Installment #17 Cynthia

     Cynthia wiped the table down in the conference room.  It had been a lovely luncheon.  Well attended for a change.  Course if someone called the clients and reminded them, they would show up to the social luncheon.  This month John had done the calling and Cynthia had made a big pot of Sloppy Joe mix.  The AIDS clients loved having Cynthia cook for them and she was real careful to make sure it was all healthy.  And this one day a month they could relax and not have to think about anything, but know that they were all in basically the same boat.  The luncheon was held in the conference room of the AIDS office which was flanked on one side by the Starbucks and the other side by the Chinese restaurant where she and Tucker had eaten three weeks ago.

     She shook her head.  No sense thinking back on that night.  How silly she had been meeting a man online and thinking anything would come of it.  He had not even asked for her number and she had gotten online the next day and closed her account.  It was a complete waste of money and time.  It all sounded great.  Meet the man of your dreams.  Let match.com bring you together.  Sure.

     She finished packing her cooler and turned to see if John was still waiting.  He was.  What a dear.  He came and took the cooler and they started down the back stairway to her car.  John spoke first.

     “Pretty good turnout today, don’t you think?”

     “Yes!  But it always is when you head it up and call people.  Are you off to one of your meetings this week?  Is it San Francisco again?”

     “Yeah, but you know what, I am getting tired of all these committees.  I think I would like to concentrate on Pueblo and not try to save the whole world.”  He laughed uneasily.  “The kids actually need me at home. And I like to be home for them.  Ever since Valarie and I divorced the kids are lost.”

     Cynthia nodded.  She knew how hard it had been for John to admit he was gay and to break up the home he and Valarie had built for 15 years. Valarie had not taken the breakup well at all.  Cynthia could understand.  It must be awful to learn that your husband preferred a man.  Cynthia could not deal with that today.  She thanked John and gave him a quick hug and hurried to the driver’s side, slid in and drove away.  She breathed a sigh of relief that the day was almost over, but she did not relish the idea of going home to an empty house.  Maybe she had been a bit premature resigning from match.com.

     She smiled when she saw the dogs and the cat waiting for her.  They must be psychic because they were always alert to her arrival.  She parked the car and quickly opened the gate so they could help her into the house.  They were careful not to trip her, but she still worried about it happening and envisioned herself being licked to death if she were to wind up on the ground.  As she punched her code into the keypad she heard the phone ringing inside.  She hurried across the floor and reached for the receiver just as it stopped ringing.  She waited to hear the voice talking to the answering machine, but instead heard the phone disconnect.  Must not have been too important she thought as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her purse to the floor and headed for the kitchen with her cooler.