“She’s here! Char, dearest one, come here! Liz is pulling into the driveway!” shouts Collins anxiously from the other room jumping up from the couch by the window. He has found perfect bliss with Char and no longer feels resentment towards any rejection of Liz’s affections. Char has been his “Angel, his joy, his life” which he frequently ardently voices to her at odd and unusual moments.
“Yes, I’m coming” replies Char picking up the sections of newspaper on the sofa and Collins last pair of dirty socks left in front of the TV stating slightly annoyed “Would you mind making sure your socks are in the hamper next time?”
“Anything for you, dear . . . socks just seem like such a trivial thing when there are so much bigger considerations. But you are probably right we wouldn’t want to have dirty laundry on the floor should Major Debourgh surprise us with a visit. I must remember this for future reference” compliantly responds Collins “She is such an excellent housekeeper. We could learn a thing or two from her pristine example of cleanliness-is-next-to-godliness”.
“I don’t believe that is mentioned anywhere in the Bible, Collins. But it certainly doesn’t hurt for socks to find their way to the hamper at night” responds Char throwing the socks into the large brown wicker basket in the bathroom and then looking at the full hamper that was empty on the day before says more quietly to herself “Laundry seems like a never ending chore that I don’t think that I will ever get use to doing . . . ”
“Dear, dear, she’s coming up the walkway! Our first guest in our new home is arriving!” gleefully shouts Collins clasping his hands “She’s struggling with her suitcase, do you think I should help her? She seems to be doing a good job managing on her own”.
“Yes, I think she would appreciate your help. I’ll be there in just a second” replies Char wondering why he can notice things but doesn’t often respond as quickly as expected.
“Don’t hurt yourself, Liz” advisedly states Collins as Liz picks up the suitcase that has flung itself to the side off its wheels for the umpteenth time in the last few seconds. She struggles to pick up the large oversized suitcase but struggles and trips over it instead landing in the newly planted rose bush lining the walkway.
“Oh Liz! That’s my “Breath of Heaven” rose bush!” surveys Collins with his hands on his hips surveying the damage while Liz struggles to regain her composure and pick herself up from the ground “It’s been crushed. It may take another year before it blooms!”
Liz looks up at him curling her upper lip. He is totally oblivious to the fact that a hand would be helpful in assisting with the recovery of her balance. Suddenly aware that someone is staring at him, he glances over his shoulder to see Char with a puzzled look on her face and bending down to help Liz up from the ground.
Liz is covered in wet fresh potting soil. Char helps to brush the dirt from Liz’s legs. They catch each other’s eyes and start to giggle. Liz has always been a bit of a clutz with Char consistently standing to the side helping her up from some mess she has gotten herself into.
Char sweetly smiles “Just like old times! It is so good to see you again, Liz!” She glances over to Collins and narrows her eyes. He knows that he has missed something and is slightly in trouble but typically not quite sure of the reason.
“Liz, you’re staying in our guest room. We only have two rooms but we’re very comfortable” explains Char.
Collins interrupts her statement while stepping between Char and Liz in the entrance to the doorway of the guest room. It is a tight squeeze but they manage through the door one shoulder at a time. “Yes, Major Debourgh takes good care of us and makes sure that we are well provided for. We have one of the nicest quarters for officer assistants in the whole division. There is no reason to complain. Some homes may be larger and newer, but this was has “character with age” as Major Debourgh likes to say”.
“Yes, it has a lot of ‘character’” Char whispers to Liz while Collins is admiring the view of the small twelve inch window looking out into the alley “Pipes that moan, drippy fawcetts, and creaky floorboards . . .”
Collins turns and asks “Liz, don’t you find this the most amazing home ever? Have you ever seen such a wonderful place?”
Liz isn’t sure if he is being sarcastic or completely delusional, but she politely smiles for her best friend’s efforts to make it a beautiful home “Yes, it is lovely. Char’s touch is everywhere and she can make anything look quite beautiful.”
Collins brims with pride looking at his newlywed bride. “Char is the decadent frosting to my cake. She is so sweet and delicious.”
Char glances at him at this peculiar statement and smiles realizing that he is sincere even if a little awkward. She kisses him on the cheek in response “ Liz and I are going to catch up and chat for awhile which you will probably find quite boring. Has Major Debourgh requested you at the corps for anything this afternoon?”
“Yes, she most likely has a list of assignments for me to do. She always likes pure perfection. One of her pearl-of-wisdom statements is that ‘preparation is the key to perfection’. As they say in Latin and the National Coast Guard, “semper paratus” and with a twist of dramatic flair with the whip of his jacket while aiming for the front door adds “Having declared my personal anthem and motto, I’ll see you later!”
Liz tries to hold back a few giggles not sure what to make of the scene. Char rolls her eyes, but sweetly smiles back at him as he appears to be heading toward an adventurous crusade.
