The Ballad of Calle and Maja -- Novella

By Lawrence G. Taylor

A slice of Romance Realism: a poignant love story for readers of all ages and walks-of-life. Maja sends Calle crushes, and he is flattered and becomes infatuated. But Calle suffers from low self-esteem. As his affection for Maja grows, his fear of failure begins to kick in. For years Calle was lonely, desperate, and vulnerable, had experienced a string of disheartening one-night stands and unrequited love. Calle sustained psychological scars after visiting an online cat-fishing site where he forfeited much of his bank savings. 
After much ambivalence–and moral support from two compassionate workmates–Calle decides to make his move. He goes after Maja's affection as if he had nothing to lose. Maja, meanwhile, has love troubles of her own. Calle is determined to win her love and is hopeful, however. The question is, does Calle have what it takes to make himself and Maja happy? 

 

Goodreads Review: "a touching contemporary romance ...The characters are well developed and their journey is filled with shocking twists and turns. This emotional page-turner does not disappoint."

Goodreads Review: "the author has given us something true and real, using no filters in depicting to us love and its up-and-downs. And that's what I appreciate the most about Taylor's writing style and books, the fact that he makes you feel and, at the same time, think over and appreciate the beauty of life."

Goodreads Review: "I've experienced the whole spectrum of the most amazing emotions and feelings while reading this story and immediately was captured by its true to life events. Pain and joy, jealousy and doubt, delight and disappointment, ups and downs ... All this can be combined into one thing - a beautiful love story."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lawrence G. Taylor
• Release date: Oct 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386608219

Lawrence G. Taylor

I was born in Guyana, left there for the UK; worked and studied in London, before taking up residence in Sweden in autumn 1969. In the 70s, I tried my hand at writing fiction, mostly short stories, a four-act closet drama, a novella, and an unfinished novel. I spent two years nurturing the ambition to become an author of some repute. But the going was tough, with no financial security for the future. I shelved the idea of earning a living through writing and got a job as a hospital porter. Later, I got a BA (Eng. & Edu.). After a summer job at a psychiatric hospital, I decided to do a 4-term course for mental-health carers, Following that I completed the first of two stages of psychotherapy education and several short courses in cognitive therapy. After retirement, I did part-time mental health counselling work for several years. In February 2016, my debut book appeared: Strangers In Another Country, a collection of two short stories and two novellas, available in ebook and paperback. On 9th Dec. 2016, I published a novella, The Eternal Struggle: An Amorous Story. In March 2017, Two Girls in a Café, a short story appeared. Making Sense Of Past Time - a Novel available in paperback, and ebook format. Tell Me Who My Enemy Is - a four-act closet drama published this summer (2018). The Ballad of Calle and Maja - a short story published Nov 2018. Getting it Right, if Ever – Romance Novella was published 22nd Aug -19 Four Bittersweet Romances & A Four-Act Closet Drama was published 3rd Nov 2019. In 2020, I published a short story, Darker Than Blue --This Mortal Coil. MY BOOKS ARE UPDATED (Dec 2020). I have a Twitter account @lgt41 and a blog page: lgt41blog.wordpress.com. I’m a hobby photographer, and you can view several of my images at https://www.foap.com/community/profiles/lgt41 I sincerely hope you find my stories enjoyable, and a review of my books would be much appreciated. Lawrence G. Taylor

Book preview

The Ballad of Calle & Maja

Two elderly hospital porters, in a cordial conversation, spoke of love as if it were a simple matter.

The two men declared that life was tough in the old days, but love seemed uncomplicated.

Back then, love was a natural sentiment from heart to heart, with common sense and some light-hearted beating about the bush. Two people fell in love, married or set up a house together, had several kids and lived happily ever after, or unhappily as was sometimes the case.

They continued: In those days, divorces and breakups weren’t fashionable. But this was before the coming of the digital world, before social media would impose itself on us, transforming love into an incomprehensible commodity.

They referred to Calle, a porter, age 39, and Maja, age 33, an auxiliary nurse: two contemporary souls who fancied each other. The situation did not seem straightforward because Calle did not know what love was. And Maja––well, she believed in romantic love. What are their chances?

It all began when Maja Svensson had a crush on Calle Berg. Both worked at a hospital, and his awareness of the passion came from a workmate. He appeared flattered and surprised. Me, of all people, he smiled.

Was it a practical joke or perhaps a misunderstanding with the workmate? Calle held on to the pleasant sensation it gave him. Loneliness clothed his life. He wasn’t a lady’s man, or preferably, girls didn’t chase after him, which would’ve well suited him. Calle wasn’t bad looking, with blonde hair (worn like Elvis Presley’s), blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and a moustache he sported off and on. In the cold season, he was regularly low-spirited, not the best of seasons, with fewer hours of daylight, snow and temperature often below minus Celsius. However, Calle was a full-blooded Swede and proud of his Viking heritage.

His indecisiveness resulted from perfection, and he failed to make a move on Maja. The opinions sought from his two trusted friends (workmates some twenty years older; he was thirty-nine) might’ve also influenced him. They had offered to aid him in an advisory capacity to get a serious love relationship. He held them in high esteem, men with long marriages that did not go stale with time. They judged Maja to be too much of a flirt and too young for the likes of him. The two elderly workmates were avid readers of classic romantic fiction.

In pursuing romance, he quickly became ambivalent. He grew tired of one-night stands and romantic affairs that never lasted more than a fortnight. Wishing to turn things around, he turned to online dating sites. He initially experienced a wave of flattery that sent his soul on ice to a fiery hell. On such sites, he received offers from supposedly various women. Some had displayed themselves in nude pictures, offering lustful promises beyond his imagination.

For weeks, the experience mesmerised him. It’d been the first time in his life. Calle felt he knew then what it might be like for a lady’s man, with many attractive women trying to seduce him. He surrendered to it all, convinced that romance in his life was on the horizon once the offline dates got going. He would eventually become perplexed about selecting the right woman for his f***-mate (in Swedish: kk, a frequent reference used on those sites, with the hope of a steady relationship in the end). The chatting had indeed stirred up his romantic fantasies beyond control.

First was the impression of lauding his manly physique, the praises prompting him to work out in the gym only on definition drills rather than bulking. Then, behind the flattery laid the ghost of deceit: the demand to get to know him through a series of questions about his personal life and for a costly sum. They proclaimed it was a precautionary measure for their safety