by Ruth Hay
Chapter Six
Alina provided chocolate croissants, a kiss and several hugs, together with a sympathetic ear, as Anna filled her in on current developments.
It was obvious in her friend’s depressed voice and distracted manner that things were getting to be too much for her, but what disturbed Alina the most was Anna’s appearance. Dark circles under her eyes, bedraggled hair and not a scrap of makeup at noon were not Anna’s style at all while the old robe clutched around her was doing nothing for her reputation as a classy dresser.
Alina could not suppress a sharp intake of breath when she beheld the scene of chaos in Anna’s bedroom.
“What happened here, an earthquake?” she gasped. “Where did all this stuff come from Anna? There are clothes here I haven’t seen in thirty years. Have you been hoarding, or is this apartment a subsidiary of the local Goodwill?”
“Oh, Alina, you are just the breath of fresh air I need right now. I am trying to clear out my old life but it’s not as easy as I thought it would be. I am at a complete standstill!”
“Right, my dear. You go off and have a nice hot shower and I’ll heat up some soup for us and start organizing this mess. Don’t worry! I won’t throw out anything till you say so.”
With this assurance, Anna disappeared and Alina was left to contemplate the mess of clothing that had been a tidy bedroom the last time she had seen it.
“I know these apartments don’t have a lot of storage space,” she murmured under her breath, “but this is ridiculous! What has Anna been hiding from me?”
She started with the bags and boxes littering the floor at the side of Anna’s bed.
Arranging the purses upright in colour and seasonal groups took only a few minutes and then she moved on to the boxes, most of which were labelled in Anna’s clear print and were mainly photographs and souvenirs from holidays and the other lives we all accumulate with the passing years.
The clothing was the real problem. There was so much of it that Alina could not immediately see a way to organize it. Discarding the idea of sorting the piles into dark and light clothing, she decided to use a radical approach and take the risk of dividing the garments into possible and impossible. The latter group would be outfits that were so far out of style that neither Anna, nor anyone else, should be wearing them. She realized this was stepping on Anna’s toes somewhat, but relied on their long friendship to soften the blow.
The sound of the shower had ceased, so Alina hurried to complete the task.
The ‘impossible’ pile was almost toppling over but Alina knew the padded shoulder jackets and granny-length skirts were never going to be worn again and she trusted this would be obvious to her friend when she saw the evidence in front of her.
Anna emerged from the bathroom towelling her hair and looking quite refreshed.
She greeted Alina’s efforts with a sigh of relief and began to move toward the closet announcing, “I’ll just get dressed and then we can decide where some of this stuff should go.”
Tentatively Alina suggested, “Just put on the underwear basics for now, Anna. I think we should have a dress-up session unless you agree with me that this whole pile should go to a charity shop right now.” Alina gestured to the heaped ‘impossible’ collection.
“What! This is more than half my wardrobe, Alina. There are some good things here. Look, I wore this suit to a business dinner a few years ago and this dress is my favourite periwinkle blue colour that you always said suited me so well, and what about the white culottes and the matching linen jackets? I can’t throw these away!”
Recognizing an impasse, Alina backed down and offered an alternative strategy.
“Fine. Let’s deal with the easy part now. We can take the recycling away this afternoon and dispose of the rejects but I really think we need some professional help for the big pile. What do you say about giving Maria a call? She would soon sort this out for us. You know how savvy she is about clothes with her own store to manage in the mall.”
Anna could only agree. At least she would be delaying the process and saving some energy. The entire clear-out project that had seemed so possible a short time ago, had now unexpectedly depleted her physical strength. A chatty lunch with her friend and the prospect of seeing the ever-cheerful Maria later was a much more appealing prospect.
While Anna set out bowls of soup and defrosted cheese bread, Alina took the chance to call Maria.
* * *
“It’s Alina. I’m so glad I caught you between customers. I won’t take up your time, but I have a bit of a crisis here at Anna’s place.”
“For goodness sake, what’s happening now? I got a call from Susan telling me things were more positive with Anna and she was on the verge of making a decision!”
“Yes, I think she may well be heading that way but this wardrobes crisis is something only you could settle, Maria, if you could possibly come over here later this afternoon.
I know this is a busy day at the mall..........”
“I could manage a couple of hours, Alina, if you really think I can help. I am stocktaking this evening so one of the girls is looking after sales for me.”
“That’s excellent news! Just come when you can. I’ll be staying with Anna all day and we both look forward to your expert help. Bye for now, Maria, and thank you so much.”
“No problem. Always happy to help! Samba solidarity!”
* * *
Maria pocketed her cell phone wondering what kind of wardrobe crisis Anna could be involved in. Her friend was not exactly a fashion-forward type of person, preferring a more conservative style. Maria had occasionally thought Anna could benefit from some younger, more modern clothes but she hesitated to suggest this. It was a standing joke with Samba that Maria wanted to boost her sales results by pitching out all her friends’ clothing every season for the current ‘new look’.
