‘This is so nice!’ cried Muriel, clapping her hands excitedly. ‘I’m so fond of cards, so imagine my delight when Charlie told me that you’d chatted about your favorite games at the factory.’
‘She almost forced me to ask you over,’ said Charlie, barely able to take his eyes off Molly, strikingly dressed as she was in a brocade dress which highlighted her tall, slender figure. He forced himself to look at George. ‘And Molly told me you’re quite the canasta king.’
George smiled pleasantly. ‘Well, we’ve had the good fortune to play cards in some of the finest casinos in the world, haven’t we, Molly?’
Molly appeared embarrassed, and after a quick, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ she concentrated on talking to Betty, who was looking after the children while the card games went on.
‘Monaco, Paris, we’ve been to so many it’s hard to recall,’ continued George.
Muriel squealed. ‘Oh, Paris! I can’t believe you’ve visited all these amazing places. Was the fashion simply the most?’
‘The most what?’ said George, genuinely puzzled.
Charlie tried not to laugh. It was like a grandpa talking to his young granddaughter, and here were Molly and himself, both in their late thirties, stuck in the middle with everything in common and no way to express it.
He watched her now as she met his children, her hand across her chest as she smiled wistfully at three-year old Detty and the twins who were now a year old.
‘Are you hoping for a boy so that you have two of each?’ she asked Muriel carefully.
‘Boy, girl, I don’t really care. I’m just hoping for it to be over soon,’ said Muriel, forcing a laugh. ‘I can’t wait to be able to fit into a dress like yours, Molly. It’s simply divine!’
‘Thank you, Muriel. And thank you again for having us here, it really is kind of you.’
Muriel shooed her mother and the children out of the room. ‘It’s my pleasure, believe me. An evening having fun with friends and no children around – why, it’s exactly what someone my age should be doing!’
Charlie exchanged helpless glances with Molly, as Muriel passed around the drinks and George dealt out the cards, and in that moment, he knew that she felt exactly the same way. Her expression said it all: that she’d be delighted to be here in this happy home with Charlie, sitting quietly with a child or two on their laps and talking as the setting sun disappeared over the horizon. She had no more wish to be gallivanting around to exotic places with George than he desired to be out jiving with Muriel and her friends. This was perfect – playing cards, wonderful conversation, loving family around. Perfect. Or at least it would be, if it was just the two of them.
And Charlie knew that the next time they met, it had to be just that. The two of them, alone together. The evening passed pleasantly enough, but all it did for Charlie was increase his passion for Molly, because he could see what they could have together, and it wasn’t what they had right now. Not unhappily married, but not truly happy either. And what was life about, if it wasn’t about being happy? He felt terrible for being in the slightest bit untrue to Muriel, and knew that Molly felt the same way too, but he had to see where this was going. He had to find out more.
The next note he passed to Molly was inviting her to go to a highly-advertised John Wayne movie with him the following weekend.
She appeared at the stock room window, checking that Danny wasn’t there before waving the note at him. ‘Do you mean with George and Muriel?’
‘No.’ Charlie chose his words carefully, remembering what his overt honesty had achieved before. ‘No, I mean the two of us, on our own, at the movies like … like sweethearts.’
Molly sighed. ‘I don’t know, Charlie. I think if we take our spouses we can at least pretend that we don’t have these feelings for each other.’
‘I don’t want to pretend,’ said Charlie simply.
‘I’ll think about it.’ Molly said it in such a way that Charlie knew she meant she’d be thinking about everything, not just the movie – where this was headed, how she felt about him, all of it. Because now she’d admitted it. She did have feelings for him.
‘I’ll only go if George doesn’t need me, or have plans for the two of us.’
It was sweet, really, that she still put George first. ‘I understand,’ said Charlie, and he truly did.
As it turned out, George had scheduled some work at the plant so Molly could get away. They met outside the movie theater as breathless as teenagers.
‘I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ said Molly.
Charlie grinned. ‘I can’t believe I’ve waited all my life to do this,’ he said.