Contemporaneous Cognates

In the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, the United States………in the first dimension

Sarah looked in the mirror, leaned closer and with a smooth, clean handkerchief carefully smudged the immaculately applied red lipstick staining her lips. She took a moment to appreciate their glorious perfection, all too recently plumped by the top local plastic surgeon. This, along with all the other means the surgeon had employed to guarantee facial perfection, had cost a handsome penny, but it had been well worth the expense. What was this life worth if you couldn’t attain perfection and enjoy such things at thirty-two? After all, it wouldn’t be long before she had to face the dreaded middle age years, so she needed to be sure she approached them in excellent condition.

Sarah smoothed her hair back from her face, ensuring the knot at the back of her head was both intact and tidy before grabbing the Hermès bag from the closet along with a cellphone and the keys to her BMW. Satisfied with her appearance after taking a final glance in the mirror, she made her way toward the stairs, relieved Matthew had left much earlier. At least she wouldn’t have to struggle with small talk whilst enjoying her coffee, or worse yet, listen to him rant about how much she’d spent the previous month.

As she moved down the hallway, Sarah’s eyes caught sight of the closed door: the forbidden nursery. Her husband had long ago closed up the room and refused to allow anyone, even herself or the maid, to enter it again. Despite how cruel it sounded, even to her own ears, a sigh of relief left her body as she passed it. Shame about that unexpected pregnancy, miscarriage, and the surgery that ended her chance of ever conceiving again, but Sarah had to believe everything had worked out precisely how it was meant to be. She couldn’t fathom how much life would have changed had she carried a baby to term. Good God, but she could only imagine the stretchmarks and weight gain, the lack of sleep, and the work having a child involved, not to mention the difficulties of labor and delivery. It would have cost them a fortune to employ an au pair and send the child to the best schools, less alone pay for all the plastic surgery needed to get her back to the same level of perfection. Yes, while it was true Matthew had wanted a child, it was also true he’d get over it. Sarah had never once feigned any interest in being ‘mother material’ though she had pretended (for his sake) to be utterly and totally devastated by the news she’d never be able to conceive again. The man had been completely fooled, as usual, by her acting abilities and immediately bought her the largest diamond necklace he could find to assuage her supposed sorrow. Yes, she definitely deserved an Oscar for a great performance, but in this case, the diamond necklace would certainly suffice.

Ignoring the Black Ivory coffee her husband had brewed earlier, Sarah headed to the freezer where she grabbed a bottle of vodka stored therein. She poured a good portion of the alcohol in her coffee cup and downed it. She rarely drank more than one cup of vodka to start her day, but today was going to be hell because of the 9:00 am meetings. Impulsively, she poured herself a second cup of vodka and downed it as well before finally placing the cup back on the counter. In doing so, she accidentally knocked the cup over and it shattered as it hit the unforgiving marble. A curse word escaped the blood stained red lips before she remembered the maid would be by today. Leaving the discarded mess, she pulled a Gucci trench coat from the coat closet and left the house.

The top-of-the line German BMW glided smoothly along the neighborhood streets without incident until Sarah exited the gated community. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and Sarah couldn’t help but think how thankful she was. Having money and everything one could wish for was certainly grand and she wouldn’t have it any other way. In her elated sense of status while seeing the world through expensive, rose-colored designer sunglasses, she never saw the red light or the elderly woman crossing the street. All she heard was a horrific scream and the sound of her own finely tuned brakes screeching to a halt before she felt the tell-tale thump, thump. Sarah’s first thought was that her coveted BMW would never be the same but as she staggered out of the car and saw the blood, a dawning enlightenment struck her alcohol infused mind as she suddenly saw herself as though looking at someone else from the outside in. How she wished she was someone – almost anyone else. Her life was about to be so screwed……..forever

Meanwhile, in the Republic of Chicago, an independent country, co-existing in another dimension………

Still dressed in only her underwear, Sara gazed at the reflection she saw in the mirror and nearly wept. The second baby, delivered only three months ago, had taken more of a toil on her already plump body. Stretch marks, an oversized waist, and full, saggy breasts were a far cry from the toned twenty-six-year-old she’d been when she'd married Matt. Unbidden, tears filled her eyes and in frustration, she raised a hand to wipe them away.

