going to be late if you don’t hurry up.” There was no response from his wife, although he wasn’t expecting one. She did not like to be told what to do.
Jack had been in the hallway for ten minutes waiting for Margaret to be ready. Goodness knows how long she had been in there getting ready. He hadn’t seen her for hours. The annoying thing was that Jack had informed her quite clearly that afternoon what time they needed to leave, and she was just being unreasonable by taking this long.
Jack checked his watch again in frustration. He hated to be late. It was entirely probable that Margaret was doing this on purpose, just to rattle him. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to go and sit in the car. If he was out of sight, she might be more likely to emerge and declare her readiness to leave. If the truth were known, he would have liked to drive off without her, and spend time with Tom and Ellen alone. If he did drive off, it would be interesting to see if Margaret made it there without him. She wasn’t a confident driver, and relied on him for transport.
It wasn’t as if his sixty-five-year old wife was a beauty queen or something. She wasn’t preparing for a pageant, as far as he knew. In fact, time had not been kind to Margaret. Her angular features had somehow become more pronounced by the deep wrinkles which covered her body. Margaret had loved the sun as a young woman, and was paying a heavy price for that exposure now. Her hair was completely grey, and although she coloured it regularly, he often noticed grey along her roots.
In any case, Margaret’s looks were not her least attractive quality. Her personality easily won that competition. A kind word hadn’t passed her lips in years. She was completely preoccupied with Tom’s personal life and had little interest in anything else, apart from the ladies’ social events at the golf club. They were the main interests in her life, which was quite dull as far as Jack was concerned. Margaret was far from a satisfying life companion, as there was certainly no time for his interests in their combined schedule.
He would have happily divorced her years ago if she had asked him to. Some days he even prayed that she would demand their separation. But for reasons he didn’t understand, Jack just couldn’t bring himself to instigate a divorce. As the years passed, he ceased dreaming about such proceedings, and just accepted that his life would never change. He developed a separate life from his wife, and occupied a different end of the house. The only time they came together now was for social occasions involving Tom. Being married to Margaret must be some sort of punishment for a crime committed in a previous life. It was his cross to bear.
“What’s the hurry?” Margaret snapped, emerging from her room at long last.
Jack shook his head. Did he really need to explain the etiquette of arriving on time? “Tom and Ellen will be waiting for us. It’s an eight o’clock booking.”
“Tom is not going to order food until his mother arrives.”
That was of course true, but there was no need to test their son this way.
Margaret was wearing her favourite red dress and matching shoes. It was not overly becoming on her, but Jack bit his tongue as usual.
“Remind me what the occasion is,” demanded Margaret, while following her husband to the garage where their expensive new black Lexus was parked.
Jack had received the phone call from Tom only this morning asking the two of them to dinner. “He said he had something important to discuss.” Tom hadn’t wanted to say exactly what the matter concerned while on the phone, and Jack was certainly curious.
Margaret was thoughtful. “Now you just said that Tom and Ellen will be waiting for us...”
“Yes.”
“Why are you assuming that he is bringing her? Did he say he was?”
Tom hadn’t actually mentioned that Ellen would be at dinner, but her inclusion seemed obvious. The two of them would be married
Jack had been in the hallway for ten minutes waiting for Margaret to be ready. Goodness knows how long she had been in there getting ready. He hadn’t seen her for hours. The annoying thing was that Jack had informed her quite clearly that afternoon what time they needed to leave, and she was just being unreasonable by taking this long.
Jack checked his watch again in frustration. He hated to be late. It was entirely probable that Margaret was doing this on purpose, just to rattle him. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to go and sit in the car. If he was out of sight, she might be more likely to emerge and declare her readiness to leave. If the truth were known, he would have liked to drive off without her, and spend time with Tom and Ellen alone. If he did drive off, it would be interesting to see if Margaret made it there without him. She wasn’t a confident driver, and relied on him for transport.
It wasn’t as if his sixty-five-year old wife was a beauty queen or something. She wasn’t preparing for a pageant, as far as he knew. In fact, time had not been kind to Margaret. Her angular features had somehow become more pronounced by the deep wrinkles which covered her body. Margaret had loved the sun as a young woman, and was paying a heavy price for that exposure now. Her hair was completely grey, and although she coloured it regularly, he often noticed grey along her roots.
In any case, Margaret’s looks were not her least attractive quality. Her personality easily won that competition. A kind word hadn’t passed her lips in years. She was completely preoccupied with Tom’s personal life and had little interest in anything else, apart from the ladies’ social events at the golf club. They were the main interests in her life, which was quite dull as far as Jack was concerned. Margaret was far from a satisfying life companion, as there was certainly no time for his interests in their combined schedule.
He would have happily divorced her years ago if she had asked him to. Some days he even prayed that she would demand their separation. But for reasons he didn’t understand, Jack just couldn’t bring himself to instigate a divorce. As the years passed, he ceased dreaming about such proceedings, and just accepted that his life would never change. He developed a separate life from his wife, and occupied a different end of the house. The only time they came together now was for social occasions involving Tom. Being married to Margaret must be some sort of punishment for a crime committed in a previous life. It was his cross to bear.
“What’s the hurry?” Margaret snapped, emerging from her room at long last.
Jack shook his head. Did he really need to explain the etiquette of arriving on time? “Tom and Ellen will be waiting for us. It’s an eight o’clock booking.”
“Tom is not going to order food until his mother arrives.”
That was of course true, but there was no need to test their son this way.
Margaret was wearing her favourite red dress and matching shoes. It was not overly becoming on her, but Jack bit his tongue as usual.
“Remind me what the occasion is,” demanded Margaret, while following her husband to the garage where their expensive new black Lexus was parked.
Jack had received the phone call from Tom only this morning asking the two of them to dinner. “He said he had something important to discuss.” Tom hadn’t wanted to say exactly what the matter concerned while on the phone, and Jack was certainly curious.
Margaret was thoughtful. “Now you just said that Tom and Ellen will be waiting for us...”
“Yes.”
“Why are you assuming that he is bringing her? Did he say he was?”
Tom hadn’t actually mentioned that Ellen would be at dinner, but her inclusion seemed obvious. The two of them would be married
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