I was the lone bachelor in the office and during the holidays, one of my co-workers invited me to a dinner party. I usually begged off these affairs, but I was talked into in. I promised to attend as long as my friend Sam did not try to set me up with anyone. He had tried a few times before and the results were always horrible.
The night of the party arrived and showed up at Sam's house, wearing a nice casual outfit of Dockers and a button collar shirt. I brought a bottle of wine as a gift for Sam's wife, Mary. Mary was one of those people that always made you feel at home and was totally in love with Sam. She would flirt but that was as far as she ever went. Mary opened the door when I arrived and smiled. I asked if any unattached women were going to be here tonight and Mary answered, "No." I said thank g-d and entered, kissed her on the cheek and presented the bottle of wine. She told me to go into the den and get myself a drink.
I walked to the den and saw Sam at the bar. I grabbed his hand and shook it and said, "Thanks for not trying to set me up tonight." Sam smiled, asked what I wanted to drink and said, "Your loss my man, but it is how you wanted it." I took a beer and started to walk around. I saw a few people from the office, that I knew, and a few I did not know. I heard a loud obnoxious voice in the corner that seemed to drone on and on. I found the source and it was the office loudmouth Ken. G-d what a night this was going to be, I thought to myself. I started to move away, when I saw a very pretty lady standing next to him, smiling and looking quite sad. She was dressed in a nice white blouse and skirt. I looked down for a minute and saw sandals. I admired her legs for a few minutes and wondered who she was.
I moved back over to the side of the room as Mary walked in. She came over to me and said, " Feel like you are a little left out? Everyone else here is married." I said, "not at all. I enjoy being single." Mary got a glass of wine and moved back to my side. I asked her who the woman was next to our loudmouthed friend. Mary smiled and then said, "that is Sharon, Ken's wife. We do not often see her at functions. I guess he keeps her hidden away." I said, "she does not seem to be enjoying herself." Mary laughed and said, "would you be, if you had to listen to him all the time and pretend to enjoy it?"
I moved around the room and said hello to everyone, including Ken, who introduced me to "HIS" wife. Ken said, "Steve this is the little lady, although she is not so little anymore." He laughed and I took her hand and said hello. Sharon smiled and squeezed my hand slightly and said, "Nice to meet you Steve. I have heard a lot about you." I was not sure what she had heard from Ken about me, but I said, "Nice to meet you too." I moved away, but when I looked back over my shoulder, Sharon was still watching me.
Mary moved into the center of the room and said it was time to eat. As we started to move to the dinning room, Mary said, "I have put place markers at the table, please sit where your name is." There were 11 of us in all, five couples and me. I walked in and found my name and started to pull my chair out, when Sharon moved next to me. "I seem to be seated next to you," she said as she looked at her name card. I pulled out her chair and helped her sit down. Ken was seated across the table from us, next to Marry and another woman. I smiled and sat down as well. I was seated at the end corner of the table and Sam was seated at the head, next to me.
Sam toasted his lovely wife for the great time and the wonderful dinner we were about to eat. We all drank and I took my napkin and placed it on my leg. Sharon took at sip and did the same with her napkin. As she placed the napkin on her lap, her hand brushed my thigh and she let it remain there for a minute. She then placed her hands on her lap and looked over at Ken, who had swallowed his entire glass of wine and was looking for more. I caught her shake her head slightly and then sigh. Dinner was being served, so I thought nothing of it.
