Aqua Domination Read Online Free Page B

childlike smile she had once been warmed by, but all the same it made his face less of a barrier, and it made Mary remember. She did not want to remember, but she was weakened by the feeling that had haunted her for months, that human souls were separated by vast distances and locked inside the cells of their bodies in solitary confinement.
    She remembered, despite herself, what good company David could be. Used to be. How funny and nice he had often been even though he was a fetishist and sadist.
    ‘You’ve got guts, Mary,’ David said slowly, and quietly. It was as if he were not only trying to remember how to talk, but also feeling far from sure that he should even be trying. Mary was certain that for a long time he had been living, if living was the word, buried deep in silence and solitude. ‘You’re honest. That’s everything.’
    ‘Don’t start praising me.’ Mary laughed. ‘If you’re going to start being nice, that’s not fair. I can stand anything except you being nice.’
    ‘Always do the unexpected. First rule of a cruel master: keep them guessing, keep them off balance. What crap, really! Thank goodness I’ve given all that up.’
    ‘You’ve given it up, but you don’t exactly seem to have found peace of mind.’
    ‘Oh, I’m OK,’ David insisted wearily. ‘So, why did you come back anyway? Looking for some kind of closure?’
    ‘I suppose so. Whatever closure means. I don’t really know, it was some sort of impulse thing. I’ve been very angry lately. Maybe I hoped you’d annoy me, and then I could’ve beat up on you and felt better. But you haven’t insulted me. Yet.’
    ‘Life is full of disappointments, Mary.’
    ‘You’re a difficult man to hate now that you’re so down. Look, can I cook something? You don’t look like you’re even eating properly. I could cook dinner and I promise I’ll leave after that.’
    ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ said David, clearly worried by Mary’s friendly offer.
    ‘You want me to go quickly. I see.’
    ‘Don’t be offended.’
    ‘Don’t worry. I’ve lost the urge to hit you.’
    ‘Can you keep it lost? No, the thing is, I just want to be alone. There’s nothing personal in my wanting you to go.’
    ‘I believe you. Well, I might as well be off.’
    David saw Mary to his front door and they said polite goodbyes. She got into her car and told herself not to feel sorry for him. It served him right to be depressed.
    *   *   *
    As soon as she arrived at her parents’ home, two hours later, Mary wondered why she had bothered to come. She told herself that they were able to fully understand and appreciate her. In theory. Besides, she was feeling confused and surprised after losing both her job and her boyfriend Jack in the last ten days – why not try to stabilise herself by checking out her roots? She wondered if she had decided to visit her parents to give herself an excuse to drop in on David, whose home was on the route from her small apartment to her parents’ place – well, it was more or less on the route, if you decided, very sensibly, to take a scenic, unhurried, roundabout route instead of a straight line. Mary told herself that it was only natural to have some slight curiosity about David. What other feeling could she have? She refused to listen to her inner voice of unreason.
    ‘How’s work?’ Mary’s mother, Jill, asked at once.
    ‘I quit,’ Mary replied. It was not quite a lie.
    ‘You’re so wilful! What will you do now? Why did you quit?’
    ‘Why not quit?’ Mary shrugged. ‘It was just a boring routine office job.’
    ‘It was paid work! You always want to take it easy, have fun. Most of life is boring and routine, but that’s life and you have to accept it.’
    ‘No I don’t,’ Mary insisted, with a cold calm certainty. ‘I want something better. I’m never going to have a boring routine job ever again.’
    ‘You’re so stubborn. If only you could be more like your sisters.’
    ‘Everybody should