by E. M. Sadler
"Not move himself or his wife to Medicare, not purchase an individual policy for his second family, but lay off the FOUR little old ladies who have been working for him for the past 45 years.
"DALE, I WAS DUMBSTRUCK!
"They barely make more than minimum wage, and it took everything in my power not to reach across the table and punch that man in the throat, and I am not a violent person. Luckily my boss was ready for him to pull something nasty out of his greedy little brain and had copies of the state labor laws on hand to show him that, that sort of obvious age discrimination would lead to not only a lawsuit but could potentially destroy his reputation."
"So, what did this asshole end up doing?" I asked incredulously.
"He signed up for the group policy we suggested. Then we convinced him to purchase supplemental and prescription Medicare policies for all employees over the age of 65. We explained if he did that and gave them each a one-thousand-dollar health savings account to cover the extra cost of their prescriptions, he would bring down his overall monthly insurance cost to 90% of the rate from last year. So, once he cooled down, it all worked out. But, what a piece of work he was.
"We've been telling him for two years that paying for his employees Medicare policies would be cheaper than trying to lump them into the group rate, but he wouldn't listen because his agent ten years ago told him that he shouldn't. There are a lot of yearly changes in the insurance world, so going ten years on expired advice is bad business."
Kelly's evident passion for protecting Franklin's elderly employees was a complete turn on. Most of the people I've known in the business world have been sharks, with little concern for the underdog.
"So, what made you become an insurance agent? Is your degree in business?"
"No, actually, my degree is in history," she said sheepishly.
"Why are you blushing? History is an honorable degree."
"It's unfortunately become a useless degree in this economy. Luckily, I worked for a bank during college, and my experiences there helped me to make a living in the business world."
Shortly after our discussion on shenanigans, we noticed some thunder in the distance, and decided to call it an evening and made plans to make Thursday's our weekly non-date.
Which is when Thursday became my favorite day of the week.
Chapter 15 – Kelly
Thursday was officially my favorite day of the week. Even though we avoided touching each other after that first day, the hour-long play dates were in some ways more intimate than our passionate night together in August.
Over time, we learned that even though our parenting styles were not identical, they were alike enough that we were able to feed off of each other's insights and find new ways at approaching parenting obstacles.
Where I tended to be more of a tough-love advocate, he was more of a kill them with kindness parent. But our differences of opinion weren't overly unbalanced, and we found it allowed us to foster mutual admiration for each other.
It also helped that our children got along like peanut butter and jelly.
John would alter his time between playing with the girls and helping Mandy around the playground, and Mazie and Katie were always trying to negotiate longer play times.
Initially, I was worried that their fierce attachment to each other would cause problems in class, but Mrs. Dalton assured me repeatedly that they took turns holding each other accountable out of fear that they would have to move desks away from each other.
How did I end up lucky enough to have a kid that behaved?
I wasn't necessarily a bad child growing up, but I was a chatterbox who received more than her fair share of mandatory quiet time in school. My childhood best friend Joanie was always trying to help me stay under the radar, but being born without a verbal filter didn't help matters, and she couldn't always be there to stop me from saying the worst.
In first grade when she came down with a nasty bout of chicken pox, and I was forced to go to school without her for almost two weeks was when my lack of filter finally caught up with me. As a result, during the first half of the year, my cafeteria time was relegated to the quiet table after I started talking about the movie Dirty Dancing which my mom and Auntie Imogene had been watching one weekend.
Of course, I decided everyone needed to know that the characters had had sex.
In my defense, I assumed sex was just exaggerated hugging. Unfortunately, it caused enough shock amongst my classmates' parents that I was doomed to quiet lunches for the rest of the year so that my vulgarity wouldn't rub off on their innocent babies.
Ironically, I turned out to be the only one out of those 30 students to remain a virgin past college.
By the time the first Thursday in October arrived, I had decided to take a leap and invite Dale to join us for our weekly pizza night. If he agreed, tonight would be the ideal time since my mother would be out of town until Monday.
She was helping my uncle get the family pumpkin farm ready for the Halloween season.
Plus, I was curious to see how the friendship Dale and I were building could translate into a more private setting.
Sadly, Thursday morning Dale texted to cancel our playdate due to rain, and since the following week we were scheduled to visit Geoff during Mazie's fall break, the day suddenly didn't feel as exciting.
Dale –
Forecast says that the rain won't let up till after ten this evening. Will you be in town for fall break next Thursday?
Kelly –
Bummer. Unfortunately, I'm taking the girls to visit with Geoff for fall break.
Dale –
Do you always accompany the girls when they visit their father?
Kelly –
Only for the overnight visits. (Remember, I'm still nursing.)
Dale –
Where do you stay on these trips?
Kelly –
Geoff still lives in our old house, so I usually stay there and sleep in the spare room.
Dale –
That has to feel uncomfortable.
