Love Crazy:

Simone’s Notes:

The concept "of 'limerence' provides a particular carving up of the semantic domain of love", and is an attempt at a scientific study into the nature of love. Limerence is considered as a cognitive and emotional state of being emotionally attached or even obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily and characterized by a strong desire for reciprocation of one's feelings - a near-obsessive form of romantic love. For Tennov, 'sexual attraction is an essential component of limerence...the limerent is a potential sex partner'. Limerence is sometimes also interpreted as infatuation, or what is colloquially known as a crush; but in common speech, infatuation includes aspects of immaturity and extrapolation from insufficient information, and is usually short-lived. 'Tennov notes how limerence may dissolve soon after its initiation, as in an early teenage buzz-centered crush', but is more concerned with the point when 'limerent bonds are characterized by "entropy" crystallization as described by Stendhal in his 1821 treatise On Love, where a new love infatuation perceptually begins to transform...attractive characteristics are exaggerated and unattractive characteristics are given little or no attention... [creating] a limerent object '. According to Tennov, there are at least two types of love: a) limerence, which she describes as "loving attachment"; and b) "loving affection," the bond that exists between an individual and his or her parents and children. She notes however that one form may evolve into the other: 'those whose limerence was replaced by affectional bonding with the same partner might say..."We were very much in love when we married; today we love each other very much"'. The distinction is comparable to that drawn by ethologists 'between the pair-forming and pair-maintaining functions of sexual activity', just as 'the attachment of the attachment theorists is very similar to the emotional reciprocation longed for in Tennov's limerence, and each is linked to sexuality'.

Saturday night drive. Paul pulled up to Kira’s house and honked the horn. Somebody peeked through the window. They moved from the window and opened the door. Paul sat back and waited.

“Hi there,” he said. His girl lightly blushed.

“Hi,” she said.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Let’s go,” Paul said. He reached over and unlocked the door as Kira walked over to the car.

“Thank you,” she said as she got in. Once buckled up, Paul put the car in drive and pulled off. On the road, Kira looked over at her date.

“How have you been?”

“Good. Yourself?”

“Meh.”

Paul glanced over at his date. “What do you mean?”

Kira shrugged her shoulders. “It’s just boring in this city.”

“Really now?”

Kira leaned her head on Paul’s shoulder. “Mm-hm.”

“Why?”

“Nothing ever changes here.”

They pulled up to a red light. Kira looked over at Paul, brushed back her bangs, and kissed him on the cheek. “Look around you.”

“Okay…”

“You’re a great guy, Paul. Too great for everything. Too great for this city and your father.”

“I don’t mind it.”

“Well, I do!”

The light changed green and they drove off. Kira put her arm around his shoulder.

“Come away with me.”

Paul jerked his head over to her. “What?!?”

“Focus on the road.”

“Huh?” He turned back to the road and noticed that they had swerved into the other lane. He quickly corrected his error.

“Whoa!”

His girl laughed aloud. Paul caught his breath.

“It’s not funny. We could’ve died just then.”

Kira sat back, smiling. “Come away with me.”

“To where?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yeah. It matters because of my father.”

“He has your step-mom to take care of him now.”

“But, she pregnant.”

“So, she’ll manage. Just come with me. Pleaseee.” Kira slid her hand down to his lap. Paul tried to focus on the road.

“Kira, what are you doing?”

She didn’t answer him. Instead, the girl unzipped his jeans and slid her hand down in them. Paul nearly jumped at the sensation.

“Stop, I’m driving!”

“So?” She processed to softly stroke his member. A strange, relaxed feeling came over Paul. Fighting it didn’t help either. His mind became powerless to his own pleasure.

“Mmm, that feels good.”

“Kira looked up at him. “So what do you say? Will you come with me? Will you leave this city with me?”

He may have been relaxed, but he still had some good sense in his head. But, that was dying away too. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay.’

“Hey, can you keep stroking me like this while we drive around?”

“Depends.”

“Oh what?”

“Where we’re going tonight.”

“Just driving around.”

“Okay then, yes. I will.”

Paul smiled to himself as they kept going on further into the night drive.