Reunion

by Jane Frances

  This was harder. She didn’t like any of the anniversary cards in the limited selection, most spouting sentiments aimed at male/female couples. The ones that didn’t had words to the effect of from all of us, or from your daughter or some other category Cathy didn’t fit into. Unfortunately there wasn’t one that said from your friend at the wine club. Cathy sighed as she continued her scan. She had to pick something; Dee and Rebecca’s anniversary party was tonight.

  To be truthful, she was in two minds about attending. She had never even met Dee, and only knew Rebecca because she was a recent addition to the once-a-month wine club Cathy had been a member of for nearly as long as she had been back in Perth. Hence the invitation had been unexpected, and at the time she accepted it seemed like a good idea. But right now, the prospect of celebrating successful coupledom didn’t hold much appeal.

  I will go and I will have a good time, Cathy told herself as she plucked a homogenous card from the rack. And she probably would have a good time, so long as her invitation hadn’t been with the intention of matching her up with one of their single friends. Couples often did that. Cathy couldn’t count the number of times she’d been taken by the arm—there’s someone I’d like you to meet— and had been thrust into conversation with a stranger, well aware of the covert are they hitting it off glances she and the other unfortunate single were then subjected to. As Cathy handed over the money to pay for her purchases, it occurred she could ask Toni if she wanted to go. It wasn’t a sit-down dinner, so there should be no problem if one extra turned up. But, Cathy admitted as she pocketed her change, she wasn’t yet ready for the message such a move would send to the world.

  Cathy thrust the whole anniversary thing to the back of her mind. She still had to buy a birthday present for her nephew, plus there was the weekly grocery shop to do. If she stopped dawdling, maybe she could also get most of her housework cleared away before evening. Then her Sunday afternoon would be free to spend . . . however she liked.

  Maybe with Toni. Between the sheets. The thought made Cathy quicken her step. Yes, sex did change everything. But not necessarily for the worse.

  Lisa pulled into a bay immediately outside the entrance to the liquor store located not far from Dee and Rebecca’s house. Still playing the part of Steph’s you’re not Van but you’ll do date, the part she’d assumed from the moment Steph opened the door to her home looking fabulous in heels and a slinky black dress, she trotted to the passenger side of her Ute and tugged on the handle.

  “Stop trying to be butch.” Steph slapped away the hand Lisa offered to help her out of the high cab of the utility. “It doesn’t suit you.”

  “Fine, have it your way.” Pretending to be offended, Lisa withdrew her offer of assistance and strode into the store.

  It didn’t take long for Lisa to spy the wine she wanted. Not having advanced far from her cask days, Lisa chose wine under two criteria. Firstly, it had to come from the wine region in the southwest of the state—apart from supporting local produce Lisa had yet to be disappointed with any of that region’s wines. Secondly, she had to like the look of the label. Luckily, over Christmas she discovered one to her taste that fitted both categories. She grabbed a bottle from the fridge, then walked over to Steph who was still making her selection.

  Lisa switched her weight from foot to foot as Steph took her time, picking up bottles and turning them over to read the descriptive label on the reverse.

  “Come on Steph, hurry up,” she urged impatiently. Lisa hated to be late.

  “Keep your knickers on.” Steph picked up yet another bottle. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

  “Hurry up,” Lisa repeated a few minutes later. Steph had finally narrowed her choice to two quite pricey bottles, but she held one in each hand, unable to make up her mind. “What’s the story, have you been taking lessons from Rebecca?”

  Lisa found Rebecca’s latest craze most amusing. Stocky by nature and pudgy by virtue of her love of Guinness, Rebecca made the switch to wine the summer just gone because she figured it was less fattening. Rebecca did nothing by halves, and two months ago joined a women’s wine club. The last time Lisa had dinner at Rebecca and Dee’s place, Rebecca was showing off her newly learned skills, waxing lyrical about the palate and bouquet of the wine she had selected to go with their meal. Lisa had hardly been able to hold in her laughter as wine was swished around in the glass, then around Rebecca’s mouth. She was surprised Rebecca didn’t have a spit bucket beside the table.

