Once Within A Lifetime
by
Phyllis Georgina Rose
© 2013 Phyllis Georgina Rose
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1483995076
ISBN-10: 1483995070
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Support” is a word that is greatly underestimated. It is very important.
My thanks go to my son, James, for his support, a great deal technical. To my daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, for her support in believing my work was a worthy accomplishment.
To my son, Brad, for his strength and support.
To Kim for her encouragement and guidance and honorable mention in her newsletter. Thanks, Kim.
Deep, everlasting gratitude to my dear friend and Sister-in-Heart, Deanie and her husband, Don for standing behind me all the way. She saw my material and helped me feel it was really worth continuing. She saw it as a great accomplishment and has been proud of me from the start. She encouraged, chided, bolstered and got excited with me all the way. She had true faith in me and that is a very moving thing!
To my young friend, Eric, for his deep faith and excitement from the start and his support and eagerness for me to succeed with it.
To Tammy, my friend, like a sister, in California, for her encouragement, support and interest along the way.
To Adriana, my cool friend and coworker, who felt this was an amazing thing and said, “I never knew a real author before!”
Many others, too numerous to list also deserve mention. I appreciate each and every one and all their support and faith in me. They know who they are.
Support keeps us going when our faith in ourselves lags and all the work, time, patience, revisions and trying to get there seems too difficult. After it is all done, you know how much the support made it all possible.
As Loretta LaRoche says, “The glue that makes life work is support.”
Last, but certainly not least is the help and support from my new daughter, Janis Monroe for her love and patience and guidance in helping me format my book for Kindle and CreateSpace as well as creating my book cover. To her husband, Eric for lending her to me so long, and – Summer, my 4-year-old granddaughter for her fun and cheer and adoring faith in us all.
Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHAPTER 1
The summer sun was brilliant in a gorgeously blue and white semi-clouded sky. Triessa sat looking out the window of her studio which she had planned for the top floor of her beautiful large house in Pleasant Hill, a medium sized town in New England. Going there for quiet time and thinking was a favorite practice. A window seat looking out on the garden was so relaxing. But this time of reverie was so different because she had new happenings to consider and felt she was in for a big change in her life.
Her extensive walk-through-garden, covering a wide area of her property, was exquisitely beautiful this year with deep, showy colors. It had been planned with her home to provide a restful and pleasant place as a break from her regular work.
The hummingbird vine on the front of the garden invited hummingbirds of various colors, such exquisite, industrious little creatures. This was a beautiful view from her favorite window. She never ceased to be amazed at their colorful display with tiny wings in a continual flutter. Their rituals and performance provided great joy and they were unaware of a wondrously impressed audience.
A glorious summer with plenty of sun and rain balanced to add growth and beauty to her lovely garden and this pleased her. It was the best she had for a while. The combination of the colors and varieties on her rose trellis were outstanding. A regular addition of new varieties mixed along the walkway through the arbor and made a glorious display. Birds and bees were busily gathering nectar among their branches and blossoms. A large wide open area in the center of her garden was supplied with seated areas where she could gaze at the wonderfully scented blooms which formed a beautiful border around the space like a glorious multi-color wall.
A short distance away, swans glided in the crystal blue water of an oval pond. She loved her variety of swans and could call them by name. Scattered about the pond were large pink and white water lilies for beauty and for the birds to gracefully glide through and they seemed to enjoy demonstrating their poise. This scene resembled her copy of a famous and beautiful Monet painting. She considered getting some new water lilies to add to the pond. Recently some beautiful deep pink, nearly magenta color lilies had come to her attention and were on order.
She had just returned from a trip to Monaco, where she had held a successful sales meeting and buying excursion. The romance of the garden blended perfectly with her thoughts and memories of this special time of excitement.
She recalled and relived the fabric selections with beautiful patterns and rich colors from which she created her elegant designs. She felt that foreign fabrics had a special sheer beauty and elegance. Their varied textures presented interesting style ideas. Her new line of spring designs had gone over extremely well everywhere she had shown them and her successful sales and fashion shows pleased her. Her sensitive taste in the lines, patterns and clear pastels showed their special features in a rich way.
Knowledge about the models added to her design displays because she knew just what each could do for her show. Along with their training and special walk as a model, each had a special kind of performance which distinguished the fashion individually. A stance, a walk, a pose, all natural and distinct, were features of the display that helped it succeed; a personal signature, if you will, which added to the training and worked well for the designers.
A number of top-notch models with these special qualities filled Triessa’s roster. She saw this as a very important part of her business. The models were always thrilled to parade down the runway wearing such elegant designs from exquisite fabrics and found it difficult to reach the end of the show when they must remove them and put them away.
