The pretty, young Department of Justice court reporter, who hit on the wrong man . . . a happily married man . . . of sorts!
Honest Injun! I have never, ever cheated on a steady girlfriend, before or after this event. I did not move on to another pasture in my marriage until being confined to a separate bedroom for four years, being constantly ridiculed for not having a paramour by my official wife and then being asked for a divorce several times.
December 15, 1990 – As usual, my official wife, Diana, did not want to accompany me to the annual Smithsonian Administrative Staff Christmas Party in Alexandria, VA. She claimed that she had to grade papers, but left our farm for a party in Winchester, VA soon after I headed to the city. Once at her destination, she left a message on our home phone that because of the snow, she probably would not be home until Sunday night.
I was the only man at the party without a wife or girlfriend, so the hostess asked me to assist the women in taking off their heavy winter coats, take the coats upstairs and also announce the arrival of any ambassadors to the party. Sara whispered in my ear, “Richard this is ridiculous! You need to find you a girlfriend then get a divorce as soon as possible.”
Those chores went smoothly until French ambassador Jacques Andreani arrived. The 61 year old man was accompanied by a goddess in her late 20s with long black, curly hair and a $125,000+ full length Russian Sable Coat. An embassy security man rushed up to him and whispered something about “Washington Post reporters.” Andreani put his right arm in front of the lady and pushed her back. He walked into the Party Room alone.
I felt really sorry for his mistress, so said, « Puis-je vous accompagner à la fête, mademoiselle? »
She responded to me, “Oui! Merci! You are a very kind man, monsieur. If you were only the man I was to be with tonight.”
A little later, I noticed her staring at me and then talking with Sara. Then she rushed over to me and said, “Reshard, it is time that you give your girl Vivi, some attention.” Vivi was a family friend of the Andreani’s and was merely filling in for his wife. The ambassador did not want the Washington Post to take a photo of what appeared to be his mistress.
An embassy security man set up a table of Andreani’s expensive wines and my goat cheese. We began showing lots of PDA then Sara suggested that we get to know each other better in the guest quarters. Because the roads had become dangerous with heavy snow, the Danbys invited us to be their guests for the weekend and stay together in the guest quarters. That was the end of my life as a squeaky clean Eagle Scout.
For the next two years, we would always rendezvous at the Danby guest quarters, when Vivi flew in from France. Vivi stayed on the farm for six weeks, when Diana got a job in Georgia. I never lied about having a relationship with a French actress and singer. I am a terrible liar . . . but Diana never believed me. She continued to urge me to get a girlfriend at one of the cheese shops in Washington.
Meanwhile Vivi began wearing her old wedding ring when we went out, so other men wouldn’t hit on her. When we first met Chef Julia Child, Vivi told her in French that we had married in December 1990. She told the same thing to First Lady Barbara Bush!
When I saw Vivi in a full page magazine ad for Benson Hedges cigarettes, I pointed her out. Diana laughed sarcastically and then informed that the joke about the French actress was getting very old. She cut out the ad then taped it to the wall above my computer . . . then made a vulgar comment about my hands. My large ad featuring Vivi, stayed on the wall as long as I lived in Virginia.
Funny – The First lady of Georgetown
Early March 1992 – I was to be called as a witness for several days, so Vivi flew over to be with me. She would stay downstairs at the cafe, sipping cocoa, tea or coffee and reading European newspapers. On breaks, I would come down to sit with her. The male professors and lawyers at the hearing quickly noticed us and began spending their breaks, circled around our table in order to chat with Vivi.
One of them even told Vivi that they could put us in the White House by 2010, maybe earlier. If fact, the nation would be better off with Vivi as Vice President. Vivi was always wearing her wedding ring, but never said that we were married.
At least in that era, there was a glut of young, pretty, highly intelligent and well-educated women in Washington. With such a severe shortage of eligible men, the women soon became very aggressive, going after men, whose wives they thought were inferior to them. That is the reason that so many recent presidents, senators, congressmen and department heads have had mistresses or very young wives!
Almost from the beginning in early February, a DOJ court reporter had been flirting with me. From the NBC program on our farm, she knew that I was married and lived on a working dairy farm. She asked me why my wife didn’t want to be on the program. It was driving her wild that I was merely being polite to her and not flirting back.
Then late one afternoon, at the end of a session, she got the courage. She first asked me if I had a place to stay that evening. I told her that I was staying with friends in Alexandria. She then invited me to drive over to her townhouse in Anacostia, where we could drink wine and fix a fancy Italian dinner together. The Senior Law Professor at American University, who coordinated the depositions, overheard her proposition.
He quickly stepped next to me and said, “Oh Kathy, Richard is not that kind of a man. He is always faithful to his wife. Why, she is down there in the cafe right now, waiting on him, so they can go to dinner together. How many wives would drive all the way in from the Shenandoah Vallry just have dinner with their husband?
I told Kathy that I was very flattered by her invitation and would have accepted it had I been single. She winked and said, “Okay, but you better let me know when you are single again!”
Life is stranger than fiction.
I freaked out, when I first watched the James Bond movie “Skyfall.” I thought that French actress, Berinece Marlohe, was Vivi 20 years later. They have similar appearances, figures, voices, mannerisms and senses of humor. However, Vivi quit the entertainment industry, after meeting me and has been a vineyard farmer and restaurant owner since then. Because she has a Mexican grandmother, she merely looks a bit more Latin American than Berenice.
HOWEVER, this blip of Berenice is just too much a similarity. I had not been kissed in several years, when Vivi pulled my tie to her and kissed me. I could not resist her magical powers! LOL
The Americas Revealed 