Preferably a rich date.
When I came out to wash my hands Mom swiped my hat off my head, handed me a wet wipe, and threw my hat into the garbage in a swift ninja-like movement.
“Hey!” I felt where my hat used to be. “I just bought that hat.”
“Why?” Mom grimaced.
I straightened. “Um, I thought it looked good on me?” It was a stretch, but I couldn’t tell her it was a disguise.
“How much was it?”
“Two dollars…”
Mom rolled her eyes, dug in her purse, grabbed two dollars, and thrust them into my hand. “Consider yourself reimbursed.”
She lifted her chin, “I’m sorry dear, it had to be done. I’ll buy you a new one. One without an entire farmers market on top of it.” She shuddered and nodded at my face and its gray lines and then the wet wipe.
She did not look sorry at all. Hopefully they wouldn’t care too much about the fifty and up thing, because this had just gotten much harder.
Mom stepped back, taking in my appearance. The blond hair was now straight against my collar bone, my face had no wrinkle lines, and my knee-length vintage dark blue and white polka-dot dress met with her nod of approval.“You are beautiful, Emma.” Mom gave me a quick hug. “Inside and out.” Her eyebrows fell. “But that hat, again.” She shuddered.
I chuckled. “Fine, let’s go see what we can find.”
We left the bathroom and headed into the room with the open doors. It smelled like peppermint and a very strong floral perfume.
Large groups of people mingled throughoutthe room. I looked at the round table near the entrance, and a woman with a pointy nose and glasses studied her clipboard. “Names.” Her nasal voice startled me.
“Hannah Woods and guest.” I tried my best to keep my chin tucked and to avoid eye contact. I really hoped I wasn’t caught before we even got inside.
I heard the scratching of paper and saw her check Mom’s name off the list. She looked quizzically at me as she handed us two name tags, and I looped Mom’s elbow in mine and pulled her into the room. Hopefully, if nothing else we could get lost in the crowd.
“Why was it my name on the list and not yours?” Mom asked, as she looked back at the round table.
“Hm.” I did my best to ignore the question as I looked for future hiding places.
“Em.” She pulled me to a stop, her blue eyes full of questions as she looked around the room. “Why did they have my name and not yours?” Several men nodded in her direction. “It doesn’t look like there’s inventory they want to get rid of in here. It’s like a reception or something.” She looked at the front of the room with the stage. “Are we at the wrong place?” She turned toward the front door.
I searched the room, desperate for something to distract her. I nodded to a table piled with desserts toward the back of the room.
“Look, maybe we are in the right place after all.”
“Emma! Are you thinking of stealing desserts?” Mom chastised me in a whisper.
“Mom, we’re on the list. I think they are for us.” I pointed to our name tags.
Mom’s lips frowned, but she didn’t resist as I pulled us to the table. I picked up two glass plates and handed her one. I went along the white lace tablecloth and grabbed a cookie and a slice of cake. I waited at the end of the table for Mom, and while she was distracted by the desserts, I scanned the room for potential dates.
“What are you looking for?” Mom asked.
“Geez!” I jumped, nearly dropping my plate. “You scared me.” I nodded to a table in the back corner. “Want to sit and eat? Then I will see if I can find someone with the inventory.”
She nodded. “Sure.”
I led us to a table on the edge of the room, trying to recognize faces and attach them to profiles I’d seen. I picked up my cookie and took a bite.
The sound system clicked on, and I looked in horror at the stage and the older gentleman in a suit standing behind a microphone stand. He was about to welcome everyone to the singles event, and the perfect moment for confession hadn’t come.
Looked like the jig might be up.