Triessa sat in her favorite spot looking out the window and recalled many precious memories of her recent trip. Monaco was her favorite place to go often for many reasons. But this trip had an unusual and different experience which would greatly affect her whole life. She often sat here in her studio and recounted the activities and considered any notes or changes which could help her in future events, but this trip had a very special meaning and memory for her and the recollection was especially pleasant and delightful, making it difficult to concentrate on her business. She felt as though her head were spinning in the clouds. This had been a different and unexpected event, from which she had emerged a different person, with thoughts and feelings certain to change everything she did from now on. She thought it strange how a perspective could be so totally changed, nay, replaced, suddenly in a short period of time, for she would never return to be the person she had been before this trip. She dreamily relived this special time here in her lovely spot.
She stayed at a charming hotel on top of the sprawling hills which overlooked the semi-circular bay at the edge of the
city. Having been a regular guest here for some time, she was well-known and her room was filled with gorgeous roses and orchids to greet her upon her arrival, making her feel like a special guest receiving royal treatment. A chilled bottle of champagne graced the buffet top with two beautifully handcrafted, long stemmed crystal glasses, one on either side of the display.
She recalled her arrival that was particularly pleasant, driving up the scenic, winding road to the top of the hill in her new mauve Mercedes sports car which moved with ease and smoothness. She loved to drive it. It was a special award to her from one of her previous design trips. Her name had been embossed on the license plate.
She stopped at a rest stop part way up the hill to pause and drink in the magnificent landscape with its richly verdant fields and colorful flowers as they adorned the entire hillside like a well-planned garden, one of nature’s grand designs. Very little escaped the mind and senses of a creative and dynamic designer such as Triessa. She was especially grateful that her life plan had worked out so she could come here as often as she wished and she made regularly scheduled trips.
She liked to arrive at least a day early, sometimes more, to get settled in and have plenty of preparation time. A message awaited her in her room. It was from the buyer she was planning to meet tomorrow, Phylicia, one of her favorite buyers and long-time friend, with whom she enjoyed spending time at every opportunity. They had grown close over the years of association in the fashion field.
Phylicia was very appreciative of the designs Triessa brought to her meetings because they were good sellers. The message from Phylicia stated that a new buyer was coming to view Triessa’s line of fashions, along with the regular buyers. “Let’s meet for lunch prior to the show and briefly go over the lineup of fashions.” Triessa put the note in her briefcase for now.
She strolled into her pink and mauve bathroom and began running a pleasantly tepid bath. At the end of a rather warm day she felt a little discomfort and the need to cool down and relax. While the water splashed down into the bubble bath making mounds of bubbles rise, she laid out her lounging outfit which seemed appropriate since she planned to stay in this evening and dine on the patio overlooking this special city. She looked forward to the special treat to refill her senses again with all the smells, sights, and sounds of this charming place. Anticipating it was soothing and restful and she was so happy to be here.
Her outfit was one of her favorite peignoirs she had designed in a rich champagne satin, trimmed with rich satin ribbon and marabou on the cuffs, neck, and bottom of the gown and peignoir. They were soft and filmy and made her feel very feminine and good to wear them.
She sprinkled white, pink, and burgundy-colored rose petals in her bath water, poured a tall glass of champagne and placed it on the floor by the tub.
She then stepped into the tub to relax in the rich bubbles and floating rose petals. On the side of the tub rested bottles of body wash and aroma therapy, lavender for a calming and restorative effect and rosemary for a stimulating essence for body and mind. A nearby bench held her rich gown and peignoir, rose-colored fluffy bath towels, and sponges to use in her bath.
First, she picked up her glass of champagne from the floor and lay back to relax a while as she sipped the champagne ever so slowly, savoring each tiny bubble and its rich, exquisite taste while she luxuriated in the rich bubbles and rose petals. She felt relaxed from the fresh scent of the aroma therapy.
After a period of relaxing, she sponged herself lavishly and enjoyed the smooth luxury of the rich body wash and the aroma therapy scents, which gave her skin a soft, elegant feeling. A second sponging, then she rinsed off the suds and stood up to shower and clear her skin thoroughly of any excess soap. She shampooed and rinsed her hair. How grand it felt to be so clean and refreshed. She was glad she had a soft body perm to keep her looking good for special occasions with little extra effort.
Stepping out of the tub onto a plush bath mat, she reached for the soft, fluffy, luxurious towels which literally blotted the water from her skin, leaving it dry and ready for a rich treatment of special scented skin lotions. When finished, she reached for her gown and pulled it closely over her clean, smooth body, then reached for her slippers. The combination of the lotion and soft, filmy gown felt wonderful and soothing. She wiped down the tub and cleaned up the bath area.
