Mia's Blind Date

by Patrizia Murray

  Mia did some internet research on Colby’s family, and found a great deal of information about their companies, holdings and social position. Everything told her she would live in great wealth, have a privileged life and be part of a rarefied atmosphere most women only dream about. She felt like she was mesmerized by Colby’s strong personality, caught up in a maelstrom she had no control over. Every argument she came up with would be dismissed or kissed away.

  * * * *

  As Mia’s upset grew, she became more and more withdrawn at work, till finally Ava took her aside and wanted the scoop on what was happening with her. Mia broke down in tears, but couldn’t quite get the words out to tell her about Colby.

  She went home to her parents for the weekend, and predictably, they were ecstatic about her marriage to such a ‘good catch’. They were disappointed she wouldn’t be having a big wedding in the old home town, with all her and their friends in attendance, but with Colby starting his new job, they reluctantly gave in, and promised to hold a big party later when the couple came back to visit.

  Mia’s mom was sad she’d be so far away, but promised to visit as often as she could, ‘especially when those little babies start arriving’.

  Whenever Mia tried to talk to her mother, who had always been a confidante, and very understanding of Mia’s life and loves, it was like her mother had been recruited by the Colby Fan Club. Her parents hadn’t even met Colby yet!

  Mom & Dad had liked Rob too. Mia had hardly ever brought her boyfriends home to meet the parents, because everyone in the small town just assumed she would marry the man of the moment. Would they even like Colby once they met him?

  Her parents’ friends and even her own friends, and her father’s employees all asked her, “Is he the one, and when will we be invited to a wedding?” Mia got to the point where she stopped bringing her boyfriends home because it was so embarrassing for both of them. Until Rob.

  Mia figured maybe she was just having jitters about marriage in general, and finally brought Colby home to meet her parents one weekend. He was a great hit, especially with her friends and her two younger brothers, who were all fascinated with his world traveler stories. She found out while listening to these stories, that Colby was an accomplished golfer, and her family enthusiastically welcomed him to the next Sindling Family Golf Tournament. Oh, great. Now even her brothers, Boyd and Perry, were card-carrying members of the Colby Fan Club. He charmed Cheryl and Al, and showed Al how to play ice cube poker. Mia didn’t even want to ask about the origins or finer points of that game.

  Mia felt like she was being borne away on a tide, in a boat with no motor or oars. Colby came into the city a couple of times and stayed in her little apartment, always taking her to bed, and making her forget her nagging little thoughts about him. Mia and Colby were invited to the Asher’s for dinner, and Ava took her aside.

  “What are you worried about? He’s great. Maybe even as great as Rob. Go ahead and marry him, Silly. He’s handsome, educated, loves to ski and travel, and don’t forget about the money. You won’t be scratching for every dollar like we are all the time, and believe me that makes a difference.” Ava admonished.

  Each time Mia saw Colby at the ski hill, he had yet another idea or plan about how their married life would be. He was heading off to Toronto, where his parents were, and he would be finding a condo for them to buy. His mother had phoned Mia several times, with suggestions about flowers, dresses, food and music for the “little” wedding, which seemed to Mia, to get bigger with every passing day. Mia knew that only Noah and Ava, and her parents would be there to sit on the “bride’s side” of the church, and she was still not sure if this was what she really wanted. It seemed that everyone was thrilled about the wedding except her.

  Chapter Twenty

  One morning, after another restless night, Mia decided she needed to talk to someone about the way she felt. She knew she and Colby were compatible in bed, and on the ski hill, for the most part. Colby tended to go off on the most difficult runs, leaving Mia behind. He said he knew she couldn’t keep up with his superior skill, so it was better for both of them if they just planned to meet at lunch and day’s end. Even though Mia was an expert skier, she didn’t take the chances Colby took. Mia had tried several times to talk to Colby about her feelings. Even though he was tender and caring in bed, now that his future was all mapped out, he seemed to be a man with a mission, and that mission didn’t include talking about Mia’s feelings. Mia wasn’t sure she would be any more than “the perfect wife” for Colby, giving him “the perfect children”, and she didn’t think she could settle for that. He still hadn’t said anything about loving her.

  One night, Mia mentioned to Colby her dream to take an MBA. “It would further my career chances, and give me way more opportunities down the road,” she explained. Colby told her she could do whatever she wished, but her studies would have to fit in with the corporation’s plans for him, and he definitely expected Mia to do some traveling with him.

  Mia asked Colby hesitantly, “Do you think we could just live together for a few weeks...” or months, she thought, “...till I get used to the new city, and a new job, and our new life?”

  Colby was adamant his father’s company, friends, relatives, and clients would not take kindly to that idea, and that the wedding would take place as soon as she arrived there.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mia was on the plane to Toronto. She was flying east to meet her future in-laws, and she had never been so nervous in all her life. Her stomach was churning, and there was an acid taste in her throat. A thousand questions troubled her all the way across the country. Will I measure up? Will they think I’m the right kind of wife for the business? The right kind of woman to raise their grand kids? Can I really go through with all of this? What if they’re just too stuffy? What if I don’t like them? What if I hate Toronto? What if they want me to stay home and have kids and not find a job? By the time Colby met her in the baggage claim area, she was almost in tears with her worries.

