Beyond the Shades

By Pat Sofrona

When Michelle Bruce and Patrick Pullosky met it was love at first sight. They were married after a whirlwind courtship, and within two months, they found out that a baby was on the way. Baby? This was not a part of their plans, not in the short- or even medium-term, and the marriage was in turmoil. Patrick accepted their reality, but not Michelle. She had university on her mind. Patrick's wish that the birth of the baby would be the cement that repaired all the cracks that surfaced was just a piper's dream. Michelle walked away from the relationship for university overseas when baby Christina was only eighteen months old and only resurfaced when Christina was eighteen years old and preparing for university. Accepting and forgiving Michelle was a long journey for Christina. After university, Christina met and fell in love with an army officer, Anthony Crimarco. They marry, and dj vu, she was pregnant within two months. But Anthony died in a motor vehicle accident soon after. Christina was devastated and vowed that her only interest would be in raising her son. But was she too hurt to resist the advances of the charming Dr. Sean Barnaby? Only time will tell. And what of her mother and father, will they ever get back together?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Oct 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490765952

Pat Sofrona

Pat Sofrona holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor of science degree in professional management from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. She has worked for many years in the banking industry in areas that impacted on people development and organizational growth. She is from Alexandria, in the Parish of St. Ann, Jamaica, and attended Bethany Primary School and St. Hilda’s High School in the parish before completing her tertiary education. Writing and storytelling has been her passion, and she believes this book, Beyond the Shades, will not only give her that long-awaited step into the world of publishing but it will also be the first of many more books that will be authored by her.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

W hat’s happening beyond the shades? Two young people met and fell in love at first sight. After a whirlwind courtship, they were married within a couple of months but were so naive of their joint responsibility to prevent an unplanned pregnancy. So the inevitable happened—the wife discovered she was pregnant only two months into the marriage. She saw her hopes of attaining a university degree crumbling and decided that the baby was not going to stop her.

Her poor husband, in the meantime, had to camouflage his desire for companionship as his wife refused any form of intimacy from the very day she discovered that she was pregnant. Their newborn daughter became his responsibility as his wife completely ignored her motherly role.

She walked away from the marriage, going overseas, leaving the infant behind in her quest to satisfy her educational aspirations. So a father was thrown into single parenting, and not once did the mother make contact.

A daughter is hurting beyond the shades for a mother who disappeared from her life without a trace. But despite her quiet storms, the daughter excelled at all levels of the educational system. She only met her mother at the end of her secondary school life. This brought some friction as her mother wanted immediate reunion and forgiveness for her absence, but her daughter kept the stone wall up.

Soon the news came that the daughter was awarded a scholarship to pursue a degree in law at one of London’s most prestigious university—Oxford. With the urging of her teacher and dad, she braced herself reluctantly for what was hidden behind that shade. It was not easy acclimatizing, but she was determined to make her mark. She completed her tertiary education and got a job as a lawyer with a prominent law firm.

Soon after, she found love, but that was not the love her dad was initially prepared to embrace. He had someone else in mind for her, but she stood her ground.

But deep down, was there some love for the other person who showed up at her marriage, the birth of her son, and most of the important activities of her life, aided by her dad?

But while Dad was busy trying to sway his daughter in the direction of the love he thought she should be looking for, she was determined to aid in rekindling the relationship between her mother and father.

Cruel fate stepped in, and her husband died in a horrible motor vehicle accident, leaving her with an infant son only a few months old. And guess who flew in at the first opportunity to console her? Her son adored him and literally begged her to let this man be his new dad, but she was afraid of repeating the experience of losing her first husband.

But was there anyone else whom she would have given even the slightest thought to? Would she want to live a life with just her son and herself? Did she love this new gentleman, an accomplished medical doctor and someone who clearly adored not only her but also her beloved son? And incidentally, he was her dad’s first choice of husband for her.

And what of the mother and father? Was the daughter successful in bringing them back together? Well, the inevitable always happens, so should we say, they all lived happily thereafter.

CHAPTER 1

M ichelle Bruce was merely eighteen years old and a recent graduate of a prominent high school in the capital city, Kingston. She acquired a temporary job as a teller in a local financial institution with the sole objective of working for one year before moving on to university.

