A Perfect Sunday

Lucy sat alone staring out at Stanley’s bird feeders. She had been married to Stanley for what felt like many years, but in reality it had only been three. They dated for six months before Stanley proposed after a chicken dinner that Lucy had made. Lucy had always pictured a movie type proposal, the ring in her champagne glass at a fancy restaurant, or on top of the Empire State Building with a crowd of onlookers cheering when she said yes. Being home alone was also nice Lucy thought. She didn’t have to worry about getting dressed up or crying in public. Surprisingly, she didn’t cry after Stanley’s proposal. The two of them kissed and Stanley asked if she would mind if he watched the evening news. Lucy cleared and washed the dinner plates.

Lucy and Stanley were married in a small church service surrounded by close family and friends. They kept the reception simple at Stanley’s suggestion. He didn’t want anything elaborate so they opted for a small luncheon at home that Lucy’s mother helped prepare. They served a light menu of salads, sandwiches, wedding cake and champagne. As a little girl Lucy would daydream about a big wedding, with lots of dancing and music. She pictured a fancy wedding cake with many tiers and fresh flowers adorning it, possibly blue hydrangeas for a summer wedding. Her actual wedding reception was on the quiet side. No one danced. The jazz music Stanley put on the record player was so low no one could hear it. Their wedding cake was pretty; one tier, vanilla cake with vanilla icing and pale yellow silk flowers. It was not the day Lucy had daydreamed about, but at least it was stress free.

Lucy and Stanley settled into married life and their day to day routine quickly. The alarm went off at 6:30am followed by showers and breakfast. Breakfast was always the same; orange juice, tea and oatmeal for Lucy, coffee, white toast and half a grapefruit for Stanley. After breakfast Lucy would drop Stanley off at the train station so he could catch the 7:50 train into the city. Stanley worked in advertising at a large firm in NYC. He did accounting for the agency, not the actual advertising campaigns or clever jingles. Lucy was the clever one in the couple, always coming up with catchy tag-lines and slogans in her head.

After dropping Stanley off, Lucy continued to her job five minutes up the road. She worked at the local library Monday thru Friday, and the occasional Saturday if her colleague Susan needed the day off. Susan was an aspiring actress and would go to open auditions in the city in hopes of being discovered. Lucy was happy to help Susan run lines for her auditions. Susan’s life seemed very exciting to Lucy.

Lucy had a passion for reading and was always up to date on the latest murder mystery novels. She would display her book reviews in the library on a colorful bulletin board she made. Library patrons would come in just to read them. She had a way with words and her reviews were exciting, without giving too much away. There would quickly be a wait-list for a novel Lucy gave a five star review to. The head librarian suggested Lucy start a monthly mystery book club. The get togethers quickly became the most popular event at the library. Lucy would have everyone deeply enthralled during their “whodunit” discussions. She made lots of friends through the library and suggested to Stanley they host a dinner party so he could meet everyone, but Stanley was not much into entertaining. Lucy pressed the issue offering an early weekend dinner, but Stanley said he liked to keep to his weekend routine.

On Saturdays Stanley would wake up at 7:30. Lucy would have his coffee, white toast and half a grapefruit ready when he came downstairs. She surprised him one Saturday morning with blueberry pancakes, but Stanley told her, “I do not care to have dessert for breakfast”. Lucy sectioned a grapefruit for him and ate the pancakes herself. 

Stanley would check on his bird feeders after breakfast. He had one for blue jays, finches, cardinals and sparrows. The smaller, red bird feeder was for hummingbirds. He filled it with a simple syrup mixture he would make himself. The feeder’s label said it was “guaranteed to attract hummingbirds”. Stanley never once saw a hummingbird. He would spend the better part of his weekend mornings either watching his bird feeders, refilling them, or reading about birds in his monthly issue of BirdWatching Magazine. 

