Good Evening, Mr. Carter

Chapter 3

I dislike the number three and six, my favorite numbers being two and seven.

Now, let me start by discussing my second favorite number, seven. In the bible, it took their god seven days to create earth. On the first day god said, 'Let there be light' and there was light. On the second day god said, 'let there be firmament to separate the midst of waters into two parts' and so the sky and sea were created. On the third day god said, 'let the dry land appear', creating land and vegetation. On the fourth day god said, 'let there be lights in the expanse of heavens to separate the day from the night' and so, the sun, moon, and stars appeared. On the fifth day god said, 'let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures and birds fly above', creating sky and sea creatures. On the sixth day god created land animals then he said, 'let us make man' and created a man and a women, known as Adam and Eve. And on the seventh day, god rested, creating the sabbath. A beautiful story indeed.

Six being my second least favorite number, Revelation 13:18 in the Bible it states, "Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is 666." Man is the enemy, man is the beast. Humans are vile creatures, consumed in their own life. God created humans to have free will- creating sins, an immortal act that goes against the divine law. The number six refers to man's weakness, the evil work of the devil which was created on the sixth day when god made man. I could go on discussing each individual sin in the bible, but I am not that much of a religious man myself. But there is one sin in the Bible that shall never be granted forgiveness, that being, adultery.

Linda Taylor was beautiful, after the night we spent together in my office, I invited her out to dinner with me the following Friday. She told me she would meet me at my apartment at six thirty that evening, she arrived at six thirty four. That night, she wore a long red dress with a small white sweater and black heels. Her brown hair was curled, wearing the same scarlet red lipstick that she always wore.

"Good Evening, Mr. Carter" She was softly spoken.

"You look beautiful as always, Linda." I kissed the top of her delicate hand. The perfume she used was Diorella by Dior. A fragrance that rather citrusy, creating a strong smell of bergamot, melon, and lemon. It was captivating.

That evening, we took a cab to an Italian Restaurant across town, which we arrived to two minutes after seven pm. We were seated at a table that sat two people near the back section of the restaurant, a more quiet setting which I had requested when I called earlier to make the reservation. I ordered us two glasses of 1970 Chateau Cos d'Estournel red wine before ordering our main course. For appetizers, we ordered grilled tomato crostini and for the main course, Linda ordered a tuscan tomato bread soup with steamed mussels and as for I, Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi with tomato-butter sauce. Lastly for dessert, I ordered a coffee and amaretto panna cotta and at first Linda insisted on not wanting dessert, as most ladies would, but ended up ordering baci gelato with hazelnut and white chocolate slab.

"Dinner was lovely" Linda held my hand as we were leaving the restaurant.

"Would you care for a drink?" We were just outside my apartment building. Once entering my apartment, I slipped off the loafers I wore to dinner and she did as well, what a lady. I poured us two glasses of whiskey, Calvert. A perfect light whiskey, with a crisp and clean taste. Three drinks in, we were in my bedroom having sex. Afterwards, I told her that she could spend the night over, like a proper gentleman should do when in a relationship.

"Thank you for being so kind, but I must get home. I have a cat and would not want to leave her alone all night." She sounded worried, or rather stressed as she was telling me this.

A crisp wind weaved through the street as we waited for a taxi. A cold night it was, Linda was shivering. I finally waved down a yellow cab after waiting outside for eight minutes and twenty seconds.

This become a tradition for us, every Friday evening Linda and I would go out on a date, have sex, then she would take a taxi back home. For six months and fourteen days.

It was October of the same year, October seventeenth at four in the afternoon to be persist. I was taking an evening stroll after leaving the public library where I read The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. I was waiting for the light to turn green when I saw Linda through a glass window of a Greek restaurant, sitting across from another man. I walked amongst the crowd of people as I passed by her, I saw her holding this man's hand on the table, wearing a diamond ring on her finger that I had never seen her wear before.

Adultery, the worst sin one could commit. 

Adultery is when someone in a relationship has sexual intercourse with another person other than their spouse- the third person. Now you can understand why three is my least favorite number.