VI. Marlene

Looking back, the only real difference between the two groups of women was whether or not they were attractive. There was one woman, Marlene, who, if it could be said that anyone owned interior design in Utah, owned interior design in Utah. She was also the one designer who persisted in being perceived as attractive and mysterious by the entire design community; though, ironically, the allure came only from how much everyone (thought they) knew about her—effectively destroying any real sense of mystery—more than any intrinsic beauty (of which there seemed to be none). Everyone had a different story about Marlene’s travels in search of the perfect rug. Everyone had a different account of her different affairs with different drugs. Indian and Arabian nights were peppered with erotic encounters with the exotic locals. I was lead to believe (and have no real reason to doubt) that the woman had not slept in the company of less than one person since 1966. Her gigantic, black sunglasses seemed to hide entire lives’ worth of debauchery and sin (not to mention more than a few wrinkles that were gradually becoming veritable folds) and she was never seen without them.