The Marriage of Naomi (I P) Part Three

The Marriage of Naomi (I P) Part Three

Now that Paulette had managed to extricate her daughter from the hall where the reception was in full swing she got to ask all the questions that had been buzzing about in her head ever since the arrival of that Rolls Royce on her drive just that morning. Questions Naomi did her best to answer.

“First, how on earth did you manage to buy such an expensive wedding dress?

“From what I earned, of course.”

“But I thought you were doing voluntary work because you were unemployed.”

“No, mother, you just assumed that.”

“What, you had a job?”

“Not at first but when people started to hear about me I was offered work.”

“Doing what?”

“Singing of course.”

“What? Singing that Mozart stuff?”

“Mozart, yes…and others.”

“What sort of money could you earn singing Mozart?”

“A lot of money, actually mother. I have sung at Covent Garden many times and also at The London Coliseum, the home of the English National Opera Company.”

“Okay, now how did you meet this bloke you’ve managed to get hitched to your bedpost?”

“There you go again mother. You just can’t resist putting me down.”

“Oh, sorry it’s just…”

“That old habits…”

“Yes, sorry.”

“I forgive you.”

“Sounds like that song. Whoops! No, I mean aria …no, that’s not right either I mean duet. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“It doesn’t matter, mother.”

“How did you meet him?”

“He was and is my Artistic Director.”

“Oh and these people?”

“These are all people that I have met during my singing career and who have admired my voice.”

“What like fans?”

“Yes, in some cases. In others they are people from my profession.”

“But now I want to ask you how you look like you do? How you lost what looks like two stone in a day?”

“Yes, I thought that would interest you mother. You see, your mistake was that you never looked at me properly if you had you would have seen that I was not as big as you always made out. I looked bigger because that is how you saw me and made me feel so I dressed accordingly. Wearing big thick jumpers and frumpy skirts and comfy brogues seemed to meet with your expectations of me so I never let you see the real me.

“I am so sorry, Naomi, I had no idea.”

“You were always so concerned with outward show that you never looked to see what I was really like…by that I mean what I was like on the inside. These people that are here today to join in our wedding celebrations are people that only saw what was on the inside. They never saw the bushy hair, the ugly face and the awkward shape. They saw a person who was not the most beautiful but who was an honest, loving and, I might say, talented girl but you mother had me pigeon-holed from the day I was born and as for my brothers and sisters they stopped being able to hurt me a long time ago. I knew they wouldn’t come today but Jonathan insisted I invite them because he couldn’t believe they wouldn’t want to be here.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

“There is nothing to say mother, Jonathan and I will be leaving tomorrow as we have bought a house on the island of Madeira in the Mediterranean but you needn’t worry you always made it plain that I would be the one who would look after you when you got old and that is what I have prepared for as I have put in place a plan for you to be looked after as and when it becomes necessary and I leave it to my oh so caring brothers and sisters to see that my plan is carried out and that you are properly looked after.

“Again, what can I say, Naomi?”

“For once, mother, very little. I will stay in touch and if my brothers and sisters now think I might be a person they could be interested in then tell them my husband and I look forward to them and you visiting us some time in our island home.

"Naomi, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want anything more to do with us."

"Mother, like the Countess who sings that beautiful aria from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro ‘I Forgive’”

End