The Winning of the Woman

By Glenn Kershaw

Brad Caldwell’s a pretty decent guy. Women like him, he’s had a few girl “friends”. But there’s a problem; He meets a girl, they get together, but after a while, they either separate or become friends. Brad is the first to say he doesn’t know what women want. Except for Doreen, his friend from High School. The one he’d just lined up when the sporty Craig came along and swept her away. Now he’s the uncle to their daughter. She takes delight in informing Brad in great detail exactly what she wants, but not from him.
But all that changes when he meets Edith. She’s the most complex woman he’s ever met, a forensic accountant and a first dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She can hold her own against big tough second and third dan men, yet gets upset, in fact, goes over the top, when Brad confuses a bush walk with a music concert. Brad has never had to work so hard to be with a woman.
Added to his stress is his new boss, who uses him, overloads him with work and, as Brad finds out, lies to him. Till he came, Brad had loved the job. It doesn’t help that Remus, an old Uni buddy, is pressuring him to come to work for him. Remus sees the value in Brad.
And in hospital, Brad’s estranged father is dying.
While juggling all this, Brad just happens to smile at the absolute wrong moment on a date with Edith, which destroys his relationship with her. And it’s only at that moment that Brad realises that Edith is the one, the only woman he’ll ever really love and now he’s lost her.
Angry at how she feels Brad has treated the woman, Doreen throws him out of her house.
Already struggling with the loss of Edith, Brad’s mother rings: his father has passed away. The pressure builds within Brad. In a fit of anger at his boss’s lies and abuse, Brad quits his job. Only to find when he rings Remus to tell him he’s made his choice and will join Remus in business, he learns Remus’s wife has suddenly died.
Brad sits in his apartment, depression pressing in on him. Like an automaton running on automatic, Brad helps Remus close down the business. Remus is moving in with his wife’s parents in another state. Driving home one day, Brad glimpses a unique shop while stopped at traffic lights. A crazy idea forms. A last throw of the dice. A wild, impossible chance to save his relationship with Edith. For once, Brad rushes in blind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Glenn Kershaw
• Release date: Jul 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215979969

Glenn Kershaw

I was born in England, and my family emigrated to Australia when I was ten. I’ve been an electrician, a para-professional Engineering Officer and a Manager. For the last seven years, I’ve volunteered with the Rural Fire Service and have the rank of deputy captain.I have a wonderful wife, three great kids and two grandsons who are my world.At heart, I am and have always been a writer, and to improve my skills, I have studied creative writing at Technical and Further Education College (TAFE) and at the university level acquiring statements of attainment from TAFE, certificate, undergraduate and Master’s degrees from the University of Technology Sydney and Macquarie University.I’ve enjoyed seeing my short stories published in the England Review, the University of Technology Sydney Writers’ Anthology and Macquarie University’s literary journal, The Quarry (twice), and the student magazine, Grapeshot. In addition, online journals such as StylusLit, Australian Reader, and AntipodeanSF.One of my short stories was previously longlisted for the Lane Cove Literary Award here in Australia.I self-published two novels on Amazon and Smashwords, The Flower Woman’s Child and The Winning of the Woman, with a new SF Novel, For the Journey is Long, and Our Lonely World is Lost, recently published on Smashwords

Book preview

I’d like to dedicate The Wining of the Woman to my daughters Bronwyn and Amber,

my son Ryan, my grandsons Arlo and Toby, and especially my wife, Trish.

Yes, there is a heaven.

For Harry

04/06/1957 – 12/03/2020

Chapter One

‘You ok?’ Brad asked.

Karen looked up. Her eyes were almond-shaped and were one of the things he liked about her. But today, they were puffy, and there were still a few tears ready to fall.

He placed his takeaway coffee on the edge of Karen’s desk and leant against the low petition that separated her from the passageway. Till Richard Doherty’s promotion - Rick was the previous manager - Brad had always been the second to arrive in the office. Now he was the first.

