by LJ Frank

 

 

 

Manhattan, New York City – a feminist existentialist psychiatrist wife with Buddhist and Epicurus leanings and a twin sister in the same profession and similar philosophical posture, using the same initials for first and middle name.

My wife thought she and I should meet at a designated location in Central Park. It was Autumn, Saturday, mid-morning. There was a chill in the air with cold weather forecasted. Red, brown, yellow mixed in with green leaves hung from branches.

She arrived wearing Christian Louboutin high heel boots, and a leather coat with matching skirt. Black is a classic color in the city. No one knows for absolute certainty how and why.  There was a magazine article in the early 1900s about black lingerie and the stylish woman and black topcoats for the fashionable man of business. Before World War I, blue was the color for girls and pink for boys. The economy and war affect fashion. A black hue was psychologically pragmatic, chic, and classy. Fashion evolves and repeats itself like hairstyles, toenail polish, and relationships.

I was away for a week at an academic conference. I saw her coming. She had a dancer’s walk.

She smiled. Hi honey, It’s good to see you.

It’s good to be seen.

Always the philosopher.

The writer and art critic John Ruskin observed the greatest thing the human soul ever does in this world is to see something.

Hm. I needed to see myself away from the office. My sister said she’d cover for me in case something came up. We occasionally have switched on Saturdays.

You’re efficient, like dressing in black.

Isn’t life a philosophical experiment?

No lofty meaning?

You and I give it meaning.

For a sense of order and pleasure?

If it comforts.

Why me? I mean why did you accept my proposal of marriage?

Charisma. Engaging. Availability. And you’re humble.

And your self-description?

Confident. Easy on the eyes. The rest is perception.

Perception?

 Let’s go for a walk.

Okay.

Remember the day you were about to propose to me at the office.

Yeah.

Remember the phone rang. It was an urgent matter. I told you I’d be back in ten minutes.

Go ahead.

Do you recall how I wore my hair and the color of my toenail polish.

So, you let your hair down and had a quicky pedicure?

What day of the week was it?

What are you saying?