Carol stayed with me for several minutes.<\/p>\n
She asked about Arthur.<\/p>\n
I told her about the forty-one years we had shared.<\/p>\n
I told her how he used to come home smelling of machine oil and laundry detergent.<\/p>\n
She laughed when I described the first delivery truck we bought.<\/p>\n
"It was older than both of us," I said.<\/p>\n
Carol smiled.<\/p>\n
"That sounds like Arthur."<\/p>\n
I hadn't expected to talk about him so comfortably that evening.<\/p>\n
For a while, we discussed ordinary things.<\/p>\n
Her children.<\/p>\n
My son.<\/p>\n
Our grandchildren.<\/p>\n
The people who were no longer with us.<\/p>\n
Then another classmate approached.<\/p>\n
His name was Richard Bell.<\/p>\n
He had been on the school basketball team.<\/p>\n
I remembered him as a tall boy who rarely spoke to anyone outside his group.<\/p>\n
He stopped beside our table.<\/p>\n
"Martha, is it really true?"<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
"What's true?"<\/p>\n
"That you own a big laundry company?"<\/p>\n
I smiled.<\/p>\n
"Yes. I do."<\/p>\n
He pulled out the chair opposite us.<\/p>\n
"How big are we talking?"<\/p>\n
I hesitated.<\/p>\n
I didn't particularly enjoy discussing money.<\/p>\n
But I also knew that pretending the business was small would be silly.<\/p>\n
"We supply several hotels, restaurants, and hospitals."<\/p>\n
Richard's eyebrows rose.<\/p>\n
"How many?"<\/p>\n
"Eleven hotels, six restaurants, and two hospitals across three counties."<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
"That's quite an operation."<\/p>\n
"It took a long time."<\/p>\n
Carol nodded.<\/p>\n
"She built it with her husband."<\/p>\n
I appreciated that she remembered.<\/p>\n
Richard looked toward the ballroom entrance.<\/p>\n
"Is that why the manager came over?"<\/p>\n
"Partly."<\/p>\n
I explained that Caldwell Linens & Laundry had worked with the Fairmont Plaza for many years.<\/p>\n
The hotel was one of our established clients.<\/p>\n
He nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
"I had no idea."<\/p>\n
"Most people don't."<\/p>\n
He sat back.<\/p>\n
Then he asked a question I hadn't expected.<\/p>\n
"Do you still work?"<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
"Not every day."<\/p>\n
"But you're involved?"<\/p>\n
"Mostly with major contracts. My son handles the daily operations."<\/p>\n
Richard shook his head.<\/p>\n
"I retired ten years ago. I can't imagine still negotiating contracts at your age."<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
"Arthur used to say that I would retire when I stopped having opinions."<\/p>\n
Carol laughed.<\/p>\n
Richard joined her.<\/p>\n
For the first time that night, I felt like I was simply another woman at a reunion.<\/p>\n
Not the girl in the old dress.<\/p>\n
Not the woman wearing an apron.<\/p>\n
Just Martha.<\/p>\n
A few more classmates joined us.<\/p>\n
They asked about the business.<\/p>\n
One wanted to know how we had started.<\/p>\n
Another asked whether we still owned the original laundromat.<\/p>\n
I told them the story.<\/p>\n
I explained the nursing home contract.<\/p>\n
The first industrial machines.<\/p>\n
The delivery trucks.<\/p>\n
The difficult years when Arthur and I weren't sure whether we would survive financially.<\/p>\n
I didn't leave out the mistakes.<\/p>\n
There had been plenty.<\/p>\n
I remembered one machine that broke down during a major hotel delivery.<\/p>\n
We had worked through the night trying to meet the deadline.<\/p>\n
Another time, a truck broke down in the middle of winter.<\/p>\n
Arthur drove out himself with replacement equipment.<\/p>\n
We hadn't been successful because everything had gone smoothly.<\/p>\n
We had been successful because we kept finding ways to solve problems.<\/p>\n
One classmate shook his head.<\/p>\n
"You two really built something."<\/p>\n
I smiled.<\/p>\n
"We did."<\/p>\n
Then I looked at the empty chair beside me.<\/p>\n
Arthur should have been there.<\/p>\n
He would have enjoyed hearing people ask about the business.<\/p>\n
He never liked taking credit, but I knew he would have been proud.<\/p>\n
That thought made me miss him.<\/p>\n
I reached for my glass of water.<\/p>\n
Across the room, Brenda was watching.<\/p>\n
