October 19, 2015

An Affair To Remember Part IV

Cary Grant's best movie. Deborah Kerr was always my favorite Old Hollywood movie actress.
I barely remember Carmen as my senses were overstimulated after having been held hostage by the Army for over 4 years but I do vividly recall Tiffany in that print dress with the little rectangular waves, half the size of a domino in the perfect shade of lime green and Prussian blue.  Just as I predicted, Tiffany got raves during intermissions usually from older ladies as she had that girl-next-door  demeanor older people find so approachable. After graciously receiving the lovely compliment, Tiffany would turn and burst into laughter at seeing my triumphant 'I told you so' smirk nodding in deep self-satisfaction.
Civic Opera House: Grand Foyer: During the 1st Intermission, a toreador that goes
by  Escamillo tried to get fresh with Tiffany. I told that little weasel to take his red rag
back inside or Carmen is gonna have to watch him get slapped around by GSL in the next Act.


Leaving the Civic Opera House with our spirits soaring, Tiffany insisted that I allow her to buy me a drink at The Four Seasons. I then showed Tiffany how a crafty old pro hails a cab outside the Civic Opera House post performance: "This way Tiffany, we'll let those schmucks queue up in an orderly fashion but ol' GSL has a beautiful woman on his arm and a whistle to whet". We crossed Wacker Drive, high-stepped 1 block North to Washington, and caught a cab who had just dropped a fare off at Northwestern Station and button-hooked back towards the Loop....in a pattern only crafty old pros know about. When cabbies see GSL with his drinking shoes laced up, his powerful right arm held aloft, and his 'I don't do cabstand queue' snarl, they run stoplights and barrel towards the curb as they know a bone with some meat on it will soon be thrown their way. It was.

Statue outside Four Seasons Hotel just off Michigan Avenue
Just as we exited the cab at The Four Seasons, we turn and face the most bizarre scene I have ever witnessed on a Windy City sidewalk. A group of about 6 women dripping in Gucci & Chanel were laughing raucously as a member of their party simulated an act on that Four Seasons cabstand statue you see upon arrival. The act is the one Monica Lewinsky made famous with a former Commander-in-Chief. They snapped pics as these broads took turns so each of them would have evidence to always confirm that money can't buy class.  I tried to block Tiffany from seeing this spectacle but we both looked at each other in shock. As we took the elevator upstairs, I dubbed this group the Tulsa Wedding Party. We settled in a secluded corner in the lobby part of the bar and were thankful that the Tulsa Wedding Party took seats inside the bar proper a safe distance but certainly not out of earshot.

Tiffany and I finally had a chance to continue a conversation we began over 4 years prior. She was eager to know what my plans were now that I was liberated. She suggested I write a book about my Army experiences and confessed to having forwarded my email dispatches from Iraq to several of her friends and family who were now 'big fans'. Her father was a well-connected Republican in Arizona & California and said I should run for Congress. I thanked her for that vote of confidence and said The Good Doctor's father wanted to arrange for a book deal and put the word out to his network to help make it a success. I told her that I couldn't write that book now as I wanted to run as far away from that life as possible and wasn't mentally capable of putting the several months of intense focus needed to do the book right. Also, I wanted the book to be impactful, not just bring me 15 minutes of fame as a novelty who joined the Army later in life. I told Tiffany I will eventually write that book that will change how the Army conducts its business as my influence will dramatically increase in a few years and I won't write a book like that for money and I'll donate all proceeds to a fund I'll start to honor my grandparents. The email dispatches from Iraq were intended to ricochet into the White House and Pentagon and across the political spectrum and did.  I received confirmation from the daughter of a prominent General who happened to be an officer in my Battalion as her inquiries confirmed that my dispatches were forwarded from the civilian recipients to Washington and cascaded down the chain of command sometimes in less than 2 days. As for a career in politics, I told Tiffany that I'm far too volatile and didn't have the resume.