Lucy would make lunch ahead of time and leave it in the refrigerator for Stanley if she was filling in for Susan at the library. Stanley always had a ham and cheese sandwich on Pepperidge Farm white bread with a tiny amount of Gulden’s mustard. After lunch, Stanley would read a book, or work on the NYTimes crossword puzzle. Lucy would come home full of stories from her day, but Stanley would put his index finger to his mouth indicating “quiet” while he working on his crossword puzzle. 

On Saturday evenings Lucy would make herself a cocktail to make the night feel a little special. She would make herself a Tom Collins or a Pink Lady. Stanley had a Schwepps ginger ale, no ice. Saturday night dinner was either pork chops or lamb chops depending on what the butcher had available. Sundays were pretty much the same as Saturdays except Lucy made a roast chicken dinner. Lucy had bought all the ingredients to make lasagna one Sunday when they first started dating, but Stanley told her his mother had made the same Sunday night chicken dinner for as long as he could remember and he couldn’t imagine having anything else. Lucy hated roast chicken.

Currently, there was an exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art that Lucy had read about in the New York Times. It was called Treasures of Tutankhamun and Lucy very much wanted to see it. She had read a lot about King Tut over the years and studied him in school. Susan said the Met was the last stop of the two year tour of the exhibit. She had two tickets to the exhibit through her museum membership and asked Lucy if she wanted to go. Lucy said yes without hesitation. She could not pass up such an exciting opportunity. Stanley would be fine home alone for one evening. She would leave a chicken prepped and ready for him to pop in the oven for his Sunday night dinner. It was the perfect plan Lucy thought to herself.

The city was magnificent! The Met was magnificent! Lucy had a wonderful day in the city. After seeing the exhibit they decided to have lunch in the museum cafe. Afterwards, they walked around the museum and enjoyed two more exhibits that were on permanent display. Lucy suggested they walk down 5th Avenue to do some window shopping. It was a warm summer day. “Let’s have a glass of wine outside at a restaurant on Madison Avenue” Lucy said with excitement in her voice. She was in no rush to get home. Susan looked at the train schedule and they could catch the 6:10 train. The women ended up ordering delicious pasta dinners and Lucy enjoyed a second glass of wine. “I am so happy you are out and having some fun" Susan remarked. “You do not have enough fun in your life”. Lucy agreed, and with that she suggested they order the tiramisu to share. As Lucy sat watching the taxis and people pass by she thought to herself, “Today is the perfect day, a perfect Sunday”. Everything felt exciting and different from her normal, dull routine. Lucy felt exhilarated for the first time in three years.

Lucy and Susan missed their train and the one after that. By the time Susan dropped Lucy off at her house it was past 9:00. She had called Stanley once from a pay phone at the museum to let him know she would be a little late, which he was not happy about. Lucy changed out of her dress and into a pair of pajamas she had left in the laundry room. She slept downstairs in the guest room. She fell asleep going over the day again and again in her head with a smile on her face. 

The next morning Lucy woke up early feeling eager to clean up the remnants of Stanley’s dinner. What a mess he had left in the kitchen. He had only eaten half of the breast and a drumstick, but that was plenty Lucy thought. She discarded the remnants of uneaten carcass and put it out for the morning trash pick-up. When Stanley did not come downstairs at the usual time Lucy went upstairs. Their bed was untouched and still perfectly made from the day before. Light was coming from under their bathroom door. Lucy cautiously opened the door and was immediately hit with a very strong, putrid smell. There was poor Stanley, slumped over and motionless on the pinwheel dot black and white mosaic tile Lucy had picked out. 

Lucy went back downstairs and saw Stanley’s cold coffee, toast and grapefruit. She had made his breakfast out of habit she guessed. Lucy made herself waffles using the waffle iron that had still been in the box from their wedding. She topped the waffles with strawberries and maple syrup. As she ate, she anxiously flipped through the morning newspaper looking for the exhibit that would be replacing King Tut at the Met. Lucy got up to make herself a cup of coffee for a change and she looked outside the kitchen window. There was a beautiful ruby-throated hummingbird at the red bird feeder. Lucy grinned, “what a day”.