He noticed Karen when she came into the office. Most Monday mornings, she was bright and cheery. She had that brightness in her eyes that said she wanted to chat about the weekend. In particular, what she and Allen Wellard had been up to. Or to pass comment on Bob Doorley, their new manager, before he came in. But this morning, she was different. What was missing was her energy; she appeared flat, dejected. Brad had noticed it in the way she carried herself when she’d come into the office and slumped, rather than sat, down. She didn’t turn to look at him, wink, give him her mischievous grin, her invitation for him to come over to her desk and learn all the weekend’s gory details. He had wanted to go to her, find out what was wrong, but the presence of the others passing by her had kept him away. The atmosphere had changed since Bob came, and Brad was now more guarded.

Once the office had settled down to its daily routine, Brad decided to use that as an excuse to go get his morning coffee. On the way back, he stopped at her desk.

‘I’m fine,’ she replied, but just saying those two words, her voice cracked.

He wasn’t convinced. She had been so happy recently.

‘What happened?’ Brad asked.

Fidgeting, delaying her response, she glanced at her screen. He could only see the top of her head. Her hair was a soft brown with natural red highlights that rested neatly against her head.

‘I thought,’ she said, looking up. There was misery in her eyes and the set of her face. ‘Alan called me up. I thought he was going to spring the word on me, you know. We’ve been dating for six months. And he was going that way, the things he was saying.’

Five months and a day, Brad thought.

She stared up at him, and he caressed her face with his eyes. Karen’s face was avocado shaped, her skin was creamy, and just the light brown of a well-made cappuccino.

‘He sounded different on the phone,’ she said. ‘I really … He took me to our favourite restaurant. Then we went back to my place … and you know. In the morning, he’d gone before I woke up, and then he goes and texts me. The bastard. He’s getting married.’

Her voice broke several times as she talked. Anywhere else but the office and she’d be crying again.

‘What a bastard!’ Brad whispered, trying to force as much distaste into the words as he could.

Since the change in management, he’d learnt to keep his to a whisper in the office. Once, they could have spoken openly about anything. Rick would have taken Karen into his office and helped her work her way through this. Cheer her up.

‘We’d talked about maybe setting the date. I thought he loved me. We talked about kids, but he must have been seeing that bitch all along. She stole him away from me.’

‘Side chick,’ Brad thought and hated the phrase.

He knew Karen was too good a person to be treated like that. Why, if she wasn’t such a good friend, he would have ... But he left that thought unsaid.

Alan was from upstairs and had one foot firmly planted on the next rung of management. Brad hadn’t liked the look of him from the first moment they’d met. He’d noticed Alan had that look in his eyes, the one all the high flyers had. And all the manager speak. Every time the man talked, he’d come out with something like Ducks in a row or talk about everyone Being on the same page. That kind of corporate bullshit. In Brad’s mind, he was one of Them.

Consequently, Brad had never allowed himself to become close to Alan and always spoke guardedly when he encountered the man. He’d feared for Karen and her future with him, but there was no way he could ever voice his concerns. Not even now.

‘His loss,’ Brad said, patting her hand. ‘You’re too good for him.’

That made her smile, just a turn-up of the lips, but Brad knew it was working. She squeezed his hand gratefully before letting go and adjusting her hair.

‘Bet’s Alan’ll end up a bitter old man, with two, three, ex-wives,’ Brad said. Then he realised he appeared to be questioning Karen’s judgement, so he added, ‘He’s a sweet talker, with no judgement. I’ve known you, what is it, three years now?’

‘Two and a half.’

‘I’ve known you long enough to see you’ve a good heart,’ Brad said. ‘I’ll tell you what, why don’t you come out with me tonight. Show that bastard. We’ll catch a movie, then dinner. Have a few laughs. You deserve it.’

Her face brightened, and some of the misery left her face.

‘You’re a good mate, Brad,’ she said. But then she frowned, ‘I don’t know ….’

‘You choose the movie; I’ll choose the restaurant. You like Chinese?’

‘Yes.’

‘We go right after work, catch the flicks, a good meal, then you can be home not too late. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for tomorrow.’

This time she laughed.

‘Ok.’

***~~~***

The movie had been painful. Try as he might, Brad was not into chick flicks. Well, maybe The Goodbye Girl or You’ve Got Mail. He knew those movies made him seem old-fashioned and probably out of touch, but like the movie Charade, he preferred a female lead who created a character with depth. Mind you, he’d recently watched a re-run of The Borken Hearts Gallery, which he’d watch again.

