An Entangled Life

Dr. Greta Archbold

Description

Eva decides that she can no longer bear her husband's repeated attempts on her life and sets out on her own. As a woman from a conservative family, she finds it difficult to abandon her 26-year marriage. She begins by taking a sabbatical to the United Kingdom and Europe, where she meets Spiro, Zac, and John, three men who will play significant roles in her life. When she returns, she starts her first job as a business development consultant for her friend George. George is head over heels in love with her, but their relationship is tumultuous.

Eva is still looking for love and happiness, and, over the years, she has relationships with a number of men, while George and her UK friends remain interested in her. She is in a car accident, and two more attempts are made on her life. Finally, after sixteen years of searching, a miracle occurs on a vacation to Israel, where she meets her true love.

Sujets

• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris AU
• Date de parution: 23 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669830986
• Langue: English

Extrait

AN Entangled L   I   F   E
 
 
 
 
Dr. Greta Archbold
 
Copyright © 2022 by Dr. Greta Archbold.
 

Library of Congress Control Number:
2022913938
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-3100-6

Softcover
978-1-6698-3099-3

eBook
978-1-6698-3098-6
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 08/03/2022
 
 
 
Xlibris
AU TFN: 1 800 844 927 (Toll Free inside Australia)
AU Local: [phone] ([phone] from outside Australia)
www.Xlibris.com.au
842697
Contents
Preface
1   Sydney, 1996
2   George
3   Decisions
4   Leaving
5   London
6   The Eastern Bloc Tour
7   The Scandinavian Countries
8   London and Ireland
9   London Again
10   Central Europe
11   Life in London
12   Spain
13   Grayshott Spa
14   Reminiscing
15   Changes and Negotiations
16   Business World
17   Divorce Settlement
18   Travel Again
19   Eva Loses John
20   Living on The Edge
21   Miami
22   Selling Out of The North Shore
23   She Calls Her Own Bluff
24   New Beginnings
25   Christmas Eve London
26   A New Year with Justin
27   Life and Loves Continue
28   Oliver and Eva, A Couple
29   On Her Own Again
30   Welcome, Mikhail
31   Life with A Bastard
32   The Iranian Touch
33   Death
34   Men
35   Holy Land
36   Dome of The Rock, 2012
Author’s Note
About The Author
Acknowledgements
To love.
‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.’
– 1 Corinthians 13:4
Preface
I n January 2021, I received a courtesy call from a daughter of Garry, my former employer. She informed me of the death of her father, whose business I had re-branded and then helped grow further. We had remained friends from March 1996 to May 2020 with a seven-year interruption when I married my third husband. As a chummy friend and one-time partner who always wanted more of me, he was shocked and horrified that I would marry again without his consent.
The steadfast friendship was renewed in June 2019 when I turned seventy. He had walked up the hill and left me an elegant birthday card with a sincere letter of regrets and congratulations. I nervously responded the next day, but I had no need to be tense, as he was himself and oozed enthusiasm that I had responded to his card. He wanted to see me immediately. We met soon after and renewed that mutual bond. On the day of the meeting, we had a gentle, caring, and easy-flowing conversation.
That hour flew!
After that emotional reunion at a Five-Ways café in Paddington, we farewelled each other with hugs and kisses. I turned away, and then my feelings got the better of me, and I gyrated around to watch him disappear around the corner, away from me. He had the same energy as twenty-five years ago, when he was a mere sixty-three. Over the following year, we continued a flow of special phone chats, conversations only we knew and understood. We shared jokes from the past and the cares of the current days.
I never saw him again.
This major incident in my life prompted me to write a novel about a woman trapped by her past, her distrust of men, and her anxiety to not repeat a tragedy. The novel covers her entangled life’s journey through the highs and lows of many action-packed relationships, travel adventures, and other accomplishments to ultimately find love with a man she could trust.

1
Sydney, 1996
E va’s first marriage had nosedived over the decades, until she acknowledged that it had expired. It had been an awkward relationship right from the beginning. His connection with his domineering mother had been the problem. He never wavered in his claim of love for Eva, but his love for his mother had always been stronger. That love had led to a number of frightening incidents which had made Eva repeatedly fear for her life. The woman had dangerous powers of control over her son.
She knew that if she remained in the marriage, his mother would eventually win her game. There was a real chance Eva might not survive the next frightful confrontation. She had to overcome her pride and accept that the marriage was finished.
Eva was a petite woman with a strong sense of determination. To cope with the attacks on her, she had maintained a strong control of her own destiny, both mentally and physically. This meant she would be able to control her future.
In April 1996, there was a shooting spree at the Port Arthur historic site in Tasmania. Thirty-five people were killed and twenty-one injured. Eva had visited the site and felt for the community. The Port Arthur massacre had been solely perpetrated by Martin Bryant. After this horrific event, Prime Minister Howard called for all guns in Australia to be accounted for and to be handed over to the government.
Because of the massacre, she began to think more seriously about the attempts on her life and how violence could affect her own family. Could her own family be caught in a similar treacherous position?
She feared that her husband was capable of this. There was a gun in the house.
Eva announced her decision to split in 1996, on their twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. It had been odd, telling her husband, ‘Why are we still married, when you are perpetually trying to kill me? You have no love for the children, and yet after the first two, you demanded and blackmailed me into more! On top of that, I found out that you have an additional daughter with another woman! Why don’t we either resolve our issues or dissolve our marriage on this anniversary!’
He looked stunned! Was it a fake reaction?
She left the table at the restaurant in the Rocks; she dashed out of the place to breathe. She knew she had hit a sore point, totally unexpected by him. Her action would give him time to process what she had just said. When she returned to the restaurant, he was still sitting there, flabbergasted and perhaps feeling regret.
They walked to their six-star hotel reservation, which had been arranged months before. He tried to smooth his issues over. He suggested they watch porn movies to set the mood for sex. She felt disgusted, because she would be making love with a man who could be planning another deadly attack on her.
She played dumb and drank the champagne in the suite overlooking Sydney Harbour. She drew a bath full of froth and bubbles. She suggested he join her; he rejected the offer but kept his eyes firmly on his wife.
His head was spinning!
The night continued with banter and some laughter, until it was time to go to sleep. They certainly could be friends! They had sex. Eva played the game which men play too, the game of pretence. The sexual activity did enrich them temporarily; eventually they said good night to each other. However, Eva knew their marriage was over!
When they woke up the next morning, they looked at each other like lovers do. Happiness is an attitude! Eva thought she would try again, although she had tried forever to make good of her marriage. They understood each other, but one spouse cannot continue to abuse the other.
She was an unwilling victim!
She no longer wanted this role. No one else knew the truth. She had kept their life story behind closed doors, sealed with the fear of what might happen if she told the real story to anyone.
Again, Eva told him she wanted a divorce. He did not accept this. He told her to wait a week while he would try to work through the quagmire. Because he looked traumatised, she indicated that she would let him stay in her home for the next twelve months. This arrangement would also give the children time to settle into their new reality. They would have to have separate rooms. He would not hear of this!
Would he continue his life threats on her?
Three weeks later, Eva received an invitation to attend an expensive charity function in a private house on the water in Cremorne. She believed in the work of this charity and was willing to support the organisation. She was also encouraged by friends to attend.
Being separated, she felt awkward and disjointed. She felt shame, because her marriage had failed. Unfortunately, she had no one to attend with; she did not have an appropriate male escort outside her marriage. Feeling resourceful, she had a brainstorm to which she required a positive answer. She needed acceptance, so she took a gamble.
She asked her separated husband to join her and offered to pay for his ticket. He