: About Easter Eggs And How's Your Father
Lena Russell was a woman who always attracted a second look - and the narrator in Ern Carne's short story is only to willing to give her umpteen looks.
The last time I saw Lena Russell she was still working at the Take-a-Break coffee shop in the mall. I met her there when her employer booked me to clean the shop window. It was Lena who paid me each Thursday at the end of the job.
Lena was a woman who always attracted a second look. Her dark brown hair was shiny and thick with a hint of red. Her eyes, she knew, were her most striking feature and one which she always highlighted. I guessed she could also use them to shroud her feelings. She always appeared to be diffident and demure.
I thought she was probably about 37 years old. She had an air of quiet confidence as she went about her work, although I recall how she subtly she checked out my marital status soon after we met. It was a couple of weeks before Easter when she quietly nnounced, ‘We’ve just received our Easter eggs. Do you have anyone to buy eggs for?’
‘Yes, I have two little girls.’ I thought I saw an almost imperceptible flick of despair which disappeared quickly when I added, ‘I’m a single parent.’
Our acquaintanceship remained casual and mostly we just exchanged pleasantries each Thursday as she prepared the payment for me.
Imagine my surprise when she asked me if I would like to be her partner to a wedding to which she had been invited. The question left me non-plussed for a moment. It seemed so out of character for this rather shy woman.
As she waited for my answer Lena cast her eyes down and began to polish the glass counter with a soft yellow cloth. ‘If you’re thinking about a baby-sitter my mother would mind them for you.’
‘No, That’s always OK thanks. My brother and his wife are always offering to have them for a night if I wanted to go out. Sometimes I think they are trying to urge me to get out again.’
‘It’s an afternoon wedding with a reception at 6 o’clock so it won’t be late. We could come back to my flat for a coffee afterwards if you wished.’
The invitation was becoming more attractive by the minute. For the past two years life has not just been a ‘fun run’ along the yellow brick road. Really, I’ve been socially invisible. My mind now was way ahead of getting back to the flat for a coffee. With a bit of luck, I thought, we could enjoy a bit of inner-spring aerobics.
‘I’d love to come’ I blurted out. I reckoned I knew which way the smoke was curling.
My salacious plans were defeated on the night. When I made my move she told me she didn’t do that sort of thing on a first date.
‘OK,’I said, and began to leave. I thought I noticed the shimmer of a tear as I rose from the couch.
Was she about to retreat from her fine ideal? I wondered. Then she spoke again.
‘ Could I call at your home and meet your daughters sometime?’
‘Sure,’ I said with a grin. ‘Would that become a second date?’
She closed her eyes and wrinkled her nose. I took that to be a “maybe.”
