Tall and athletic, David wandered the streets of San Francisco, unconsciously navigating the steep hills and neighborhoods. The growing clamor of cable cars and the crowded sidewalks brought him back to the present. He looked up, surprised to find himself in Union Square.
More often he avoided the crowded, downtown section of the city, favoring the picturesque, old neighborhoods and water front. He enjoyed chatting with the salt cured, old fishermen still tending their wooden double-enders, tied three deep along the wharf. The men and boats were akin to him, he thought, relics of another day. He hadn’t had a decent story idea since Sadie died.
David lost his wife two years earlier after her second long bout with cancer. They met as college students in New York long before either of them became prominent, and enjoyed a long happy marriage. Recently their son relocated to Southern California and David, jokingly claimed, that he was suffering from 'empty nest syndrome’.
He checked his watch, cocktail hour he decided maneuvering toward one of the city’s fashionable hotels across the square. Avoiding cable cars and flocks of belligerent pigeons he worked his way through crowds of tourists and shoppers to the hotel's impressive entrance.
Just as David reached the gold plated revolving doors he saw a striking, dark woman with long wind-blown hair and continental appearance coming toward him from the opposite direction. He stepped back allowing her to enter first. “Good afternoon, Ms. Marcussen,” the doorman greeted her.
David stopped, was it Nadia Marsussen?
Although they lived a continent apart, Nadia and Sadie had been close friends. They talked almost daily for years and often met somewhere for a few days off together when they were on concert tours in the same part of the world.
He smiled at the doorman, “Good afternoon,” he said and asked, “Was that Nadia Marcussen?”
“Yes, Mr. Fleming, but she’s pretty private, fends people off, she does.”
Nadia became his telephone chum in the last weeks of Sadie’s life. Her support had been invaluable to David but their calls ended abruptly when Sadie died and days later he heard Nadia’s husband was killed in a tragic automobile accident.
David grinned and slipped the doorman a tip for the information.
A muscular man who stayed in shape playing tough, competitive tennis, David crossed the lobby to the front desk where Nadia stood waiting for her messages. He walked up to the desk a short distance away from her and took one of his cards out; drawing a line through his name, he wrote in: Mr. Sadie Silverman.
“That’s all for now, Ms. Marcussen.”"Wait,” David held his card up. “Here’s one more for Ms. Marcussen.”
She nodded the clerk off and started to turn away from the desk.
“Please, just look at the card for one moment,” he requested in his best French.
She shrugged; taking the card from the clerk she glanced down.
Surprise filled her face as she looked up.
“It’s David, isn't it? You’re Sadie’s David?” Her face warmed with memories.
The grin on David's face broadened and spread to his eyes. He moved toward her and they hugged and kissed cheeks European style.
“Do you have time for a drink in the hotel bar,” he asked?
“A drink would be lovely,” she smiled; looking pleased that they could chat for a bit.
They walked across the lobby into the darker coolness of the comfortable little bar.
A recorded jazz piano and bass played softly in the background.
“Sounds like Horace Parlan,” David said, as he guided her to a quiet corner where they could talk.
“It is Horace Parlan,” she said as he seated her and took the opposite chair.
“It’s pleasant in here,” she added.
“Yes,” he agreed, “It’s comfortable and you don’t get the feeling of being surrounded by mirrors and bottles.”
He took her hand and said, “Nadia, I’m so glad we’re meeting at last. Warren and I extend our condolences on the loss of your husband.”
She squeezed his hand and then leaned back in her chair, “It was a rough time for both of us, losing your Sadie, and my Anders, all within days.”
“It was so sad to hear about Anders on top of everything else and we never managed to talk on the phone again,” he said with regret. She glanced away; apparently overcome with grief.
His eyes brightened, “Warren, my son, is here in San Francisco, he’ll be excited to know that you’re in town. Shall I call him,” David asked?
“Oh yes, please do, I’d love to see him all grown up.”
The waiter came with their drinks and David requested a telephone at the table.
Nadia and Sadie were both popular celebrities. Jazz vocalists who spent their careers in the glare of the public eye; yet each managed to keep their personal life very private and focused. Sadie often took Warren to visit Nadia and her family for a few weeks at their summer home when he was on school holiday.