But a few months after acquiring the job, she met the affable twenty-two-year-old Patrick Pullosky. Patrick had recently graduated from university and had secured a job as a junior engineer with one of the major utility companies.

Patrick was strikingly handsome. He was tall, a six-footer by any imagination. He was slim in built, but his bone structure was fine and perfectly symmetrical and his muscles well-toned from what appeared to be long hours of weight training. There was a softness in his eyes and a gentleness in his smile. Patrick had a face that could sell any romance novel.

As for Michelle, she was not only beautiful but she was also a very attractive girl who had entered and placed second in one of the country’s major beauty pageants. Her well-toned skin, those penetrative brown eyes, her inviting smile, and that body of healthy hair extending below her shoulders were great complements for her winning personality.

It was love at first sight, and after a whirlwind courtship, they were married within six months of meeting each other.

It was no dream wedding, and there was no jetting away for a honeymoon. But one thing was abundantly clear: they were deeply in love with each other and were the envy of many of their young friends.

They were very objective-driven, so they sat down and crafted a plan that clearly set out their timelines for goal achievements. Michelle would commence her degree in six months, and when she completed her second year, Patrick would read for his master’s degree. They would start preparing for baby number 1 of two in the final semester of Michelle’s program.

Everything looked achievable, on paper, as they embarked on their lives together. And although an early marriage was never on her list of priorities, Michelle was convinced that it would not be a deterrent to accomplishing her dream of a university education. As a matter of fact, she saw Patrick, himself a recent university graduate, as someone who would partner with her to ensure that her goals were achieved. They were committed to the plan and saw no need for any contingencies at that time. As a matter of fact, they were each other’s best cheerleader.

But there was a strange twist. Just two months into the marriage, Michelle discovered that she was pregnant. Now pregnancy was the furthest thing from her mind at that time, and she was devastated. She immediately resigned from her job as she believed that the mental stresses associated with an unplanned pregnancy and the demands of a frontline teller position would have been too much for her.

On the other hand, though fatherhood was not something Patrick was mentally prepared for, he embraced the situation.

Michelle was very frank with Patrick. This is clearly not a page, a chapter, or even a verse of my book at this time, Patrick. This is going to have a devastating impact on all the timelines that I have set for myself, she declared matter-of-factly. Her face told the entire picture, and Patrick, not sure how to respond to her, allowed her to spill her beans.

This is going to be nine months of misery and stress, nine long months of imprisonment, she continued, the tears running down her cheek. Patrick tried interrupting her, but she ignored him. I feel imprisoned, and I am not prepared to accept any share of the responsibility. You should have prevented this pregnancy, Patrick. Her voice was getting louder, and her tears were flowing freely.

Michelle, this is not a position that I was prepared for either, but we must accept our new reality and make the best of the situation, Patrick interjected. I make no bones, Michelle, I take responsibility, but you need to recognize that we are both in this together, honey. He stressed the together as he stared at her without batting an eyelid.

Despite all that Patrick said, Michelle remained indifferent. She was not yet ready for a baby.

The thought of abortion crossed her mind several times, but she was never brave enough to even mention it to Patrick. And again, this would have gone against her Catholic upbringing.

Yes, I am disappointed, Michelle, not in the fact that we are bringing a precious life into this world, but with the timing. I love you, Michelle, and had hoped that we would have had three or four years together, enjoying, exploring, and bonding with each other. And more importantly, I had really expected that you would have had the opportunity during that period to commence and perhaps complete your university studies. His voice was cracking up as he spoke.

You could have avoided this pregnancy, Patrick, you could have, Michelle cried aloud. She was laying all the blame squarely at his feet. This placed Patrick in an awkward position, and he began to feel guilty.

But he made another attempt at pleading with Michelle. Michelle, yes, things did not go as we had documented, but let us remember that this pregnancy will not disappear. Let us accept our new reality, and the earlier we do so, the better for both of us and the unborn child. Michelle stared at him without giving any hint as to whether she accepted his proposal.