Kelly –
It did at first, but he is getting more agreeable since we finalized our divorce.
Probably helps that he gets most of his free time to himself and has plenty of time for daily naps.
Dale –
Who takes daily naps after kindergarten?
Kelly –
My ex. Sometimes he would come home and take 4-hour naps after work, wake for an hour and then go back to sleep for another 10 hours.
Dale –
Sounds excruciatingly lonely.
How does he date with that kind of sleeping schedule?
Kelly –
He has a friend he chats with online and since he doesn't believe in or desire regular physical affection it works for them.
Dale –
Are you sure he's not harboring hope of reconciliation?
Wait! Is he jealous?
Kelly –
He was at first, but once we lived apart for a few months, he realized how much happier he was alone. i.e., he likes sparse furnishings and hates clutter; I'm a little bit of a clutter bug (but not a hoarder).
Plus, there is the added bonus of constant, uninterrupted sleep for him.
Dale –
My ex was a minimalist, so I get it. That's probably why my house looks like a decorator's closet exploded everywhere. But it's homey, and that's what I wanted.
So that means we'll have to wait another two weeks to see each other?
Not wishing to go another two weeks without trying to see Dale, I leapt and sent the pizza invitation before I could lose my gumption.
Kelly –
You guys are welcome to come over for pizza after school.
Kelly –
That is if you want to come over for pizza. No pressure.
Yeah, real smooth Kelly.
Dale –
Is it okay if I text you after lunch today? I'm waiting on an email from Maggie confirming a time for he
r to Facetime with the kids.
He didn't say no!
Silently squealing to myself, I texted,
Kelly –
Sure, just let me know.
Chapter 16 – Dale
It was already 1:30 pm and Maggie still hasn't texted me to confirm a video chat time with the kids. I know my kids are desperately missing their mother, but I'm hopeful that the scheduled call will work in my favor and not prevent me from meeting up with Kelly tonight - especially since the idea of waiting two more weeks to see her was entirely unthinkable. I had already come to rely on our hour-long chats during playdates to get me through my week.
Wanting to keep her up-to-date, I decided to send a quick message to her so that she knew there was still a possibility of us coming over for pizza.
Dale –
Still waiting for confirmation from Maggie. Don't count us out yet.
Kelly –
No worries. Since our playdate was canceled, Mazie and I are going to check out the Girls Scout/Boy Scout information session at the community center after school. Just let us know by 5:30 if you'll be able to make it.
Dale –
Are the kids old enough for the Scouts already?
Kelly –
According to the Scout website, starting age for the Daisies and Cubs is when they enter kindergarten.
Dale –
Let me know your thoughts on our local troops. Maybe I'll enroll my twins.
At this point, I was just making an excuse to talk with her. After all, I had already decided to enroll John and Katie in Scouts when they were old enough. I just figured that the entry age was six years old instead of five.
Finally, around 4:45 an alert on my Mac announced that we had an incoming call from an unknown number.
Assuming that it must be Maggie, I ushered the kids in front of the computer only to see yoga man instead of my ex staring at my very disappointed children through the screen.
"Hey, Dale! How's my favorite principal?"
"Doing fine, John."
Yep, she named our son after her lover. Luckily, they didn't meet until she was seven months pregnant, or the idea of my son not being mine would have destroyed me.
"...where's Maggie?"
"Well you know Maggie!" noticing that the kids are with me, I see him pick up his phone and send a text message.
John –
Maggie's at a nail appointment and won't be finished till after we enter the signal free zone.
"She said I get to call this week because I missed my favorite kids so much," he said looking at the children.
At least John genuinely seemed to care about the kids' feelings.
Katie and John were hurt but exchanged some general pleasantries with John before we heard the call for employees to head up to the lobby coming through John's room intercom.
After disconnecting, my John turned and said, "Daddy, why did John lie?"
"What do you mean buddy?"
"I just could tell," he said with a sigh. "At least John wanted to talk to us."
Looking to confirm that Katie had gone back to her coloring table, John leaned in and whispered, "We should get Katie some ice cream to cheer her up, I can tell she's sad about Mommy."
Since I knew how much John disliked the texture of ice cream, I knew his suggestion was coming from his deep love for his sister. Even when he was feeling neglected, he would always put Katie first.
"I've got an even better idea! Why don't we see if Ms. Kelly and Mazie want to have pizza with us?"
Apparently ‘Mazie' and ‘pizza' are the magic words because both John and Katie's faces lit up and their disappointment was temporarily forgotten.
Dale –
Hey Kelly, Maggie canceled for this evening. Any chance we can still join you for pizza?
Kelly –
Sure, meet us at 241 River Drive at 6:15.
Any special requests?
Dale –
Cheese and pepperoni.
Hopefully, pizza and some great company would help the evening end on a positive note.
Chapter 17 – Kelly
Receiving the confirmation of our first joint pizza night, I was extremely thankful that I wouldn't have more than 10 minutes to get ready before the Wilsons arrived.
