“You’ve had a lot of free afternoons lately.” She looked at him suspiciously.
“Well, I’m taking it easy,” he said, looking down at his bowl of soup.
“It’s interesting. You’ve been around every Monday afternoon,” she said, smiling and looking at them both. “Every Monday... since Angela has been coming to read to me.”
There it was, on the table, their meals half eaten. Angela had never been more uncomfortable in her entire life but was quick on her feet, changing the subject as fast as she could.
“Is there a gas station near here? Last thing I need is to get stuck on the side of the road.” Her tank was full.
Michael was quick to give her directions, even jotting down a map on a napkin. Both of them were furious; Michael, even more so. They ate the rest of the meal quickly. Michael got up from thetable with bits of his sandwich on his plate. “I’m sorry to rush off like this but I do actually have a lot to do today.”
Angela had never seen a man finish a sandwich so quickly. Ellie offered to clean up. Angela offered to help but Ellie insisted she was fine on her own. Angela took the opportunity to get out of there as fast as she could. She gave Dot a dirty look as she left the room. Dot gave her a smirk.
That little cunning trouble maker, she thought. MaybeI won’t come by at all next Monday.
Seven
Angela was supposedto book a church for the wedding. This was of utter most importance but yet, she still hadn’t done it. She dreaded approaching her local church, having not made an appearance since the previous Christmas. She felt like a hypocrite; why should she get married in a church when she never went to church? Why should she be married under the eyes of God when all her recent thought had been anything but holy? She was a bad, bad girl and didn’t deserve to be getting married in a church. She knew that church ceremonies had to be booked months in advance and if she didn’t book a church soon, their fall wedding might need to be delayed until the next spring.Then be it, she thought.
Instead, she decided to go shopping for a new dress for the art opening she was attending with Krysta. After trying on a few dresses, she finally settled on a simple, yet gorgeous sky blue satin cocktail dress. This would be perfect with a little blue shadow, which suited her brown eyes and olive complexion quite well.Sky blue, she thought, looking at her reflection,Michael’s favorite color. For the life of her, she just couldn’t get him out of her mind.
The following Monday, Angela had decided to go see Dot after all. She realized Dot had only been meddling; possibly trying to make a connection; play Cupid. Angela thought that maybe since Dot had finally found love, she wanted others to be as in love as she was. She was running a bit late again.
When she finally made it to Dot’s, Ellie escorted her to the study. Dot wasn’t at her usual spot.
“Dot is still getting ready. She’ll be in in a minute. Would you like a tea?”
“Yes. Thank you Ellie.”
She waited fifteen minutes, drinking her tea.
“You’re late,” Dot scolded her as she came in.
“You’re late,” she replied.
“Well, if I can wait, you can wait too,” she told her, taking a seat.
“You’re lucky I’m here at all, after last week.”
“My son’s the one who should be mad.”
“Well, is he?”
“Hell, yes, a wee bit, I would say.”
They started to read. Angela didn’t see Michael and she was both somewhat relieved and somewhat disappointed. She presumed Michael had finally had enough of flirting with forbidden fruit. She figured there were dozens of women who would love to be with him. In fact, she was sure of it. How could they not. She felt nauseous at the thought. The woman who would snag him would be a very lucky woman; very lucky indeed.
Angela had the strange feeling Dot was suspicious about her birthday party. Nothing much got past Dot therefore it wouldonly make sense. The plan was for Paul to take her out for the day, on Saturday, while Michael and the rest of the crew worked feverishly on the festivities. It was a very good plan except for one wrinkle; Dot.
“So you and Paul are going to a matinee on Saturday; that should be fun.” Angela was itching to confirm that Dot would indeed be away.
“Oh...I don’t know, we’re supposed to go for lunch downtown in that quaint little café I love so dearly, and then a matinée. But I’m not sure,” she said looking, shooting a sideways glance at Angela.
Angela was suddenly on alert. “Well, what do you mean ‘you’re not sure’?”
“I just don’t know if I have the energy.” Good old Dot, always making trouble.
“C’mon Dot, you have plenty of energy.”You have the energy to drive me insane.
