“You look lovely,” Angie said as she kissed her mother-in-law on the cheek. “Happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “And you look stunning.”
Joe kissed his mother on the cheek and asked her to dance. Angie poured herself a glass of punch and barely had a chance to take three sips before a friend named Rob approached. “Hey, Angie. Want to dance?”
“Sure.” She set her punch glass on the table and followed him onto the floor for a jive.
Later that evening, after speeches were delivered and the birthday cake was sliced and shared, Angie was ready to go home. The hall was clearing out, so she looked around for Joe. There were still a few small groups of men chatting along the wall, but her husband was not among them. She asked around, but no one had seen him, not even Frank or Carol. She ventured outside to cool off in the crisp evening air, and after a moment, she heard voices in the back parking lot and moved to the corner of the building.
There was Joe, standing in the dim light spilling out of one of the hall windows. He stood between two parked cars and spoke to a woman in soft tones. Angie squinted to get a better look and recognized Mrs.Lassiter, who worked as a schoolteacher at the high school. Mrs.Lassiter smiled, laughed, and laid her hand on Joe’s chest. Then she pressed her body up against his. He made no attempt to push her away. Instead, he let her pin him up against the car, where they kissed.
Stunned and sickened by what she was seeing, all Angie could do was stand and stare. Joe drew back, opened the car door, and helped Mrs.Lassiter into the driver’s seat. He shut the door, stepped aside, and watched her drive off.
When he finally turned and started back toward the hall entrance, he spotted Angie standing under the overhang.
Joe halted. “What are you doing out here?”
“Looking for you,” she replied, fighting tears.
She waited for him to tell her that it wasn’t what it looked like. Perhaps Mrs.Lassiter had had too much to drink and had come onto him and he was only trying to be polite and get her into her car. But shouldn’t he have taken her keys away instead of kissing her?
Joe turned and started walking. “We should go home,” he said.
Angie couldn’t make her feet move, but it was no longer shock that held her to the spot. It was rage.
“That’s it?” She threw her hands into the air. “That’s all you’re going to say to me?”
“Don’t start, Angie. Not now. Let’s just go.”
“No!” she contended. “I want you to tell me what I just saw.”
Joe stopped and turned. “You didn’t see anything. Ellen just needed someone to walk her to her car.”
“Oh, she’s ‘Ellen’ now, is she? I saw you kiss her.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about this here.” Joe wrapped his hand around Angie’s elbow. “Come on.”
She shook herself free. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He grabbed her again and tried to hurry her toward the car while she fought to pry his hand off.
“Let go of me,” she ground out and stumbled in her high-heeled shoes. Angie fell and skinned the heels of her hands on the pavement.
“Oh, God,” Joe said, quickly bending to help her. “Are you okay?”
“Get away from me.”
“Please, just get in the car,” he said. “We’ll go home, and I’ll run you a bath.”
“I don’t want a bath. I want you to tell me what I saw.”
Joe’s face turned red. “It was nothing.”
She scoffed as she got to her feet and brushed dirt from her knees. There were two big runs in her pantyhose. “Nothing?” She stood up straight. “That’s all you have to say?”
“I don’t know what else to tell you,” he replied, “except that I’m sorry. She was flirting with me all night. Maybe you would have noticed if you weren’t dancing with Rob half the time.”
She scoffed. “I only danced with him when you were already dancing with someone else.”
