It was five thirty five in the evening,

After a hard day at work,

Driving back to my apartment,

And thinking, “Just one drink won’t hurt”.

So I stopped at a small, backstreet barroom,

Took a stool at the bar, by the door,

Ordered a beer and a chaser,

As I had done, so often before,

I shared a smoke and a joke with the barman,

Said, “Hey George, it’s sure quiet tonight”,

He said, “Yeah, it’s just you and the lady”,

And he pointed across to the right.

Where she sat in a dress made by Prada,

And shoes made by Gucci or Klein,

Fixing her hair and her makeup,

While constantly checking the time,

While I was checking her out, in the mirror,

And she sure was a sight for sore eyes,

So I was walking across to her table,

Almost before I realized,

Where I smiled and said, “Could I join you?”,

And she pushed out a chair with her toe,

Smiled and said, “It’s a free country,

But I’d sure like the company though”.

Well we talked and we drank and we giggled,

She said, “That’s the first time I’ve giggled in years”,

On her face was the brightest of smiles,

But her eyes couldn’t hold back the tears.

And during the course of the evening,

She told me about her sad life,

Confessed she had married for money,

But was tired of being his trophy wife,

Hung on his arm like a bangle,

For his friends at the club to admire,

Reading their thoughts in their faces,

No-one trying to hide their desire,

And the times she’d turned down the advances,

Of those who thought her no more than a whore,

Until she finally woke up that morning,

And knew that she couldn’t take it no more,

So she packed a few things in a suitcase,

And left their home in Beverly Hills,

Said she was looking for love and affection,

And if he won’t give it, then someone else will.

“Though if he catches me here, he might kill me,

As he’s warned several times in the past,

I’m his until death, he has told me,

That’s my death, not his death”, she laughed.

Then quickly she rose from the table,

Suppressing what looked like a scream,

For pulling up, outside the window,0

Was a brand new, long, black limousine.

(To be continued)

By S.E.Ralph

17-7-2019