the end of a short affair

1 I tried it standing up
2 this time.
3 it doesn’t usually
4 work.
5 this time it seemed
6 to …
7 she kept saying
8 “o my God, you’ve got
9 beautiful legs!”
10 it was all right
11 until she took her feet
12 off the ground
13 and wrapped her legs
14 around my middle.
15 “o my God, you’ve got
16 beautiful legs!”
17 she weighed about 138
18 pounds and hung there as I
19 worked.
20 it was when I climaxed
21 that I felt the pain
22 fly straight up my
23 spine.
24 I dropped her on the
25 couch and walked around
26 the room.
27 the pain remained.
28 “look,” I told her,
29 “you better go. I’ve got
30 to develop some film
31 in my dark room.”
32 she dressed and left
33 and I walked into the
34 kitchen for a glass of
35 water. I got a glass full
36 in my left hand.
37 the pain ran up behind my
38 ears and
39 I dropped the glass
40 which broke on the floor.
41 I got into a tub full of
42 hot water and epsom salts.
43 I just got stretched out
44 when the phone rang.
45 as I tried to straighten
46 my back
47 the pain extended to my
48 neck and arms.
49 I flopped about
50 gripped the sides of the tub
51 got out
52 with shots of green and yellow
53 and red light
54 flashing in my head.
55 the phone kept ringing.
56 I picked it up.
57 “hello?”
58 “I LOVE YOU!” she said.
59 “thanks,” I said.
60 “is that all you’ve got
61 to say?”
62 “yes.”
63 “eat shit!” she said and
64 hung up.
65 love dries up, I thought
66 as I walked back to the
67 bathroom, even faster