Upon arriving home, I quickly set up Mandy in the gated playroom so that Mazie and I could get as much of our nighttime routine out of the way without worrying about Mandy crashing through the room. Thankfully I ordered our pizzas before I left the community center. This way the delivery man would arrive within minutes of Dale, and the pizza wouldn't have a chance to get cold.
"Okay Mazie, you're in charge of feeding the cats downstairs and changing their water."
"But Mommy, I want to make sure I have everything ready for Katie to play princess with me."
"Honey, we don't have time, and if you feed the cats now, it means that Katie can stay a little later."
Those were the only magic words needed to spurn Mazie into action, leaving me in the kitchen to pace nervously and determine what I should tackle first.
In the end, I chose to forgo changing out of my work clothes and quickly prepared our lunches for tomorrow before stocking the dining room table with utensils. As soon as I'd put our lunchboxes in the refrigerator, I heard the doorbell ring, causing my stomach to jump in excitement.
Rushing to the door, I was disappointed to see that instead of Dale standing at our front door, it was Kenny, our local pizza man. "Oh, Hey, Kelly. Where's Joan tonight?"
It was no secret that Kenny had a crush on my mom.
"She's helping Uncle Terry get ready for Halloween."
"Oh yeah, I think she did mention that last week. Well tell her that I asked about her, will ya?"
"Will do Kenny. See you next week."
Poor Kenny, when he finally finds out about my mom's steady boyfriend, he would be crushed.
Mom's current boyfriend, Jim, was an Air Force Colonel currently stationed in Turkey who she met while distributing Christmas care packages to the troops two years ago. Both were recently widowed, so they bonded over turkey and the crappiness of the first Christmas without their spouses.
Though their relationship started without romantic intentions, it soon turned to love, and they've been serious about each other ever since. At one point a year ago they were even talking about getting married.
Unfortunately, soon after they started discussing the possibility of marriage, Jim found out he was moving to a base in Turkey which no longer allowed family members to reside on the military base. Not wanting to live their first years of marriage apart, they decided to wait for reassignment.
It was apparent how much they missed each other; however, his location had given Jim and Mom an excuse to tour Europe. He'd already flown her over four times this year alone.
Since flying into Europe saved each of them a day of travel by meeting at a halfway mark, it gave them the excuse to go on the perfect romantic adventures. For two people attempting to navigate romance after being married for so many years, this was just what those two needed.
The best part was that I loved how she was finally getting to enjoy her life with someone who appreciated her. Plus, it didn't hurt that Jim looked like Stanley Tucci.
Jim was the opposite of dad and loved to nurture my mother. Plus, he adored my kids, which gave him bonus points in my book.
I grew up understanding that my dad wasn't the most comfortable person to be married too, and Mom's marriage was marred with loneliness and indifference from my father.
Regardless of his ill-treatment of her, my mom felt bound to him by her vows and stayed married to my dad, Wayne, even when he refused to follow us from base to base when my Mom was in the military.
Lost in thought, I took the pizza into the dining room, and made quick work of setting up the table when I suddenly realized how quiet Mandy was being.
This was never a good sign with toddlers.
Thinking the worst, I sprinted
to the gated playroom to make sure that she hadn't gotten into something.
Even though I tried to keep it as "Mandy safe" as possible, sometimes Mazie would sneak markers in there, which Mandy then used to color her hands with till the ink was so thick it would take days to remove. God forbid she used the giant pile of construction paper a gave her last month. No that was to conventional for my toddler. Skin was always Mandy's preferred canvas.
Maybe she'd become a tattoo artist.
After confirming that Mandy was just engrossed with her mega blocks and not dying her hands blue, the doorbell rang.
Trying to remain as calm as possible, I slowly made my way to the front door. If I allow myself to run to the door like an excited teen, he would probably turn and flee.
As soon as I opened the door, my eyes zeroed in on a smile and a pair of brown eyes that could even make the Queen of England swoon at his feet.
Man, he had fantastic eyes, especially at that moment before orgasm when they turned to the golden color of amber. Mmmmm...
"Hey!" he said.
"Hey!" I said in a breathy voice, before shaking images of a very naked Dale out of my head.
Thankfully, Mazie's excited squeals descended upon us at that exact moment, and I was once again able to collect my senses while ushering everyone into the dining room for pizza.
Over the next half an hour, the kids chatted excitedly about their class turtle, and Mandy happily shoveled pieces of pizza in her mouth, while I tried desperately not to stare at Dale. The good news was that even though we were unable to talk as candidly around the children as we are on our park bench, an easy intimacy was still there.
Unfortunately, around 7:00 pm, Dale's phone interrupted our quality time and began to ring. Excusing himself from the room, he returned less than a minute later and gently touched my elbow to gain my attention.
"Hey, do you mind if we talk in the kitchen for a second?"
