagues had claimed that there was nothing natural about a thirty-something woman who started to look sexier; he believed her increased sensuality was achieved through experience. The rest had agreed. There was only one way that a woman’s sexuality could mature, and that was by having more sex.
    But Asai had been reluctant to agree. Sex with his own wife couldn’t possibly be responsible for her increased voluptuousness. Not only was it very infrequent, but there was nothing wild or adventurous about it either. He knew from frank conversations over drinks that his own sex life was only about a tenth of the frequency of his colleagues’. Assuming this group was an average cross section of the general public, he’d realized he was way, way below the norm. Eiko just wasn’t interested.
    To make matters worse, about two years previously, Eiko had suffered a heart attack. The unexpected pain in her chest had abruptly drained all the colour from her face, and she’d broken out in a cold sweat. She’d made it to the hospital in time, and the doctor had diagnosed a mild coronary. After a week in hospital, she’d made a full recovery, but ever since then she’d been even less keen on Asai’s attentions in bed. She’d read in some medical journal that a second heart attack was likely to be fatal,so she’d resolved to take extra care. She’d said it was important to keep as calm as possible and avoid any kind of shock. That was another reason she’d taken up haiku.
    The doctor had told Asai that although it was important to be cautious, that what Eiko had read in the medical journal was “textbook” advice as it were, she didn’t really need to follow it to the letter. She’d had a heart attack, but it was a mild one, and being too neurotic about a recurrence was inadvisable.
    Asai agreed that being neurotic was a bad thing. And probably that was the appeal of the world of haiku poetry; it was very good for her spiritual health. However, after the heart attack, she’d completely refused all physical contact, which, to be honest, she’d never been particularly enthusiastic about in the first place.
    And that was why Asai had disagreed with the opinion that experience was what caused a woman’s sexuality to blossom. Sex had nothing to do with it. He believed that a woman’s body went through natural changes as she aged. But he couldn’t express these views to other people. If he did, he’d have to cough up the truth about the woeful state of his own sex life. He realized there was no other way to make his case, but he wasn’t prepared to be that open. In the end, whenever the conversation turned to this topic, he kept a poker face.
    It was curious, though – and he supposed that every case was different –