Tiffany and I walked to her Gold Coast high rise from the Four Seasons and then that moment came where you either say goodnight...or a motion is made for the evening to continue. We were standing outside her door, I could see Clarence keeping a respectful distance and my mind was racing on how to proceed.  Two women's presence then intruded. The first one was actually hovering over the entire evening as I had become "semi-betrothed" to her while home on leave from Iraq. Tiffany was halfway around the world on a trip with her family and I then assumed her interest in me wasn't romantic in nature. This 3rd party was the very same woman from the Saddle & Cycle Club gala who put me on backburner status much to my relief. My 16 days of leave were an emotional roller coaster and I was then in the practice of being terribly gallant and telling a nice woman in her late 30s with no bright prospects on the horizon and a biological clock ticking like Big Ben at midnight that "why don't we consider getting married after I get back from Iraq" just seemed so terribly gallant I couldn't resist. The semi-betrothed also happened to be a close friend of Tiffany's and let's just say the impression Tiffany was being given regarding my status with the once semi-betrothed was not how I would have described it....which I only found out several months later.  The other woman's presence that intruded on the scene was my mother's as Tiffany bore such a strong resemblance to my mother physically (although my mother is only 5'4" to Tiffany's 5'10") and in demeanor.  The mother issue preempted any inclination to cleverly inquire: "I need to see if your pup Murray followed orders and made a meal out of those FLATS".

The very best night of my life came to a close just outside her lobby entrance as I wondered if the semi-betrothed was watching us from her balcony a block away...


9 comments:

  1. Glad to see the saga continue. I thought I'd missed a post in my blog-truancy but happy I'm caught up. Looking forward to the epilogue (where all of the juiciest things tend to happen!) Also, Tulsa wedding party: too perfect. My crowd names tasteless strangers as well!

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    1. Hi Jen,
      That Tulsa Wedding Party could give debauchery lessons to drunken sailors on shore leave.

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  2. The Opera---lime green---Prussian Blue---Four Seasons---Generals' Daughters---a way with a city cab---naughty strangers---pulses and heartbeats and absences, Oh. My. In the ordinary vein, a wealthy, besotted gentleman (Black Gold!----Tulsa Tea!)---materializing to sweep away the hemi-demi-semi-fiancee languishing on the nearby balcony .would not go amiss.

    Wow. It's going to take yards of yarn and a roll of duct tape to tie a bow on this one. Bated, Hon. Bated.

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    1. Oh thank you Darling Rachel. I had forgotten about a little near-skirmish that has since been added along with a pic of the gorgeous Grand Foyer.

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  3. Dear Mr. Mossy,

    I was so fortunate as to have stumbled upon one of your early performances, and enjoyed it beyond telling---your youthful energy and talent, and the verve of the swerve as you and your partner tripped the even-lighter fantastic. That you was stepping proud along about 1:14,

    And a later version of your dear person was later in the program, at about 3:42, as your energetic footwork belied the snow upon that still stunning roof. I so enjoyed this little excursion down memory lane, and that nice young Mr. Mars makes us ALL dance young, he does. God Bless him.

    I hope you and all of yours a fabulous Thanksgiving celebration. Five of our lovies will arrive tomorrow---they decided the better part of valor was to find lodgings along about ten o'clock, with seven more hours to drive tomorrow. Beds await, toys and books stand by, and the aroma of that enormous ham which came off the grill about two hours ago has filled the house and is floating me, like Bugs Bunny, in a nose-suspended en pointe toward bed.

    And so good night, and happy holidays to you, Sweetpea.

    rachel

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    1. Thank you Darling Rachel for the Thanksgiving greetings and apologies for my tardy reply. I was without laptop & wifi for a couple weeks and must have missed this.
      I hope your Christmas plans are shaping up nicely.

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  4. URL http://www.etiquettehell.com/?p=4752

    can't think must sleep Soylent Green is people OllyOlly OxenFree and Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye.

    Your Green scarf matches your eyes. Close cover before striking

    r

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  5. Oh! I thought that statue must have been you. Sorry about bloggy silence, have been reading your posts and (silenty) commenting. Just a bit (four months!) of procrastination on my part.
    I do still love that movie. Some have not stood the test of time, but that one definitely did. Cary and Gregory both had a restraint that is compelling

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    1. Quite agree that this movie has aged very well Jody. Have missed you.

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