TEA FOR THREE
I usually met my wife at the café after her “bit of shopping“ on a Saturday.
Rosie and I’d been married for around thirty years. We’d had our ups and downs, but I put it down to her age that she no longer found the physical side of marriage particularly interesting. This bothered me and so for a year I’d been seeing Margaret. Not mentioning the “s” word seemed to make Rosie happier and she’d spend more time with her girlfriends.
In the café Rosie wasn’t alone. My stomach churned because I instantly recognised Margaret. Suddenly their table seemed a million miles away. On jelly-like legs I waded over to them.
“Hello, Harold,” Rosie said, beaming, “meet my friend Margaret.”
“Hello,” I croaked, holding my hand out to Margaret.
“Don’t be so formal!” scolded my wife. “Why don’t you kiss her like you’d normally do!”
I’d often read about jaws dropping but until then had no idea how it felt.
“Yes, I know about you and Margaret,” my wife continued, no longer smiling.
“But,” I spluttered, “it didn’t mean anything, Rosie, it was just a fling.…..”
“Just a fling was I!” Margaret interrupted venomously. “Rosie was right, you don’t have the guts to leave her. I’d have left Roger had you asked me.Oh yes, I’m leaving him now, but not for you. You missed your chance.”
“And don’t think you can grovel your way back to me, either!” spat my wife, picking up the verbal cudgels from Margaret.
They were enjoying this. They looked at each other and broke into laughter. A wave of relief swept over me. Maybe I was the butt of their big joke to teach me a lesson. I smiled back at them.
“Tea for three, please,” my wife said to the hovering waitress. Then she turned to me, “Sit down. And take that gormless look off your face, I don’t know what you find so funny.”
I sat, feeling vulnerable. This must be how a mouse feels when cornered by a cat. Only I was cornered by two of them.
“You were hopeless at concealing your affair,” her tone was softer now. “It didn’t take me long to find out.Then a few months ago I decided to meet “the other woman”, more out of curiosity than anger.”
Margaret took up the story,
“We got on well from the start and I joked that Rosie should give Roger a whirl.”
My wife smirked knowingly at Margaret,
“Well I did for a while. Just for a bit of fun, poor chap.”
Margaret patted my hand,
“Don’t worry, Harold, we’ll spare you the gruesome details.”
The waitress returned and we sat in silence while she unloaded her tray.
“What happens now?” I pleaded.
“Well,” my wife said pleasantly, “you can be a gentleman and pour the tea out.”
“I mean what happens to us?” I whined, gesturing at the three of us.
Margaret sniggered,
“Maybe you can share with Roger. Rosie’s coming to live with me.”
lostinwords 