By Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer 
... At the first sign that he was available, she moved to make him know that she liked him too and if that he was really interested, he would have to build her back brick by brick.
FORTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD Christine Hewitt, music promoter and producer, and 23-year-old David Gordon, haulage contractor, tied the knot in a simple ceremony in September 2004, one year after meeting each other.
Media shy, but self-assured David told Outlook that when he saw Christine, she was what he wanted so he went after her.
In an interview with this magazine last Sunday, he said, "I had no negative thoughts whatsoever. I saw what I wanted and went for it.
"She was a good and kind woman. I needed someone to stimulate me emotionally, intellectually and in other ways. She was just the person."
The marriage of the young male to the older, well-known Christine had been grist for the public grapevine for months. Christine told Outlook, "What I have done is nothing strange for Jamaica."
She claims that there are several well-to-do-women who have done the same thing but have managed to keep it a secret. "There are many Jamaican women who are tadpoling (going out with young men)," she told Outlook.
Nothing to hide
She, on the other hand, sees nothing to hide about the choices that she made.
The decision to even befriend him was not so easy for Christine, however. First of all, the haulage contractor who hailed from Linstead in St. Catherine was in a relationship when she first met him. He was also not too far in age from her 16-year-old daughter, Tricia, who Christine describes as her friend and confidante. She also has an adopted son, Martin, who is 28 years old.
Tricia's take on the issue, Christine said, was that her mother should not be responsible for home wrecking.
Christine said that she herself was in a very unhappy relationship with a man her age who constantly belittled her achievements and dreams. "He was extremely jealous and would tear me down." She wanted out.
"When I go to the boardroom to argue and to negotiate, that is very stressful," she adds, explaining that the demands of her job made her crave the nurturing home life which she was not getting. David, she said, was extremely attractive.
Uncertain what to do, she went on tour in the United States with singer Beres Hammond and then went to South Africa, she said to 'dechakalise' for three months. Back in Jamaica, she returned to the studio where she discovered that David's relationship was not monogamous after all. At the first sign that he was available, she moved to make him know that she liked him too and if that he was really interested, he would have to build her back brick by brick.
The self-assured David matched her moves and proposed marriage in a moment that surprised Christine.
"Why did you do that?" she said she asked him. "I don't want you to be insecure," she said was his reply.
A quiet ceremony
The rest as they say, is history. The marriage ceremony was a quiet one that cost only $7,000, but it did not escape the attention of the media.
Christine comments, "Personally, I think that if I were not Christine Hewitt, the popular person, no one would have noticed.
"What we have done, in speaking frankly about it, is similar to the homosexuals who are now demanding all kinds of rights. It is just a matter of time."
Locally, she said, what is changing and contributing to more relationships like hers is the fact that women are becoming more financially independent. They are also better educated and are travelling more. All these factors encourage them to be more assertive about what they really need in a relationship.
According to Christine, most of the older men are either unavailable, or stressed out, overworked and "frankly speaking, hardly able to maintain an erection. That's why their women are going with the gardeners. They neglect their wives. They believe that because their women are over 40 they do not require attention or sex."
However, women are no longer accepting the dictates of society, she feels. "They are taking control of their own lives."
David was quite frank about what he expects from his marriage. "I need someone who can give me good advice and make me more successful."
With a look of pleasure and pride, Christine replied, "He wants to become the most successful haulage contractor in Jamaica and retire by age 30. I will do all that I can to make sure that that happens. It is my duty and responsibility as a wife."
She will also ensure, she said, that he is not left destitute if she dies. She is not interested in a big funeral, she explains.
Christine went to great pains to explain to those that think that she has been married for her wealth that David is financially independent and, in fact, has refused to live in her home in St. Ann. Instead, he has rented another property for his new family and both are engaged in seeking another property to buy.
Before they were married, he also sold one of his vehicles and gave her $335,000, something which she said no other man has ever done for her, as she was the one who was always giving. Her daughter's father, she said, has only ever given her a red bath tub, an onion, a bottle of coffee and $300.
The strong tie
Love and respect are the strong ties that bind them together, Christine says, admitting that they do not share many interests together, but David she says, has a cooling and calming effect on her,
David replies, "Christine Hewitt is really a different individual from Christine Gordon. Christine Hewitt is almost like a male. She has a very strong personality. Christine Gordon is really all you can ever ask for in a woman."
He is quiet but he is feisty, Christine observes. "I like to be around David. He reenergises me. I wash his clothes and cook his food. He does the same for me. He is quiet. I can't stand a man who talks too much, as I do enough of that."
Tricia, Christine observes, has thrown her full support behind the couple and recently started calling David her
'Papher." David is dad to five-year-old Dacile, who lives in St. Catherine with her mom, and whom he sees every week. He is also quietly taking on the role of father to the 16-year-old.
The couple told Outlook that they would love to have more children but, according to David, he is not interested in doing anything that will endanger his wife's life. Christine has a history of difficult pregnancies, having had four miscarriages in the past.
"David is an excellent father. I would love to have his children," Christine notes. "The gynaecologist says that there is nothing wrong with me physically. However, I think that fertility drugs at my age might be dangerous. I don't think we need a child to validate us."
David, she states, is a family man. "Even though he is not with his child's mother, he is concerned about their welfare." She loves that and everything else about him.
"He is my first husband, and he will be my last," she states.
