What Should not Matter (chapter Two)

Britta loved her work as a gynecologist as it allowed her to feel needed by both men, women and couples as to a certain extent it was her when delivering babies who allowed them to start their families. Her work was also something that allowed her to shut out the rest of the world relieving her of all those fears of live that might cause her to stray off the path of what those around her had taught her. Britta was truly comfortable at work specially when attending women who were expecting. Their was something about a pregnant women that drew out her sympathy in a way that was not even understood by her as to why it could be so. What was it about women in this condition that made her feel the way she did? After all it was like she had been educated; this was a perfectly natural function of the female body which happened literally everyday somewhere in the world so why was it that she felt a certain bond between herself and these women who came to seek out her professional guidance? Was it that she felt these women were creating the beauty of life in their very bodies which had been placed in their sacred care. What ever the reason hers was a responsibility that she took beyond the call of her duty. 

Britta had many patients who had taken her in as a more then a doctor but a friend whom on many an occasion they had even invited to their children’s christening something that was unheard of in her native Sweden were people tended to respect one another’s privacy to exaggerated point where one was left in virtual solitude. Britta was proud to be Swedish but perhaps it was the time she had spent in Brazil where her father held a post that made her see for herself how almost hermetic to the point of being antisocial people in her country really were. It was in Brazil that she was introduced to a way of life which made people want to be closer to one another almost instantly instead of like in her country were it was regarded as out of place for someone to want to be friendly with someone he or she had not known for a minimum amount of time. It was this desire for warmth that made her an atypical Swede as she never failed to except any invitations which her patients gladly handed her wishing to repay the genuine affection they felt from her that went beyond her medical duties. 

Out of all the patients Britta had it was Rosa O’Leary from Panama whom she had become closest to as she tended to confide to this patient as much as if not more then this patient would confide in her. On this particular day Rosa had made an appointment so she could be Britta’s last patient before she got to go on her one hour lunch break which she always took at noon. Britta and Rosa had lunch together everyday in which their busy schedules allowed them and always in the same place the “Blue Star” which was the nearest 24 hour diner. It being located on the corner of 78th street and Lexington avenue. The “Blue Star” was very popular among the staff at Lenox Hill; combining the qualities they were looking for of relatively good food at a fair price with an added delivery service.

Rosa and Britta were in many ways contrasts not only because they came from completely different ethnic backgrounds but because of their nature; where Britta was a reserved person, Rosa was an artist who expressed her feelings not only through her violin but through an outgoing personality. They strangely enough came from the same sort of social background as they both came from middleclass families, naturally middle class in Panama meaning something different then it did in Sweden which was one of the countries where the difference between the very rich in the very poor was one of the smallest in the world.

They were opposites in many ways but even opposites must have something in common in order that they might be compared. Black and white were also opposites but even they were both colors. Britta and Rosa like these two colors also had something that made them compatible and that was that they needed other people to share themselves with in the way they were. This need apart from the ambition they had to excel in their chosen professions which were as diverse as they themselves were was another link that united them making their friendship one that went beyond the confines of the ordinary. 

There was definitely something special in the relationship these ladies who were both attractive in their own way. Britta being the typical Nordic beauty while Rosa the typical Latin American beauty with that much darker skin which Britta considered to enviable in its olive tone which had gone pleasantly darker in the summer months unlike her own skin which due to her lack of pigmentation was freckled up and red as it peeled off her body making her wish hers was a different tone of skin. Britta also admired Rosa’s straight waist length hair which was truly black. Jet black, the same color she had once tried to dye her own like many women and even some men do in the Nordic countries who wanted to stand out from the sea of blonde. Some in her country even went to the length of dying their roots black to give the impression that their hair was not really blonde. Rosa also had fine facial features which included big green eyes that made for an imposing contrast with her skin. Her check bones were high and her nose refined though not perfectly straight; made slightly crooked by a small bump that gave her face as well as her what Britta considered to be character. Her mouth perhaps was the only thing about her face that came from her Indian heritage as it was small with fluffy lips that stuck out in her like buttons on a coat. Physically speaking these ladies however were not so diverse in their bodies because Rosa was tall for a woman of her part of the world; standing at 174 cm but again in contrast to Britta was bodacious (more so when in an advance state of pregnancy) with all the sensuality that her large breast and well shaped legs gave her.

