THE CURTAIN OF LOVE

3. THE CURTAIN OF LOVE

It often seems that women are addicts of love. Such

a dependency, in fact, is manifested through the woman’s

striving to master the art of love by her self-assessment

and self-respect. The release from such turbulent feelings

of uncertainty relies on the foundations of many thoughts

and imaginations that such women have about the

stronger sex. This explanation and release is both fictional

and imaginary and, at the same time, incomprehensible. It

seems that there is no more marvelous feeling than that

of the euphoria of amorousness and exaltation.

My old acquaintance Andrea S., born in the region

of Lerin, was an engineer by profession. He had been

living in Canada for more than ten years. Canada is very

far away from Macedonia geographically, but

nevertheless intimately very close. He was a spiritual

person full of pearls of Macedonian life, obviously

inherited from his parents in their homeland.

I didn’t have a chance to meet this interesting fellow

citizen of ours in the past in spite of my frequent visits to

Toronto. His many years of work in the north, which the

Canadian authorities were preparing to be settled on a

large-scale, was the reason for that.

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SLAVE KATIN

We were seated in an elegant restaurant in the

city’s downtown, owned by a Macedonian from the

Aegean part of Macedonia, when Andrea started narrating

his life story which was unusual to a great extent.

His first misfortune in Canada was his friendship

with a young Macedonian saleswoman in a textile shop

where he went to buy a knitted pullover. Her beauty,

grace and entrancing glance, as well as her behaviour

towards him, attracted him so much that he immediately

forgot the shopping. Beautiful Emilia couldn’t take her

eyes off him and she soon accepted the plan he

immediately proposed to her.

After several meetings in the store, they continued

to see each other in various nightclubs and restaurants

where his hard-earned money was quickly being

squandered. Soon they reached their finale and he moved

into her place.

Emilia was born in a village in the region of Bitola

and later went to Toronto to live with her relatives. Two

years before he met her she had started a job, rented an

apartment and spent all her money in night clubs, hanging

around with different men. What Andrea didn’t know was

the fact that she had already had intimate relationships

with men of different nationalities, race and colour. Her

sexual relationship with them lasted only for a month or

two. She used to change men as if they were bathroom

towels.

Less than three months after the wedding of Andrea

and Emilia their marriage simply broke down; without a

word, without any quarrel. The young bride just dis

appeared from his life forever. In addition to that sleepless

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night, my friend had to resign himself to his fate. However,

he was happy that their relationship hadn’t been legalized

in any of the municipalities of Toronto.

Disappointed by his failure to start a family,

Andrea, after some time, made up his mind to marry a

Canadian girl of French origin that he had met at the

wedding of his friend from Quebec. He was tortured by

the thought that other Macedonian women, after settling

in Canada, maybe understood their freedom as a sexual

revolution which they had to experience in order to fit into

the new society. Therefore he decided to marry Natalie

who accepted him without a word, first as her companion

in restaurants, clubs and at disco parties where she used

to go, and, later, when she got to know him better, also as

his soul mate. Natalie was an attractive girl with an

unusual captivating smile. She was fairly small in stature

but she had lovely breasts and long legs. As a lover, he

passed the test with an excellent grade, which motivated

them to move their relationship to marriage.

Taught by his experience with Emilia, this time

Andrea didn’t rush into legalizing their relationship at a

municipality, but simply had a ceremony with their closest

and dearest friends. He decided to get to know his soul

mate better before putting his signature on a state

register. It was as if he had a premonition that his pre

vious experience with the Macedonian woman was

possible in this relationship too.

And it happened just like that. Only a month later he

found out that Natalie, during her 20s to 30s, went

through a period filled with a series of tumultuous

adventures, and even two short-term marriages. As an

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SLAVE KATIN

editor-in-chief at a publishing house she carried out her

duties meticulously and responsibly, but nevertheless

couldn’t find real enjoyment in her job. She easily

attracted the attention of men with her temperament and

cleverness but unfortunately her relationships didn’t last

long. Her days were filled with dreams of a new love. She

wondered if the next man would be the one to tame her

feelings and desire. Deep in her soul, Natalie was getting

more and more tired of her numerous relationships with

various men. Therefore she decided to put an end to her

“joyful” wanderings and settle down with Andrea. After

only one month of abstention however she realized that

the life she was leading was senseless and that, besides

excitement from love, she was unable to feel the beauty

of many activities that she hoped would give her

enjoyment. Going to theatres didn’t satisfy her if her last

lover was not next to her. Her friends were boring if they

didn’t like to talk about men. Even the work at the

publishing house was becoming dull and boring if her last

lover was not there with her.

Terrified by the strong feelings she was hiding

behind the curtain of love addiction, Natalie started to lose

her desire and will to fight against it and one day she left

Andrea, leaving no explanation for making such a

decision.

After several days of waiting for her call, Andrea

finally came to terms with his loneliness, as he had with

Emilia before her.

He could understand everything, except the

situation in which he had nothing but bad luck. But he

managed to accept the situation and heal his wounds,

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determined to use his third chance to be successful in

finding a lifelong soul mate. A long period had passed and

he had more than one girlfriend. But he was unable to

solve the central dilemma: whether this time he was to

choose a Macedonian girl or a non-national?

He found the answer to this dilemma during a one

day cruise on Lake Ontario. Many of the passengers

enjoyed the summer sun and beautiful panoramic view of

the ship’s deck, dozing off in the comfortable beach

chairs. Enchanted by the romantic scenery, Andrea

napped while the light wind caressed his face. When he

opened his eyes he saw a beautiful young girl just a few

steps from him who was watching him curiously. Her

smile “took” him to her. He made the acquaintance of this

beauty. Her name was Angelina. She was born in

Canada, but her parents were from Prespa, Macedonia.

She was a tall, beautiful and presentable girl. Andrea’s

heart leaped when he exchanged his first words with her.

Angelina had a university education and was an

environmentalist. She lived in an apartment in a beautiful

building near the beach on Lake Ontario, close to down

town. She always arranged their meetings somewhere

close to the lake.

Their rendezvous were becoming more and more

frequent. Their love affair was becoming stronger and

more interesting. One day Angelina, or Angel, as Andrea

used to call her, suggested they marry. The expression on

his face was of approval and great satisfaction. However

his soul was still tortured by his past experiences. He was

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afraid that destiny would turn its back on him and there

fore he felt insecure.

After many sleepless nights thinking about the

dilemma – a marriage or not – he nevertheless found the

strength to marry Angelina. Although he did have

unsettling anxiety, he later realized that Angelina was the

woman of his dreams. Their love was so strong so that

Andrea opened his heart telling Angela all about the

adventures he had experienced since coming to Canada.

They spent the following months together and got to

know each other better in every way; discovering their

characters and characteristics necessary for a successful

marriage. When she introduced him to her parents, they

were delighted with Andrea. They liked him more because

he was a mechanical engineer and they needed one for

their metal construction company which used many

subcontractors. Getting involved in the business of his

wife’s parents gave Andrea a perfect opportunity to get to

know them better and vice versa, which was guaranteed

to enrich their family.

The wedding ceremony of Andrea and Angel (as her

parents also called her) was prepared very carefully.

There were more than 500 wedding guests from all parts

of Canada where Macedonians live and work. Contrary to

his past marriages, this time he took Angela to City Hall

where their marriage was legalized. The wedding cere

mony and reception lasted for a whole day in a large hall

in a hotel.

“The Macedonian marriage is nevertheless an undy

ing fortress,” said Andrea bringing an end to his love

story.