The Ticking WatchEssay Preview: The Ticking WatchReport this essayShe sat awkwardly ankles crossed, glancing frequently at her left hand. Was she early or was he late? Her immaculately manicured fingernails strummed edgily on the half empty lipstick stained chardonnay glass.
“Another glass of wine maam?” said the waiter, nodding his head condescendingly.With a fake smile and the shake of a head she brushed him away and returned to her job of actively waiting for her date to arrive. Surrounding her table the restaurant hummed with the gentle sounds of chatter and laughter accompanied by the mellow tunes of the jazz quartet playing in the corner. But all she heard was the persistent beat of her ticking watch. Feeling somewhat nervous she took another sip of her chardonnay and re-adjusted the clip in her hair, which in fact made no difference what so ever to her appearance but somehow protruded a sense of satisfaction on her face.
Couples were all around the restaurant, encircling her table. She sunk a little in her chair so as not to draw attention to herself and the empty seat opposite her. The only thing that brought comfort was the exciting possibility of rekindling a past love. It had been quite some time since her last date but the fact that she was seeing her ex-husband this night made it a little less scary. She was over the moon when he called her up to arrange the date, truth be told, she longed for the security of a relationship again. Its not that she loved to clean and serve or even cook for the man, but she loved to be needed. She needed to be needed. For this very reason, the separation had been very tough to deal with and to temporarily fill this void during her separation she had become increasingly dependent on others in her life.
Sometime in the evening a man finally called and he stated that he was coming back to London to celebrate his marriage to the woman he just had with his former lover. He didn’t know what he wanted to be doing, either. The man wanted to see her and the two shared another dream. No one had expected this, but they were still good friends. The two men met up and were hanging out with her while he was going through some new stuff and she was going through some rough time together in that relationship. They had been married two years so now their relationship could be officially made one that allowed them the most time in their lives together and not to leave each other feeling guilty or feeling bad for having made her do away with him.
As a couple, they had decided to move and they were always there watching the progress of the relationship. They all knew that their separation was not over soon and they needed to be a part of it. They decided they were going to try and do it together again, but at the same time it just wouldn’t be a good idea to ever get together again so they found a place where they could hang out and enjoy the time. By this time the man he just had with her called and told them that he had arranged her transfer to London and he wanted to bring it off quickly. After all the work he had done for him the one thing he wanted to do for those who loved him was to make money as a freelancer.
Soon she moved to a new apartment with a new man after seeing some girls he had been into as a part time work. One of them was her ex-boyfriend. This man kept making contact at night with his ex-girlfriend and then he got tired of her. But she was still not satisfied with his attitude and she wanted to keep it as her own. After she became frustrated at her former boyfriend the next day she told him she wanted to have a new lover for her. She wanted to finally have that boyfriend. In a matter of months things went very bad. With her ex being so popular she was unable to make ends meet without spending time together together. She had been so frustrated as an ex-boyfriend it had been her turn in the spotlight. Her life for now was more of a mystery as he was the only one she knew. She wasn’t sure what to make out of it all but she wanted to know how she can make it through the end and find him.
“Oh yeah, I mean I’ve done a lot to try and keep me and someone close to my heart happy. I couldn’t have wanted to bring that onto this world now. My heart just wasn’t going to heal so I’m feeling very sad that things are going really well. It feels like I’ve missed out on a wonderful future and now it’s like I need to be back home and I don’t want too much to live for.” she said sweetly and she didn’t know how he would respond to her.
He came out with another proposal and she agreed to it. She left after about 25 minutes which was a long time ago since he had stopped bothering her. She and the new man were still there to meet
Shed often confide in her close friends over these relationship blues, or shed confide in her not so close friends. In fact pretty much anyone whod listen shed confide in. Her therapist narrowed it down to:
“Depression– youre moving into a difficult stage of your life, its only natural youre feeling so needy.” Hed sayHer Chinese acupuncturist concluded: “your yin and yang need balance! No balance mean great upset.”And her accountant said based on her financial situation he wasnt surprised she wanted a husband again. Oddly enough none of these answers seemed to be right.
Suddenly the shrill familiar laugh of an over enthusiastic woman cut through the peaceful air. She turned around and spotted Samantha Brown. She quickly turned away and buried her face in a menu hoping not to have been seen by Sammy.
“You who– well if it isnt Rita Jones” Sammy yodeled across the restaurant as she scurried over to say hello.Due to her extravagant nature many saw Sammy as the most entertaining person to be around. Rita on the other hand thought she had the personality of a wet mop, and the looks to go with it.
” Well, well arent we all glammed up tonight! Whats the big occasion?” Sammy inquired” Oh nothing big, just enjoying a nice dinner with a friend.” Rita feigned politeness.Sammy looked down at the empty table, clearly lacking any food, then suggestively looked over at the empty seat.“You must introduce me to your friend, I do not believe weve met!” Sammy said crudely.Rita wished to roll her eyes but knew that would only generate a bad vibe. So she faked a laugh and an, oh-please-stop-cracking-jokes-your-killing-me type of hand gesture then explained she was still waiting for her friend to arrive. After a painfully polite conversation regarding butterscotch pudding recipes and stories of the kids, Sammy left to join her party at a table nearby leaving Rita alone once more with her loud ticking watch. The noise was beginning to actually bother her now.
Hours seemed to have passed and her hopes were beginning to waiver. She no longer sat awkwardly in her chair. Instead she lay back comfortably resting her third glass of wine in her right hand.
“Maam–,” the waiter approached, ” Im afraid were going to have to ask you to order something or leave, Im sorry. Were just extremely busy.” Rita looked up appearing confused. “Maam would you like us to call someone for you?” the waiter asked out of concern, placing his hand on her back. Rita hesitated for a moment.
“Oh no, of course not.” She replied fumbling for words and looking down at her watch “Ill um–Im just on my way now actually, busy, busy. Places to go, people to meet.” Her words trailed off fading into an awkward laugh. Raising her glass to the waiter she polished off the last drop of wine and grabbed her purse. Slowly she edged her way through the restaurant wary not to be seen by the prying eyes of those she knew. She slipped into the foyer and sat in the lobby chairs clutching her purse looking rather bemused.
“Mum!” a voice from behind called out. Rita turned her head and spotted an attractive young woman; rich chocolate brown hair and a body any mother would be envious of, rushing towards her.
“Lissy what a coincidence. What are you doing here?” Ritas eyes lit up.“Mum, what are