September 13, 2015

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

9 comments:

  1. Had to chuckle at this. Although I think it's nice that you took note of everything, including the shoes, I personally would have a problem with a guy dictating what sort of shoe I was wearing. I would have told you that, yes, I was wearing flats. end of discussion..........!

    Looking foward to Part IV, hopefully it doesn't involve blisters on Tiffany's feet.

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  2. Vava,
    Thanks for checking in. As this is a blog post, brevity is at a premium and likely it may be lost on new arrivals and only occasional readers (across 6 continents and counting) that the dashing protagonist is a strapping 5'6" with the gorgeous leading lady a willowy 5 foot 10 and condensed out of the exchange is that GSL had gleaned she was only wearing heels over her concern for HIS imagined insecurities he so charmingly put to rest. Also, after posting this I did suspect there may be some that would take macro-umbrage on our protagonist's presumptous 'sexist' behavior but bear in mind this was after a separation of 4 years, the protagonist had moved heaven and earth on behalf of our leading lady in many ways she was deeply moved by, and the protagonist's tone during all this was in obvious mock-seriousness she found highly amusing and she knew full well she could always make up her own mind without the slightest worry that it would the slightest effect on the magical evening that followed.
    Our Tiffany was a very professionally accomplished investment banker who donated a several hours a week at a homeless shelter working in the kitchen. Everybody that knew her held her in the highest respect none more so than the protagonist. She well understood the context in which these 'dictates' were delivered and her radiant smile dazzled from the moment we reconnected until I saw she was safely in her building at nights end....

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    1. GSL, thanks for the explanation. I guess I didn't pick up that your Tiffany chose flats to make you more comfortable about her height. That was considerate of her. You do seem like a gentleman and that's why I was thrown off by your desire for her to switch into heels for the evening. (I like heels from time to time myself, but I tend to avoid them because I don't want to develop deformed feet. There are tons of gorgeous flats and low heels, and I always reach for them.)

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  3. The opera, the heels .... what could all this be leading to. I await the next installment with baited breath GSL.

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    1. Thanks for your patience CD. Opera & sexy heels always bode well for GSL.

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  4. I knew you were not a schmuck from day one. And not a candy ass? Without question. I adore you and anxiously await part IV.
    xx~J

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    1. Darling Jennifer,
      I was only your worst ever client...but thanks for hanging in there with me.

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