The pregnancy brought a lot of undue tension to a relationship that was still in its embryonic stage. Michelle refused any form of intimacy from the day the doctor confirmed the pregnancy and had even moved into the other bedroom.

The constant anxiety was at times unbearable for Patrick, and he found comfort in working extended hours. Despite the stress, though, he consoled himself with the hope that the birth of the baby would bring about a positive change in Michelle’s acceptance of their reality and, by extension, their relationship. It was this expectation that kept him throughout the many storms that brewed in the relationship as a result of the pregnancy.

Michelle had what could have been described as a beautiful pregnancy. There were no early morning sicknesses, no unnecessary cravings, no retention of fluids in the latter trimester, and her only sign of pregnancy was her distended stomach. But even so, she spent so much time arguing about the negative impact that the pregnancy and baby would have on her acquiring her university degree that the beautiful pregnancy was lost in her complaints.

As her delivery date neared, Patrick took some time from work. He wanted to be there with her; he wanted to be her shoulder during her anxious moments. But Michelle was as cold as ice. Sometimes his biological urges were so strong, but she would not even entertain a kiss.

CHAPTER 2

E arly one Monday morning, Michelle went into labor, and by midmorning, she delivered a beautiful six-and-a-half-pound baby girl, whom they named Christina. At birth, she was the spitting image of Michelle, and Patrick hoped that this would really bring about his anticipated positive change in Michelle and, by extension, their relationship.

But as soon as Michelle was discharged from the hospital, she regressed to her behavior prior to delivery.

There were many occasions that Patrick had to take charge as Michelle showed very little interest in the baby. I was not sent to the best high school on the island and performed excellently to be a housewife and babysitter was her frequent outburst. This would usually be followed by tears and a comparison with her other friends who had matriculated to university.

Patrick was very sympathetic of her situation, and he sometimes blamed himself for the risk they took then without the use of contraceptives. But he had hoped that with the birth of the baby, Michelle would have moved beyond the day she discovered that she was pregnant. He was confused and was forced on many occasions to question whether he really knew the Michelle he had married. Should they have allowed more time in getting to know each other? he pondered during many of his quiet moments.

The stress weighed heavily on him.

Patrick took three months from his job to be with Michelle and the baby. And while he took charge of the baby, this was not enough for Michelle. The constant bickering was really getting to him, but throughout it all, he had never uttered an unkind word to her.

Patrick would do just about anything to ensure that the marriage was successful. He invited her to attend a marriage counseling session with him, but she flatly refused. He even went online and completed an application for the local university, hoping that within a couple of months Michelle would be enrolled in university, but she showed no interest in taking it to the next level.

It was such a pleasure watching Christina move through the different growth stages, but he had to bury all his excitement deep down in his heart. She was such an adorable baby, but that did not interest Michelle.

He remembered how thrilled he was when Christina first uttered the words da da. He ran to Michelle. Our baby is talking, Michelle, he said excitedly. But Michelle just gave him a blank stare without responding.

He watched Christina take her first step, and he shared his joy with his smartphone as he captured the moment on video. He loved Christina and was having fun with her.

Sometimes he was deliberate in showing his love for Christina as he hoped that that would activate some jealousy in Michelle. But even if it did, there was never an outward display.

Late one Friday evening, a couple of days from Christina’s first birthday, Michelle started bawling. Patrick rushed to her assistance, really frightened and wondering what had happened to her.

I want to go! I don’t love you anymore, Patrick, and I don’t love Christina. The faraway look in her eyes told Patrick that she needed medical attention. Patrick was really scared that she would try to harm herself and baby Christina.

The last thing he ever dreamed of was getting anyone else, more so the police, involved in their domestic affairs. But he was backed into a corner. She needed help, and that was foremost. He did not feel safe sleeping under the same roof with her, and if it necessitated calling the police, then that was what he had to do, he pondered.

Patrick moved toward embracing her, but she would have none of it. In his usual quiet and calm voice, he pleaded with her, What is wrong with you, Michelle? What do you want me to do?

She gave him a long blank stare, and for a couple of seconds, she said nothing. I want to get the hell out of this prison, Patrick. I don’t belong here. I don’t belong here, Patrick. She kept repeating her last statement.

