Tiffany's Visit - Suki's Take

We had a visit from Tiffany today, yes. Or was it yesterday? Oh, no, today it was. It's just that I had to take a long nap afterwards. I always get frazzled when Tiffany visits.

Before that, Zoe was taking a walk (I didn't go with her this time because I was still managing my emails.), but she was only gone about 5 minutes when she came bursting through the door in extreme agitation, startling me into an altered state. (I almost dropped my hot tea on my laptop which would have been -- oh, I can't even think about it. I meant to scold her for being so loud and abrupt, but I never got around to it.) Anyway, she went racing around the room, straightening this and washing that. She was no more than a blur, it seemed, and right away I got this dizzy feeling and then a headache. I tried to stand up, but had to sit back down immediately. Anyway, Zoe was racing around tidying up the place and yelling at the top of her lungs. I couldn't understand a thing she said in the state I was in until I finally understood the word "Tiffany", and suddenly I knew.

Tiffany was coming.

That's all I needed to know. I went into action immediately to help Zoe in spite of my dizzy headache, but all too soon we heard the door bell. I must have closed my eyes for just a moment, because the next thing I knew Tiffany was standing right in front of me handing me her hat and gloves and saying yes, she didn't mind if she did have some ice tea, thank you. Of course we did not have any since neither Zoe nor I like it. But somehow Zoe was handing her a tinkling glass of unsweetened ice tea and two packets of Splenda.

The dots were just not connecting in my brain. I had to sit down. Of course, I was the perfect hostess complement to Zoe, sitting in the attentive listening posture, smiling and nodding politely to Tiffany's every sentence. I didn't really take in what she was saying, of course. I have found that it works better if I can seal myself in an invisible (or light pink) bubble while Tiffany is here. Oh, I love, love, love our Tiffany of course. She is amazing. And wonderful. I am quite taken by her. It's just that we don't seem to understand each other. We are too different, I'm afraid, to have a peaceful and constructive dialogue.

After a little while, Tiffany seemed to be looking over my head and speaking to someone behind me, but Zoe was sitting near the fireplace. That's when the word, "Dusty", slipped through my bubble. I actually heard a loud POP.

I managed to greet him and offer him a seat next to me on the sofa, but he and Zoe started bringing in boxes and stacking them in front of the fireplace. They all had Dusty's scrawl on them in that smelly black marker which did nothing good for my headache.

TIFF'S OLD CLOTHES
DISCARD
GIVE TO ZOE AND SUKI

Except "DISCARD" was X'd out. Then Tiffany was telling Dusty to put down his water glass and drive her home, and they were both gone.

Dusty had said hardly a word to me or even given me more than a glance or two. I had this strange, empty feeling in my chest. A quick search on Dogpile made me aware that I possibly have a heart condition of some sort, so I called and made an appointment with the Doctor for day after tomorrow. I wondered if I might need an emergency appointment, but Zoe took the phone out of my hand and convinced the doctor that I was not having a heart attack. I hate it when she does that. Zoe hung up for me and left to finish her walk. If she had any sensitivity at all, she would have let me talk through my health concerns with her for a while. She knows that always calms me down and reassures me. But instead, all I could do was fix some fresh chamomile tea and slip under the covers for a nap, hoping that I would wake up still alive.

Fortunately for Zoe, I have just regained normal conciousness after a fretful nap. I would have hated for her to find me, a dead empty shell with my soul having taken flight from the trials of this day. I don't like to think of the trauma and guilt that would have brought her . . .

Coming Soon: Tiffany's Visit - Zoe's Take