Wednesday, 22nd October 2008
I do….. Do I?
Sarah was trying to keep her weight under check so her recent lunches during work break were salad chomping events with the consolation of the tasty yoghurt for dessert. While she was delicately eating as slowly as she possibly could to savour the bland salad in front of her, a familiar face entered the snack bar. It was Karen an old school friend she had once called a very nasty name at school.
Well apparently after 10 years max have gone by, everyone seems to forget disagreements and name- calling and Karen walked towards her smiling. The usual ‘old friends reunited ritual’ followed “hi how are you?’ “What have you been up to?” yada yada yada the conversation ended with her proclaiming she was starving, as she’d been running around like a hatter all morning, adding finishing touches to her wedding day this Saturday. Sarah instantly waved shyly at Karen’s fiance by the bar, gave him the thumbs up and congratulated Karen.
As Karen left the table, Sarah felt weird, her stomach ached and a frown painted itself on her forehead. “I’m 29 not too bad looking, I’ve got a great job and an amazing social life. And yet, I have no one to share it with and I’m not getting any younger.” She could swear she saw that little boy shape his thumb and fore finger like an L on his forehead while smiling cheekily at her.
Nervously she paid her bill, waved goodbye to Karen and her fiance who, by this time, were seriously canoodling. Rolling her eyes she got into her car and drove off.
Work was quite stressful and everyone had some sort of pending issue to deal with of late.
Jack had an old mother to take care of at home, Greta had a very dysfunctional relationship with her boyfriend, Ella was the office tart who’d slept with everyone at the office and in turn could not look anyone in the eye and Sue, the manageress was going through a horrible divorce.
Sarah consoled herself that life was not as perfect as her newly married or aspiring wives’ club of old school friends made it up to be. There was Sue, a middle aged gorgeous woman, with legs up to her ears, two beautiful children and a husband who’d fallen out of love with her and ran off with their child minder, trying to keep it all together.
Sometimes she would walk into Sarah’s office and break down in front of her. Sarah couldn’t understand how a marriage that seemed made in Heaven had shattered into a thousand pieces.
Possibly that was one of the reasons she hadn’t bothered to search for a partner to share anything with. She was too afraid of surrendering herself to a relationship, which could eventually end up in pain, suffering and stress. “Alone is better”, she thought. At that moment Sue entered her office. “Yes….she squeeled…hahaha Yes I got the house, I got the house! Let’s go out for drinks tonight”
Did she really want to join? Ella the “man hunter” and Sue “happy to be living in a gigantic house without a husband”? Why was she so harsh on others? She didn’t hold a success record with the opposite sex herself anyway. So there she was, sitting at a bar with her friends and her daquiri.
A good looking man walked up to her and asked her if she wanted a drink. She squinted, and peered into his face. The Daquiris were kicking in, “I don’t think I should have anymore” she slurred wobbling on her stool. Ella was gesticulating in the background giving her a “go for it” approving nod. The young man asked Sarah her name and kept insisting she should have a drink.
“I already told you no thanks so bugger off” she said roughly. “You know what, I was only trying to be nice” he said “Women like you are real b**** you’re meant to be alone”.
Sarah sat there stunned. Maybe the man was right….women like her do remain alone, they grow old and senile, wear their hair in a grey bun and die alone! She gulped down her Daquiri and walked home. There was a full moon and it was freezing. She walked home to her empty house and got into her empty bed and slept ….Alone.
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