When the waiter arrived with the phone, David raised his eye brows in question and she smiled in answer.
He entered the number and received an immediate answer.
Excited, he spoke in Italian to Warren.
“I see,” David said, “let me ask her.”
He grinned at Nadia, “He’s glad that you’re here, but he’s stuck waiting for a business call. He wants to speak with you.”
She took the receiver and soon she was having an animated conversation with his son, switching from Italian to English, then Spanish and back again.
David didn't catch it all from one end of the conversation but they were obviously enjoying themselves. He did hear something about geese chasing Warren up a tree and chuckled to himself wishing he had been there.
She handed the receiver back to him and said, “Your son has invited me to your home. Can you wait while I change?” she asked.
"Gladly," he said pleased with his son’s charm.
While she was up in her room, David called Warren back to have him put three bottles of special champagne that Sadie and Nadia both enjoyed on ice. They also agreed on several appetizers to serve. When they finished their plans to make it a pleasant visit for Nadia,
David had the bartender call a cab.
He wondered if he should mention the weeks of late night talks he and Nadia shared. She had been his support system while he sat at Sadie’s bedside night after night. He and Sadie won their first battle with cancer and thought they could win again but nature decided differently.
He decided not to bring the calls up again because Nadia looked like a frightened doe caught in headlights when he mentioned them.
He was waiting at the elevators when she came down, refreshed and comfortable in a white pants suit with a beautiful green and white silk blouse. He took her arm wondering why he hadn’t met anyone as attractive when he was out and about. They walked out to the curb where the doorman had a cab waiting. As Nadia got into the taxi, the doorman winked at David.
“Nadia is an old family friend,” he advised the doorman.
He joined her in the cab and gave the driver his Russian Hill address.
She tucked her hand into his arm, “You don’t have to protect my honor,” she said with dry humor. “I tour the world, remember?”
Pleased with her touch, David said, “When I asked if it was really you, he was quite impressed with your ability to fend off male admirers, I didn’t want to disillusion him.”
She laughed, “I’m old enough to be flattered by all of this male protectiveness.”
“Nonsense,” David laughed, “I noticed you even before I knew that it was you,” he admitted.
She returned his smile, “While I was in New York I noticed how young all of the women look. I may explore the possibility of a face lift if I decide to go back on tour.”
He looked at her objectively and decided that she had a marvelously mobile, expressive face alive with the richness of life lived.
“If you don’t mind my two cents worth, I think that would be a big mistake,” he told her.
“Thanks,” she said,” I’ll keep that in mind if I ever seriously consider it.”
"Warren is in the city because he worries about me," he told her.
She leaned back and sighed, “I know what you mean, my children are beginning to introduce me to eligible gentlemen and my agent is pestering me to work again.”
“I thought you were probably here on tour,” David said.
“No, I’m not sure what I want to do but I had to get away from the kids and all of the prying and pestering. I know they all mean well but I needed some privacy,” she said.
He seemed to be able to relax with her, “A few months ago, I took Warren’s advice and opened my walk up in the West Village in New York and made a real effort to go to parties and be happy, but,” he shrugged, “I was pathetic. Things have changed too much since I was single.”
The taxi pulled up at David’s house where Warren opened the cab door and welcomed Nadia with a big bear hug.
“Did you get your call,” she asked, flushed with excitement.
He patted his suit where the cell phone was pocketed and took her arm to lead her into their home.
They were huddled in the foyer when David came in.
“Let’s go up to the second floor,” David said, “It’s more comfortable. I’ll give you the grand tour later, Nadia.”
“I have a fire in the fireplace, and refreshments set out,” Warren invited.
“Sadie always said that you are both very resourceful,” Nadia said.
“Actually, we had to be," Warren laughed.
“You’ll have to come to dinner before you leave,” David said to her.
“My plans are up in the air right now,” she said, “I was thinking of renting a flat because I’m getting tired of hotels, but I don’t know where,” she said.
They were on the second floor now and she walked over to the window, “What a wonderful view. Which bridge is that?”
“That’s the Bay Bridge and the East Bay,” David said, “And there’s Coit Tower,” he pointed.
“How long have you been in town,” Warren asked?
“Just a few days,” she answered him.
His cell phone rang and he threw up his arms, “I’ll be back as soon as I can settle this,” he said.
