Audrey Hepburn's Pearls: Part I

Chapter 24.1: 1994, Ruiz

"Okay," I told her, still a little shocked from the revelation. 

She gathered up my white bubble coat in one movement as I took it off and headed for the bedroom. "So what brings you here this morning?" she asked, her voice distant. I heard her rustling in the bedroom, fabric against fabric. Her red kitten heel shoes echoed on the hardwood floors as she shuffled around, then un-echoed and came towards me as she re-entered the hallway. 

The kitten heels met tile and began to click as she went behind her counter, and I lost sight of her pretty blonde head as she dipped down and opened a cabinet in the counter island.

The heels, clear plastic with marabou red feathers over the toes to complete a sandal,  looked more flirty than I ever thought possible for her to be, but given the pictures I had seen of her from the 1960's I knew she was more than capable. But the Georgina I had grown to know...it seemed like every time I saw her more and more these two images, young and older, were coming together to form one incredible, fantastic person.

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," I told her loudly over the clanging of pots and pans that she was sifting through in the counter.

The noise stopped abruptly as she reappeared over the counter holding a metal tea kettle. It startled me because I never really realized how short she was. The kitten heels had to have been only two inches, and at this height she looked so innocent, like a little golden haired fairy. It made me wonder if she was as short as me.

"Give me a moment, its going to get loud, the water on the metal," she said in her breathy way, and it did indeed get loud like water on a tin roof. After about a minute, all was quiet again. Now she came over finally and sat on her red chair. "What's wrong, dear?" she asked, giving me her full attention.

"Sorry to play psychiatrist," I said shamefully, looking down at my sneakers. They made me frown, how ugly they were. 

"Not at all," Georgina assured gracefully.

"I'm wearing the ribbon brooch, though. I couldn't let my Mama see, so I put it on before I left my room. I just wanted to feel a little...pretty today," I said slowly, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks even though I knew I was in good company.

Georgina sighed and smiled, looking at me very pleased. It made me blush more.

"That's what the brooch is for. Its seen many a day where a girl needed just a little something to feel pretty," she said gently. "I hoped you'd use it for that. It makes me so pleased to hear you are. Where is it?" Her blue eyes scanned me and I folded in on myself just a little under her friendly gaze.

"Its in my sneaker...see the pin? I couldn't bear to wear them by themselves," I half whispered, hoping she wouldn't be mad. Putting such a thing in something so ugly...so dirty...

She winked at me. "I used to put it in an old ugly coat. Just in the pocket, sometimes. It was an awful thing, big brown and scratchy. I used to wear it to butch myself up when I was with ladies. I couldn't wear it by itself. One time, a lady went into my pocket to get my wallet and she found the brooch. I told her it was a hooker's and she slapped me right across the face, right here." She poked her dimple and puckered her lips when she said the last part. I started laughing at her expression. She started to giggle at my laugh, her eyes looking so glad. "I wanted to get rid of her anyway. That brooch is really a life saver, in so many ways. You'll see." Her elegant hands went gracefully onto her knees and slid up her legs as she got up from the chair. "Water must be ready soon," she said. "What kind of tea would you like today? I've got chamomile, earl grey, lemon and ginger, peppermint-"

I coughed a little bit on the back of my hand and blushed for interrupting her.

"Peppermint it is," she smiled at me from behind her counter, taking down a small package from her cabinet. "You have a cold?"