A Different Color Blue- Chapter 2
The morning brings a busy sunlight. We sat on our patio, she with her coffee, me with my green tea and surveyed our quiet world. I have already done my morning Tai Chi. A large Great Horned Owl swoops out of the huge tree a short distance away. No doubt to grab breakfast on the run before its busy day. The rest of the Owl family will join in shortly.
On the other side of the pool a beautiful young woman with long brown hair wearing nothing but a short transparent red silk robe, hiding nothing from our view, holding a glass of wine as she talks on the phone from her balcony begging to be noticed. Her secrets already exposed yet she sits bare assed on her deck with her feet together and her legs spread in our direction to make sure we she what she has. She has gone out of her way to make her presence felt by Cee and me. We found it amusing and somewhat charming at the same time.
If it were any other morning, we might ask her to join us for breakfast, but we have things to do today and people to meet that do not include her… sadly this time.
We finish our coffee and tea then return inside to prepare for the day. It’s already warm and will get even warmer before the day ends. I do not dread the heat; I embrace it, and my wardrobe and collection of hats show this as does Cee’s, and in no time at all we are out the door as the first ripples of heat rise from the pavement.
No matter where you go on the oasis traffic will be daunting. Largely due to the tourists having no clue where they are going or why. Many of the dwellers of the oasis are not a great deal brighter either and drive unconsciously from point A to point B as if they have never been there before. A simple errand can be both entertaining and frightening at times. Regardless of these things they all seem to be headed to the same places. Places filled with things of great extravagance where one can purchase many items and goodies not really needed or suited to the oasis these days at huge expense and luxury. Cee and I are in search of none of that today.
Our travels today will take us to places usually frequented only by locals. Quieter places where things of necessary importance can be found that belong here on the oasis. We will drive by fountains, colorful murals and sculptures done by people and friends known to me and not known to me and see things and buildings in the oasis that rise and fall so quickly it is hard to remember what stood there only a week ago, but we will try.
You can do many things about clothing here in the oasis. You can go to the stores and malls where the tourists and the clueless go and spend large amounts of money on things that may or may not be suited for the oasis but has some designer’s name on it or you can go to a small shop that will make clothes specific for you and the climate. In many cases a lot less than those other places. We are pulling up to one such place now.
Dancers of every stripe frequent a place like this for shoes of all kinds, tights, club clothes, costumes and so much more. Those special things, no matter how small and microscopic some may be, you see them wear on stage are usually made in places like this. Custom fitted to the dancer. As are many of the “normal” clothes those dancers wear at less expensive prices than the high-end stores… you just need to know who to see and talk to. If they don’t make it there, they have someone that does nearby.
Today we are picking up a dress for Cee to wear to an event tonight custom made in light cotton and gauze with all the summer colors she loves. It will hide only what she wants hidden and accentuate everything else.
The attractive bodies in the shop and behind the counter with their barely there clothing is only an appetizer to the day and evening that lies ahead. We know almost all of them by name. And when/if they got new tattoos or piercings, changed their hair color and so on. Too young to play with in some cases, but we think the world of them is just the same. The way a dancer moves is always something to behold… a good dancer that is. A bad one is just clunky regardless of what type of dancing they do for a living. A good one has sexuality and sensuality oozing out of their pores that they just can’t hide and seldom try except when the little kiddies come in for their tights, tutus and ballet shoes. The bad ones just look like pretenders no matter what.
Cee tries the dress on (knowing full well it fits perfectly) just to get the seal of approval from the gang in the shop. Ramona isn’t there right now but will get the message later. Ramona and I go way back… all the way to high school as a matter of fact. A dark-haired beauty with a body to die for and a walk that literally could stop traffic. She had always wanted to be a fashion designer and had left for New York and worked for some of the best there are and had become a lover for two of them (one male and one female). She will not tell you their names, but she told Cee and I and how they both burned her, so she returned to the oasis a little wounded and used… which is our secret blessing.
