Mary Anne couldn’t wait to see Mark the week after. She felt excited as if she was 20 years old again. She bought a new dress a few days before she went to the club, and had her hair and nails done the day before. When her children came to visit her that day, they told her she looked beautiful, the same way she looked before their father died. When they asked if there was someone new in her life she said no, she was doing this for herself.
Mark wasn’t there when she went to the club. However, she was sure he would show up later on. She was looking for him all night and was regularly scanning the room. But he didn’t show up at all that evening. A few nice looking men approached her but she wasn’t interested in speaking to them.
Jackie realized her friend was disappointed and tried to cheer her up by dragging her out onto the dance floor. She didn’t let go of her until Mary Anne relented and joined her. By the end of the evening, Mary Anne was smiling and clearly enjoying herself.
Mark didn’t show up the following week either. Mary Anne tried to learn more about him by asking the club management for some details. But they could only tell her he was a new member, which she already knew. They added that the other information they had about him would remain confidential.
Although Mary Anne was disappointed with the management’s answer, Jackie didn’t need to do much to get her onto the dance floor. In fact, Mary Anne was on the dance floor shortly after she arrived at the club. While they were dancing Jackie mentioned that many of the members come to the club to enjoy themselves and not necessarily to meet someone. So if she meets someone, that is a bonus. She added that she needs to keep an open mind.
Anyway, the 3rd time she went to the club, she didn’t think about Mark, but about herself. She wanted to enjoy every minute without having any expectations. A few minutes after she entered the building, she bumped into Mark who looked very happy to see her. He even gave her a big hug which surprised her. Mark told her that he had to go to Europe on business. He also told her about some real estate projects he was involved with. He showed her all kinds of spectacular projects he invested in all over the world.
Mark turned out to be a very smart man with broad knowledge of numerous topics. Mary Anne slowly opened up to him. She told him about Jerry and the tragedy that befell her family when her husband disappeared, only a few hours before he was supposed to leave the sea for good. Mark listened attentively to her while she was speaking. He reached out and held her hand while blinking away the tears in his eyes.
Mark also told her about his family. He said he had two daughters whom he adored. He didn’t get along with his ex-wife who tried to interfere with the relationship between him and his children. Mary Anne and Mark found they had many common interests. For example, they both loved to watch ballet. Therefore, a few days later Mark bought tickets for the two of them to attend the ballet, which made her very happy.
The relationship between them slowly started to warm up. Mark would frequently send Mary Anne flowers and always included warm notes with them. He was an eloquent writer and his words deeply touched her. Most of the time he would go to her home and occasionally she would go to his house. His house was always clean and tidy as if no one lived there.
Mary Anne thought the place wasn’t a reflection of his personality. The house was situated in one of the best neighborhoods in Victoria, but it wasn’t so impressive inside. It didn’t have much furniture and there were hardly any pictures on the wall. When Mark noticed the look on Mary Anne’s face, he said that he had recently moved there. He said that he did not have enough time to properly furnish the house but would do so soon.
Nevertheless, a few weeks later Mark told Mary Anne that he heard about a project to build luxury condos in Victoria. He showed her a brochure that described it in detail. And he said he would definitely invest in the project. Mark wanted to buy a condo for investment purposes. However, there were limited condos available for purchase and he would have to move quickly.
He was quite enthusiastic about this opportunity. Mark left the brochure behind when he left. And Mary Anne started to think about what he told her regarding the condo project. He said that if she bought one of the condos, she could rent it out and get a very high return on her investment……..
With Experience Comes Wisdom 