Cheesecake
Two women and a puzzle
Just when things were going well in her life, Sheila hit a rough patch head on. Every part of her life situation went south in a very abrupt manner. It seemed as though she had made a wrong turn into a very different world. And she could not figure out what wrong turn she made nor when she made it.
She searched the memory banks in her noggin for that moment when everything changed but she could not find it. Of course she knew that she could not go back in time to reverse that turn but she wanted to know what decision she had made that sent everything spiraling so that she could learn from it and avoid making similar mistakes in the future.
Sheila was a very analytical thinker. That is how she was raised. That is why she had gone so far in her career and why she was so successful in all aspects of her life. It was quite rare that she could not figure something out. But now she was stumped.
“I just don’t know what I did to screw everything up,” she said to Julia, her long-time friend. They had met for lunch at a local cafe. It was the first time they had gotten together in months.
“Sheila, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so distraught. You’ve always been my inspirational super hero. You’ve always been twenty times more successful than everyone else I know combined. I’m just not sure what to say.”
“Yeah and I just don’t know what to think. I get ousted from the board of directors of the very company that I founded. I catch my husband having an affair. My car gets stolen then wrecked. My personal computer gets hacked and one of my bank accounts gets emptied. My stock portfolio takes a humongous hit. My brother gets sentenced to four years in prison. My lawyer just died. And the IRS tells me I’m getting audited. All of this in just one week! I’ve got to figure out what happened.”
Julia sipped her tea as she studied Sheila’s face. It looked like she had suddenly aged, “Maybe instead of figuring out what happened you need to see what is happening.”
“What the freaking hell does that mean?”
“Well, uh, you’re trying to put all the pieces of a puzzle together in order to see the whole picture, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Maybe instead of focusing on all the pieces and putting them together you might want to discard all the pieces and start seeing a whole new different picture. I’m going to make a prediction…”
“Oh Jesus! Seriously? Okay get out your crystal ball and your tarot cards.”
“I predict that in two or three years from now you’re gonna look back at this week from hell of yours and realize that it was one of the best things that every happened to you. You can’t see that now because you’re too focused on analyzing everything. You’re thinking way too much. Forget the puzzle pieces of the past and start seeing the new possibilities of the present moment. Like they say, when God closes one door…”
“Julia! For crying out loud. A bunch of new agey woo-woo is the very last thing I need right now. I was hoping you could help me figure out what happened.”
“What happened has already happened. Focus on what is happening right now. It’s a beautiful day. We just had a delightful lunch. You still have your home and your health. You no longer have a job so you can go spend the afternoon at the beach or anything else you know you would enjoy. It’s a brand new day. You’ve been given a blank canvas on which you can create a whole new picture. Instead of over-analyzing get creative. Do something new and different. Go crazy. Enjoy the present moment and let the puzzle pieces fall into place naturally. Get out of your head and see the beauty around you and the new possibilities and the freedom you have been gifted. Know that you will some day look back at this day as the day your life changed for the better because it was the day you stopped thinking so damn much and started living in the present.”
Just then the waitress appeared, “Would you care for any dessert?”
With a stern look on her face, Sheila replied, “No thank you. Just bring our check.”
Julia raised her arm, “Wait! No, the check can wait. Would you please bring each of us a slice of cheesecake?” She turned to Sheila, “My treat!”
The waitress looked back and forth between the two women then left.
Sheila crossed her arms over her chest, “Julia, you can be so goddam infuriating!”
Julia smiled, “Thank you.” Her smile then turned into laughter.
Very slowly, the stern look on Sheila’s face softened and a smile began appearing. It looked as though she were suddenly getting younger.
When the waitress brought the cheesecake both Sheila and Julia were laughing. Placing the cheesecake and the check on the table, the waitress looked back and forth between the two women then left.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. Stories by White Feather
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