Career wise Rosa was a woman who had achieved a certain though perhaps not a huge deal of success as she was a violinist in the “New York Philharmonic” who played second violin but was constantly hoping to be upgraded to first violinist. Financially her position was one that allowed her to live without worries as her salary plus the royalties she got for sales of CDs and performing was more then adequate to keep her in her comfortable life. A life which was made more so by the small three bedroom but never the less Park Avenue apartment which had been left to her by her deceased husband.

Britta and Rosa were very hungry when they left Lennox Hill Hospital to go to the “Blue Star” as Britta for her part had not eaten anything since breakfast which she took at 6:00 in the morning in the form of a bagel with cream cheese and a cup of black coffee she got at the same place she was going to be having lunch. Rosa was also very hungry as she too had not eaten since her breakfast which had been a large yogurt after which she went about her daily routine of practicing the instrument that had made it possible for her to have all that she had just like her brother’s boxing gloves had it made it possible for him to have everything he had. Rosa practiced playing the violin an average of 10 hours a day as this is what was required of anybody who played in a philharmonic.

“You know Rosa, I don’t know how you can find the energy to have a baby and practice the violin like you do, most of my patients are barely able to go to work and here you are in this heat and pregnant condition and you can practice the violin which I know is very demanding as I see by the calluses you have on your fingers” were Britta’s words to Rosa as they were making their way over to the Blue Star. Rosa always enjoyed Britta’s company and one could see it in the way she managed to smile which is what she did as she replied to Britta “I have energy but everyday with the heat I feel I have less as I get more tired after playing but I have to practice because like I tell you before even if I miss one day I loose a lot”. 

Britta and Rosa walked slowly for obvious reasons as they turned the corner of 77th and Lexington toward the Blue Star both of them dressed in clothes that were almost a uniform for who they were. Britta wore her white doctors uniform which her hospital required from all its MDs while Rosa wore a pair of blue dungaree overalls (which her brother claimed made her look like a mechanic) along with a long white t-shirt underneath. Rosa did not really like seeing herself in overalls but had bought three pairs of them at Britta’s request who had claimed that though not elegant they would not put stress on her stomach or her fetus and they would allow her the most freedom of movement with the added advantage that she would not have to buy bigger and bigger clothes as her belly increased.

Rosa and Britta were opposites whose personalities could not have matched any better as Rosa loved hearing about Britta’s Job as much as Britta loved hearing about Rosa’s which is precisely what Rosa was telling her about. Rosa spoke in that Latin voice of hers which to Britta’s ear gave everything a matter of extreme urgency.

“Britta, I tell you everyday I get so tired of having to practice the same pieces day after day, I mean I like Beethoven and Tchaikovsky but its so boring when sometimes it seems like that is all we play specially the 9th symphony since it is now the I don’t know what to call it the national anthem of the united Europe. This is why I am thinking of moving to the orchestra at the Metropolitan Opera House where they maybe don’t pay so much but I might get position as first violinist under the baton of James Levine who is artistic director there, I don’t know Britta what you think?”. “I don’t know, maybe you should think of making the move if you are not happy at the New York Philharmonic but just remember to add up all the pros and cons before you taking a decision” was Britta’s reply which she said in that voice of hers that to Rosa had always sounded so calm and relaxed making Britta seem like the kind of person whose composure would not abandon her under any circumstances.

It was the serene tone in this voice that at first made Rosa almost break out in laughter which eventually made her decide to have Britta as her gynecologist for it was this sound which she figured would keep her calm during those terrible contractions and pains that she knew where bound to come the moment she went into labor. “Well maybe you are right but or maybe I just need to change something in my life, you know it’s still hard for me” was Rosa’s reply telling her how she still perhaps had not gotten over the death of her husband; Gerald O’Leary. A stockbroker at Smith Barney who like so many others had died on that fateful day which forever would be remembered as “September 11”.

My name is Gianni Truvianni, I am an author who writes with the simple aim of sharing his ideas, thoughts and so much more of what I am with those who are interested in perhaps reading something new. I also am the author of the book entitled “New York’s Opera Society” which is now available on Amazon.