An Affair...Part III:..."you WILL go to the ball !!! "

The evening was October 13, 2010. The venue was Chicago's magnificent Civic Opera House. The production was Carmen. My active duty military service having just ended (I used over 60 days accumulated leave to take an early exit), my plan was to immediately reawaken my soul with the stimulating energy only a major cultural center can provide. So, about 6 months prior, once my departure date was set in stone, I purchased 4 tickets to our wonderful Opera company on consecutive nights as a jumpstart back into civilian life. I contacted Tiffany to see which production she preferred. She chose Carmen so Terry Drama accompanied me to Macbeth the previous night.

I made the unfortunate discovery that my entire woolen wardrobe had been devoured by moths while in storage so had to wear my only unstored dress pants & navy blazer to look presentable. I looked good and felt better. I arrived at Tiffany's Gold Coast high rise via taxi, entered lobby, and had the doorman summon my date. Clarence dialed the code and chimed into the phone: "He's here....OK...." and as he hung up announced: "Miss Tiffany will be right down" with a big toothy grin. Clarence was her weekend doorman and was on duty when I left him the going away care package (leather bound 4 edition set of The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire) so knew our backstory and the significance of our reunion. As is often the case with older doormen and single female tenants, they take on an almost adored Uncle/Niece aspect in their daily exchanges of hailing cabs, assisting with heavy parcels, and familiar friendly and protective smiling face that over time creates a strong bond for a young woman on her own in the big city.

GSL is an old pro at greeting dolled up gals entering lobby from lift as it sets the tone for the entire evening. I'm not one of those schmucks that has a line locked and loaded either...GSL dictates scripts; he doesn't work from them and the high literary quality that can blush cheeks, buckle knees, and take breath away is dictated by what is beheld. The vision I then beheld in that lobby was so sublime only "Wow!" involuntarily escaped my lips. I could see her eyes going misty so in our reunion smooch, canvassed her elegant silhouette with the shocking discovery that Tiffany was in "FLATS!!!" I, of course, refrained from any signature profanity that still keeps Fort Bragg abuzz and simply said: "Oh these won't do....everything above the ankle is off the charts spectacular... and you're wearing FLATS???....Jesus Christ...you were wearing sexy heels at the Saddle & Cycle and now FLATS for the Opera?...no, these won't do at all...do you take me for a candy-ass who needs concessions?!?!"

By now Clarence's barrel-chested laughter was coming on like a freight train so I wheeled around and said: "Clarence, hold that cab....Miss Tiffany needs a wardrobe adjustment...."  His laugh was entering the station while picking up steam but he gathered himself up enough to keep that taxi staged. We took the lift up to her apartment and her pup, Murray, was also glad to see me as I had her grab 3 options and come stand before her tall mirror as she took off her trench. I suggested those chocolate brown pumps would be perfect with her fab very form fitting A-Line revealing she had spent considerable time at the gym prepping for her GSL. The A-Line was a print with small rectangular waves about half the size of a domino in the colors of a  perfect lime green and Prussian blue. I've never seen one similar before or since and it was absolutely gorgeous and fit like a glove.

I had her stand sideways before the mirror as I stood next to her and said solemnly: "Beauty too often doesn't acknowledge it's responsibility. It's power is so seldom well utilized. Listen my dear Tiffany, there will be people attending tonight's performance who are going through tough times and need something to lift their spirits and the performance will do some of it but I'm sure you know how stimulating a crowd of highly intelligent, well turned out people sharing an enriching experience can be and the people watching is never better than at one of these high-toned productions when our souls are reaching for greater heights.  Tonight, during the intervals you're going to be that stunner that turns everybody's head and brings a warm smile to the elderly who still get joy out of seeing a beautiful girl all gussied up so let's make your contribution to tonight's festivities as good as it can be." It was the chocolate pumps she left in and while saying my goodbyes to Murray, snatched those FLATS off the floor and tossed them his way with the order: "chew beyond recognition!".....

Part IV follows