Chapter 8
Eight
“I can’t believe you kissed him.” Krysta was shocked.
“Well, actually, he’s the one who kissed me,” Angela defended herself.
“But didn’t you just say you kissed him first?”
“Well, yeah. That was just a peck. He’s the one who grabbed my face and ....”
“Oh so... he’s the one who took advantage of you,” she teased.
“Well... I wouldn’t quite... the way he had his hands on me, I doubt that I could have broken away if I wanted to-”
“Oh, and you really wanted to...” Krysta teased again.
“No. You’re right. I didn’t want to break away.”
“I don’t know, Angela.”
Even Krysta, as free-spirited as one can make them, had her doubts. She had known Angela for quite a while and she knew her well. She knew she was getting in deeper and deeper.
“I know what I’m doing Krysta.” Angela was annoyed her friend had no faith in her.
“And you’re certainly one to talk Krysta… Miss one-night-stands.”
“Don’t turn this on me. I know what I am, and I know who you are. And you are certainly not Miss one-night-stand.”
“No, I’m not. It was just a kiss.”
“Let me tell you a story,” Krysta started. “About a month or so ago, I got myself a new wallet... I didn’t need a new wallet; the one I had was quite good still, and practical. I had had it for years and I guess I was just a little bored with it.”
Angela rolled her eyes, seeing where this was going.
“Anyway,” Krysta went on. “This new wallet struck my fancy. It was hot pink, flashy, sexy and new.”
“Oh please...what are you getting at?” Angela was growing impatient with her not-so-subtle friend.
“So on impulse, I bought this new wallet. I was so excited at first, but when I took it home and tried to put my stuff in it, it just didn’t work. This new wallet was not practical at all, it was all show.”
Angela started to smirk.
“Oh, what have I done? I thought,” Krysta went on, over dramatizing. “My cards wouldn’t all fit. The money was tight. My picture of Madison was too big, I couldn’t close it. It was a disaster.”
Angela stared at her, not amused.
“Well then, I put everything back in my old wallet. So the story has a happy ending.”
Angela was still not quite sure what she was saying.
“The story is different for you though. Your old wallet might not take you back.”
“Robert is not an old wallet,” Angela argued, quite agitated. “And Michael is not a flashy new hot pink wallet either, he’s just a friend.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Krysta didn’t believe her for a second.
Angela stood in front of her bathroom mirror, straightening her hair smooth.
She loved wearing her hair straight; it made her feel glamorous.
And although this was just a party for an eighty-ish year old woman, she still wanted to look glamorous.
And it certainly had nothing to do with Michael Bowman.
She had the first half of her day all set up.
She would do herself up, have lunch at the mall, go shopping for Dot’s gift and go to the party with Robert.
She could see her driveway from the bathroom mirror and she was surprised to see a strange red car pull in. “He must just be turning around.”
The car parked on her driveway and the engine turned off. Who the heck was that?
But then she saw a familiar middle-aged lady come out around the car, reaching for something. Then she saw her pull Madison out.
“Oh crap.”
Angela had completely forgotten about Madison.
She had promised Krysta long ago that she would look after her this Saturday.
Krysta had a workshop she was teaching that Saturday and her mother could not look after her, and would have to drop her off at Angela’s for the day.
Her plans were shaken up. What would she do?
Maybe she could ask Robert to look after her?
Nope. Robert would be like a fish out of water.
He would never agree. Besides, he wanted to go to the party just as much as she did.
Maybe she could forgo the party all together.
She thought about it for a minute, straightening iron in hand. The doorbell rang. She had to go.
She greeted Madison and her grandmother at the door.
“Thank you so much Angela.” Madison’s grandmother handed her the baby bag.
“You don’t know how much of a help you are. You’re a Saint.”
“Well, I have been told that before,” she joked, taking Madison on her hip. “I love having her. We have such a great time together.”
Her grandmother seemed in a hurry; she handed the portable high chair to Angela and kissed Madison and was quickly on her way. She stopped as she grabbed the door.
“Oh... do you want Madison’s car seat? I can take it out for you.”
“No. I don’t think I’ll be taking her anywhere-”
But on second thought...
“Wait, maybe I will actually. Do you mind?”
“Absolutely not.”
Maybe she was going to take her somewhere after all. “How do feel about going to the mall and a party?”
“Yeah!” Madison said, flashing her big grin.
“Well, it’s settled then.”