Michelle, I love you, and this is where you belong. I want you here, Michelle. Patrick tried to connect with her sense of reason, but this was lost in her ranting and raging.

She muttered something beneath her breath, but Patrick heard every word. What did you say, Michelle? he asked nervously. When did things escalate to that level that you are thinking suicide, Michelle? He couldn’t control his tears. This is not the Michelle I married. Something is wrong. I really believe you need to see a doctor, Michelle. He was devastated, but he had to be brave.

After much persuasion, Patrick was able to convince her of her need for medical attention. They drove to the hospital, and the silence in the car was only broken when Christina, oblivious of what was happening, chuckled as they approached the hospital gate.

While the doctors wanted to keep Michelle in for observation, she protested, and Patrick begged for them to treat and release her into his care. She was highly sedated and therefore slept for the entire two-mile journey home. When they got home, Patrick had to literally lift her from the car straight into the bed.

After putting Christina to bed, Patrick returned to Michelle’s room. He stood over Michelle for over an hour, admiring the beautiful princess she was. But every time he pondered the words that came from her lips earlier, he was in disbelief. Why Michelle would even harbor the thought of suicide was tormenting his thoughts.

He reflected on the beautiful relationship they had from the get-go. The many parties they had attended together, the movies, the beach, and even church. He reflected how heavenly making love to her was, how they both enjoyed each other, and how their insatiable appetite was always wetted at will, and he yearned for those days.

He could not restrain himself from planting a kiss on her lips. But she lay there, unconscious of his presence or the beautiful thoughts that occupied his mind. How he prayed that when she awoke she would be transformed to the Michelle he knew, loved, and craved for.

Patrick stayed in the room with Michelle as a means of ensuring her well-being, and he never slept a wink all through the night. Every move she made in the bed jolted his nerves, and the thought of suicide scared the hell out of him.

Michelle woke up in the morning and headed for Christina’s room. Patrick was very apprehensive, and he watched her every move from the half-opened door.

Wasn’t he pleasantly surprised when Michelle planted a kiss on Christina’s cheek. Mommy! Christina shouted with a wide grin on her face as she threw her little hands around her neck.

Christina kept staring at her mom, but there was a pleasant smile on her face. As Patrick watched the scene play out before his eyes, he wondered whether he should join in the reunion. Something inside said to stay put and allow them to get to know and enjoy each other’s company. But it was such a joyous occasion, he could not resist. As he entered the doorway, Christina shouted Daddy! and used her hands to beckon him inside the room.

He sat on the bed beside Michelle and was surprised when Christina blurted out, Daddy, kiss Mommy. Patrick was so thrilled by the instruction he never waited on a signal from Michelle. He gave her not one but two kisses, and she never resisted.

For a couple of weeks after, everything seemed to have been improving. There were no further outbursts, and Michelle, much to the delight of Patrick, was now being attentive to Christina. Although she was still not interested in any form of intimacy, Patrick believed that time too would soon be at hand. Oh, how he looked forward to that day when she would wake up in his arms. That time surely could not come too soon, he salivated.

CHAPTER 3

O ne afternoon, close to the end of day, Michelle telephoned Patrick at work, alerting him that she wanted to have a discussion with him when he got home. So anxious was he that he left work almost immediately.

All that was on Patrick’s mind as he journeyed home were pleasant thoughts. He believed that Michelle wanted to apologize for the way she acted in the past and she was now ready to recommit to the relationship. The journey seemed unending, and on three occasions, he telephoned Michelle to get a hint of the moot, but she just laughed at him.

When he finally reached home, Michelle was as happy as a lark. He felt assured that his assumption was spot-on.

Michelle gave him the biggest embrace he had ever received since they were married. Patrick silently wondered what came over her, what had brought about this change in her behavior. But since this was what he had always hoped for in the relationship, he followed her lead without asking a single question.

She guided him into the bedroom, and before he fully came to grips with what was happening or about to happen, she stepped out of her dress, exposing her nakedness and signaling her ultimate desire.

Patrick was pleasantly stunned.

While every