Martha H. Freedman
THE LADY OF THE LOUNGE
by
Martha H. Freedman (copyright 1997 All Rights Reserved)
Marilyn Fields sat down beside her husband on the
nubby plaid sofa in the Student Lounge. She'd been reading the
thumbtacked notes on the bulletin boar--rides wanted, typing
rates, texts for sale, seminars--drinking them in as if they
were meant for her.
Actually, Norm and she were in the Senior Citizen
Audit Program at the local college. They were waiting for the
class in Eng Lit 301 to begin.
"We could brush up our Keats, meanwhile," Marilyn said,
"I hope you finished 'The Eve of St. Agnes,' such haunting
beauty."
No answer. She turned to find his salt-and-pepper
hair nestled on a pillow, his eyes shut behind the bifocals.
At least she'd persuaded him to take the course.
This had to be the best "over-sixty" fringe benefit
ever. And what luck to be studying The Romantic Period. Which
reminded her, time for a stanza or two.
As she reached for her Norton Anthology, she noticed a
young woman across the alcove smiling at her. An attractive
brunette, the woman looked a little older than the average
student there. Marilyn wondered if her smiling meant she knew
her from someplace.
"Almost three," Norm said, sitting up and glancing at
his watch, "time for class."
The woman continued to smile as they left.
Arm in arm, they walked along the paved pathway
surrounding the campus grass. Her soft white curls touched his
shoulder.
"Did you notice that woman sitting across from us,"
Marilyn asked?
"You mean the lady of the lounge with the Mona Lisa
smile?"
"Well, not exactly that, but have we seen her before?"
"Sure, hanging on a wall in a gilt frame."
"Oh, you," Marilyn said, giving him a playful push.
Norm went ahead to open the classroom door. They took
their usual seats in the middle of the rectangular room. Marilyn
placed her notebook on the right arm extension and watched the
students saunter in--jeaned and jerseyed, for the most part.
The room was all but filled when she caught sight of
the lady of the lounge sliding into an aisle seat. Marilyn
wondered how she could enter into the class now. Registration
was over.
Within minutes, the professor made his striding-gait
entrance. He was tall, broad- shouldered, with sandy-colored
hair and V-beard. After placing his briefcase on the front desk,
he took his customary position--one leg on the floor, the other
flung over the corner of the desk where he rested.
Several male students came up to chat with him about a
great fishing spot in the area. Marilyn leaned forward to catch
their conversation. When she heard the professor say he'd taken
his five year old son fishing there last summer, she felt a
mantle of warmth around her.
During the professor's background lecture, Marilyn
jotted sporadic notes: Romantics rebelled against neoclassism
... fighting for individual freedom ... striving to live to
their fullest ... .
She looked up as he printed two words on the
blackboard, CARPE DIEM.
"That was their credo, 'Seize The Day'," he said as he
wiped his chalk-smudged fingers on his pant leg.
Generated by his enthusiasm, Marilyn printed CARPE
DIEM! CARPE DIEM! CARPE DIEM! along the margins of her notebook
while listening to the professor read Keats in his stirring
resonant voice.
When class was over although she, Norm and all the
other students left, the lady of the lounge remained.
During the course of the term, after chatting with
classmates during the half-hour break, they learned about the
campus cafeteria and began having dinner there after their
afternoon class.
Other students often joined them, filling them in on
the exams and term papers not required of audits. Many of them
also met around the snack and drink machines during the breaks.
But never the lady of the lounge. She didn't leave her seat, nor
did she ever raise a hand to answer questions the way the rest
of them, including the Fields, did.
After the class, but before the Christmas holiday,
Marilyn and Norm found a "Temporarily Closed" sign on the
cafeteria door.
"Oh, and I'm so hungry," Marilyn wailed.
Norm reached for her hand, "Back to the car. There's a
fried chicken place up the road."
The orange diner-shaped eatery was broad-side to the
parking lot. As Norm pulled in he said,
"Hey look over there, guess who came to dinner?"
Marilyn followed his pointing hand and saw, through a
side window, the professor and the lady of the lounge sitting
across from one another in a booth.
"Oh, dear," she said, "I don't think they'll be happy
to see us."
"Right, but we just can't sit here in the car."
Averting their eyes from the window, they hurried to
the entrance.
