21. Mabel

Mabel

“ J oshua wants me to be his girlfriend,” I blurted out as soon as Renee answered her phone.

“Hello Mabel, I’m fine, thanks for asking. How are you?”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’m sorry. Hi Renee, how are you?”

“Curious about this girlfriend thing,” she laughed. “Tell me what’s going on.”

I told my friend about the rat issue and staying with Joshua and us moving our relationship to the next step.

“Your first post-divorce hook-up, I’m so proud.”

“It feels like much more than a hook-up,” I said. “But you and I both have known people who get divorced and glom onto the first person who pays them any attention because they’re so desperate to not be alone.”

“Actually I think it happens because getting divorced is so universally bad for people’s self-esteem that people are really responding to someone thinking they’re attractive enough to sleep with,” Renee responded. “And it definitely sounds like Joshua is not only hot for you, but also likes you.”

“Yeah,” I said. “He seems to like me exactly as I am, but what if I’m not seeing something important?”

“Every relationship doesn’t have to lead to happily ever after, Mabel. If you keep dating him and it doesn’t work out, well then you dust yourself off and move onto the next relationship. Or no relationship. But in the meantime, you enjoy being with someone who gives you lots of orgasms.”

“How do you know he gives me lots of orgasms?” I asked curiously.

“Please, at our age, if we’re not getting sexually satisfied, what’s the point of a relationship? We can support ourselves. We know how to be alone. We’re past childbearing or at least close to being done. And more importantly, I know you and I’ve never heard you this excited about someone before.”

“Well in fairness I haven’t dated anyone since we’ve been friends.”

“You know what I mean. So let’s say you agree to be his girlfriend. What’s the worst that can happen?”

A few weeks later I knew the answer to that question.

After my conversation with Renee I told Joshua that I was okay with us dating exclusively, and we began working through creating a relationship. Esmerelda and I moved back to our own house, but Joshua and I spent almost every night together. Most of the time we hung out at my place which was bigger and had more cooking supplies. Plus it was closer to the vet clinic and there was a great view of the water from the balcony.

It was incredible. Not perfect by any means. Joshua and I were both two very different people, and we’d both grown used to being on our own. But we were having a great time together. We cooked together, read, walked Esmerelda, had Pizza Fridays at Starlight Pi, and when Joshua wasn’t working, he introduced me to all his favorite places in and around Starlight Bay.

We talked about anything and everything, and we had more sex in a few weeks than I’d had in the entirety of my ten year marriage. I’d never felt so beautiful. So desired. So accepted for who I really was. It was a heady feeling.

My life was going better than it ever had, so I suppose I should have expected to hit some bumps sooner or later. Not that it was Joshua’s fault. Instead, it was my past coming back to haunt me.

“Your birthday is coming up next week, isn’t it?” Joshua asked me one day as we sat on my balcony watching the sun set.

“Yeah, it’s March seventh,” I confirmed. “I can’t believe you remembered.”

“When is my birthday?” he asked.

“November twenty-first,” I said without hesitating.

He raised his eyebrow.

“Okay then,” I laughed. Having a boyfriend who was actually thoughtful was taking some getting used to.

“What would you like to do for your special day?” he asked. “I told Elaine this morning that I was taking that day off to spend with my girlfriend.”

“Well then I’m surprised I didn’t already hear about it from someone in town,” I laughed.

The locals in Starlight Bay were still amazed that their favorite animal doctor had a girlfriend, especially someone who was so new to town. But most of them seemed to be rooting for us to make it, which felt really nice.

“So what would you like to do?” he asked. “It’s your day, we can do whatever you want.”

“I’d like to sleep in,” I said. “Then I’d like to have at least one orgasm, followed by waffles. Oh, and bacon. If the weather isn’t too crappy the three of us should take a long walk on the beach, then we should take a nap. For dinner, I want to have a barbecue. And chocolate cake.”

