I’m sitting in a cafe writing on a legal pad, when I notice a well-heeled woman staring at me from across the room.
Do I know her from somewhere, I wonder, my memory lately doing the hula.
She starts walking over.
An attractive woman, in her 50s, with jet black hair in a sprayed flip, cascading over a little too much cleavage for 4 in the afternoon. I can’t see what she’s wearing beneath what looks like, a full length beaver coat. I do notice she has on Tod loafers that gleam in the pre-evening light.
“Excuse me,” she says, genuinely apologetic for disturbing me. “I really need to ask you something.”
My essay light pops on as I smile and say, “We haven’t met before, right?”
“No,” she says, looking around like Mata Hari. “I have to go to a party and we’re all supposed to come as someone famous. After seeing you come in, I thought I could go as Audrey.”
I’m speechless, because the whole thing is a bit bizarre, even for me, plus the last person she resembles is Audrey Hepburn.
“Tell me where to go get what you’re wearing,” she says, now sitting across from me.
“Well, I’m only wearing tights and a turtleneck, and flats. Certainly you must have them in your closet.”
This woman looks as if she has 40 closets. You can tell. Her coat alone could pay my rent for a year.
“I don’t. I never wear black for starters. Too funereal. And my butt is just too big for leotards.”
“Then, maybe Audrey is not the best choice,” I say tactfully, ignoring the funeral remark. “Why not go as Marilyn, or how bout Ava. You could pull off a great Ava Gardner.”
Now I’m into it, her new costume ball fashion consultant.
She thinks about this for a second. “I could get my guy to do my hair like hers. Could bring him a picture.”
“Yeah, and you can go to Sephora maybe and get your make-up done, like a 40’s siren.”
“What else do you know?”
That she always wore tight, tight pants, like all the matadors she slept with.”
“She did?”
“Yeah, she was a very sexy lady. She was married to Sinatra remember.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot that.”
After Adrianne and I decide her 20 ply white cashmere Oscar de La Renta sweater will be perfect with skinny leopard pants and hot pink mules, she thanks me, kisses me, then…
picks up my check. 
Only in New York folks.
🙂 SB
You’re wrong, Audrey. It isn’t only in New York, it’s only with Susannah! Your aura must emanate approachability like a beacon.
You can now add costume consultant to your resume. Adrianne certainly came to the right person for advice. I hope you were eating a hefty meal in that café; so lovely of her to pick up your bill.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a funny story though. I mean, I’m a bit out there, but can’t imagine swanning over to a perfect stranger to grill her about her outfit. Also, you see girls everywhere in tights and flats. It’s like a uniform. You hop in it without much thought. Add a blazer and you could really go anywhere. I got an essay out of it and two lattes, and a big laugh. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I read your stories, I feel like I should smile more when I’m in the city. I tend to keep my head down and avert my eyes, a carryover I think from when I worked there decades ago. It was a different city back then. People were suspicious, wary and always in always in a rush. As an introvert, I think the idea of being somewhat invisible in a crowd appealed to me. But reading your stories makes me want to work on my approachability. Besides, I could use a free latte and new blog material ☺️
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are so many opportunities, that’s for sure. I must send out some kind of signal, because things like this happen too frequently. Or maybe I troll for them unconsciously. Who knows. Thanks for writing. Always a pleasure Gail.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are amazing, helping people at ALL levels! Rich and poor benefit from your wisdom. Wow!! What a story!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re funny. This would probably not happen in Duluth or Omaha.
LikeLike
The city is your place to shine brightly, because everyone needs some heavenly light. The rich woman was drawn to you, and it was what she sensed in you that made her cross the room. She has treasured your conversation and counted herself lucky to have chatted with you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always oblige even if it is a little unusual. That Audrey look still stops traffic. I’m sure wherever she is she’s smiling.
LikeLike
I’m sure Audrey would approve of your wearing her mantle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or at least her tights.
LikeLike
LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fabulous … Besides, you have a why of telling a story that captures me. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re such a sweet talker Frank. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmmmm …. not sure how to respond. (Wink)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like your prose as well. Love the baseball series. Like dreams on the page that arrive with ball fields and bleachers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your kindness. The baseball series was fun to write. One more! … and ballparks is the theme!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The old Yankee Stadium, Ebbets Field where a sign hangs in memory. R Field. Can’t wait. 😲
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you’ll like it … Well, truth be told, I confident you’ll like it – but I’ll still hold on to some doubt.
