Steeped

"Good Morning" said the young and delicate hostess standing behind an elegant wood carved podium. Jody and I had decided to meet up at The Hour, a prestigious tea room in Boltonville. Speaking of an hour, I had been waiting for Jody to show about a half of one already. It had been a long time since we had seen one another, six years to be exact. We had recently reconnected through a mutual friend of ours named Sonny. Sonny owned the local Playhouse Theatre in Canterbury, that is where we all met so many years ago. I had been on one of my self discovery urges when I decided to take up acting classes, Jody had been part of the theatre since she was seventeen and Sonny grew up in Manhattan with his Uncle who was an eccentric, and while eccentric was rich to the skies. Sonny had drawn inspiration from his upbringing with his uncle, it was a creative and unrestricted lifestyle, chalk full of freedom and the money to be as wild as any imagination could be. He was destined to allow for others to express themselves, hence opening the Playhouse with great success. 

Sonny and I always kept in touch, he was twenty or so years older than I, yet from the moment I stepped foot in his theatre class I knew he was a familiar. He was currently going through a bit of an existential crisis, questioning the very essence of all things that lay before him. During a recent phone call, he had asked me if I had heard from Jody recently. I told him I hadn't as she was always someone a bit too whimsical for my taste and that I could never quite wrap my concentration around. In other words, I didn't make time for her, not often anyhow. He made mention that I ought to reach out to her as she had lost a lot of family in recent years and had become rather lonely and reclusive. That piqued my curiosity because as sad as it sounded it was also surprising that her life would have turned out as such. She was a cheery and funny character, with a spring in her step always seeming to be walking on bubbles. What had happened to her? And why did Sonny think I should talk to her? What could I possibly offer her?

I caught a glimpse of her out of the window as I looked up from the flamboyant table, just beyond the pastel floral filled room donned with macaroons and herbal scents. She was shrouded in a black flowy dress and an extra large solid black floppy hat, I would think she were going to a funeral on the beach if I had not known better. She came clashing through the entry way flailing her hands in the air as to get my attention, but she had surely already gotten that. I waved politely, calling her over to the table. She seemed...joyful even if she was dressed head to toe in black, the contrast of her against the aesthetic display that engulfed us was notably pleasing.

As she plopped down with a giant smile on her face we exchanged niceties for a time. All the while I could not take my eyes off her glowing smile and wondering what the hell Sonny was talking about. This was a vibrant woman before me. Eager to get into it, I began to ask her questions to get the party started.  

After asking several introductory questions, Jody leaned over and asked me "why do you think Sonny wanted us to meet, after all these years?" I didn't really have a surefire answer, I swiftly contemplated and without a second beat replied "I suppose we're all lonely in a lonely world". She smiled at me as she sat back in her chair and took a sip of her oolong. It was this all knowing smile. Frankly, it made me very uncomfortable as it seemed she saw through me and into my very soul. After a pause she said "yes, I think that is it, we are all lonely. Life has come thus far, we've made friends, we've made enemies and we've made memories. And what comes after that?" This was all becoming a bit too philosophical for me, with Sonny having his existential crisis and Jody seemingly a wise hermetic monk after all. I began to question where in this entire setup did I fit into the equation. I mean, I seemed to have it the most figured out out of my fellows here. I was stable, my job was well paying, I have a few hobbies that keep my mind busier than I have time for and my fiancé and I have our Friday nights dedicated to date night. Why am I even here? Other than out of snobbish interest in another.

I really tried to pry into Jody's life to see how bad it really was, after all she had experienced tragedy of the cruelest kind having lost those closest to her in such a short time span, including her parents and her husband. But all that I kept getting back was a boomerang of pleasant yet simple and modest responses. She seemed to have it all worked out to an extent, at least from where I was sitting.

Finally a little over two hours later, Jody looked at her watch and softly told me that she ought to get going. She laid a few twenty dollar bills on the table and looked me in the eyes, she said "Charlie, I wish you a very good day, it was nice to see you once more. If I had to bet on why Sonny wanted me to catch up with you, it would be that he has realized in recent times that time is short and all that really matters are the moments we create within the fleeting experiences of our lives. Thank you for the long overdue moment." Jody got up from her chair and began to navigate the intricate seating arrangements of The Hour in order to exit. She passed the hostess and before walking through the door she blew me a kiss.

I sat there in silence as I contemplated our chat. A feeling of loneliness swept over me, not at all how I expected this outing for tea with an old friend would end, at least for me. I was ravaged with more questions than I came in with and the curiosity was no longer about what made her tick or how she was getting on since her traumas, nor about Sonny and his current state of deep self observations. But rather, about my place in the world and how steeped in intrusive curiosity I was over someone else's life, when in reality she seemed to be getting on peacefully. A place I clearly have not yet attained or even thought about until this moment at The Hour.