FEEL

Pierce Teaser - PROLOGUE

A man's mind - the woman's greatest mystery. A scribbled labriynth of unexplained tendencies. Where there is logic, yet irrationality. Strategy, yet impulses. Morals, yet sins. Tyrancy, yet clemence. Power, yet voluntary submission. Where abides a large sum of himself, yet, possibly, an equal sum of a woman.

It can never be known what a man truly thinks of a woman. What he tells her is what she wants to hear, premeditated in her honor. At times, she is bright behind his eyes. She shines and lights his entire mind, a blinding light that engulfs his head space. He thinks praises of her. He thinks artistry of her. He thinks all that is in his nature: to protect, to hold, to devote to.

Other times, the man adapts a more malicious set of thoughts. Thoughts that would never come out, be he drunk, or tortured or induced in heavy drugs. No, the man keeps these ideas in the darkest tunnels of his mind. Lets them creep out every now and then to possess his gaze, forgetting shame and forgetting her scrutiny. These thoughts would clench his fists, tighten his jaw, send a hot wave of blood southward and burn him. Curse him. Curse him with an insufferable dose of desire that he has the burden of controlling.

It is what makes the man so admirable. How he lets the curse linger only in his eyes. How he refuses to let it orchestrate his actions. How he so calculatedly, should she permit it, gives her a piece of what hides inside those dark tunnels, so that she knows him a little more than others do. How, should she not permit it, he buries those urges back into their tunnels and saves them for when she should want them.

Cameron Pierce defined a man by steadfast integrity. By his loyalty to those he loved and his honesty to himself. "Lie my son," his father, Lyle would always say, "if you should, then lie. But lie to everyone on earth but yourself. Let deceit be uttered while the truth is thought."

Lying is not something he found himself doing all the time. There was not a need, is what he believes. The truth makes its way out anyhow. A liar is a seeker of temporary satisfaction. However, if he did, then he made sure that the truth was known by him to the greatest extent.

Another high definition of a man that Cameron Pierce had found throughout his lifetime was appreciation of the arts. Should you appreciate the beauty of art, you may, in the same manner, appreciate that of a woman, is how he saw it. For art is vast. Art is multifaceted. Art expresses itself beyond the surface, beyond what you may see with the naked eye.

Doesn't a woman do the same? He has found that she does. They are a spitting representation of a kind of art, the woman race. With one smile, she expresses many pleasantries. One frown, and many turmoils. One touch, and you should know by the force or gentleness if she aches for you or not. She is a man's job to interpret, to dissemble her complexities. And men have tried, and failed to read a single woman and compare her to others. Because they are all different. Everytime a man experiences a woman, it was like reading another book, with a whole new genre and a whole new set of themes partaining it.

The last was charity. A man with no charity is a man who can do many things right, but with all the bad intentions.

"I want you to give," his mother, Celementine had said to him, "When you give love, give all of it that is in you. When you give kindness, give all of it that is in you. Tell me, when I dress you, do I put on just the pants and say go on without the shirt? When I serve you food, do I plate just the salad and say forget about the meat? So, if you should give, give either everything or nothing at all. Take these words to sleep, my dear, and let them guide you to your dreams. And in the waking life, let them guide you to your endeavors."

Indeed, his family had taught him much about character. His sister, Laylie, who was the least like your average woman in Cameron's observation, had taught him great resilience. It didn't come with the gentleness that it had with mum, nor the kind sternness that it did with his father.