Angie set her alarm, and climbed into bed hoping it would not be another sleepless night as she shut her eyelids. Lying there with jumbled thoughts racing through her mind, she remembered thinking Jack to be the perfect mate. He was a semi-retired consultant with a level head for business. He succeeded in every endeavor by imposing strict disciplines to meet objectives. His brazen attitude and athletic body made him a great provider and powerfully attractive. Angie retained a natural beauty possessing a body and disposition that made her extremely sensual. She was cheerful with an upbeat personality who gladly quit her job as a law office manager when it came time to take care of their newborn girl, just a year after their marriage. The birth of their daughter Liz never slowed her passion; that is until Liz was diagnosed with leukemia. Neither Jack nor Angie realized at the time that their relationship would die with her nine months after that diagnosis.
With the passing of Liz each attempted to deal with their tribulation as best they could. Neither wanted to accept their loss and distanced themselves from everyone including each other. Angie went back to school to become a nurse in an attempt to provide comfort to others trying to survive similar ordeals. Jack couldn’t bear the thought of losing to something outside his control and did what many successful intelligent people do . . . drank himself stupid. Angie’s brother Bartholomew was very close with Jack and his visits and discussions were helping them cope with their daughter’s death. Unfortunately for all, he met his own demise fifteen months after Liz. An alcohol induced road rage sent a drunk driver careening over the median strip impacting Bartholomew as he crossed the street, killing him instantly. Bartholomew’s death fractured an already strained relationship. Angie became further engrossed in her studies while Jack reverted to his original grieving procedure. This time fashioning Angie as the common denominator resulting in the deaths of the two people he loved.
Jack’s binges became increasingly longer and Angie did her best to hide his dissolution. As the downward cycle progressed so did his booze intake along with his apathy toward her. The abuse started with sharp subtle comments of blame that stabbed at Angie’s heart and sole. Jack’s abuse slowly advanced physically, internally at first by drinking himself leg less, sleeping in the same cloths he would wear for weeks, and not bathing or grooming for days on end. Self-loathing soon turned his anger outward, spitting at Angie during drunken tantrums, as she helped him off the floor, this soon advanced to more physical assaults against her. Naturally, Jack could never remember the altercations and vehemently denied his actions when confronted. Angie, a stoic Catholic, couldn’t bring herself to leave him. She promised to love him through sickness and in health. However, she could no longer sleep in the same room with him.
Angie prayed every day hoping this was the day Jack would come to terms with his grief. That day never came, over time Angie found it harder to maintain her grades especially as the subject matter grew ever more difficult. Though driven by her daughter’s love the home situation was taking its toll. The academics became heavier with Lucy LaGras, Angie’s inept professor, compounding her problems. Her mind was beginning to shut down when salvation came through a study-group with fellow students around her age. This group consisted of four students Angie, Sabrina, Linda, and Christopher. Their association was not composed of your typical college age students. Christopher was several years older than the women were and they all had successful careers before starting the nursing program. This helped immensely as they all had to deal with this professor from hell. They disrespectfully referred to Ms. Lucy LaGras as Professor Large Ass, linking her last name with her fat ass that was shaped like a milk-dud. This analogy seemed to help them cope with the infectious anxiety she seemed to ooze. Sabrina and Linda lived together, they were very close and it was unclear as to their sexual preferences. Angie connected with Christopher for he lost his wife to cancer and like Angie headed back to school in an attempt to fill the void otherwise occupied by grief. With Jack and Angie’s love waning, she found herself being consoled by Christopher. Angie and Christopher encouraged each other scholastically and personally but most of all they made each other laugh. When they weren’t studying with the group they would go over the curriculums proselytism for hours on the phone. The semester’s end showed the study-group at the top of the class exciting them to celebrate at Linda and Sabrina’s apartment.
The study group danced to music from an oldie’s station and drank strawberry daiquiris. The libation allowed them to relax, washing away their experiences with Professor Large Ass, the pedagogical loser. Dancing to I Feel For You; rendered by Chaka Khan, Christopher suddenly found his drink all over the front of his golf-shirt after Linda impacted it by Sabrina erotically grinding her from behind. Angie automatically offered to rinse it out, more from reflex as a dutiful housewife does than anything else. Christopher shrugged as he peeled his shirt off over his head and handed it to her.