Breakfast at Tiffany’s

  • 20 Oct - 26 Oct, 2018
  • Ayesha Adil
  • Fiction



A delicate frame stepped out onto the pavement from a yellow cab on the streets of New York. She wore a sleeveless black dress cut in a V-shape at the back. Her coiffure piled on top of her head and a diamond crown placed delicately at the center of her puffed bun. Her perfectly streaked strands were every girl’s dream – each streak placed carefully above the other. She stood before Tiffany’s window and peeked into the exotic interior through the glass. In her hand was a brown bag out of which she brought a Danish pastry to her lips and took a bite. She took a sip from her coffee cup and strolled away to the corner of the street enjoying her breakfast whilst walking alongside the building that housed one of the largest and most exclusive jewelry items of the world.

Audrey Hepburn earned her fair amount of fame through this opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and little did she know how so many years later, people will be using her iconic dress, her pose and her behavior to orchestrate, as well as relive that moment in not just books and movies, but as themes to parties and social events.

The colour that is so famously now known as Tiffany’s has become a necessity in at least one room in most people’s homes and that particular wall must hold at least a few of Audrey Hepburn’s framed pictures and at least one of her many quotes.

I fell in love with Audrey Hepburn when I first saw her in My Fair Lady. I thought that this delicate, humorous and very versatile actor was priceless, absolutely priceless. And she proved to be just that. All of her movies and all of her work proved that she was more than just a pretty face.

So when all these aqua-green Tiffany coloured images began to emerge at social events and parties, where decorators had begun to use them as their theme colour I didn’t want to be left behind.

I told Fawad one day that we were going to paint our lounge walls in Tiffany’s.

“What are you talking about, Saima?” Fawad looked at me thinking that I had maybe finally lost it. After all, to him Tiffany was still just a jewellery store. Was I asking him to get jewels stuck onto our walls? It was obvious that I wasn’t making any sense.

“Yes dear. Like the movie Breakfast At Tiffany’s.” I thought by saying so it would make some sense.

“What do you mean like the movie? She’s standing before the jewellery store having her breakfast out of a brown paper bag and drinking coffee out of a Styrofoam cup. What will we paint our walls with? Bagels and coffee?”

By now I could tell that Fawad really didn’t get it. Or maybe I was losing my touch as a teacher. Was I explaining it right? I decided Google could help.

I keyed in the right terms on the search bar and went straight to images. There it was. That cool aqua blue and florescent, rich colour. I couldn’t get enough of it.

“So, what do you think Fawad? Can we do this?”

“Are you sure? It seems very radical. The rest of the house is all creamy white and this will look out of place.”

“It will stand out. It will be different. I really want us to go with it.”

My heart was set. I would get two or three custom made frames of Audrey Hepburn and a few of her quotes. It would become the best wall in my home.

Now envisioning something is one thing and actually getting it done is another.

Fawad and I checked for the colour we wanted online. All the bigger paint companies had their shade cards on easy display. We noted the brands and the number and come Sunday we set out to find us the Tiffany colour that I had so begun to crave.

The wall would look heavenly. I could imagine how the change in the room would make it look bigger and brighter.

I also felt so upbeat and in vogue. Stylish people had homes like this and now I would be one of them.

It felt good to know that I would be one of them. And this time I wasn’t competing with the rich and famous. This was a contribution to culture and finesse. My way of doing something out of the regular routine.

I was so happy Fawad was on board with me on this. I was more than super-excited.

The day finally came and our wall was painted. I hung up all the frames that I had so painfully searched for from all over the city. And the result was beautiful.

I was left with two more frames. Mine and Fawad’s. I was marking the point of their placement when my cell rang.

“You got this?” I asked Fawad while I rushed to take the call.

I was gone maybe ten minutes. It was the school’s administrative assistant Aliya reminding me of the back to school dates and timings and also what was on the agenda. I could hear the drill and the hammering. Pleased that Fawad would have done it right, I walked back into the lounge. Our pictures were hung up just as I wanted but Fawad was marking a third point. I couldn’t understand immediately why. As I looked on I realised what he was doing.

He selected a position below our frames, at the centre. He was marking the position to hang up our child’s frame.

I stood there in silence, unknown to Fawad with tears flooding my vision, feeling helpless and hopeless; all the excitement that I had felt at designing this beautiful wall completely evaporated. It’s all empty inside I thought to myself. What a waste. •

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