[Sierra]

Hours earlier


I’ve been dating Tom for about a year. We met at a party and had barely been apart since then. I dated a lot of guys in high school and college, but Tom is special, and I am having to face the fact that I have fallen hard for him.

Tom picked me up from work while my car was in the shop, and we sit in his car chatting and holding hands for a bit before I have to go inside. Suddenly Tom gets serious and looks me straight in the eye. “Tess, I want to take you someplace nice tonight. Why don’t you get dressed up and we’ll go to Tony’s for dinner. I have something important I want to talk to you about.” A thrill goes through me. Tony’s was the place he had taken me on our first date. Could he be taking me back there to ask me to marry him? I would be so happy and proud to be his wife! “That sounds wonderful, Tom. I’ll be looking forward to it!” I kiss him and almost skip up the walk, excited and happy.


Hours earlier


“Can I get you anything Dr. Miller? Some coffee?”

“No, thank you, I can’t stay long”, I respond.

They are eager to please, which is understandable. Harry and his adoring wife, her hands clutching his on his lap, have been sitting on their sofa for a few minutes now. He already made his case over the phone; I wouldn’t have lasted the hour’s drive without any details. I study the room. It is a warm, welcoming home, but a little on the dull side. The television is wide in build but not widescreen nor HD. I stand beside the mantelpiece, where family pictures are spread proudly across it. It intentionally demonstrates the lives this situation will touch. The couple wait patiently and nervously for even a hint of a decision.

“Dr...”, Harry interjects.

“Please, call me Christian”

“Christian….I know I wouldn’t call us good friends or anything, even back then, but you have to understand, I didn’t know where else to turn….”

“Is this your daughter?”, I ask, picking up one of the portraits.

“Em…yes that’s our Tess.”

“What's her size, Margaret? 8?” I put to the wife.

She looks curiously at me, then Harry, and comes back to me again. She confirms my guess, after Harry urged her to answer. The photo of young Tess with a gentleman gives me an idea of her height. I tell them I need to get going and walk to collect my coat on the rack. They jump up to their feet and look for answers. “Wait, I don’t understand? Does this mean you’ll do it?”

“I’ll put it all in writing tonight.…over dinner with your lovely daughter. My assistant will be in touch with the time and place.”

Tess’ father attempts to begin a mini celebration, but her mother wishes to update me on her eligibility first. “Dr…Christian, Tess isn’t, I mean, she’s not single…..” I smile and let myself out, wishing them both a good evening.


I went inside, dying to tell Mom about Tom and what I think might happen that night. Dad called out to me. “We’re in here, Honey.” I rush in to them, bursting with my news, but the look on their faces stops me in my tracks. Mom looked anxious and worried and Dad looked serious and sad. That wasn’t unusual lately. Dad had been having health problems the last couple of years. Dad’s health kept him from working and forced Mom back to work. I even had to quit school and get a job just to keep the mortgage paid and food on the table. Dad had become increasingly depressed, especially after the insurance ran out.

“We met with that friend of mine, and we think he will do the operation,” Dad says. “That’s GREAT!!” I said, daring to feel hope for the first time in a long time. “So why the long faces?” My folks looked at each other. “I have a favor to ask of you, honey,” he said. “He wants to have dinner with you, just this once. I hate to ask you to give up your Saturday, and I’m not sure why but he told us he’ll only sign the contract with you, alone.”

Mom says, “Harry, I’m not sure about this. Why would a man of his age want to have dinner alone with Tess?”

“Margaret, he’s a married man and is a respected doctor. He’s not going to do anything that’s not right. Besides – they’ll be in a public place.”

“Dad, you know I’d do anything to help,” I said, hugging him. “I’ll have dinner with him if you want me to. Just let me know when so I can plan.” I start to run up the stairs to get ready for my date with Tommy.

“He said tonight. He’s going to let us know where.”

“But Dad….I have a dinner date tonight! I can’t just cancel it this late.”

My folks are silent for a minute. “I’m sure Tom would understand if you change it, Tess.” “But…but…Mom…” I turn around to face my parents. They have identical looks of appeal and helplessness on their faces, weirdly giving them the aura of twins that many long-married people have.