  “Not quite.” Steph grinned. “But I was speaking to Dee today and she said Rebecca’s invited some of her new wino friends, so I’m looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.”

  “Oh.” Lisa looked uncertainly to the bottle she had selected, no longer sure its funky label would stand up to scrutiny. She hadn’t cared when it was just Rebecca, but now making the right wine choice took on a whole new import. She held the bottle out to Steph. “What do you think of this one?”

  Steph shrugged, “I like it.”

  “So do I.”

  “Then get it. If they don’t like it they don’t have to drink it.”

  Lisa eyed her friend with suspicion. It wasn’t in Steph’s nature to care what others thought, so it occurred maybe Steph had also heard from Dee that one or more of the winos were single. She wouldn’t put it past Steph to thrust an expensive bottle of wine into her hands and push Lisa off with instructions to play nice. “If that’s your theory, then why are you making such a fuss?”

  Steph’s response shot that idea to pieces.

  “You know,” she said as she placed the bottles back on the shelf. “I really don’t know.”

  Lisa followed Steph to a less-expensive rack where a bottle of her current favorite, a Merlot, also from the Southwest wine region, was quickly pulled.

  “Finally,” Lisa muttered as they aimed for the cashiering point. What a load of fuss for nothing.

  Within minutes Lisa was driving up and down Dee and Rebecca’s street, looking for a parking space. Cars lined both sides of the road and were double-parked on the front lawn. Most of the cars she recognized. She shared a lot of friends with Dee and Rebecca. The unknown vehicles served to remind her that new friends were there for the making. This in turn reminded her of Steph’s penchant for playing Cupid.

  “Now don’t you even think about playing the matchmaker tonight,” Lisa warned as she eased her utility into a narrow space between an old Jaguar and an even older Volkswagen.

  The look she received was one of pure innocence. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Steph flashed Lisa one of her most charismatic smiles, and said, “Besides, you’re my date for tonight, remember?”

  “Some date you turned out to be,” Steph huffed as she climbed into the cab of Lisa’s utility. She adjusted her dress, pulling at the hem so it at least reached the midpoint of her thighs. “Desert me while you go off chatting up the women.”

  Lisa grinned as she turned the key in the ignition. It was late and they were the last to leave, after staying behind to help Dee and Rebecca clear away at least some of the detritus that signaled their party had been an outstanding success. She aimed her Ute toward Steph’s home. “I wasn’t chatting her up. We were just having a conversation.”

  “Yeah right,” Steph pulled a packet of mints from her bag and popped one into her mouth. She also popped one into Lisa’s mouth. “I saw that little exchange of phone numbers.”

  Lisa screwed up her nose at the news that Steph had witnessed the swapping of business cards with Emma. Steph would of course jump to conclusions, when there were really none to jump to.

  Lisa and Emma were both sitting on the couch for the dinner part of the evening so naturally they had gotten talking. That they were still on the couch two hours later was simply because they didn’t seem to run out of things to say. Plus Lisa was getting her first lesson in wine, with Emma exploding all of her preconceptions about wine buffs by presenting the art in a lighthearted, totally non-pretentious manner.


  “If you’re interested you may like to come along to one of our meetings,” Emma suggested when Lisa discovered she could actually taste the undertones of passion fruit in the wine she had brought. Up until that point she thought the description on the back of a wine bottle was a load of rubbish; to her most wine just tasted like fermented grapes. “It’s really quite fun.”

  Emma did a good sell job on the wine club. No, it wasn’t a serious affair where the members looked down their noses at anyone who couldn’t pick the vintage in a blind test. It was quite the opposite. The club was designed to be a forum for women to share their appreciation of wine, but it was also a social gathering with the opportunity to meet some great people. Plus there was the added advantage of getting some good deals on bottles of plonk.

  “Okay, okay.” Lisa grinned, her thoughts immediately turning to Rebecca when Emma launched into a description of the twice-yearly dinners they held, multi-course feasts where each course is accompanied by specially selected wines. “You’ve convinced me. How do I join?”

