The Look of Love Read Free

“Hello,
Rosie, how are you today?”
    “Gosh! What a
change!” Rosanna Williams replied in amazement as she followed
Louise into her flat. “I thought I heard you pottering about and
humming to yourself. I said to Dave, that can’t be Louise, she
sounds too happy! Dave suggested you had been replaced by a seed
pod during the night. So what’s happened? Have you won the
lottery?”
    “No! Much
better than that!” Louise closed the door and added, “Do you want a
cup of tea?”
    “Only if it’s
accompanied by a good old chin wag!”
    “I think I can
manage that! Come on!” Louise led the way into the kitchen. And
while Louise put the kettle on, Rosanna sat down at the kitchen
table.
    Rosanna and
David Williams had been in the flat below since before Louise had
moved in. Rosanna had liked Louise as soon as she saw her, and had
quickly taken her under her wing. Louise had liked both Rosanna and
David, and got on well with them. And when she told them about her
sexual preferences, it hadn’t made the slightest bit of
difference.
    Rosanna was
thirty years old and four-foot-eleven at a stretch. Her husband was
thirty-five and almost a foot taller. She worked part time in a
nursery while David travelled around from building site to building
site for the construction company he worked for. Because of David’s
job, they often moved around the country, never managing to put
permanent roots down in any one place. This was the longest they
had gone without moving for quite awhile. Louise would miss them
terribly if they left.
    Rosanna watched
Louise intently as she made the tea and started to chat about her
day. She had never seen her looking so happy and animated. There
had to be only one reason for this change. As soon as they were
both sat down at the kitchen table together, tea in hand, Rosanna
spoke up.
    “You’ve met
someone, haven’t you?” she asked, suddenly. “Come on! Who is it?
Out with it!”
    “God! Talk
about cutting to the chase!” Louise said in surprise. “You don’t
waste any time, do you?”
    “Not when it
comes to good gossip!” Rosanna replied. “Who is she then?”
    “Her name’s
Victoria. Victoria Kenyon.”
    “So what’s she
like?”
    It was like
opening the flood gates. Once Louise started talking, she couldn’t
stop. “Oh, she’s beautiful, Rosie! Really beautiful! She’s tall,
and blonde. And she’s got beautiful green eyes. At first I thought
she wouldn’t like me, but she was so nice and friendly! Not at all
the way had she first looked. She’s even on the same course as me!
You have to see her, Rosie! I like her lots! You’ll like her too,
I’m sure you will!”
    Then Rosanna
asked, “But is it serious?”
    Louise
immediately looked deflated and sat back and hugged her mug of tea.
“Well, I don’t know yet…”
    “Does she feel
the same way you do?” Rosanna pressed.
    “Rosie! Give me
a chance! I only met her today!”
    Rosanna held up
her finger. “Exactly! But I know you! You’ll already be happily
living together in your own mind, even though you’ve only just met
her! Why do you do this to yourself, Louise? It’s not the first
time!”
    “I know! I
know!” Louise admitted with a sheepish grin. Whenever she did find
someone she liked, it always started with a tremendous high like
this only to end in the depths of depression once more when it
didn’t work out. “I can’t help it, Rosie. It’s not often that I
meet someone I like, and when I do, I know I go off at the deep
end. Yes, I am being premature, and I do hardly know her. And when
I see her again tomorrow, it might all fizzle out. But at least for
today, I’m happy, and excited. You can’t begrudge me that.”
    “No, not so
long as your eyes are open. I’ve seen you upset for long enough,
Louise, it’s about time you were happy. Any longer before a smile
and your face would have cracked. But I don’t want to see you let
down again, either. I hope this girl is what you want her to be,
but