“I guess so……” I say glumly. I trudge up the stairs and sit down to send Tom a text message. “Tom – I have to do something for my folks toni…..” No, that won’t work. “Tom – Dad asked me to……” No good. I sit on the edge of my bed trying to figure out what to tell him.


Fortunately the traffic isn’t as bad on the way home and I make it in just over 40 minutes. Knowing I’ll only be here a short time, I park the car on the footpath in front of our driveway; it'll be out of the way by the time Lisa is back from her shopping. Amy, the babysitter, lets me in and my daughter is playing with her toys in the sitting room. I kneel down and kiss her. She will be going to school this year; they grow up fast.

”Daddy’s going to fix a man’s heart this week baby, can he borrow yours until then?”

She shakes her head, still looking down at the dolls. “It’s just a loan, you won’t even miss it!” I insist, tickling her from behind.

“No!” she giggles. I see Amy smiling at us over my shoulder. She is an Asian woman in her 30’s.

“Tess is a pretty name, isn’t it?”

“Why? Are you starting to wish you named Katie that?” she wonders.

“No…maybe the next one”, I answer, rolling my eyes. I go upstairs to use the bathroom and then call my assistant. She doesn’t sound impressed with the distance she has to make by this evening but it is what she is paid to do. Well, mostly answering phone calls, but this is important too. She writes down the details, the address, the dress and the size. I stress that I want matching high heel pumps, about 4 inches.

“None of this open toe bullshit….you know, the ones you’ve seen Lisa wear….here I’ll just send a picture.”

After I hang up, I find the heels from my wife’s closet, propping them up on the floor. I crouch down to get the snapshot with my mobile, with the words “6:30!” attached to the text message.


I hear a soft knock at the door. “Come in,” I said. My mom came in with a puzzled look on her face. I held up my red dress in one hand and the blue flowered skirt and blouse in the other. “I’m glad you’re here, Mom. Which one should I wear?”

“Either one would be good, Honey, but someone’s at the door who wants to talk to you.”

I run down the stairs and see a pretty young woman standing there with a bag in her hand. “I’m sorry I’m late. Attila the Hun expected me to shop and make it over here in an hour, and the traffic sucked.” “Who’s Attila and what are you talking about?” She smiled and handed me the bag. It had Donna Karan printed on the side and a note pinned to it. “Joel’s. 8:00.”

The woman turns to leave. “Um…what’s he like? Does he like to come on to girls?” She looks back and says "I guess he does a little more since...." She pauses so long that I say, “Since what?” She gives me a long look. “Have a good time,” she says and walks away.

My parents come over and ask what I have. I opened the bag and pull out a black silk cocktail dress and a pair of black pumps. My parents exchange surprised and worried glances as I slowly climb the stairs to get ready.

Dressed and ready, I go down the stairs, where my dad is waiting in the entryway. “Honey, here’s some cash for a cab. If he tries to get fresh with you, just leave. You are the most important thing in the world to me and getting this guy to do the operation is not worth him trying to take advantage of you. We’ll figure something else out.”

As I stand there, I realize that the black shoes are not comfortable enough to wear all evening. I run up and change to my favorite black shoes – a pair of strappy evening sandals. Mom sees me changing and tucks the pumps in my large bag. “You never know,” she says.

The cabbie honks his horn, and I get in and tell the cabbie to go to Joel’s. I’ve never been there. It’s the most expensive restaurant in town – way too expensive for us.

When I get there, the doorman opens the heavy brass door. The thick carpeting and rich woods are impressive, and an even more impressive Maitre ‘D comes over and asks if I have a reservation. “I’m meeting someone here. My name is Tess Williams.” He consults his clipboard, but tells me I’m not on the list. "I’m meeting someone." “Would you like to wait?” I sit down in one of the plush chairs to wait.

While I'm sitting there trying not to be jittery, I start to look around and notice some of the patrons. There are a couple of tables where men are sitting alone, and I wonder if maybe one of these men might be my date for the evening. I wonder to myself what he looks like and how he will act. I try to calm my nerves as I wait to see what will happen next.