  “You just need to come along.” Emma whisked a business card from her wallet and quickly found a pen on the telephone table next to the couch. She wrote details on the back of the card, the address and date of the next meeting. “It’s two weeks on Tuesday.” Emma handed Lisa the card, adding, “I’ve also put my home number on the back—in case you need any further info.”

  “Thanks.” Lisa checked the front of the card. So, Emma was a vet. Useful if any of her rock doves ever took a turn. “I’m not sure if I can make it though. That day is supposed to be the finish of a tiling job I’ll be doing. Sometimes we run behind and just have to keep going until it’s done.”

  Emma raised her eyebrows. “Roof tiling?”

  “No,” Emma evidently found it hard to believe roof tilers would be working into the night. “Wall, floor. Indoor type tiling.”

  “Really,” Emma exclaimed. “I have a friend who’s looking to get her kitchen done. Have you got a card? I can pass it on to her.”

  “What do you find so amusing?” Lisa inquired of Steph, who seemed to find something intensely funny about her description of the business card swap with Emma.

  “Oh Lisa,” Steph patted her on the knee. “Are you blind? Do you really think she just happened to have a friend in need of some tiling?”

  “Why not?” Lisa shrugged. It seemed perfectly acceptable to her.

  “And you’ve got the date and place for the meeting. Why would you need further details?”

  “I don’t know.” Lisa shrugged again, and said, “Maybe I’ll think of something closer to the time.”

  “Honey, I think it was an invitation to call.”

  Lisa stole a quick look to Steph before turning her attention back to the road. “Do you think so?”

  “I’d put money on it.”

  “Oh.” Lisa hadn’t picked up on that vibe at all.

  “Poor woman,” Steph intoned sadly. “She obviously doesn’t realize you’re allergic to the phone.”

  “Shut up Steph.” Lisa slapped Steph on the arm. “If you’re not careful you’ll be walking the rest of the way home.”

  Chapter Nine

  “My, my, you’re in early for a Monday morning.” Sue bustled into the staff room toting her oversized carry bag. She sidestepped Toni, who was leaning against the kitchen bench, sipping from her favorite mug.

  Sue grinned cheekily as she pulled open the fridge door to transfer cartons of milk to the shelves. “Actually, you’re in early for any morning. I don’t think you’ve ever beaten me to work.”

  “First time for everything.” Toni held her mug to her lips and smiled into it.

  As promised, Cathy had called on Sunday. The call included an invitation to come over and Toni didn’t need to be asked twice. She gave Virgil an early feed and a cuddle, gave the roses that arrived late Saturday afternoon a last sniff and nearly fell over herself in her hurry to get out the door.

  Hoping for a repeat performance of the Friday night/Saturday morning activities, Toni was initially disappointed to discover Cathy had started her period, but their resulting afternoon curled up together in front of the television watching DVDs was enjoyable in its own right. As was the rest of the night, Toni jumping at the offer to sleep over again.

  Although they went to bed quite late, Cathy rose at some ungodly hour to shower and dress for a breakfast appointment.

  “It’s a potential new client,” Cathy chided, as Toni tried to pull her back onto the bed when she bent to give a good-bye kiss. “I can’t go looking like I dragged my clothes straight from the washing basket.” Cathy smoothed down her jacket as she said, “You should get up anyway. Poor Virgil will think you’ve deserted her.”

  Cathy was right. When Toni arrived home, Virgil greeted her with disdain, gobbling down her food and avoiding all attempts to be pet. She ran straight out the cat door when Toni unlatched it for the day. Plans for a play destroyed, Toni showered and dressed, washed out the litter tray, and headed out the door to work. She beat Sue into the office in just enough time to turn on her computer and leave it to boot up while she made herself coffee.

  Sue closed the fridge and turned her attention to the cupboards above the bench. Toni watched as packets of biscuits, a box of tea bags and a jar of coffee were pulled from Sue’s bag.

  “I always wondered why you carried that great big thing.”

