Masks

He will tell you, smiling, that you were unsuccessful. She will tell you, grim-faced, that she likes what she sees. He is soft and sweet like a marshmallow with an inner core of ruthless steel. She is as soft and airy as a summer cloud with a carefully constructed crab-like shell.

He is 47. She is 25. Is there a point at which green eyes meet grey eyes across a crowded singing room?

Indeed there is.

He decides she is pretty but far too young for him. She realises very quickly she doesn't like the way he walks.

And one year later they are living together in unharmonious unmarried bliss.

Professionally they are intensely competitive. No longer are they asked to sing together, for they cause chaos. They have been known to throw things at each other during rehearsals. Musical directors are horrified to see their softly-spoken tenor and their calm, reserved mezzo hurling obscenities and chairs at each other.

He wants to have children as soon as possible. She doesn't want children. He wants to buy a big old house with cheerful colours and a large garden for the children. She wants a compact townhouse, decorated in tasteful neutral colours, ideal for a professional couple.

He says he will never marry her. He's tried marriage before and it doesn't work. She says she wouldn't marry him if he asked. Marriage is irrelevant in this day and age. So they agree on something.

Their mutual friends give them a maximum of six months longer. But there are signs they have never noticed. When she is in the room his acute powers of concentration aren't quite as sharp as usual. When he is around she has been known to smile.

In bed they shed their masks. He loves to hear her giggle like a child. She loves to feel that steely strength he keeps so well concealed. In bed they do not hide.

In trouble they shed their masks. When his father died she held him and comforted him while he cried. When she was vilified in a local newspaper he came out with guns blazing in her defence. Everyone was startled. Except her.

So what is the glue that binds these two?

I don't know.

Perhaps it is the challenge.

Perhaps it is sex.

Perhaps it is their mutual love of masks.

Perhaps their relationship is a mystery which no-one. not even they, can unravel.

Perhaps we should leave it at that.

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