Through painful experience and one lost girlfriend, Brad had learnt not to fidget through a movie he didn’t like, and he kept half an eye on Karen to ensure he laughed when she did. He’d taken in enough of the thin plot to talk intelligently over dinner and wine.

What did amaze him was what she’d seen in the movie that he had not. The story was basic:- girl finds man, love affair, turns out he’s a love rat, drama, she moves on. Only later did Brad realise the movie was a road map of Karen’s life. He wondered if that was the reason, perhaps subconsciously, why she’d chosen it.

She was chatting happily as they drove back to her place.

‘I thought he was too old for her,’ she was saying.

The night was warm. The winter cold had been driven away for a few hours. Brad fancied he smelled the perfume of flowers in the air. He felt a closeness to Karen. He always had. She was smart, and, most of the time, insightful. She laughed at his jokes, well, smiled. They could talk for hours about anything and were comfortable with each other’s company. Because of what had happened, Brad felt a pressure to reach out and hold her hand, feel her warmth. But he knew it was way too soon.

‘Just,’ he replied. ‘I think they dyed his hair. I’ve seen pictures.’

‘They make a good couple.’

‘A good match,’ he said.

Brad wondered if she was serious. She didn’t seem to be trying to be sarcastic. Though she’d laughed through dinner, Karen was more sombre now. She was looking out of the windscreen at the cars and the buildings sliding by in the dark. At least the sadness had gone, and she could smile. A flick and Chinese wouldn’t fix things, but at least they’d help.

‘Are they a couple?’ she asked.

‘In the real world? No, just chemistry.’

Karen shook her head.

‘I think he’s bonking her.’

Brad glanced at Karen, then back at the road. Not certain at first what he’d just heard.

‘Bonking? For real? But he’s married,’ he said.

She was silent for well over a minute, and then she said, ‘That explains it.’

Now Brad was lost.

‘That he’s married?’

‘He wanted a threesome,’ she said, nodding at her own insight. ‘To spice things up. He wanted another woman. I bet it was that bitch. I bet it was her idea.’

Brad realised the movie and the restaurant hadn’t driven away all thoughts of her break up with Alan. He couldn’t point out that this woman, who had apparently come between her and Alan, was hardly likely to suggest a threesome.

‘Alan couldn’t satisfy me, let alone two. Most of the time, it was once, twice on a good night, and never long enough.’

Brad’s face slowly turned red. He could feel it, which made it worse. They were venturing into territory that always embarrassed him.

‘You’re lucky you’re rid of him,’ he said. ‘You’ll find someone else, someone better, someone you deserve.’

Someone close, he added silently, very close.

‘Chris, the dock manager’s pretty cute,’ she said. ‘Did you know he lifts weights?’

‘Really?’ Brad replied. ‘Isn’t he married?’

‘Divorced. She was a real bitch.’

‘I thought he had kids,’ Brad said.

‘No. He competes. He showed me his photos.’

‘I bet he did.’

She slapped him lightly on the knee and laughed.

‘They wear these tiny thongs and get all oiled. I could just eat him up.’

He flicked her a quick glance; Karen’s eyes were wistful. He saw the desire, the hunger. He desperately wanted her or any woman to look at him that way.

‘Aren’t they all supposed to be gay? Weightlifters, I mean. I read somewhere they were all gay.’

She laughed in such a knowing way he wondered just how well she knew him.

‘That’s not what Cecily says,’ she replied.

‘Cecily?’

‘Hmm, hmm.’

They were silent as the car drove through the night. The sound of the engine was a subdued hum.

‘Do you play any sport?’ she asked.

He caught the segue and the answer she was looking for. It might, he thought, just might be an opening. He was also aware the possibility was fading with each passing moment as he struggled for an answer. In high school, he’d played basketball and later had been a pretty useful back on the local soccer team, but that was years ago.

‘Darts,’ he blurted out.

She laughed heartily, which he understood was a door solidly closing.

‘That’s not even a sport,’ she said. ‘Are you any good?’

