The Good Parents by Apollos Rivoire, Jr
“The Good Parents”
A Tragic Trilogy – Part II
Written by
Apollos Rivoire, Jr
Copyright © 2015 by Apollos Rivoire, Jr
All rights reserved.
First Edition
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Note: This work is the second in a three part series. “A Night at the Opera,” is the first. It would be most helpful to read it before this story if you have not already done so. The link is:
“The Good Parents”
A Tragic Trilogy – Part II
By Apollos Rivoire, Jr
That marvelous first evening at the opera when Caitlin and Robert met, revealed that the couple was effortlessly comfortable in each other’s company. Conversation just flowed uninterrupted like a mountain stream to the ocean from one word, one sentence, one paragraph, and one subject to the next. There was no discord, no disharmony, no disagreement, only good natured companionship, frivolity, and stimulating interaction. Neither had felt so serene with another human being as when they were with each other.
And then, there was the obvious physical attraction that added to the chemistry. Caitlin was certainly a beautiful young woman with poise and elegance. Equally, Robert was a refined and handsome young man with a confident persona, well except for that difficult and maladroit first night at the opera.
Even that awkward beginning, added a degree of charm that strengthened Caitlin’s attraction to him. The mutual charisma they possessed did not go unnoticed by the other. Their encounter and compatibility almost seemed too good to be real. And yet here they were living this fairy tale in the moment.
One commonality, among many that were to reveal themselves, had particularly fastened Caitlin and Robert together. When they first met at the opera, they had no idea that they were both sophomores at the University of Pennsylvania. Who could have dreamed it? They were classmates for a year and a half and had met, not on campus, not in class, but at the Academy of Music in the very same viewing box. What a fortuitous evening it had been. Their association had developed from one low price of admission – “well, two not-not-so-low” prices of admission.
Their chance encounter, their common interests, and their immediate attraction to each other spawned an instantaneous campus “affair of the heart.” Robert could not help but recall his dissatisfaction when an unwanted stranger invaded his space at the Academy. It was an annoyance that was never to return. It became a catalyst to make him reconsider the definition of the word, “annoyance.”
It is rare and magical when a complete unexpected reversal of circumstance happens – so rare, that most times it does not happen at all. It would appear that Caitlin and Robert were embarking on a most torrid whirlwind affair – maybe tornado would more accurately describe it.
Caitlin had been rightfully advised by her parents over the years not to make major life-changing decisions based on frivolous and impermanent considerations. She knew well not to choose a college or vocational field based on what a friend did, but rather based on her strengths, her desires, and her future.
She, herself had witnessed friends follow the love of their life to school only to separate and ask themselves, “What am I doing here, alone?” “I knew it was not a wise thing to do.” “Why did I do it anyway?” Unquestionably her parents’ advice formed the foundation of a solid principle that had been proven in real life. She learned it well and followed it . . . until now.
Three weeks earlier Caitlin had completed the matriculation requirements to start her second year of school leading to a degree in nursing. Then why was she sitting in a first year class of interior design? The answer was simple. She had transferred from her nursing major to the field of interior design to be with Robert in common classes and the same university school. What would she tell her parents?
What she had done did not make any sense at all. It didn’t seem to matter to her. They were in love. Most times, love knows no logic. It has no master. It follows no rules. It navigates its own path, never looking back or side to side, always looking aggressively forward. This was Caitlin and Robert’s journey.
Around the campus, one member of the duo was never seen without the other. The couplet was in love and they were inseparable. The school, the campus, the city, and all the venues they loved became the fertile environment for their love to grow. And grow it did for the next years until they received their diplomas.
The two that had never been separated for their years at college were not to be separated at graduation. Their last names both began with “Con” guaranteeing that they be seated together and receive their diplomas sequentially – how superb. They seemed destined to be together. Their time since they met and especially their school years had been Devine.
Caitlin and Robert loved university life, the opera, the abundance of venues they enjoyed in their environment, and they loved each other. They wanted little to change after their school experience was over. To insure that took place, they both sought and received employment as instructors at the university so as to prolong their common trio of love affairs – college, the opera, and, and of course their own love of each other.
Saint John’s College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England
paradiseintheworld.com
Soon, an opportunity involving a faculty exchange program with the University of Cambridge in England arose. They both applied and qualified. And, after all they had relatives in England and Ireland that they wanted to meet but never had. There was also the Royal Opera House in Covenant Garden, London for which was a major collateral benefit. What an amazing adventure it would be for lovers in love.