She went into the living room to prepare to watch television for a while. A fashion show in Paris was about to be televised. It would be a pleasant and relaxing way to spend the next hour. She had brought along some videos of her past shows as well as some from those of other fashion designers. It would be good to browse through these to check on tips or note changes to make her future showings more effective. After a couple hours of absorbing all this wonderful information, she got up and put on her matching peignoir to prepare for her meal, which she had ordered to arrive at six o’clock, some nice local-Vintage Wine, Beef Fondue with Béarnaise Sauce, and some Profiteroles, a local pastry and special delicacy.
When she settled down to watch the fashion show, a small shower came up which lasted for about a half hour. The countryside would be washed and beautiful for tomorrow when she went to her show at the Princess Pavilion. As she watched the show on her video, a few of the fashions caught her eye in a special way and she made some notes to discuss with Phylicia tomorrow.
Many of the buyers were scheduled to be at her show. She thought it quite remarkable and it still seemed incredible to her, for she had not been doing this for very long, just a few years. It pleased her to be drawing in some of the special names in the fashion world. These were some of her dreams all the while she was preparing to be a designer and now they were actually happening. She got a lot of help along the way from some of her instructors, who took a special liking to her and saw great potential to be tapped in this line of work.
It was four-thirty in the afternoon when the show was finished and she still had time to view a video or two before dinner arrived. With the shower over she walked out on the patio to smell the fresh, clean air. She inhaled deeply a number of times and stretched a bit. It felt so good and relaxing. The rain had caused the surrounding gardens to sparkle with a jewel-like brilliance. Drops of rain hung from the leaves as if clinging for life as long as possible before dropping to the warm, already moist earth to blend with all the other moisture. What a pleasant and beautiful scene, almost like a dream. How lucky she felt to be living this grand experience.
It was hard to leave all this beauty, though she needed to check a few more things on the videos. So she went back into the living room, put one into the VCR, and sat on the couch to watch. As she did, she found a few really good points to note and added them to her previous collection. These she kept on file to use where applicable.
Dinner time was fast approaching and she went out on the patio to sit and wait for her meal to arrive. It was especially nice in mid-summer to have the late sunsets so she could eat outside and enjoy the view from her patio. The fresh, clean smell that came after the shower was still in the air and very pleasant. Such simple things could be easily overlooked in the mad whirl of life, but were most enjoyable to her senses and refreshed them thoroughly.
Humming birds fluttered about a nearby trellis sipping the rich nectar from the beautiful clematis vine near her, seemingly oblivious to her presence. After her bath she smelled delightfully fragrant and appealing, rather like a flower herself. Her new line of perfume, Presence, had just been put on the market and she was wearing it this evening and planned to wear it tomorrow.
The whole hillside was alive with nature’s inhabitants. Birds and bees flitted and buzzed among the dewy branches after the refreshing shower. A free show that was truly and utterly enjoyable. The cool earthy smells which permeated this atmosphere, attracted them.
The waiter arrived with her meal and poured the wine for her to sample its taste and bouquet to see if it was what she wanted. It was cool with a rich, fruity taste and she agreed that it was just fine. He f
inished filling her glass, put the decanter on the table for refills, then uncovered her plate to reveal a well-planned meal which smelled and looked pleasurable and appetizing. She was hungrier than she had realized and could hardly wait to begin. He placed the delectable pastries on the back of the table. The coffee was aromatic, very smooth and rich, tempting to the taste buds, a veritable gourmet delight, and the accompaniment of a pot of warm cream in French Café-Aulait style enriched its pleasure.
“Merci Monsieur, ce tres bon,” she thanked him. He bowed and left.
She ate quietly and slowly, as she enjoyed the low, soothing, romantic French background music filling the air from the living room. It had become one of her favorite kinds of music. She appreciated the knowledge of the language and customs which allowed her to get more out of the country. Most interpretations lose something in the translation, for true expression cannot be successfully interpreted from one language to another since each has its own forms of expression.
She finished her meal with the exquisite pastries and satisfying coffee just as dusk began to settle over the countryside. Lights began to sparkle like tiny stars across the landscape. It was a delightful time of evening to relish and store in the memory.
A slight breeze drifted across the balcony and rustled the leaves on the trellis. Her below-shoulder-level hair moved gently back from her neck as the breeze fanned by drying the remaining dampness left from her shower. This was very refreshing and she absorbed it to the utmost. She lingered a while to feel the gentle caress of the breezes before going in to attend to and ready her designs for tomorrow. Everything had to be prepared in a particular order to present as the show started. She thought as she sat there, I hope that I will not stop to marvel over all the tremendous treasures of nature which have no other source.
She planned to retire early so she could be fresh and alert tomorrow for she did not want to miss a thing going on around her. She wondered who the new buyer was and what to expect upon their first meeting. Where was he or she from? Would this be a new market in a different area?
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