How I Met Peter
My friend and manicurist loves me to read her my stories. Today she asked me how l met Peter. ‘’You mean l never told you?’’ ‘’Nooo,’’ she said. Well, my telling stories and writing them are entirely different. I am better writing them. I get distracted when speaking. Well, Iris dear, this is for you. I used to work in real estate many years ago. I liked what I did and was good at it. I did a lot of marketing. One method I used was advertising in different ways; one of them was the Persian newspaper. Through that, I met a very soft-spoken and polite Iranian chiropractor. This doctor was in need of a medical office. He needed it in a busy area with easy access to public transport. After looking a while, he finally liked an office building in a busy area in Queens. He made an offer which I presented to the seller. After negotiating back and forth they finally came to an agreement. We scheduled a contract signing at his attorney’s office. We sat in his waiting room until all the parties concerned arrived. There was the doctor, the buyer, and the seller, a Chinese woman, who arrived with her baby and me, the realtor. The secretary ushered us into the conference room. The attorney politely stood up, introduced himself, shook each of our hands, and handed out his business card. Peter R. Cooperman, Esq. Attorney at Law, address and telephone number. I also handed out my card, Stella Mahlab, a previous married name, Realtor, Merrill Lynch Realty, address and two telephone numbers, office, and home. We sat down and were about to sign when Mrs. Chin, as she jumped her baby on her lap, announced that her price had changed. It was now ten thousand dollars more. We all looked at her in amazement. She had signed a binder agreeing to the present price. She kept jiggling her baby and not looking at us. Finally, the attorney cleared his throat and said, ‘’This is highly irregular, Mrs. Chin. You agreed upon this price.” ‘’Well, I changed my mind. The price is now $10,000 more.’’ Everyone got up and left. The doctor went back and forth in his mind as to whether he would agree to this change and finally, after about a week or more of consideration, he agreed to the new price. In the meantime, Mr. Cooperman asked me to call him Peter, so I politely said that my name was Stella. Our conversations were solely about this real estate matter. Telephone calls went back and forth between all parties concerned. A few more weeks passed. Once more we were sitting in Peter’s conference room. Once more Mrs. Chin came in with her baby. Again, the secretary led us into the conference room. We sat; documents began to be passed about for signatures. Mrs. Chin once more started to jiggle her baby. Looking at the baby, she once more declared, “I changed my mind. My price is now $20,000 more.” We all looked at her in disbelief. The doctor stood up, looked at her and said with disgust, “Mrs. Chin, you have truly wasted all our time. Now if you even offer me your property for free, I would not take it.” He nodded his head to Peter and me and left. Mrs. Chin’s look of dismay was a sight to behold. I never sold the doctor an office building, but I got my soulmate. Peter got into the habit of calling me every few days. One evening he called me at about five o’clock at the office. After chatting for a while he said, ‘’I must run. I have to make dinner for my boys.” “Where is your wife?” I asked. It turned out that they were separated, just like me and my soon-to-be-ex-husband. We were both going through a long drawn-out divorce. That formed a deep bond between us. He asked me out. I declined. He accepted my refusal graciously. I liked that. When a woman is going through a divorce, some men become very unpleasant. A lady becomes very wary and very leery. I was in that position. With Peter, I felt safe. He never pushed or insisted. He was a true gentleman. We became friends and confidantes. We spoke on the telephone for quite a few months, but we did not meet. One morning he called me at home. We chatted briefly, then he said, ‘’Catch you at the office later.’’ ‘’I’m not going to the office today.’’ ‘’Where are you going?’’ ‘’I’m going to the city to buy hats for my daughter and myself. We are going to a wedding in England. We need hats for the ceremony.’’ ‘’What do you want to bet you will but more than hats? he asked. ‘’What do you want to bet I won’t?’’ He quickly replied, ‘’Dinner with me!’’ I did not answer. I told my children of the conversation and asked them what they thought. ‘’Go for it Mum!’’ they both replied. A few days later we did go out. We continued to go out. I was not well. I was bleeding very heavily and fainting. There was a lump in my stomach the size of a large grapefruit. I thought it was because I was going through a very unpleasant divorce and could not face my reality. I was told that I needed a hysterectomy and I had a sixty percent chance of having liver cancer. I had to have surgery right away. I refused. I needed to protect my children. If something happened to me, my almost ex would inherit all that was mine and leave nothing for my children. I would rather finish with my divorce proceedings then go through surgery. Finally I was granted a divorce. I retained all that was mine. The next day I was admitted to the hospital for surgery. After the surgery, the doctor commented that I was a very lucky lady. I replied, “I told you nothing bad was going to happen!” It was Peter who took me there. My ex refused to leave the house. When I left the hospital, I went to various places to recuperate until I finally got a court order to make him leave. All that time Peter took care of me. He loved me and cherished me and I loved and worshipped him right back. We got married and did not for one single minute regret doing so. So Iris dear when you asked me how we met, the answer is, God arranged it. It was His blessing to us.