As they waited at the front counter to give their
order, Marilyn wrestled with the thought of going into the
dining area. Should they walk to the other aisle and pretend not
to see them? Impossible in that narrow space. They'd just have
to go in and greet them casually.
But when they carried in their trays, the booth beside
the window was empty.
"Thank goodness," Marilyn said, "but how?"
"Slipped out the back way."
"Oh, I feel really upset about this."
"Why should you be upset?"
They ate in silence for a while.
"The thing is," Marilyn said, "why'd they think we'd
find anything wrong in their having dinner together?"
"You're right. For all we know she could be his wife."
"No, I think if she were his wife he would have
introduced us at the first class. Anyway, his wife's probably
getting dinner for their little boy."
Norm stared at her, "Little boy? He never said a word
about having a family. Never anything personal."
"I know, but last week some of the students came up to
tell him about a great fishing spot and he told them he took his
five year old son fishing there last summer."
"Hmmm. Well, I hope that Mona Lisa smile won't change
their family life-style."
"Oh, please," Marilyn said, "I've been trying not to
think such thoughts, but it does worry me. You know those daring
romantics didn't always have long happy marriages."
"Well, my dear, with today's divorce rate, I think
you'd find a long happy marriage a rarity, with or without a
daring romantic poet in the house."
Marilyn smiled at him, "We're so lucky."
"You bet we are! Forty-five years of a wonderful
marriage."
"And don't forget the two wonderful daughters and two
wonderful grandsons," Marilyn added.
"I couldn't forget a thing," he reached for her hand as
they left.
**********
When class resumed in January Marilyn determined not
to let anything detract from her pleasure in the words. For
several sessions they studied the glory and tragedy of Byron and
Shelley. Then it was the week before finals. At break time that
day, the professor announced he was dismissing class early so
that the students would have a full week of study.
Then, to her astonishment, Marilyn heard him say, "I
would like to have Mr. and Mrs. Fields meet with me after the
dismissal."
As the room cleared and Marilyn and Norm stood up, she
noticed the lady of the lounge walking to his desk. As they came
up beside her, the professor said to them,
"First, I want to tell you it's been a good experience
having you participate. And now I'd like you to meet Mrs.
Russell, a member of our Education Board."
Marilyn avoided looking at Norm as they each shook
hands with her.
"We have a problem," the professor told them, "the
Education Board has received negative reports concerning the
Senior Citizen Program. Some say it's being used to idle away an
afternoon, or that there's dozing off, or talk on unrelated
subjects. One woman brought her knitting to a class. This is an
academic program and should be respected as such. It is, for the
most part, and I think the class we're now completing was a
model one."
"Definitely," Marilyn blurted out.
"Well, it's students like you two we're planning to
use as good examples. It's Mrs. Russell's assignment to attend
and evaluate the audit program in cooperation with the
instructors. This report was not to be released until the end of
the semester, but since this is your last class, I wanted to let
you know about it."
"Thank you, thank you," they both shook hands with him.
"It's been a wonderfully rewarding experience,"
Marilyn added, "I hope many more senior citizens enjoy it
properly."
They all laughed.
Marilyn went over to Mrs. Russell, "You know when I
first saw you in the lounge, I wasn't sure whether or not you
were a student."
Mrs. Russell gave her a Mona Lisa smile, then said,
"Now you don't have to flatter me, you know your class is
getting a top grade."
"I bet you're going to see they all do," Marilyn said.
Norm had remained at the professor's desk, and Marilyn
heard him say,
"I know where that great fishing spot is now and I'm
going to take my grandsons there when they visit."
"Good, maybe you'll run into Bud and me."
After waving final goodbyes, the two of them walked
out silently. When she got into the car, Marilyn leaned her head
back on the seat cushion and let out a deep sigh.
"I can't believe how I misjudged them," she said.
"We both read that all wrong," Norm said.
"Oh, I was the worse one. I saw her in my mind's eye
as some kind of siren luring him on. That sweet, smiling,
blameless woman!"
"Well, now, remember how you told me, it's never too
late to learn? Perhaps you should start working on some of those
Golden Oldie maxims like, Don't jump to conclusions, Don't rush
to judgment, Look before you leap, maybe even Ann Lander's,
MYOB."
"Oh, yes, they're worth their weight in gold--but
don't worry about me not remembering them, because there's no
way I'm ever going to forget the lady of the lounge."
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