“Don’t rush your business.” David and Nadia both chorused and then laughed.
“He is a handsome young man,” Nadia said, “He looks like Sadie, but his mannerisms are more like you, David.”
“We’re close,” David said, “When Sadie was on tour I was always here in the house actively parenting. I wanted him to have a better childhood then I had.”
“Sadie was always so proud of both of you. She said that she could never have pursued her career as vigorously without you.”
“She was so talented, Nadia, I was one of her biggest fans and I wanted her to have that success.”
David seated her before the fire and made sure everything was within reach. He took a bottle of champagne from the ice bucket and opened it with a soft pop.
He poured a taste for her and showed her the label, as a waiter would do with a bottle of wine.
“Oh, David, I haven’t had this champagne since Sadie…,” she tried not to cry but tears over flowed her eyes. He sat and held her until Nadia began to recover and tell silly stories about Sadie and herself on tour.
David laughed at the stories and told a few funny stories about he and Warren when Sadie was away.
“I bought this case of champagne in hopes that you would be able to come and see Sadie,” he said.
“And it is time it was enjoyed,” Warren said, coming in from his business call.
“How did your business go,” Nadia asked him?
“Terrific, this occasion calls for champagne. My film editing company just landed its first big contract with a major studio.”
“I’m so glad, son,” David shook his hand then hugged him, “Now, maybe you’ll go back to Southern California and leave me to my own devices,” David said.
“Not until I try the champagne Mom raved about,” he said.
Warren poured three glasses of champagne then two more with a small sip each. He explained that the two extra glasses were for Anders and Sadie, “a symbol of their continued presence in our lives.”
They rose and toasted Warren’s success.
“What a lovely gesture, Warren,” Nadia said.
Warren pronounced the champagne as good as his mom claimed and then brought in the food as David and Nadia opened the second bottle.
The true son of his father, Warren put the time he waited for David and Nadia to good use.
He served a gourmet cheese tray and a beautifully arranged tray of colorful, bite sized chunks of fruit on wooden skewers.
Finally, he came back from the kitchen with a tray of warm polenta pizza topped with cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach and crumpled bacon.
Nadia looked up in appreciation, “You two are as resourceful as Sadie claimed. Most men wouldn’t even have half of these things in the house.”
Warren chuckled, “Dad’s quite a nouvelle cuisine chef and he had me eating fresh fruit long before I discovered junk food at school.”
David and Nadia ate the food with appetite because they both spent the afternoon walking, though separately.
Warren had coffee brewing with a selection of brandy and chocolate mints.
“What kind of rental are you thinking about,” Warren asked Nadia?
“Something small,” she answered, “Just a bed, bath and kitchen, but within walking distance of everything.”
“Do you still garden,” David asked?
“I do miss gardening,” she admitted.
“I have something you might like. It’s small but it has just been refurbished and it has a small greenhouse.”
“Oh, I won't impose on you two,” she said.
Warren smiled, “Don’t be silly, you could never be an imposition. You’re family.”
David agreed, “Why don’t you let us show you tomorrow,” he asked?
She hesitated, “I am looking for my own space to work things out,” she explained.
“Well, it’s not fancy,” David said, “Just a one bedroom apartment, with a small kitchen and living room but it does have two large patios, a green house and its own private entrance.”
“If it is too small, or informal you only need to say, no,” Warren said.
“Yes,” David smiled. I’ll show you tomorrow. You would have your privacy because it is in the East Bay, in Berkeley,” he said.
“I have heard of Berkeley,” she grinned.
“We’ll have lunch, see the apartment and I’ll have you back at the hotel before dark,” David promised.
“I should be getting back now. It was a long day,” she said.
Nadia stood and went to look out the window, “Cities are always so beautiful at night with all of the scars hidden. It’s truly a wonderful view, and your home is warm and charming. Thank you both so much for your kindness.”
“I’ll get my car and Warren will bring you down.” David stood and went down for the car.
Both Nadia and David were thoughtful as he drove her back to the hotel. When he dropped her off he told her to wear comfortable shoes the next day because the only way to really understand the neighborhood was to walk the streets.
“I’ll pick you up at eleven,” David said.
SEE PARTII, NEXT POST
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