“Well, I’ll discover the problem soon enough,” she mused. “Meanwhile, I’d better attend to business.”
Spotting a regular customer admiring the spring cruise wear display in the store windows, Maria moved smoothly into selling mode and prepared to assist her client in parting with some money in exchange for a superb new wardrobe to dazzle her fellow passengers on board ship.
* * *
By the time Maria arrived at Anna’s door, the A Plus pair had spent a pleasant afternoon together and Anna was in a better humour. Alina had carefully prepared the ground and her friend was ready to accept Maria’s advice on what suited her.
With no delay, the trio moved into the bedroom where Maria could see immediately what was required of her.
“You know what needs to be done with this pile, don’t you?’ she began. “Open the window and toss the lot out. Some homeless person will come by and make a mattress out of it!”
Anna’s shocked response was obvious and Maria could see at once the warning look in Alina’s eye. There was no use challenging this pair, she knew. They stuck together like glue whenever one of them was threatened.
“All right, all right! I’m only joking!” Maria made to back away with her hands held up in defeat. “I can, however, prove my point without any trouble, ladies. Anna, give me twenty minutes of your time. I want you to choose four favourite outfits from this pile and model them for us with the appropriate accessories.”
While Anna retired to the washroom with an armful of clothing and a shopping bag of shoes, scarves and purses selected in consultation with Alina, Maria simply withdrew a digital camera from the pocket of her smart, new jacket, and waited for the first outfit to be presented.
“This is a very expensive suit, Maria. I bought it in the states and it still fits me very well, I think, although the skirt could possibly be shortened a little.”
Anna was prepared to defend her choices, but Maria merely glanced at the dark green, wool jacket and pleated skirt without comment and snapped four pictures of Anna from different angles.
Three more outfits were treated in the same way. Anna
felt as if she was vindicated since Maria had nothing derogatory to say. In fact, Maria was on her way back to the mall in no time at all. Her only comment was that Anna should retrieve the photographs from her e mail on her next day at the Library.
Alina began to suspect what Maria was up to but she refrained from spoiling Anna’s good mood as she bid her friend farewell, donned her coat and boots and joined Maria in the elevator.
“We’ll talk soon, Anna. Let me know what you think about the photographs,” she called out as the elevator doors closed.
Anna returned to her bedroom and started to clear floor space by re-hanging some of the clothing in her closet. At least, she thought, there’s a little more room to show for my efforts today. Not a bad day’s work. Tomorrow I’ll tackle the boxes after I get home from the Library.
* * *
The usual frantic Saturday at the Library absorbed all of Anna’s attention and it wasn’t until the end of the day that she remembered to check her e mail and set the printer to copy Maria’s digital photographs. Before the download was completed, Anna was called to the office phone to answer a complicated reference question about Egyptian dynasties and she had no chance to examine the photographs until she reached home.
Fortified with a piping-hot pepperoni pizza from the oven and a glass of red wine, she settled down on the sofa and opened the folder intending to glance over the copies and then slide a video into the VCR from her collection of chick-flick romances and enjoy a relaxing evening.
The first set of images was enough to jolt Anna out of her contented mood. What she saw now was not what her mirror had revealed. The woman in the green wool suit looked old and bedraggled. Neither the colour nor the style did her any favours. The double-breasted jacket was boxy and simply too small, while the pleated skirt added inches to her hips and reduced her legs to thin white pins emerging from worn flat shoes. The ghastly yellow blouse with the bow at the neck just emphasized Anna’s flabby chin and the untidy twist of greying hair caught up with a brown clasp was unflattering to say the least.
Anna’s hands flew to her hair and with a deft, automatic movement she re-coiled her hair and tightened the clasp. Who was this shabby old person? How had this happened to the smart young woman she used to see in the mirror?
Shuffling through the other prints Anna could not find one view that fit her own image of herself as an older version of her once trim and stylish figure. Each of the four outfits she had selected as the best of the bunch was worse than the one before.
No wonder Alina and Maria had suggested disposing of this rubbish. Anna felt a blush of shame colour her face as she thought of the way she had defended her ancient clothing.
The evidence before her was incontrovertible. The clothes would have to go for a start but Anna was beginning to suspect that a complete overhaul would be required.
If there was to be any chance of a new life, the time was ripe for a bolder, revitalized Anna to emerge from the fog of the past.
This thought impelled her into the kitchen to grab another handful of garbage bags.
The despised clothing that littered the bedroom was swiftly thrust into bags and followed in quick succession by anything Anna could spy that was not a recent purchase.
The clothes from her life with Richard were discarded without a second glance and this act seemed to energize her even more. Purses and sweaters flew into another bag for recycling and old shoes and sandals were tossed into the garbage can.
In a remarkably short time the bedroom floor was cleared and the closet had only a fraction of the number of clothes that had once lingered there. Anna could not bear to keep the discards around for another minute so she called Joseph and asked him to store her stuff in one of his basement lock-ups until she could deal with them after the weekend.
