When Love’s In Fashion

Chapter 12

Stressed?

No.

No, stressed wasn’t quite the correct word for the emotion she felt right now. A more fitting word would be tense beyond compare.

Well…that was a phrase but she was too hassled to put up an argument.

Point was the feeling of worry and anxiety greatly overpowered any sense of joy.

As she gazed at herself in the mirror, hair done into a French braid and make-up applied with a deep red lipstick, she felt like something was off. Sven had told her to look herself over, make sure she was “good”. But every glance she had at herself, her eyes immediately found the rare negatives and imperfections that glossed over her beauty.

Rocking back and forth, swapping on different legs, she let out a long breath and closed her eyes, hands clenching the bureau. Her nails dug into the hardwood, Elmira feeling like she would most definitely find splinters after she somehow managed to remove them.

She leaned over, black hair spilling from the sides. She looked up to meet her weary reflection in the mirror. To describe her appearance in one word?

Frazzled.

But that wasn’t really what was important.

To describe how she felt on the inside?

Scared.

This wasn’t some normal occasion she could brush off. Not some ridiculous day trip whose outcome would have no real affect.

Today she was cooking for her parents and Sven’s parents.

Today, she’d meet Sven’s parents for the first time. And he met hers.

Today, she’d be assessed based on – oh who knows – table-manners, speech, behavior, etc. So would he.

Things that may have seemed petty to Elmira on regular occasion.

No, they were not petty, frivolous, or trivial today.

Elmira straightened her back, removing her hands from their death grip on the furniture. She, once again, pushed her hair back into its proper position and tried to control her breathing. She patted her blue knit shirt, tightly pulling a thin white jacket close to her over it.

“You’re good, Olivette. You’re good.” She told herself, trying to smile.

But after staring at the façade for too long she knew it was merely an illusion and dropped the act, instead sporting a frown.

“Okay, we’re ready! Are you-” Sven walked through the door, eyes immediately finding the bureau and his partner’s reflection. Elmira didn’t have enough time to plaster on another fake smile and he saw her upside down smile. “Elmira?” he asked in worry.

Sven was wearing a black shirt with white capris. Elmira wasn’t sure about the white but she kept her mouth shut.

He approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around Elmira’s waist. He rested his head on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck and pecking the skin uncovered.

“Don’t think I didn’t see that frown of yours, Elmira Olivette.” Sven scolded gently, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Sorry.” Elmira answered back, sounding tired.

“What’s wrong?” Sven asked.

Elmira wasn’t sure if it was the look in Sven’s eyes or the sincerity behind her words but she ended up confessing her strife to her love.

“I just…I’ve never been this scared and worried before, Sven…I’ve never been so scared about the consequences. I’m… Sven? What if I fu*k this up? What if we screw this up and our parents don’t get along and everyone hates everyone…god why did we think this was a good idea-,”

By the time she reached the end of the sentence she was hyperventilating.

“Shhh…shhh,” Sven comforted, kissing her cheek and rubbing her back. “No. . .No, Elmira. There’s nothing you could do to make my parents hate your guts.”

“But-”

“No, but nothing, Ms. Olivette.” Sven repeated. “If you somehow managed to make them ‘hate’ you, which I have no idea how you would be able to pull that off, their opinions aren’t going to matter. I love you and they can’t change that. I’m not some boy for them to control; I can make my own choices. Is that clear?”

Elmira nodded.

*****

Filip Marcel was a draper who immigrated from Norway as a young man. He’d worked hard at the American dream and one day he was crossing the street when a car had careened around the corner, fishtailed and was headed straight toward a woman pushing a stroller when Filip got between the car and the girl. He pushed her into the ditch, desperately hoping that he hadn’t inadvertently killed the baby in the stroller by doing so. Then he jumped in on top of her. The car screamed as the driver frantically tried to swerve away. He hit a tree, the back wheels of the car coming to land not two feet from the stroller.

Filip hit his head on the concrete sidewalk and blacked out for a bit. It was the baby’s crying that woke him. He felt a strange mix of relief and fear; relief because clearly the baby was alive, and fear because the baby could be crying because she was hurt. He struggled to his feet but he’d twisted his ankle and couldn’t put any weight on it. So he crawled to the stroller. The baby was still securely strapped into it. There was no sign of injury or blood much to Filip’s relief. He climbed out of the ditch, pulling the stroller with him. The child’s mother was still lying in the ditch, seemingly passed out.

The driver of the car opened the door and staggered out, clutching his bleeding head.

“Are you all alright?” he mumbled.

“Some help would be nice!” Filip called and the man stumbled forward, half blind from the blood in his eye to help pull the woman out of the ditch. People had started to gather, hearing the accident from their houses. Soon the ambulance was there and everyone was whisked off to the hospital.

*****

Two weeks later the driver of the car came looking for Filip; to thank him for preventing tragedy. He not only saved the woman and her baby, but he saved the driver too…from becoming a murderer. He asked Filip what he could possibly do to repay him.

Filip and his wife Isobel offered him some coffee and they talked. He found out Filip was a draper; and he had a chain of hotels needing revamping. That was his breakthrough contract. He didn’t look back. He raised his son to do better than he did; and he was proud of the man Sven had made of himself. Not just as a financial success, but as a human being.