Sunday, April 29, 2007

Solicitous

Nervous, Concerned (adj.)

Sylvia and Roberta sit on a set of stairs by the front door of their house. Sylvia is wearing a flower print dress, a white cardigan wrapped carefully around her shoulders. Roberta wears her pajamas. They both lean forward with their elbows on their knees, looking straight ahead. Roberta breaks a thick silence.

Do you know when he's getting here?
No.
Why not?
I told you.
No you didn't.
Yes I did.
No. You didn't.
He didn't say.
He didn't say?
He said between five and seven.
What is he, a cable guy?
I don't know.
You don't know?
I don't know.
What do you know?
I know that I met him online, that he said he was dependable, fashionable, and conventionally hansome.
Conventionally handsome?
Yes.
Okay, well...
And that he'd pick me up between five and seven.
Are you nervous?
No.
Really?
Absolutely not.
Not even a little bit?
I'm not even the slightest bit nervous. Not even a smigden. A dollop. A pinch nervous. I'm cool as a cucumber. Yup. That's me. Cool.
Well I'd be nervous. I'd be nervous if someone I never met was coming to pick me up for a date and I got all dressed up and I didn't know when exactly he was coming and I was just standing by the door waiting--
I guess you and I are different people, then.

The door bell rings. The two women rush to answer it. They open the door and see a UPS delivery man standing next to a mannequin wearing a suit. Their brows furrow simultaneously. The delivery man asks them a question.

Can one of you sign for this?

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