  This was the first time Mia had seen Colby in a pin-striped suit, with all the trimmings, she was overwhelmed. She had never even pictured him in more formal attire. The suit was tailored to fit his lean frame, and his shoes were polished to a spit shine. His hair was much shorter, and razor-cut to perfection. He had even had a manicure, she was astonished to see.

  Mia wondered if she was losing her mind to worry about anything. Colby’s parents were charming, and made her feel at ease, and at home in their huge home on the lake. There were fresh flowers everywhere in the house, including a spring bouquet in Mia’s bedroom and an orchid in her bathroom, of all places! The house was magnificent—all decorated in House Beautiful’s latest fashionable colors and styles. Mia had never seen such a huge collection of chrome and glass and Lucite so charmingly displayed throughout the house. The view of the lake showed large shipping vessels as well as bright sailboats dotting the water. There was a jetty out beyond the pool, where a good sized power boat was moored. Colby had promised to take her out on the lake while she was there, and that he had his own boat on order for after the honeymoon. The CN Tower, highest building in Canada was front and center of the view, and Mia was mesmerized by the whole atmosphere.

  The Palmers took Mia golfing at the club, where, thanks to years of the Sindling Family Golf Tourney, she managed to acquit herself, although she was no match for all the Palmers. They introduced her to the membership chairman so she could get her own entry card for the club, sent her and Colby off to use their box seats at a Toronto Blue Jays ball game, attended the church where the wedding would take place and had introduced her to the company bigwigs, and the club members at several functions.

  Mrs. Palmer—“call me Carla, dear”— had dragged Mia off to have her wedding gown fitted, picked out flowers, and introduced her to the wedding planner and Carla’s interior designer, who would be ‘doing’ the co
ndo for Mia and Colby.

  She and Colby had been feted at showers, barbecues, brunches, dinners and cocktail parties in their honor. Mia enjoyed the social whirl, and held her own with all Colby’s family, friends and clients. After all, she was a bright, educated person, with a lot to offer to the conversations she was a part of.

  Throughout the four day stay, Mia constantly had the impression she was being interviewed for a very important job—that of Mrs. Colby Palmer. She felt if she didn’t work very hard, she wouldn’t get the job, or be able to keep it later.

  On the plane ride back, Mia began to think about the differences between Rob and Colby. Rob had listened to all her plans and dreams, had told her all of his, except the one that had him traipsing off to God knew where to work in some foreign oil patch. Rob had actually asked her to wait for him, to marry him, and had told her tenderly how much he loved and treasured her. Up to this point, Colby had done none of that.

  Mia realized with a start, the person she really wanted to talk to was Rob. When they had been together for the summer before he left for the middle east, they had done nothing but talk, the whole time they were together. They agreed on politics, religion, food, skiing, hiking, music, a love of kids and gardening. By the end of the summer, they had even begun finishing each other’s sentences. They were so attuned to each other. Mia wanted to feel that same kinship with Colby, but he didn’t like shopping for just the right groceries for that special meal. He was just as happy eating at the club, and had told her she didn’t have to cook just for him. He hated cooking himself, hated the messy kitchen and was content to use the fridge for beer and champagne.

  He didn’t like window shopping with no particular goal in mind, and he hated sitting in the Starbuck’s having coffee for an hour or more. All of these things Mia had enjoyed with Rob, didn’t seem to matter to Colby.

  The next day, she tapped Ava for lunch, and began to pour out her misgivings about marrying Colby.

  “Well, if you don’t love him, of course you can’t marry him,” said Ava. “How do you know he doesn’t love you? Some men just can’t say the words.”

  Mia reasoned, “I tried telling him once when we were in bed together I love him. Wouldn’t you think he could at least reply ‘me, too’?”

  “Maybe the reason I can’t commit to this marriage thing is the way Rob and I felt about each other, and the way we parted,” Mia thought out loud. “Maybe I should just talk to him once more and see if that’s what’s holding me back.”

  Mia knew the phone service where Rob was, was iffy at best. She also knew even if she could get a call through, chances were Rob could be off skiing, or out in the field, or anywhere.

  She also knew if she managed to get an email through to him, it could be days before he received it, or was even able to answer her. She knew she didn’t want to wait that long, and she knew time was running out before the wedding.

  She had waited till the last possible moment before handing in her notice at work, and she had applied on line for several social worker jobs in Toronto. A chronic shortage of social workers would ensure she would have a job shortly after arrival there.

  That night, Mia called Noah, and asked for Rob’s email address.

  Noah could have commented on that, but seemingly Ava had cautioned him against saying, “I told you so,” or some such comment. It was another two days before Mia could work up courage to send him a short note, asking him to call her at his earliest convenience.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Mia tried not to think about Rob, or Colby, or the wedding, or the situation she found herself in, by quitting her job, moving far away, not being entirely sure what she was doing with her life. So she did what she always did in times of stress. She worked so hard she was exhausted at the end of the day.

