1998: Solace and Rosanna traversed the avenues and then made their way uptown. They walked arm in arm, and both smiled inwardly at how comfortable it felt walking with a near-perfect stranger. Solace considered herself to be a carefree person, but this was a bit odd even for her. Rosanna, being the levelheaded pragmatist knew she must be suffering from some form of temporary insanity because of her usual reserved and cautious nature. They kept up a stream of conversation. Actually, Solace found herself providing answers to Rosanna’s probing questions. One question would elicit ten answers. Solace did manage to learn that Rosanna was the Director of a learning center called Getting Started With, which specialized in training and materials of and for computer applications and networking. Although it was dark, Solace could hear the smile on Rosanna’s face and pride in her accomplishments. Her company obviously meant a great deal to her. Her pride was not unfounded. GSW (as Rosanna called it) had blossomed from one center in mid-Manhattan to the Bronx, Brooklyn and soon would be opening a facility in Queens.
Solace told Rosanna about her stint as a voice teacher at the Music for Life school where she had been working with the extremely talented to the occasional tone-deaf student for the past three years. Solace also told her about her own quest for singing stardom.
“I sing in a café on the weekends. It’s a pretty cool gig. I get a small check plus dinner, and the tips are great. Maybe you'll come see me some day,“ she said proudly.
“What kind of songs do you enjoy singing?” Rosanna asked with undisguised interest.
“Oh, I’ll sing just about anything for an audition. But my absolute favorites are ballads and Broadway tunes. Do you like music?” Solace asked.
“I do.” Rosanna offered tentatively.
“And are you going to tell me what kind you like or am I going to have to tickle it out of you?” Solace asked brazenly.
Rosanna laughed.
“Well..” she started tentatively. I have a passion for classical music. My favorite composer is Mozart.” She waited for Solace to giggle or say something flippant, but her response was anything but.
“Really? I love Mozart! He’s relaxing yet interesting. I tell my students if they’d had radio back in his day, he might have been on an alternative station.
“I’ve never thought about that before. You’re probably right,” Rosanna said looking up noticing that they had reached 109th street already.
“We’re here”, she announced.
Solace thought she detected a slight note of regret in Rosanna’s voice. Of course, she might have been hoping that was the case because she knew she was sorry they had gotten here so fast.
“Well, Ms. Romero, I thank you for walking me. How chivalrous of you.”
Solace made a small curtsy and bowed her head slightly.
“You don’t have to thank me. I practically forced myself on you.” Rosanna responded, hoping Solace couldn’t see the blush that immediately stained her cheeks.
Impulsively, Solace asked if Rosanna would like to come up for some tea.
“Tea?” Rosanna responded as if she’d never heard of the beverage.
“You know, you boil water, let the tea leaves steep for a bit and—“ Rosanna smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair. She finally said.
“Okay, smarty. I’ll come up but not for tea. Do you have any diet soda?”
“Diet soda! Yuk! Don’t tell me you’re one of those.” Solace said in mock disdain.
“One of those whats?” Rosanna asked, crossing her arms.
“One of those diet gurus. Do you know how many chemicals diet soda has? It’s filled with carcinogens and God knows what else. It’s pure poison,” Solace finished with a flourish.
“Well, I like to live dangerously then,” Rosanna countered. “I can’t keep this body fit by filling it with sugar, you know.”
Solace sighed. “Well, I guess I can find something, if I really search. Come on, Sanna.”
“Sanna?” Rosanna asked, surprised.
“I don’t know where that came from, but I think it fits. Is it all right if I call you that?” Solace asked anxiously.
Rosanna thought a minute and said, “Sure. I’ll get used to it. No one’s ever called me that one.”
They entered Solace’s building and made their way to her one-bedroom apartment, which was located on the second floor.
“I have a fear of elevators, so I chose my apartment with that in mind.”
Well, I guess she won’t be visiting me too much on the 20th floor, thought Rosanna.
Solace extracted her keys from her bag. Opening the door she called out in theatrical tones, “Welcome to Chez Solace!” She stretched out her arms and in one smooth motion, tossed her cane to one side and her bag to another. She then proceeded to turn on every light in her living room. She had four tall Halogen lamps, which illuminated the area to such a degree that it reminded Rosanna of a ball field.
Rosanna shielded her eyes with one hand and held out her other hand as if she were trying to fend off an attacker.
“You’re blinding me!” She said and instantly regretted her choice of words, but Solace was quick with a snappy come-back.
“Excellent. Welcome to my world!” She rubbed her hands together as if portraying a fiend in a bad movie.
Rosanna put her hands down, reached into her briefcase took out her sunglasses and put them on.
"Okay. That's better," she said with exaggerated relief.
Solace laughed and Rosanna joined her.
“Just sit anywhere!” Solace called out as she crossed the room and turned a corner to where Rosanna thought the kitchen might be located. It turned out that her assumption was correct because Solace was asking her if she would like some mango nectar. She said that sounded great and the next thing she knew Solace was returning with a tall glass of the orange-colored drink.