  Sarcasm dripped as Sue strained to reach the top shelf and said, “I’m just the stand-in while the tea and biscuit fairy is on holiday.” Task finished, she turned to find Toni grinning at her. Sue poked out her tongue, realizing she was being teased. “And my, aren’t you in a good mood this morning too. What happened, did you get some on the weekend?”

  Toni went scarlet and Sue squealed, “You did!” She whispered conspiratorially, “Anyone I know?”

  “None of your business!” Toni fired back, her face flaming brightly. She avoided looking at Sue by turning to the sink, and emptying her coffee mug. “Don’t you have mail to sort or something?”

  “Not yet.” Sue laughed out loud. “I’ve got plenty of time.”

  Toni cringed. Sue obviously wasn’t going anywhere while there was the chance of extracting some juicy gossip. And Toni sure wasn’t going to give her any. She mustered what she hoped was her best poker face and said, “Well I haven’t.”

  Aware she was being watched, Toni walked stiffly out of the staff room to her office and closed the door. As she settled behind her desk she wondered how she could avoid Sue for the next decade or so, just long enough to get the Cathy-induced smile off her face.

  Toni checked her schedule. No appointments until ten, then only one in the afternoon. She should get plenty done today. A few clicks of her mouse and the depreciation schedules she had been working on the Friday just gone appeared on her screen. She got down to work, humming to herself as she double-checked her calculations.

  Half an hour later Toni was washing her hands when the outer door to the bathroom swung open. Damn. It was Sue. And Toni had been so careful to check the corridor before she made the dash to the toilet.

  When Sue stepped into the cubicle, Toni took the opportunity to escape, hastily turning off the taps and grabbing a few sheets of paper towel. They were just being tossed into the waste bin when Sue’s voice floated over the cubicle door.

  “Julie’s going to be heartbroken you know.”

  That got Toni’s attention. “What?”

  “Julie.” The toilet flushed and Sue was still tightening her belt as she re-emerged. She took her attention from her waist to Toni. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. She’s got a crush on you.”

  “What?” Toni repeated, flabbergasted. She thought back for some clue, but found none, except maybe the continued eagerness to impress and the tears on Friday. Oh dear. She really had had no idea.

  Sue rolled her eyes and wriggled her eyebrows knowingly. “Ahh, of course you haven’t noticed, you’ve been too busy panting after the boss.”<
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  Toni felt heat rise on her cheeks again. “Don’t you think that joke’s wearing a bit thin?” she said hotly.

  Sue grinned, but as she continued to watch Toni the smile fell from her face and was replaced with a look of astonishment. Her hand flew to her mouth. “It was Cathy!” Sue looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. “You made it with Cathy! And don’t try to deny it,” she warned, gleeful in the knowledge she was right. “It’s written all over your face.”

  Knowing that protesting the truth was futile, Toni nodded. As soon as she did, a smile formed and spread. She just couldn’t help it; she was fit to burst, she was so happy.

  Sue, for her part, was shaking her head in wonder. “I don’t know how you melted the ice queen, but girl, you must have something going on. I can’t tell you the number of women who have tried and failed.”

  Toni flushed at the compliment of sorts, despite finding it unnerving that Sue seemed to know the status of Cathy’s personal life. But then Sue always knew everything that was going on. Well, not quite everything it seemed.

  “So,” Sue asked, “What’s the deal with Cathy and Lisa?”

  Ah ha. Now the reason for Sue’s compliment became clear. It was meant to butter her up and extract information. Sue obviously thought someone privy to Cathy’s bed would also be privy to every detail about her. Toni feigned ignorance. “Lisa who?”

  Sue snorted, seeing through Toni’s fib in a second. “Lisa long legs. Tiler Lisa.”

  “Oh her,” Toni hoped her tone conveyed nonchalance. “Nothing as far as I know.”

  “Oh come on,” Sue scoffed. “Blind Freddie could tell you something was up. Cathy couldn’t take her eyes off her when she came to do the quote and she nearly popped when you announced she was straight. And she’s been downright odd ever since she made the announcement Lisa and what’s-his-name would be doing the tiling.” Sue folded her arms, “What’s the deal?”