LikeLike
Don’t be a doubting Frank. Look what happened to Thomas. There’s no future, or fun, in skepticism. Reminds me of another baseball flick. League of Their Own, when Tom Hanks says…There’s no crying in baseball. That was the film that brought him back from his slump. Trivia, in the 3rd Inning of your series, comin’ up. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
My margin of error was not taking you for granted. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okay, I’ll accept that. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m thinking it’s not only a New York thing… it’s a Susannah thing! You must definitely send out invisible signals that attract potential stories to tell… Plus, I am convinced you wear your kindness as comfortably as your Audrey look which only begs people to want to be a part of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re right. I always saddle up. It’s that cub reporter I me trolling for a story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some just have that natural knack 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I need a life maybe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe this is your life… and it’s not a bad thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a good, practical way of looking at it. ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it’s a pretty cool life, to tell you the truth. Way better to be one who attracts and spreads the joy, dontcha think?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been an odd girl my whole life. Why should it stop now. Growing up with crazy parents who raised me like an alien cat. At best. Short of the circus, New York is the only place for me. I attract the unusual. She probably knew I’d help her. How? I don’t know.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nothing wrong with being odd. It means you are an original. Sometimes crazy parents give us an ass-backwards gift – we learn how to navigate this crazy world – even if we end up hitting more bumps in the road. We learn to cope, to get help and be empathetic as a result and this oozes out of us unbeknownst to us. You are a gift.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have no choice never being a 9 to 5ver
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I did it for 30 years and the thought of returning to that makes me wanna gag..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I meant mentally. I’ve always been one step ahead of those commitment hearings. It’s amazing I’m still afloat. You underestimate your life. I envy it. Husband, kids. Zeke. You’ve had a taste of all that is pure love. My nose is pressed against your window.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I understand. I was rather blessed. Parents who did well by me. I found a man who loved me with all his heart and gave me three sweet boys, two of which are now annoying adults and one who is hanging out with his father. That old better to have loved… yeah. So I won’t whine about my present situation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I didn’t know you lost a son. I’m sorry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. It will be 23 years this Friday. Whoa… I hadn’t looked at the date. He would have been 24 this coming May. He was a week shy of 8 months old. Was born with a heart defect.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know two other babies that happened to. Must have been heartbreaking. You’ve been through a lot. You have. I’m humbled Dale.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The human body is so complex, one wonders how come so many are born “not broken”. It’s a tough one, for sure. From the day he was born, I knew I wouldn’t have him for a long time. Mick, on the other hand, was convinced he’d be good as new one day. It’s life, you know? My grandmother was my hero – she raised six kids basically by herself, lost her three sons: one at 17, one at 32 and one at 54… Her mother raised 17 kids, her husband was killed when she still at 14 at home, the year later, her house burned down. Me? I’m just one…
LikeLiked by 1 person
OH MY GOD. I think you should write about it all. Call it Personal History. Mick makes me think of JFK when he lost Patrick, how he stayed with him the whole time. How he kept saying, he’s a fighter, he’ll make it. Jackie was too sick to be there so he carried the whole thing…for once…on his own. That’s what your share, as they call it in 12 Step, brought up for me. Heartbreaking tale my friend. And your predecessors. Oh my. I bow at their feet, and yours. sigh
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have and I do, actually. I am creating a book of sorts called “Dear Mick” with all of his (mis)adventures – one per chapter. Plus on the blog I often use him and Austin as my muse.
My share would include laughter – because I can’t help myself.
No bowing at my feet, my friend. I just deal the cards that are dealt and move forward. Some days sluggishly, some days with a hop in my step.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m still humbled by it all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do thank you.
We all have our journeys, eh? No one knows what others have lived through or are living through with just a glance. Writing sure helps keep me sane, tell you what!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Funny that you said that. I wrote an essay about writing and I said, it keeps you sane. It’s in the batter’s box.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great minds…
LikeLiked by 1 person
What I have left of one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is quite wonderful.
And frankly, as we reach certain ages, we are allowed to let a bit go 😉 They overflow with stuff already.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like a messy closet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! Yes! Where we discover things as we move others around!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like that tuba I never play.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hah! That is a rather big item to stow away!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My attempt at early morning humor.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ya done good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sigh
LikeLiked by 1 person
A gift may be pushing it a little.
LikeLiked by 1 person
All in how you look at it.
LikeLike
True. Prospective is everything
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. it is.
LikeLike
I’ll bet you have lots of sense, fashion or otherwise.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh… I’m not fashionable at all. I wish I was but nah.