  Back at her job, Mia made a house visit to a single mother, who lived in pretty appalling conditions. It was actually quite neat, because there was so little furniture, and no knick knacks or curtains, or lamps or anything that might make the place look like a home.

  There were about five listless looking kids sitting around watching TV. Mia had often wondered how people who collected social assistance couldn’t afford food or clothing, but somehow always had a TV.

  The kids, Mia could see from her file, were five, four, three, and twins that were two. The twins were dressed in sleepers with feet in them. They were propped up, one in each corner of the couch, and the mother was feeding them baby rice mush cereal. All five of the children were listless, pale and glassy eyed. Their little hands didn’t move, and they didn’t communicate with anyone, or even play with toys. They were like little statues, barely breathing.

  Mia had never had children of her own, and hadn’t even babysat when she was younger. Her brothers and cousins were all about her age, so she hadn’t much experience with babies. However, she was pretty sure two-year-olds normally ate solid food, and fed themselves. Mia asked if they talked and walked, and was told, “No, not yet.”

  As the mother was feeding one of the twins, the other just slowly fell to one side, and made no effort to get up, or get off the couch, or to move at all. Mia began to wonder if the twins were developmentally handicapped, and made a note to ask their doctor. Mia asked what else the twins ate, and was told, “Only mush”. The mother said none of her kids had eaten solids till they were three or four. She also said none of them ate much, and she thought it was fairly normal that they weren’t active.

  Mia did some research back at her office and called a dietician the department used occasionally. The two women were pretty sure these kids were suffering from malnutrition. “Imagine, in this day and age, kids suffering from malnutrition,” Mia fumed at Ava.

  Mia had the children taken to the children’s shelter, where they were properly fed. In just days, they were responsive, bright, eating and running as normal toddlers and pre-schoolers should be. The dietician made sure the mother learned how to take care of them before she could regain custody, and she would keep a sharp eye out for the kids for months after that.

  Mia was so busy with crises like this, that several days had gone by before she realized Rob hadn’t emailed her or called, in response to her email.

  “He’s probably mad at me for treating him so badly,” Mia figured. She called Noah, to see if he had heard from Rob, and asked him to try and contact Rob and ask him to call or write her. Noah said that Rob was often out of touch for days and weeks at a time.

  Both Noah and Ava wondered what Mia wanted with Rob, after she had summarily dismissed him and refused to let him contact her all these months, but knowing Mia was troubled, they offered no opinions to her at that point. Ava knew she couldn’t wait long to find out what was going on in Mia’s head, but thought she’d have to wait till Mia was ready to tell her.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Colby called Mia several times a day. “I have unlimited calling to my favorites on my cell phone,” he explained. His calls were always about some detail of the wedding his mother wanted him to check on with Mia, but it seemed to Mia that rather than checking to see if Mia agreed, it was more to tell her of something that had already been decided by Mrs. Palmer and the wedding planner.

  Mia had always dreamed of orchids for her wedding but Mrs. Palmer felt summer flowers like Gerbera daisies, roses, baby’s breath and lilies were more suitable. Mia had wanted Pachelbel’s Canon, and Purcell’s Trumpet Tune played at the wedding, but Mrs. Palmer wanted the more familiar Wedding March and so it was a done deal before Colby even called about the music. Mia’s mother was disappointed too, that she wasn’t in on the planning, and had even been told what color she could wear as mother of the bride, so she would match the wedding party and the photos would all look coordinated.

  Colby would sign off his calls with “Miss you, Babe” but never “I love you.”

  Mia tried to talk to Colby and his
mother about this runaway train that was her wedding, but they always put her comments down to pre-wedding jitters. She just wanted to call the whole thing off, but the money that had been spent, the plans made her reluctant to upset the applecart as her grandmother used to say.

  Even Mia’s three carat yellow Marquise diamond ring had been chosen by Colby’s mother and the wedding planner, as the perfect complement to the wedding colors they had chosen. Yellow was not Mia’s favorite color and she felt it made her look pale and jaundiced.

  The condo Colby had purchased was spectacular. It was downtown, overlooking the bright lights of the city, and the water beyond. Mia had been impressed with the hardwood floors, the high ceilings, huge cook’s kitchen, which Mia knew she would love to bake and cook in. The stainless steel appliances were all high end, as were the warm dark cabinets and gleaming black granite. Mia thought it would be a great place to entertain, even though Colby didn’t seem to want her to cook at all.

  However, when Mrs. Palmer hired her own decorator to “do” the condo, Mia was told her grandmother’s dining suite and china cabinet “just wouldn’t do” for the modern chrome and glass style of the condo. Mia had been tearfully packing up her cherished antiques for storage. Whatever she would do with them, she had no idea. Maybe one of her cousins would want the valuable antiques, once they had places of their own. Or maybe one of her brothers would marry someone who liked antiques.