“A barbecue?”

“Yeah, I love a barbecue. I know you’re going to say it’s March, it’s too cold out to barbecue, and really can’t we just grill in the house, but it doesn’t taste the same as cooking outside, and the deck is covered and there’s just something about food cooked outside so--.”

I paused as Joshua grabbed me and pulled me in for a hard, fast kiss.

“You can’t just kiss me every time I start babbling,” I said, although honestly I didn’t mind. Not at all.

“Sure I can,” he winked. “It works, doesn’t it? If we’re going to barbecue for your birthday, we should go buy a barbecue grill. And charcoal.”

My smile was radiant. “That sounds great. I’ve been wanting to buy a grill.”

On the morning of my birthday Joshua woke me up with a kiss that moved down between my legs. I moaned happily. After he made me come with his tongue, he pulled me onto my side and made love to me, slow and gentle, staring into my eyes the entire time. It was incredibly intimate.

Afterwards we took a shower together, soaping up each other’s bodies but avoiding getting too excited. There was no way I wanted to spend my forty-first birthday explaining to some Emergency Room doctor that I was injured having shower sex. Then we headed down to the Little Red Hen for breakfast so I could get my waffles and bacon, Joshua rolling his eyes as he caught me sneaking bits of bacon to Esmerelda.

The sun was shining, and it was unseasonably warm, making it the perfect day to take a long walk on the beach. I let Esmerelda off her lead and she ran and played by the water while Joshua and I walked at a leisurely pace.

We were heading up my driveway, walking hand in hand and thinking about taking that nap when my day went to hell.

“Maybelline Marie Jameson, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you. You’re not answering your phone.”

Oh no.

My spine stiffened and all the joy left my body as I heard my mother’s harsh voice. Only my mother would drop by someone’s house unannounced and then be angry that you weren’t waiting around for her. I hadn’t even talked to her in over a month.

Then things went from bad to worse as I heard the voice I’d hoped to never hear again.

“Who are you?” Stephen asked, glaring at Joshua. “And what are you doing touching my wife?”

“Ex-wife,” I snapped. “What the hell are you doing at my house, Stephen?”

Stephen was wearing loafers and a three-piece suit, as if he was on his way to court, his hair perfectly styled. His gaze raked down my body, a look of derision crossing his face.

Picking up on his thoughts, my mother asked, “Have you gained more weight, Maybelline? You look a little puffy.”

I was filled with a burning anger. How dare my mother show up here at my house, bring my ex-husband, and then stand there and insult me on my damned birthday?

“What are you two doing here?” I asked again. “You don’t just show up at someone’s house unannounced like this. It’s rude.”

Esmerelda started growling, pulling on her leash to try to get to Stephen, whose face was turning red with anger.

“We didn’t want you to be all alone and sad on your birthday,” my mother sniffed. “I had no idea you’d be out slutting around with some guy.”

I looked up at Joshua who was watching me with concern.

“I’m so sorry,” I told him, feeling embarrassed that he had to witness this.

He squeezed my hand in support, and I turned back to my uninvited guests.

“Stephen, you are not welcome here. Ever. And Mom, I’m sorry you came all this way but next time you need to check with me first. I actually have plans today.”

“What kind of plans are more important than your mother?” she demanded.

“The kind of plans that are none of your business,” I snapped, at the end of my patience.

“Maybelline, you’re acting like a willful child.”

Stephen stormed closer and that’s when things went from bad to worse. Before I could stop her, Esmerelda lunged forward, trying to bite Stephen’s ankle. Unfortunately her mouth was too small for that, so she only succeeded in biting through the cuff of his very expensive pants and grazing his skin.

As if it happened in slow motion, Stephen brought his leg back, yelling insults as he snapped his leg forward, kicking Esmerelda away from him like he was kicking a soccer ball. My pup flew through the air and crashed into my fence with a sickening crunch.

That’s when I started screaming.