Now that the two are left alone, Char and Liz both relax and begin to chat as they have for years growing up together discussing latest celebrity news, events in politics, tips for cooking, the newest trend in nail polish, and some new hairstyles currently being worn by some of their friends.
Liz turns to Char and decides to dive in with a very personal question, “Do you like being married? Is it what you expected it to be?”
“Liz, as you know I am a very practical person. I didn’t expect a ‘day-dream’ of a prince charming or the fairy tale castle before I got married” frankly replies Char with a hint of a sigh “I didn’t expect perfection which is the reality of a real relationship”.
“Yeah, I know. But what do you think of marriage?” inquisitively asks Liz wondering what it is like to live with Collins on a day to day basis.
“Collins and I get along well when we are together. But we also spend a lot of time apart. He does his ‘thing’ at the corps and I find my own place of fulfillment at work and in the women’s ministries at the corps. He doesn’t interfere with what I do but always manages to appreciate it” then smiling to herself while she reflects on his consistent kindness to her, “He makes me feel that it wouldn’t matter what I did, he would think that I’m the most wonderful woman in the world”.
“Umm. To be honest, I really didn’t see you marry Collins. He does seem happy with you though. Are you happy with him?” asks Liz.
“It was a bit of an adjustment at first but we have fallen into a comfortable routine together. Although if I were entirely truthful, I can’t stand how he compares everything to how I do things to Major Debourgh” and in the comfortableness and trust of an old friend “Honestly, I think that is worse than what most women have to deal with a mother-in-law. I could understand it, if she was his mother but she is definitely not. At least we are only assisting until September until we will go to training. I will be a cadet while Collins works at the school in a cadet-spouse position for the next two years”.
The phone on the end table begins to vibrate. Char picks it up to read the recent text message. She looks empathetically at Liz “It looks like we have been invited to spend the evening at the Debourgh’s home for dinner. You are getting a chance to meet her tonight. “
“I’m looking forward to it” honestly replies Liz curious to meet this supposedly fabulous mentor of Collins.
“Liz, do you know that Darcy is often mentioned along with the Debourgh family” asks Char not sure if she should mention the local Army gossip.
“I know that he knows them because he brought their name up once or twice” replies Liz not sure why this would be important.
“Anne Debourgh, the daughter of the Majors, has been linked with Darcy for years. Their mothers were best friends since they were session mates at the training college. Darcy’s mom left the work to marry his father. Both families are very well connected and can trace the Army heritage back for generations. It has been assumed for quite awhile now that Darcy would marry Anne since they have grown up together and have been sort-of pushed together by their parents”.
“Well, that will be upsetting for Caroline Bingley. Her claws seem to be aimed at the wrong person. I don’t know why she bothers with me then” frankly replies Liz a little surprised at her own jealously at the mention of Anne’s name.
“I wanted to mention it just in case anything was said tonight at dinner” anxiously replies Char.
“There didn’t seem to be any interest or spark when Darcy mentioned her name. In fact someone else had to bring her name up and basically force him to admit he knew her” remembers Liz dwelling in memories of her own.
“Have you met Anne Debourgh? I don’t think she is his type anyway. She’s nice enough but rather elusive. She isn’t friendly necessarily but not rude either. You always feel like she is being “polite’ but definitely not ‘warm’. She’s sort of a difficult person to read. Although quiet, she does like to be in control of everything that happens around her” reflects Char having been the focus of some of Anne’s icy and condescending stares “If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that she previously had a crush on Collins before I met him”.
“She may have, you never know” thoughtfully responds Liz remembering that her younger sister, Mary, was completely heartbroken for a couple of months to find that Collins had married her best friend.
The phone buzzed again in the palm of Char’s hand “It looks like Collins is messaging me again. I usually receive between forty and fifty texts a day letting me know what he is doing. He likes to keep in touch. I’m not sure that I really like the whole idea of ‘unlimited texting’” states Char with a friendly smile stroking the face of the cell phone with her thumb “at least he is always texting me sweet things as well”.
Liz realizes that Char does like hearing from Collins in spite of her joking. She sees that her friend is happy with Collins even if he can occasionally be a little on the peculiar side of things.
“Guess what? Jennings and Alice Hammer are coming tonight as well! It will be so great to see them again! I haven’t seen them much this summer because they’ve been on a cruise to Europe and traveling around to different places. Neither one of them like to sit still for very long” then Char looking at her reflection in the large dresser mirror applying some lipstick states “I would like to be like them as I get older.”
“I can’t wait to see them! They are always such fun together” agrees Liz checking her teeth to see if some wandering lipstick has decided to gloss her pearly whites “Let’s make an agreement that if we find ourselves on our own at that age, we’ll enjoy it as much as possible”.
Sharing a secret handshake that they made up when they were seven years old on the second grade playground when they were being torrentially teased by Billy Featherstone confirming a plan of battle, both agree to this formidable pact.