When she returned to her apartment from the elevator trip, it was as if she saw things through different eyes. None of her ‘stuff’ had the same hold over her feelings as before.
Nothing here was so important that it couldn’t be replaced or renewed. It was as if a breath of winter’s icy cold fresh air had blown through the building and blasted the cobwebs from Anna’s mind.
“What an old fuddy-duddy I have been! I can’t believe I have let myself get into this condition. I’m still alive and healthy and not ready for the scrap heap yet by any means.”
With this assertion ringing in her ears Anna picked up the phone.
* * *
“Alina, it’s me. No, I’m fine, don’t worry. I just had to call and tell you what I have done this evening. I tossed out all that old stuff from my closet and I feel so much lighter it’s like I have lost a kilo for every garbage bag I filled!
Well, I’m sure you have already guessed what prompted this change of heart. I saw the pictures Maria took of my so-called fashion show. I am so embarrassed, Alina, I truly had no idea I looked so ghastly in those outfits.
No, you will not be seeing the pictures soon, or ever. When I have apologised for wasting Maria’s time last night I will be ceremonially burning the evidence and trying to wipe the images from my mind. By the way, can you get me an appointment with your hairstylist next week? I am thinking of getting my hair coloured.
No, really, I feel better than I have in years. This was just the incentive I needed and you, my dear friend, were just the person to make the magic happen.
Dinner’s on me soon in a nice restaurant but not until I have a new hairstyle and perhaps some new clothes!
That’s right! I really have turned over a new leaf. Who knew!
Talk to you soon.
Bye, Alina.”
Chapter Seven
Sunday flew by in a whirlwind of activity as Anna continued to clear up and clean out
her apartment. Mismatched, cracked or chipped china and kitchenware was boxed up and with the oldest of the furniture, moved to the hallway for Joseph’s attention. He had a friend in a seniors’ building nearby who was always grateful to have supplies to pass on to his single, male residents who sometimes arrived with little or no household goods of their own.
Anna was past the point of worrying where her rejects wound up. She was just glad that she had made the decision to divest herself of her past encumbrances. As an unexpected
bonus, she found the extra space to be conducive to clearer thinking.
After she had calculated that a call from Scotland would not be likely before 1:30pm on Monday, due to the five hour time difference, she determined to make use of the morning hours to continue on her quest for change. Andrew was willing to reschedule her hours at the library for the week, although Anna could hear in his voice rising curiosity about this uncharacteristic flightiness in his most predictable part-time worker.
I really must put Andrew in the picture soon, she thought, as she put down the phone, but what would I tell him? I don’t have a clue what I will do in the end only that I am embarking on some kind of a journey of self-discovery on so many levels and that sounds way too ‘new age’ for me. No one would believe me. At least, not yet!
With this conclusion, Anna made a series of calls, setting up appointments for the morning hours, leaving her afternoons free to wait for a call and then to work the late shift at the library. Fortunately the weather had settled into a normal February pattern with light snowfall every day or two and slightly warmer temperatures causing the snow piles to diminish in between, making travel around town more convenient.
* * *
Monday. Travel agent. A very helpful young girl gave Anna prices and times for the most economical flights from Toronto to Scotland. She also supplied a map showing Glasgow airport, where she would presumably arrive, and the routes north to Oban which was on the west coast of Scotland and did not seem far from the airport, although Anna surmised that could be because the entire British Isles seemed so tiny in comparison to the vast distances in Canada.
Anna emerged from the bustling travel store where the focus was on sunny southern destinations as a relief fr
om the unrelenting winter cold of the north. She realised she had no clear idea at all of basic climate conditions in Scotland, or much knowledge about the country in general.
Refusing to allow herself to get excited at the prospect of venturing into the unknown, Anna determined she would not treat the travel information as a commitment to anything. She was strictly on a fact-finding mission at this point, a type of research such as she would have done for any patron in the library.
* * *
Tuesday. Hair Design and Spa. Keeping firmly in mind that hair will grow again no matter what is done to it, Anna subjected herself to the ministrations of a series of salon associates who discussed her face shape and hair condition in terms Anna could barely decipher. Now that she had placed herself in their hands, literally, she tried to relax and trust the results would be some kind of improvement and eradicate the dreadful images she had seen in Maria’s photographs.
The treatment began with serious pampering. Foot massage and pedicure were followed by a manicure and a gentle lecture on nail care from a charming Asian girl.
While her newly-washed and conditioned hair, augmented by a semi-permanent colour wash, was wrapped in a warm towel, Anna experienced for the first time in years the delights of a facial. As she reclined in comfort in a quiet room, a technician examined her cleansed skin under a lighted microscope and found a number of imperfections that she swiftly removed. She then proceeded to cover the area with a thick layer of cooling, healing ointment. This was followed by a period during which Anna was admonished to “Close your eyes and let the mask do its work.” As this was accompanied by classical music playing somewhere nearby, Anna was delighted to comply and soon drifted off to sleep.