She now has an exclusive clientele here plus a list of dancers and some small dance companies she does work for and does quite well for herself without the cutthroat world of haute couture. The best part is her designs no longer have someone else’s name on them.
We pay for the dress and head for a light lunch dodging the bicycles, Segway’s, and those ghastly electric scooters twice the size of the ones we had as kids driven by maniacs who should be institutionalized… even if they do look amazingly good in what little they arewearing and are, no doubt, heading to the same cafés and bistro’s we are.
The oasis is comparatively small and lacks a few things like an abundance of fast-food places and chain restaurants so we are, thankfully, reliant upon more unique places to eat that sometimes can excite more than just one’s taste buds.
Our favorite breakfast/lunch place is as eclectic as we are. Nor do they have a waitstaff like other places. The women are all, seemingly, size zero and wear leggings or boy shorts, maybe a tight t-shirt from the name of the place they work at and little else, the guys are hip looking in black jeans or shorts and there is a lot of ink and piercings on both genders to go around as well. Their “uniforms” are clearly NOT something you would find in a chain restaurant. The place is always packed, and we found that the bar overlooking the patio and the always busy street full of happy attractive pedestrians was the place to sit there. I admit to trying the “man-bun” thing once, but it didn’t work so well for me. It might have been the double stick tape I used or maybe the roll, but it just kept falling off my bald head…. Besides, I got hungry, so it was a short-lived experiment.
I was in the mood for a Bloody Mary and a fruit salad with a bagel and Cee was undecided, but knew she wanted something different and mass quantities of coffee. So, we sat there and watched our tiny little bartender with a tight ass, inked body and pierced nose work like a machine while we enjoyed the cool mid-morning sights as the fresh air blew in from the patio. It took Cee a little longer than normal to figure out what she wanted to eat. She was so distracted by our bartender which didn’t bother me in the least. This insanely attractive little woman was working the “U” shaped bar, making drinks for the whole restaurant and flirting with Cee without missing a beat… I was greatly impressed. Before we had finished our meal, Cee had discreetly deposited the bartenders phone number into her purse for later use and had left hers on one of the receipt copies for our bartender. Something I’m sure will be quite rewarding in the very near future. As we were leaving Cee got a hug and a kiss. Her new friend got her crotch tweaked and I got… a smile. Then off we went to our next destination.
Shopping for fruits and vegetables can be… let’s be honest… a fucking bore. Even on the oasis there is the obligatory weekend Farmer’s Market where you can purchase semi-fresh produce from local growers at questionable prices then cart them around proudly in your eco-friendly shopping bags from home and feel “healthy” doing it. We also have the usual suspects like everyone else where you can always buy strawberry’s year around at five bucks apiece. The only difference is the scenery. Only on the oasis are you likely to see so many half naked fit bodies buying bananas and cucumbers in such places at one time in such a scrutinizing way. I have never seen women take so much care in choosing such fruits and vegetables as if they have other purposes than just nutritional consumption around here. There is a reason they have blood pressure check stations in those places on the oasis.
Once we have cruised the isles finding the necessary items for tonight and tomorrow, we make a hasty exit and make our way home to prepare for the evening and the festivities. No doubt it will be a very long evening indeed.
The evening starts at home with a few friends. In the center of the table, we have placed a Charcuterie of fresh fruit, cheese, bread, some sliced meat, olives and wine…there’s always wine.
I find my eyes moving back and forth from the grapes in the center of the table, to the food and the wine and that is all I can see. Grapes, food and wine… then an image appears floating in the center of the table. An image of a woman in a linen skirt hanging low on her hips. A white linen blouse barely buttoned, but the face and the hair I cannot make out. She seems to somehow be standing in the middle of the table next to the grapes and then evaporates. The pale ochre walls that had held her in suspension now has disappeared leaving only a memory or perhaps a thought. I cannot figure it out just yet.I have not had any wine yet, so I’m not drunk, and I haven’t taken or smoked anything I shouldn’t have for decades, so that’s ruled out… I must be tired already.
