Dear Diary,
Note to me: Tublah is not as popular as it once was. My master does not care for it.
"Well, it was very popular in Pompeii."
"Yeah, sure. Look what happened to Pompeii."
I must remember never to concoct it for him again. Perhaps I will try my recipe for
a Baghdad Camel. I am sure that he will like that.
This morning, I overheard Captain Healey when he came to the door to talk to my
master. (Captain Healey did not like the Tublah either. I am 0 for 2.) He delivered the
most wonderful news. He told my master that Dr. Bellows just did a study of married
astronauts and unmarried astronauts. Would you not know it? Married astronauts came
off 6% better. (I am beginning to like Dr. Bellows more and more every day.) So, my
master and I must get married!!! Oh, we will be so happy! When Captain Healey left, I
was already busy making my wedding dress. It was beautiful. It would have been, that is,
if my master had let me finish it. He is the most unromantic master I have ever had. Oh, I
would not say that he takes me for granted. Not exactly. But he certainly does not
appreciate me enough. At least he pretends not to. Perhaps he does not know how he
should act with me. I tried to show my master how I wanted him to let himself go and act
like -- like --
"Like this."
With that, I blinked in a double of my master. Except this one was very
affectionate. Almost too affectionate. My master did not like it. I believe he was jealous.
Is that not wonderful?
I am afraid I was caught off my guard today. Dr. Bellows simply waltzed into the
kitchen while I was baking wonderful dishes for my master. (I wonder why Dr. Bellows
does not announce himself before he comes into my master's house?) Fortunately, I was
not in my "pinks" (as I like to call them) at the time. I was so startled to see him, but I
think I covered very well for myself. When Dr. Bellows asked, "Who are you?" I
answered with, "I am nobody." I believe my master would have been proud of me for my
quick thinking. I told him that I cooked Captain Nelson's dinner every night and that he
loved my baking. After a moment or two, I began to realize that I was giving him the
impression that my master and I were more than just bosom friends. But I thought -- as
long as he thought that, why not let him continue to do so? He told me that Captain
Nelson was in a lot of trouble because he was not married. I do not quite understand why
he would be in trouble because of that, but this gave me the perfect opportunity to show
Dr. Bellows how much my master does appreciate me. I conjured up my master's
affectionate double again and he joined us in the kitchen. Actually, he seemed to be
altogether unaware of Dr. Bellows. I do wish this one was not so grabby. By the end of
this meeting, a wedding was planned.
"Oh... I hope I did not get my master in trouble."
Oh, dear. Apparently, Dr. Bellows was spreading the word at NASA that my
master and I were getting married. My master was not pleased. I told him that I was only
trying to help him. When Dr. Bellows called and said that the general was staying over for
the wedding on Sunday, my master tried to call it off. My master's double to the rescue
again.
I am a little concerned at how this is all turning out. Of course I want to marry my
master desperately, but he still does not wish to marry me. So.... my master is upset. And
Captain Healey is upset because he believes that my master does not want him for a best
man. I wonder if it would make Captain Healey feel better to know that my master does
not want me for a bride. Live with that, if you can. On top of all that, I have a double of
my master popping up whenever he feels like it now and acting much too friendly for his
own good.
Unfortunately, things have gone just a little too far for my master to simply put his
foot down. A wedding is planned and now -- if he does not go through with it -- he will be
in terrible trouble. He tried to call it off again, though. My master is very persistent.
Almost as persistent as I. He went to Dr. Bellows. I can only imagine what went on during
that conversation. I believe, though, that Dr. Bellows has some purely selfish ulterior
motives. I wonder how my master getting married will help Dr. Bellows to sleep at night...
Hmmm.
This evening my master made another attempt to convince me that we should not
be married.
"Jeannie, you'd hate being married to me. I'm temperamental. I'm grouchy in the
morning. I'm a sloppy -- I'm sloppy..."
"I know, I know. I adore it!"
I did my best to convince him otherwise, but my poor master looked awfully
morose when I left him. Ah, well. He will come out of it. And on Sunday, he will be the
happiest man in the whole world.
At last, Sunday arrived and we were all waiting for my master at the church. For a
moment, I thought he would not come -- but he did!! Finally, I thought we were going to
be married! He was not acting quite like himself, though. At the altar, I suddenly realized
why. He was pretending to be the "phony Tony". I believe that he wished to convince me
of this so that I would call off the wedding. After all that, I realized that I could not force
my master into doing something that he really did not want to do. Even though I secretly
know that it is the best thing for him.
When my master came home this evening, he thought that he had fooled me. He
really should know by now that he is not dealing with a stupid genie. Just one that is in
love....