‘Hopeless,’ he said. ‘All of us, except Craig.’

‘Craig?’ she asked.

‘Friend from high school. Craig’s good at all sports. He even works in sports.’

‘Married, is he?’ she asked, her tone unmistakable. Brad felt the bite of jealousy.

‘Doreen. She was my girlfriend in high school.’

‘Was? A real bitch, right?’

‘Doreen’s wonderful.’

***~~~***

As they drove, Karen started counting off on her fingers the number of possible men in her future. When they drew up to her building, she laughed.

‘What?’ Brad asked.

‘Look at me! I’m thinking about men after being dumped by that bastard. You’re good for me, Brad. You’re good medicine.’

Brad felt a warmth grow within. A little hope sprang up inside his chest. It grew a little as he escorted Karen up to her floor. After she unlocked her door, she turned to him, turning her face up to his as if for a kiss. Her eyes were soft. Did he see an invitation?

‘Brad,’ she whispered.

Chapter Two

Brad stared at his computer screen, at the figures in the spreadsheet, but saw nothing. When Karen had come into the office that morning, she’d been all smiles, and she’d sat down at her desk as if nothing had happened the day before, as if she’d not been abandoned by her boyfriend. She’d even given him a cheery little wave. Later she’d brought him coffee and thanked him for a great night out. She’d said how much she’d enjoyed herself and that he had helped her a lot. He’d smiled and said things like, ‘No problem’ and ‘We’re mates. That’s what mates do.’ At the same time, her words from last night bounced around and around inside his head.

‘Brad, you know, you’re special,’ she said and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. His heart leapt, and he stared deeply into her eyes. ‘You’re like a favourite uncle. When I have kids, I’m going to make you their godfather.’

Then she’d reached up and kissed him on the cheek before turning away. The door of her apartment closed with a solid thud.

As Brad tried to focus on his computer screen and the work waiting for his attention, he wondered if he shouldn’t turn pro and be an uncle/godfather for hire, reasonable rates.

He was drawn out of his reverie when the email window popped up. He clicked on the app and saw that two emails marked urgent had arrived, and yet he didn’t read them. He was as confused as ever about women. Karen had been happy this morning. Not doing a song and dance but definitely on the road to recovery. He’d helped her get there. He’d made it happen, yet, yet, she couldn’t see him as anything else but a good friend. Why had he sensed the romance in the air, but she hadn’t? He gave it up as a lost cause and returned to his work, to the emails, to the contracts.

He worked solidly, even giving lunch a miss, and so was at his desk when Karen returned. He’d noticed her leave; she’d picked up her handbag and breezed out. She appeared to be happy enough at the time, yet now she was upset again, and he wondered if she’d had a relapse or had run into Alan over lunch. That was always going to be a hazard as long as they both worked in the same building.

Brad turned back to his screen and tried to focus on his work but found he couldn’t. Thoughts of Karen kept intruding. He asked himself, should he be the good friend, the potential godfather of her children, and try to shake her out of the doldrums again? Or should he have another go at getting out of the friendzone? Frustration pressed in on him. In his mind’s eye, he brought up images of all the girlfriends he’d had over the years, and the question burned within him again, Why couldn’t he keep a girlfriend? At least some of them had had the kindness or consideration to dump him. He was sliding into the depths of a murky depression when his mobile phone rang.

‘Brad Caldwell,’ he snapped, a little harsher than he’d intended.

‘Hi, Brad.’

His heart beat faster, just as it always did when he talked to her.

‘Hi, Doreen.’

‘Can you pick up Amber tonight?’ she asked. ‘Sorry to bother you, but I can’t get away, and Craig’s in a meeting, and they always run late.’

Brad smiled. The darkness that had threatened to engulf him evaporated as quickly as a late-morning mist.

‘You mean the boss takes them all out to a restaurant.’

‘You’re a dear,’ she said. ‘Here’s the address.’

He wrote down the details and the time.

***~~~***

‘So, what is it you do?’ Brad asked as they drove out of the car park.