The telephone rang three times. Michael answered; all business.
“Hello. Michael Bowman.”
“Oh...Hi, Michael, this is Angela.” She said, nervous.
His voice softened. “Hi, Angela.”
“I was surprised to hear your voice. I was expecting Ellie to answer.”
“Well, this is my private line; the RSVP number on the invitation. I didn’t want my mother to get wind of this.”
“That makes sense.”
“If you ever just want to talk to me, this is the number to call,” he explained.
She wished she could take him up on that. Even on the phone, his voice did strange things to her.
“Oh... anyway...” she said, trying to get her mind out of the gutter. “I was calling you to ask you a favor...”
“Sure.”
“I completely forgot I promised to look after Madison today.”
There was a short pause at the other end of the line.
“Can you bring her along?” He took the words right of her mouth.
“Would that be ok?”
“Sure. No problem. I’d love to see her again. I’m a sucker for dimples.”
“Me too.”
Another pause.
“So we’ll see you here, later?”
“You bet.” She put the telephone back in its place, giddy.
She hopped over to Madison. “Let’s go shopping.”
Madison loved the mall. After lunch, Angela took her to play in the play park.
It was quite busy since it was a Saturday but Angela didn’t mind.
She sat on the bench and looked at the children play.
They were all so different; each one of them unique but all beautiful.
Well, almost all; the one annoying trouble maker being the exception.
She thought about how she would love to have her own child someday but couldn’t quite picture it.
Robert would never go for it. What was the point in thinking about it?
After the play park, they went for ice cream. This was just as much fun for Angela as it was for Madison. They always got the chocolate flavor; Angela’s favorite and Madison’s too, if only by association.
After ice cream, Angela was not thinking about the logistics of it when she took Madison into the giftware store.
She was originally thinking of getting Dot a beautiful ashtray but thought it inappropriate; encouraging an unhealthy habit.
She tolerated it but she didn’t want to encourage it. She kept a close eye on Madison.
“Don’t even think about touching anything.”
Madison obeyed.
She looked around for inspiration; so many beautiful things, breakables mostly: Candle holders, pot-pourri bowls, frames, glass vases; iridescent greens and blues.
She doubted Dot was in need of anything but she hoped she would appreciate the gesture.
She inspected all the pieces, trying to put herself in Dot’s shoes.
“What would I like, if I was seventy-something or eighty? How old is she anyway?”
Finally, she settled on a glass candy dish.
As she was about to grab one, she spotted Madison reaching for a flower in a tall glass vase on the floor. Angela leaped in as fast as she could, but didn’t make it on time.
The vase came down and crashed. Broken glass pieces scattered the floor. Her first instinct was to get Madison out of harm’s way. Madison started to wail.
“C’mon Madison,” she urged as she took her hand.
“We have to go; there’s broken glass everywhere. You could get hurt.” She held Madison’s hand and guided her away from the glass. A petite stern looking woman sporting an up-do and glasses ran towards them. That’s when Angela noticed all the other patrons just standing and staring.
“It’s never a good idea to bring kids into a place like this,” the obnoxious woman told her.
“These things happen,” a young woman offered kindly.
“What happened?!” the shop keeper asked.
“I’m sorry, she pulled at the flowers and the vase went down.”
“You shouldn’t let your toddler run around like this. You’re liable, I’m afraid.”
“Well...how much?” Angela had this strange urge to cry, her eyes welling up; a complete stranger scolding her.
“Sixty dollars.” That was more than Angela had anticipated but she had no choice.
As she made the purchases, she casually commented on the idiocy of having fragile glass vases sitting on the floor in too-narrow aisles.
She shared her intention to never come to the store again and gave her a scowl for good measure.
“I hope your day is as nice as mine,” Angela told her as she left. She cursed herself for being such a procrastinator; she should have bought the gift ages ago.
“So how far is this place?” Robert asked as they were leaving their driveway.
“About twenty minutes.”
“I can’t wait to see that house.” He was more excited than she was.
“There’s actually an iron gate?” he asked.
“Yep. It’s crazy.”
“I wonder how much that place would go for. Is she planning to move anytime soon?”
“Nope. I think she’s there until her dying days,” Angela observed.
“Well, that could be soon.”
“Oh...Robert...you are bad. Besides, you’d never get that commission.”
“Why not?”
“Well, have you ever sold a house that big?”
“Nope but I’m all over that, when she kicks the bucket.”