Ruby Hearts 2006 Joy and Sorrow Chapter 15

Traffic dawdled along the highway on a dog's day afternoon in august.Trouble brewed for Louisiana and any other state situated along the Delta.A hurricane was rumored to be settling in for an unwelcome visit.

'' For all the people sticking out the storm,it seems every automobile in the U.S. of A is clogging up in the particular highway.'' Shi - Phen  shook his head.

'' My friend,Gloria and her family aren't budging,'' a female passenger calls from the back. '' I have a bad premonition about this storm,but of course,she won't listen. Gloria says, if they evacuated whenever a storm Might happen,then how would any work ever get done?"

Shi - Phen,veteran cabbie driver usually doesn't make it a practice to converse with passengers.His job is to get paying customers from Point A to Point B. Most prefer he stays invisible.But he enjoys this lady's company.She looks vaguely familiar to him.Given all the individuals he's  rubbed shoulders with in the four decades of employment as a cabbie,it could be any number of society women. "Where have I heard that voice before? " Shi - Phen thought, turning off the car.

He watches with great viligence to check if the car in front of them has moved even an inch.Even wit a full tank of gasoline, and plenty of extras hidden safely in the trunk,he must adapt a frugal mindset.With the mismanage Exodus of people fleeing New Orleans at an alarming rate,who knew what millennium they might arrive in Texas.

Shi- Phen studies the way she crosses and uncrosses her legs and the identical scars on the tops of her hands.Right then there,he solves the puzzle.It's Celeste Richards. The girl who left to seek her fortune in California and made it big time.Shi -Phen  notices the necklace Celeste is fingering.The carcenet is constructed of silver,laden with miniscule red stones.Ever so often, a heart shaped ruby is tastefully spaced among the smaller stones.

'' If you mind my being nosey, where did you get such a pretty necklace?" he asked

''I bought as a reward for myself.I worked on a miniseries called Clayburgh Place in 1980. The program had the divine luck of garnering a Bafta award. I played a clever maid during the First World War who is assisting her daffy mistress in a dashing gentlemen. Said gentlemen falls for my character instead of her employer and she must decide what to do,'' Celeste says ,not looking up from her Carl Haissen Novel.

''I never heard of it'' Shi - Phen said.

'' Don't feel bad: 99 percent of Americans haven't Clayburgh house still has an enormous cult following in the U.K.

The Brits have revivals al the time on the West End.

'' Have the bigwig producers ever thought of adapting the script for American Television?'' I know ' the office' was a big crossover hit.The plot sounds better than most reality tv shows.''Shi - Phen says ,removing sunglasses from a Hawaiian shirt pocket. 

''I hear a rumor once that Oliver Stone was going to toy with the script,but nothing ever came of it,she says.

''Back to the necklace.each symbolizes treasured souls long lost.I began with my daughter,Shannon and went from there. She died of SIDS in the early seventies when she was a baby.''Celeste says wiping away a stray tear.

''I should do something like that for my brother who passed away in May of diabetes.Thought about a tattoo ,but not sure what to get yet. He was my best friend.He was the one who got me into the whole taxi driving business.Let's be honest , he was always better dealing with our old man than me.My parents were in Japanese relocation camp during the war.My father was mad at the world after that."

'' Does losing a loved one ever get easier '' Shi - Phen found himself saying,after a long silence.

''Grief does not have a definite time table.Which is what makes it so difficult to deal with properly. The pain lessens with time, but the memories not so much.My advice: find a catalyst to combat the loss so it does not overtake your life.When you feel really blue,write a list of the blessings bestowed  upon you,'' she veers one eye in the direction of a teenage boy surrounded by a pile of technological devices.

'' How did we get on this subject ?'' Shi- Phen mused to himself,scratching his thick grey hair.He should shut - up.But Shi -Phen hadn't had an honest conversation in ages.It was probable after this trip,their paths would never cross again.Its not every you meet an interesting, well upholstered intelligent women like Celeste.He couldn't help being smitten by her.

This special lady made Shi Phen want to know the name of her favorite ice cream and if was into men who wore cologne.But that was thinking too far ahead.For now,he would enjoy the conversation as the day ebbed into night.