Chapter 4: Men are Pigs!

It was Thursday morning and Carl was back at the diner for breakfast. Cecie seemed distracted and upset, she took his regular order without comment and forgot to bring the cream and sugar for his coffee. When she was distracted he retrieved those items from another table. As she worked the morning rush, he studied her discreetly. And then he noticed, her ring finger was empty.

Just then, Darlene, the second server arrived at work. When Cecie next appeared, her apron was gone and his routine breakfast order was brought over. “I’m going home early. You can pay Darlene when you finish.”

“No, please, stay for a bit. Tell me what happened.” “Men are pigs!” “Of course they are. What did he do?” “He broke up with me, and, he took back the ring. I adored that ring. I loved him! Now I feel awful. Say, how did you know?”

“Easy. First, I’m a man, and therefore know all about pig behavior. Second, your hand is bare. Third, only a nasty fool would be unkind to a precious sweet woman such as yourself. Fourth, well, fourth I can’t talk about.”

“Why not?” “Let’s just say, my objectivity is impaired when my friend Cecie is unhappy. Put another way, I want to kick his ass into next week for what he did. So, you’re going home. Can you rest and relax there?”

“Not really, my sister’s young children run around screaming, and she will blame me for the breakup. It’s not very peaceful.” “I get the picture. I want you to go stay in my flat while I’m at work, so you can rest. I’ll bring you a sandwich at 3:30 and send you home. It’s my good deed for the week. Here’s the address and my key. It’s the lower unit with the blue door. This is my business card, call if you need to. Any questions?”

“Nerd Corps? I guess that’s reassuring.” “Yeah, I go into businesses and people’s homes, so I have to mind my manners. You can also get help from my landlady upstairs, Sally Rossington. I will see you at 3:30.”

Cecie dropped her purse on Carl’s table. Except for his computer setup, his apartment was fairly tidy. So she removed her shoes and stretched out on his queen-sized bed. A couple of hours later, she awoke to the sound of knocking on the blue door. Without thinking, she opened the door. Sally was standing there with a box. “Why Carl, you’ve changed! May I come in, Cecie?”

Surprised and confused, Cecie stepped aside. “Thank you, dear. Would you like some pie?” “Does the Pope spit in the woods? Certainly!” “Obviously, Carl alerted me. Something about pigs? Here’s your pie. You eat, I’ll talk. I’m Dr. Rossington, you can call me Sally. I’m a retired school principal. Carl says you serve at that diner he goes to?”

“Yes, Sally. This is so delicious. You were a cooking school principal?” “Tee-hee! No, regular school. But retirement gives me extra time to improve. Carl was helping me so I used him as a tasting dummy.”

“We should all be so lucky. So he told you about pig man?” “Not really. I don’t think he knows that much.”

“He knows enough. Pig man proposed to me six, no, seven months ago. I had a beautiful ring and everything. The other day, he got porkish and took the ring back from me. When Carl saw me this morning, he figured out why I was so upset. When I told him about living with my sister and her crazy children, he sent me here to rest up.”

“Your sister wasn’t supportive?” “Laura has decided any breakups are always my fault. She has her man, and whenever she wants something she shows him her hooters. After nursing two children they are really big; she has him mesmerized by her mammaries.”

“OK, then, you go back to bed. I’m going make supper for you both, so please get some more rest. I’ll call Carl and have him bring some groceries for tonight.”