“What’s this now?” her husband’s voice spoke in her ear as his arms encircled her waist. “It’s a fine day and there’ll be no crying, missy. Look here,” Matt instructed as he held up his right arm to show his flexed, well-toned muscle. “I’m full on prepared to fight off the lot of those jealous idiots at the reunion next week – I know they’ll all be chasing after your skirts and I’ll have to kill each and every one of them.” He smiled, a broad, beautiful smile. “You’ve never looked lovelier, Sara, I promise.”

Sara laughed and turned in his arms, giving him a grateful kiss.

“None of that or I might be tempted to forget all about work…..” His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a hungry, crying baby.

Sara laughed and pulled away. “That’s my alarm.”

After feeding the baby and putting her back down, she checked to be sure her three-year-old, Maggie, was still abed. Heading to the kitchen, she began preparing breakfast. When Matt arrived downstairs thirty minutes later, he was greeted with a cup of steaming black coffee.

“Thank you, sweetie,” he said, kissing Sara’s cheek as he took the cup of coffee.

Sara smiled as she turned to pull the biscuits from the oven. Flipping the eggs, she remembered how devastated both of them had been by the doctor’s instructions not to have more children because Sara had endured such a difficult pregnancy the last time and nearly died. Still, she and Matt were thankful for two beautiful children and their blessings; they had chosen not to not dwell on what could not be. It was a fact that no woman could ask for a more decent, loving, supportive, or kind-natured man than Matt. Despite the fact there were times they lived sparsely and did without, she knew without a doubt she and the girls were blessed beyond measure.

It wasn’t long before Matt left for work. Sara finished her second cup of black coffee and accidentally broke the old coffee mug while washing it. Oh, well, she thought, it would be easy enough to find a replacement at the local Goodwill – after all, none of her coffee cups matched anyway. She headed upstairs with Catherine in tow and dressed the girls before going to her own closet where she stared at the limited number of hanging clothes for a long while before finally settling on an oversized yellow dress. While it was true she had worn the same dress up until her fourth month of pregnancy, right now not much of anything else would fit. Donning the dress, she glanced at her reflection, as though half afraid of what she might see and then hastily pulled her long hair up. As an afterthought, she shrugged on a long sweater to hopefully hide the rounded curves she’d yet to shed.

An hour later, overly stuffed, dirty and worn diaper bag slung over her arm, Sara exited the front door with the two kids in tow. After buckling the girls in their seats, she held her breath as she turned the key in the ignition: the fifteen-year-old Camry always sounded as if it did not want to crank but crank it did, and Sara nearly screamed with joy. Driving slowly through the neighborhood, ever watchful for children, Sara headed to her mother’s place a short distance away. Her mother always kept the girls for a few hours while Sara worked at the local florist shop. The money she made came in handy, especially with two children and four mouths to feed.

It was a lovely day and the sun was shining brightly. Sara squinted at the glare and reached for her Dollar Store sunglasses in the seat beside her. As she glanced up, of a sudden, she found herself at a red light, the final one before her mother’s house. In a moment of panic, Sara applied full pressure to the brakes and stopped just two feet in front of Mrs. Johnson, her mother’s elderly neighbor, who had begun crossing the street when the light turned red. Though Mrs. Johnson appeared all right, Sara immediately cut the car off and jumped out to apologize and see if the older woman was hurt. Mrs. Johnson assured her all was well and not to worry because she was fine. Still, Sara was mortified by the all-too-close encounter and gave the woman a lift to her daughter’s house as a way to both apologize and assure herself no harm had been done.

An hour or so later, after Mrs. Johnson had been dropped off and the children had been left with her mother, Sara drove to the floral shop, more watchful than ever for pedestrians and unexpected events. She gave a prayer of thanks, realizing just how fortunate she had been that morning. Despite limited funds, older cars, plump midriffs, and any other worries life might offer up, never had she been more thankful than she was today for the life she had and the protective blessings bestowed upon her this very morn. Yes, she would never choose to be anyone else, living anywhere else, because this life of hers was definitely a grand one. Sara felt so happy, and she wanted it to stay that way……..forever……..