Metamorphosis
by Jilliana
Ranicar-Breese
I went to a
French antique fair and fell in love, of all
things, with a Napoleon 111 decorative fireplace,
imagining how great it would look in the small
living room in the house I had just purchased.
The cheerful dealer who turned out to be French-American
had two internal doors for sale that I’m
sure came from a bistro. The frames were painted
dark green and the glass was double with moths,
dried flowers and herbs pressed between the two
pieces of historic glass. I imagined them in the
mini conservatory using the ‘free’ wall
we agreed the architect neighbour could build. I
calculated we would build a ceiling and another
wall to the right and place the two doors in
front overlooking the tropical garden I had
created. I thought it could be cheaply done. How
wrong I was. Things went wrong unexpectedly. We
even had to take a mortgage out in the end to get
my dream garden room!
All this was going through my mind while I
insisted to Christine that I would buy both if
the price was right but how could I get them to
London?
Christine being intelligent suggested that she
and her husband Christian drive to London with
the goods to go buying stock in Portobello road.
I immediately invited them to stay the weekend as
my house was in the parallel road to the market.
Deal done and I welcomed two very large Frenchies
to my home. They arrived with good red wine and
an enormous cooked ham. Christine did all the
cooking while her husband went to a specialist
shop for oversized men something they did not
have in Paris.
Everyone was happy with the business transaction
and I thought the French couple were happy too.
I lost touch and some years later was at antique
fair when I saw Christine with her ‘child’
the adorable dachshund called Romeo. She looked
svelte in a plain black décolleté dress but she
had lost so much weight I had to ask her how she
had done it.
She confided that her husband had betrayed her
and was now living with another woman. I was
stunned she confessed she was so upset she couldn’t
eat for months while she pined away for him.
She confided that now she had a lover and I
wished her good luck still amazed by her
metamorphoses.
3/12/24
written in Nightingale.
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