Nancy settles in her favourite chair with her Japanese Chin dog, Daisy, on her lap. The heat of her coffee seeps through the mug, warming her hands. She loves these few quiet moments after a hard day at work, focusing her senses on everything around her.
She looks at her garden, seeing the tell-tale signs of spring in the green shoots of the trees and the budding of the flowers. She looks forward to summer when she can go and sit in her favourite corner of her garden again.
As she takes a small sip of her coffee, the sharp whistle of her hearing aid makes Daisy open one eye but soon resumes her slumber when she recognises the sound.
Nancy has just silenced the whistling sound when her cell phone ringing shatters this peaceful moment. It was her husband, Max.
“Hi, Love. Sorry to do this to you, but I had to invite a few clients to supper.”
“When?” asks Nancy, feeling the tension in her shoulders.
“Tonight. I know it doesn’t give you time to cook, so I’ll order takeaways from that lovely Chinese restaurant we’ve been to for your birthday.”
Nancy closes her eyes in frustration, her thoughts a jumble. There goes the quiet evening she desperately needs after a day of intense research and feedback meetings!
“Max, you can’t do this to me.” Nancy feels an anxious knot forming in her stomach. “You know how I struggle with dinner conversations. And this invitation is all about creating a good impression with your clients. What if I embarrass you like the last time...”
“Sorry, Nancy. It can’t be helped,” said Max, abruptly ending the call.
Nancy was still taking deep breaths to settle herself when a ping on her phone showed a message from Max.
Hi Nancy. I’m bringing three people, and we’ll be there at seven.
Nancy takes a step back and looks at the hastily laid table. “Not bad,’ she said to herself as she adjusted the last serviette, grateful for this soothing activity, calming her nerves slightly.
“I hope I won’t embarrass Max again,” she whispers, fatigue clinging to her like a heavy cloak. Sensing Nancy’s anxiety, Daisy lightly touches her with her wet nose to comfort her human.
The shrill ringing of the doorbell shatters the quiet. Nancy rushed to the door to take care of the food delivery. Soon, she has all the food transferred to her beautiful porcelain dishes - inherited from her granny Macy- and put in the warming drawer.
“Honey, I’m home,” comes Max’s familiar greeting as he walks through the front door. After a few calming breaths, Nancy slowly walks out of the kitchen to greet Max and their guests.
During dinner, Nancy struggles to follow the conversation with all the business jargon they throw around. While fidgeting with her napkin, she feels the weight and warmth of Daisy’s little body on her feet, helping to keep her grounded.
The aromatic scents of the Chinese herbs fill the air, while the gentle clatter of cutlery is enough to drown out too many words for Nancy to follow along. She felt her heart racing and rubbed her sweaty palms against her pants.
“Focus, Nancy.” She tries remembering the techniques she’s learned from the Better Hearing group.” But she feels so overwhelmed. There are so many strange words she can’t catch, and she can’t keep up with who is talking...
Nancy glances at Lucille, intently listening to Max expanding on his business idea. Her long blond hair, flawless skin, and ice-blue eyes make her look like an ice queen, thinks Nancy. Recognising the hint of jealousy, Nancy re-focuses on Max’s face, trying to read his lips.
She barely registers Lucille, saying: “This is such a lovely spread! You two really know how to host!”
Nancy sighs inwardly. What is it with people thinking that having kids is the only purpose of marriage? It’s only been two years; it’s way too early to become parents.
“Oh, we are not ready to become parents yet! Max is still building his business, and I love working as a research assistant at the university.”
When Nancy noticed the puzzled look on Lucille’s face and the awkward silence, she knew she had done it again. Hearing wrong and responding inappropriately with friends are often funny, but with Max’s clients! She felt the heat rising into her cheeks and wondered if she had just cost Max a crucial contract!
Sensing the tension, Daisy gave a soft bark from under the table. As if on cue, Max, sensitive to his wife’s humiliation, quickly jumped in to save the moment. “Say, Lucille, just tell me again what you ...” with a sidelong glance at his wife.
The conversation fades into the background as Nancy retreats into herself, feeling somehow diminished and unworthy because of her hearing loss. Not even Daisy’s soft licking of her skin gets through to her in this moment of intense shame.
“Bye Lucille, Jeffrey, Tom. Thanks for coming over.” After softly closing the front door, Max barely makes any noise as he walks into the kitchen, where Nancy is busy cleaning up. Even though he can’t see her face, he can picture the tears rolling down her cheeks.
For a moment, he struggles with his conflicting emotions. Losing a possible contract is so frustrating! But compassion and empathy well up in him when he thinks of his wife’s struggles to hear, which cause embarrassing situations he knows she can’t control.
He reaches out and tugs softly on her shoulder, feeling her resistance and shying away from him.
But as she relents, he pulls her close against him, softly stroking her hair.
“It’s OK, Nancy,” he says, his voice cracking with a hint of frustration.
He feels her tears dampening his shirt. He can barely hear her muffled response.
“You need a better wife. Someone who doesn’t....”
Slowly, he moves away and lifts her chin with his finger.
“No, Nancy,” he says as he tenderly looks down on her beautiful face, green eyes brimming with tears.
“You are the perfect wife for me. You know I love you, regardless of your hearing loss. You are the one that matters most to me. If anyone takes issue with it, they shouldn’t be in our life’s anyway!”
“But the contract...” Nancy’s voice falters.
“There will be other clients and other contracts. I only have one Nancy...”
Daisy gives a contented sigh as Nancy melts into Max’s arms. All is well again in the Watson house.
Too beautiful. You can feel every emotion of Nancy through your own mind, body and soul.