Women are free to explore higher education, travel around the world, and marry anyone. “We had to make sure… that this was more than just a love story between professor and student; which was the real thing, because the longer the indecision went on, the longer Mrs. Piper would be left dangling in uncertainty and anguish.” In this strand of the story, the reader can see that the narrator, a young woman in college, is away having an affair with her married professor. (172-173) “Mr. and Mrs. Peter Piper had been married twenty-four years… no longer in love… I loved him… and so far I was winning hands down.” (173) «I love you, I told Pietro... How much do you love me?... Extraordinarily! I love you with boundless affection." (174) These lines bring attention to the great amount of love the narrator has for his lover. “Peter said… Your indifference is my wife's pain, that's the problem.” (175) Peter placed the blame for the collapse of his marriage on the narrator. While waiting at the restaurant for lunch “Two waiters stood idly watching us while we waited... one was young and handsome... about my age... he smiled... I smiled back, and instead of pain the heart that I had become accustomed to as an erotic sensation, now I felt, with violence, an associated but different pang that hit my lower abdomen... The real pain of Ind Aff... I got up... Where are you going? He asked in amazement…Home”. (176) The young waiter helped the narrator realize that she is young and that there are so many men her age who would truly love her and not just use her for