She wasn't pretending not to.<\/p>\n
Her friends had become quieter.<\/p>\n
I could see one of them speaking into her ear.<\/p>\n
Brenda nodded, but her eyes remained on me.<\/p>\n
Eventually, she stood and walked toward our table.<\/p>\n
The people around me noticed.<\/p>\n
The conversation slowed.<\/p>\n
She stopped beside Richard.<\/p>\n
"May I speak with Martha for a moment?"<\/p>\n
Richard looked at me.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
He stood.<\/p>\n
"Of course."<\/p>\n
Carol also rose.<\/p>\n
"I'll get us some coffee."<\/p>\n
She gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving.<\/p>\n
Brenda pulled out the chair opposite me.<\/p>\n
She sat down carefully.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Up close, I could see the small lines around her eyes.<\/p>\n
Her hands were folded tightly in front of her.<\/p>\n
She looked at the leather portfolio resting beside my chair.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at me.<\/p>\n
"I didn't know."<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
She continued.<\/p>\n
"I didn't know you had built a company."<\/p>\n
I folded my hands in my lap.<\/p>\n
"You never asked."<\/p>\n
Her eyes moved toward the table.<\/p>\n
"That's true."<\/p>\n
I hadn't expected her to agree so quickly.<\/p>\n
She glanced toward the coffee station.<\/p>\n
"The apron."<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
"What about it?"<\/p>\n
She shifted in her chair.<\/p>\n
"I suppose that was rather inappropriate."<\/p>\n
I didn't answer immediately.<\/p>\n
The word inappropriate seemed very small compared with what I remembered.<\/p>\n
But I didn't want to turn the conversation into an argument.<\/p>\n
"It wasn't necessary," I said.<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
For a moment, I thought she might apologize properly.<\/p>\n
Instead, she looked toward the ballroom.<\/p>\n
"I was under a lot of pressure organizing this event."<\/p>\n
I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
An explanation.<\/p>\n
Not quite an apology.<\/p>\n
I had heard similar explanations from people before.<\/p>\n
They were stressed.<\/p>\n
They were tired.<\/p>\n
They didn't mean it that way.<\/p>\n
I knew how easy it was to make someone else's feelings sound like an inconvenience.<\/p>\n
I looked directly at her.<\/p>\n
"Brenda, you didn't hand me that apron because you were worried about the event."<\/p>\n
She stopped moving.<\/p>\n
"You handed it to me because you thought it would make people laugh."<\/p>\n
Her lips parted slightly.<\/p>\n
Then closed.<\/p>\n
I continued quietly.<\/p>\n
"And you knew exactly why they would laugh."<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
For the first time since she had approached me, she didn't seem to have an immediate response.<\/p>\n
I didn't raise my voice.<\/p>\n
I didn't need to.<\/p>\n
The ballroom had already heard enough laughter that evening.<\/p>\n
Brenda rubbed her thumb against the edge of the table.<\/p>\n
"I suppose I did."<\/p>\n
That answer surprised me.<\/p>\n
I hadn't expected an admission.<\/p>\n
I wasn't sure what to do with it.<\/p>\n
Carol returned carrying two cups of coffee.<\/p>\n
She placed one in front of me.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at Brenda.<\/p>\n
"Would you like one?"<\/p>\n
Brenda shook her head.<\/p>\n
"No, thank you."<\/p>\n
Carol sat down beside me.<\/p>\n
Brenda remained for another moment.<\/p>\n
Then she stood.<\/p>\n
"I'll let you enjoy your evening."<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
She walked away.<\/p>\n
Carol watched her return to her table.<\/p>\n
Then she turned toward me.<\/p>\n
"Are you all right?"<\/p>\n
I looked at the coffee.<\/p>\n
The surface trembled slightly as I moved the cup.<\/p>\n
"Yes," I said.<\/p>\n
And this time, I almost believed it.<\/p>\n
Carol stayed with me for several minutes. She asked about Arthur. I told her about the forty-one years we had shared. I told her how he used to come home … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41453,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41443\/revisions\/41453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}