Amber looked at him, not with a glare, but with an expression that suggested long-suffering patience. She was getting very good at it. She was wearing a white canvas wraparound jacket and white canvas pants. Around her waist, she wore a yellow belt tied at the front with a loose knot, with the ends hanging down. Each end had two green cloth strips running across it.

‘Tae Kwon Do,’ she said, carefully pronouncing each word as if for a child. ‘I’m going for green belt soon.’

Since he was driving, Brad was only half listening. He had to navigate with other cars coming at him from different directions as well as parents and children who were walking apparently aimlessly amongst the big, heavy metal cars, ignoring the fact the cars were moving.

‘Good for you,’ he said. ‘Is that like Karate?’

‘Pretty much,’ she replied. ‘It uses some of Karate’s hand stuff.’

‘Hand stuff?’ he repeated, smiling.

‘Punching and chopping. I can see a Macca’s sign just up ahead.’

He glanced over at Amber, then back at the road, just in time to break and miss a car that had changed lanes without signalling.

‘You know what your mum thinks of fast food,’ he admonished as he clicked on the left turn blinker.

‘But we’re going anyway, aren’t we, uncle Brad?’ She looked at him with wide eyes, serious for once. Hunger battled for supremacy over her composure.

‘We share the chips,’ he said.

***~~~***

The next morning Brad was first in the office again. He liked it that way as he could work without interruption until the others arrived. Which they did in due course. He usually worked solidly till George, his friend, came over for a chat or Kelly, the new admin, to ask for help.

The company was in the civil construction business, with the head office in Melbourne. Brad’s division specialised in building or refurbishing electricity substations for the various electrical companies in the Asia Pacific region. The section Brad worked in, and his job, was to specify the electrical equipment and switchgear control systems to be used based on the tenderer’s specifications.

After eight years, Brad was now the senior in the office, the only one on an Enterprise Agreement, other than the section Manager, now Bob, since Rick has moved up. All the other staff were salaried. Brad had expected to be offered the manager role, sure it would be advertised, but he knew how these things worked. But then Bob had come up from Melbourne.

Brad glanced up every so often from his screen at Karen’s empty desk, surprised she’d not come in. He’d frown, then return to his current computer and his documents. At twelve, he logged out and went out for lunch with the vague feeling that something was not right. Like a missing tooth, the tongue continually sought out.

He’d made a habit of going for a walk at lunchtime, an attempt at being a little healthier. Across the road and two blocks down from his building was a small park huddled between two new office towers. Along one side ran the main road. The swoosh of the cars and the growl of trucks that flew by were lessened by a hedge that ran around the park’s border. Like the rest of the park, the hedge was neglected, but it helped make the space seem isolated from the world. He could even hear a bird or two calling from the small stand of paper-bark trees that sat in the middle and was all that remained of the suburb’s past.

Brad sat on a bench on the side furthest from the traffic, the hedge close to him on his left. The bench was worn, its timbers twisted from rain and sun. The protective resin had either faded or was peeling. Here and there, the wood was stained green from lichen. Since nothing had stuck to his trousers the last few times he’d visited here, he sat down with confidence. He could eat his sandwich, drink his coffee and let his eyes wander amongst the paperbarks for the thirty minutes of freedom.

He was surprised, yet again, by how dense the stand of trees was, here, so close to the city. Their trunks were eternally peeling. The flaking bark coloured various shades of brown and grey and was pleasant to look at. He’d run his gaze from the brown soil, where the wild grass sprouted, up the length of the trunk, following the line of a bough. Then outward to the branches and the umbrella of green dancing leaves. The grass, a healthy green, hadn’t been cut in some time and gave the park a neglected rather than wild look. Rubbish lay in the corners looking as if swept there by the wind. There wasn’t so much of it, and sometimes he’d pick up a stray cup and bin it on his way back to the office.

The hedge acted as a barrier not just to the drum of traffic but to his problem; work, to some extent but more so his personal life, and the lack of someone special in it. Until last week he’d been able to say he had a girlfriend in his life. Not anymore. He came here often to ponder the question, ‘Why?’ but found that when lunchtime was up and the pull from invisible fingers grabbed at him to draw him back to his desk, he was no closer to an answer.

Then his mind moved on to Karen. When he returned to the office, her desk was still empty. It