Faith, without Stephanie in the group, would have been the most outgoing by far. It only showed how tightly wound up Stephanie was. She could be exhausting. Faith was not exceptionally tall but her trim self made her look taller. She had beautiful dark auburn hair. She had some Mediterranean blood, as she was much darker skinned. She had a masters in mathematics but was a stay at home mom to an adopted Chinese girl.
Sheila was the quiet one in the group. Well, quiet was a relative term. Compared to the others she seemed quiet, but she was actually quite outgoing. She was single, had a degree in engineering and worked for a defense contractor. I’ve been told she beats off prospective, nerdish suitors with a stick. At 5’6″ she was medium in height but had long legs and light brown hair which she had streaked with blond. She was striking without being outrageous.
Claudette was French in background, having moved to the United States for education and deciding to stay. Her specialty was history and she was teaching at the local university. She had dark brown, almost black, hair and had a ready smile and flashing eyes. She, too, had slightly darker skin than most and tanned readily in summer.
All of them were highly intelligent. All of them were very interesting. I could see how Christie had fit in. She had been of medium height, with longish blonde hair and green-gray eyes. Her field of endeavor had been teaching and I’m told she had been a wonderful elementary school teacher. She had loved it, reveling in each new class. My evenings had been filled with her vivid descriptions of each new group of students. Now she was gone and I was left with both my memories of her and those of her friends. Part of the last meeting had been their discussion of what they remembered of Christie. The two sets of memories paralleled each other but never intersected. Their memories were of a vivacious woman who loved to laugh, have fun, kid and be kidded, a little risqué at times but just a blast to be with. They had gone on an annual trip together somewhere different every year. Christie had come home with tales of what they had done. I learned that she had edited some of those tales, removing her flirty behaviors when they went dancing or her daring swimwear when they had hung around the pool. But that was it. She had flirted but never gone beyond that point. She didn’t mind being looked at, in fact, she made a point of making sure she was looked at. In short, she had been a character, one they all had enjoyed and now missed. It put her in a new perspective as well, one I had to smile at. She had yearly stepped out of her school teacher persona and had just had fun. In hearing these stories, I was happy for her. She deserved that. Our vacations were much more intimate, with usually just the two of us traveling together. We hiked, camped, rode horses, walked miles of beaches, strolled innumerable streets. We had laughed, loved, played, but it had been fun to be together. Our parties with other couples were usually pretty dull affairs, with the girls retreating to the kitchen and two or three males talking about sports. Now I looked back on that and said what a waste. We should have done more.
The days and nights slowly passed. I heard from each of them from time to time. It was nice to know someone was out there. Inward it was a time of loneliness.
The next meeting of the League of Extraordinary Women was called to order the following Saturday night. All members were in attendance. I got a kick out of it. I left to use the bathroom and came back to an awkward silence, only to find they had been comparing notes with each other about me. Sheila, the single one, had been most outspoken, saying she was first in line when I ever decided to date again. The others, led by Stephanie, replied that being married was no reason to wait in line. They were outrageous. They were funny as hell. At moments it was as if I wasn’t in the room, just as I hadn’t been when this had started. I was laughing so hard my sides hurt. They were totally raucous, describing how each of them would approach me and lure me into a relationship. I blushed at some of the descriptions. Nothing was being left to chance. I was saved by the sound of music playing. We adjourned to the main room and danced. This time there were some slower songs and I took turns holding five different women, in no particular order. A couple of them of them put their arms around my neck, bringing them closer to me. I could smell their various scents. Pheneromes were definitely in the air. Poor Stephanie, as the shortest, couldn’t put her arms around my neck but she pulled me into her and we danced close, getting knowing looks from a couple of them. Those must be the ones who knew of our affair. It was just fun. I had to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. We parted ways until the next meeting. I promised each and every one of them I would keep in touch. They in turn said they would be calling to check in with me. I silently thanked Christie for having such wonderful friends who were now becoming my friends as well.
Stephanie again asked me to join her in her car. “That was fun. I had no idea how sneaky my bitchy friends are, having evil designs on you. Sheila was ready to take you on right then and there.”
“I’ve never had so much fun in my life. All of you are incredible. I was embarrassed by some of what was said. Some of it was highly detailed and explicit. I had no idea this was the way women talked among themselves.”
“Usually the subject of our conversation is not present. I think everybody was just having fun, trying to embarrass you.
“I think Sheila was saying she had first dibs, if I recall.”
“That little minx has the nerve. She’s one of the ones who know about us. I think she was really trying to get under my skin. Well, she succeeded.” Then she laughed. “God that was fun, even if it was at your expense.”
I was amazed. Perhaps dumbfounded was a better term. Women were so much more infinitely interesting than men but there was always an undercurrent with each of them, thinking before doing while men do, then think about what they have done. But that had been true a long time. It was why men had dragged home the dead wooly mammoth for dinner and thought they were in charge.
“God help me if I ever start dating someone outside the group. I’ll have to go into hiding before the angry mob breaks into my house and strings me up.”
Stephanie laughed again.
Why was it that I thought I could hear the gears turning?
TWO
Time passed more quickly during the following month. I was busy at work, working later than I had before because I had no one to go home to. Stephanie kept after me the most, urging me to get out of the house. She came over a few times and we met for lunch on one Saturday. I heard from most of the others, either by text, email, or phone. The next meeting came up quickly. The tone of this meeting was different. Claudette talked about Daniel, her husband of ten years. He was acting in a way very unlike him. Ten eyes turned to me. “You need to find out what’s going on and get back to us.”