Meeting my date's Mother Dearest. Exercise in creating setting through character.
“Welcome, Sweetheart!” Mrs. Darling beamed. “Would you like something cold to drink?”
“Oh, no I’m quite alright, thank you,” I smiled.
My date nudged my side and I looked at him quizzically. His mother turned her back to me and opened the stainless steel fridge. She was dressed in a flowing white blouse, a long red pleated skirt. Her white coiffed hair framed her porcelain face, her lipstick the same shade as her skirt, her gold earrings dangling with diamonds.
“Come on, Dear,” she pouted. “I have sparkling apple juice, wine, and several kinds of soda.”
“I’m fine, really.”
“Here’s some water then,” she twisted the top off the Voss bottle and handed it to me, wrapped in a napkin to protect my hand from the chill.
“Make yourself at home,” she bubbled. She set down a coaster on the marble coffee table and sat down on the white leather sofa, patting the cushion next to her. Instead of taking the seat across from her, I felt compelled to sit next to her. I sat down, half facing her, my butt making a squeak on the hard unforgiving sofa. I put my drink on the coaster, next to the large white vase of artificial giant gold and silver roses. The room was brilliant, lit by a 5 foot wide glass chandelier overhead reflecting its light in all directions.
A fluffy white head popped up from the floor, revealing itself from the camouflage of the pearl carpet. The Shih Tzu bounded over and jumped between me and Mrs. Darling. “Ah, that’s my girl,” she crooned. When she giggled, I noticed there were no wrinkles from her smile. “This is my Princess.”
“Yeah, nothing comes between Mom and her Princess,” my date laughed.
“Not so!” she said aghast. “My little boy always comes first.”
I watched as this giant man came to stand before her and she took his hand in hers, gazing up adoringly. He smiled and as she patted the seat on her other side.
I heard the grandfather clock strike noon, my eyes drawn to the ornate relic across the room.
“Oh dear,” Mrs. Darling said. “I won’t be able to visit with you long. I’m hosting the Charity Sisters Club this evening, and I need to make sure everything is in order. We are planning our annual Gala to raise funds for the Refugees. I’m catering dinner tonight for our meeting and I don’t want the ladies to see the house in disarray.”
“Are you kidding?” I said. “Your home is immaculate.”
There were no family photos on the wall, just paintings of beautiful landscapes that match the white and gold theme. The open floor plan and vaulted ceiling made the place feel spacious, even as fully furnished as it was. On the other side of the marble coffee table was the sofa’s matching sectional, two end tables covered with globes and stacked with Christmas blocks. The 12-foot white Christmas tree twinkled with white lights and glittered with gold and silver bows and balls. The spiral staircase was carpeted white with a gold railing, wrapped with matching golden garland and silver poinsettias.
“Thank you Sweetheart,” she patted my hand, the giant diamond on her ring glinting from the glaring lights above. “But this is nothing compared to the homes I sold as a Realtor in Upper Manhatten.”
No wonder I felt like I was in the sterile lobby of the Ritz Carlton.
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