Other sense, I might have some 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Common sense is overrated. 🙃
LikeLiked by 1 person
You got that right!
LikeLiked by 1 person
i have so little when you come right down to it, the way I engage with so many irregulars, for lack of a better term. New York is home for the unhinged, me being one too at times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it just makes you more open and accepting. You have shown you do have sense in situations. Who wants to be common, anyway?
LikeLiked by 1 person
True.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When you look it up. the word ordinary looms.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And we both know neither one of us is ordinary!
LikeLike
Sometimes I wish I were. Then life might be a whole lot easier.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe so. But maybe we would get bored after a while…
LikeLike
True.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The girl doesn’t wear black and she lives in NYC? That’s different.
I love how you didn’t miss a beat and provided her with the 411 to land her ‘role’ in the evening’s festivities. Picking up the check was the least she could do. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Too bad I was only drinking coffee. I rarely write outside my house. Funny it happened. I just had an urge for a latte and Le Pain Quotidian makes the best. Plus it’s so pretty inside with stone benches and French bowls it comes in. A little ambiance is good for a girl Mr. Imma. 😙
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nothing wrong with a good cuppa Joe.
This was a nice twist of fate, to be there when you needed to be. And that place sounds like THE place to get your cup on.
I love me some ambiance. I’ve been known to frequent places where I’m not crazy about the fare, but the mood works.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes it does the trick. Refreshes and restores. Starbucks is getting old and losing its charm if it ever had any. This joint costs a little more and they’re all over the city, but it’s worth it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I try to stay away from Starbucks as much as possible. We have some really cool coffee shops in our downtown area. I like those when I get down there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, it’s like the Port Authority of coffee joints. Loud, unruly. FILTHY. No one cleans like they’re supposed to, and no one seems to care. Everyone’s on their phone. Le P. Q’s are more civilized. You can’t act like a feral animal in there. They won’t permit it. Let’s here it for boundaries Mr. Imma.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are times when I dig gritty and there are times when I need civility, and one thing about NYC . . it’s got it all.
Boundaries are muy importante. If more people respected them, we wouldn’t find ourselves in this bizzarro world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
True. Google Larry O’Donnell sticking it to CNN. He used to write and produce The West Wing. He’s a gem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s something you don’t see every day. CNN being called to answer for their support of Trump.
Another part of the problem as far as I see, is that we are tone deaf to this satire by now. We EXPECT it . . since it’s been fed to the public for so many years now. It’s not like Trump was dropped in our laps five minutes ago and we jumped back from the comedy skit he plies.
A too large segment of the population is desensitized to his crap, and he depends on that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you read it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am middle of the road . . but I can’t disagree with anyone who calls Trump a pathological liar. Hell, Trump gave one of his pep rallies recently in which he basically admitted to Ukraine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The part I’ll always find mystifying is, that no one cares in the long run. He just may get to serve another term.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The indifference is frightening.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Clinton was the benchmark. No one cared what he did with Monica in the final act, so Trump is another one who can just do what he wants. And it’s being handled so badly, it’s darn right embarrassing. Nancy should be relieved of duty. Her animus is clouding the Constitution that everyone seems to have forgotten about. Just follow the play book. I’m sorry. It’s all so disheartening.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And it isn’t look any more promising. I cannot believe we are in the election year already . . . .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fasten your seatbelts, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jesus help us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’s had it too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So we’re officially screwed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hicks had that great joke about if Jesus came back and found we were all still wearing crosses. I forget the tag but it’s something to the effect that, he’d go right back. I think that applies here and now, don’t ya think Mr. Imma?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Classic, and so true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He must be up there smiling…the two of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I believe you’re right.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah. Wish Hicks had never left the building. Sigh
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’s still here thanks to you. Thank you for re-introducing me to his genius.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really? You never heard of him before? Wow. I bow then.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh no, I had. You reintroduced me to him though, which I am thankful for.
LikeLike
I like that better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And you’re right, he was ahead of his time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wish I could dial it back, Billy grimacing from the dugout, arms folded, a leg raised. Fans are yelling…Lou, Lou, for Mr. Pinella along with shouts Of…REG-GEE…REG-GEE. Or Mr. October as the Boss, Mr. Steinbrenner liked to call him.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Remember Reggie Bars?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, a Babe Ruth spin-off.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I miss em.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Weren’t they called Baby Ruths?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes they were indeed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah…I’m gonna Google them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Coffee and fashion …what a combo. I’m all about good coffee though with no fashion sense.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll bet you have great style.
LikeLike