That evening she was extremely quiet as she cooked and served the evening meal, and while the children were around Chris was his usual animated self and full of fun and bonhomie. Before she knew it, it was half past six and time to leave for the Legion club. She had searched some of Brian's boxes in the garage but had yet to find the standard bearer's things Mike Stafford's visit had been about.
Driving into the club car park was not a new experience, in the old days she did it all the time on club nights so Brian could have a few drinks. On Party nights, he'd insist on a taxi so Cathy 'could enjoy herself too'. Hmmm.
She sat in the car for at least ten minutes, having been rather early. Much as she knew the length of the journey, she had left early not wanting to sit through Dan's sullen look of betrayal and Chris's forced air of everything being OK.
Early she might have been but she didn't want to spend one minute more in the place than she had to.
She walked to the front entrance, which was locked. She remembered that Brian had a swipe card in his wallet that unlocked the door, apparently to keep out the undesirables. Many of them seemed to be in there already.
Her quiet entry was not to be, and she had to ring the bell. "Hello?" said a croaky voice from the intercom.
"It's Cathy McMahon," she said, "I'm here to speak to the entertainment committee."
"Really," said the voice, "Well the entertainment committee ain't here, they don't meet on a Thursday no more, they meets on Wednesday, you'll have to come back next week."
"Right," she said with an air of exasperation, "but I'm expected."
"Not by me you're not," said the voice.
"Is Mike Stafford there?" she said feeling like getting back in her car and doing all this by phone.
"I'll ask, who's calling,"
"Cathy McMahon, I already said,"
"Who?"
She had no other option, "Brian McMahon's wife?" Barstards. This last bastion of the X chromosome had finally made her admit defeat.
"Oh!" said the voice totally changed and now animated, "why didn't you say!"
"I fucking did." She said taking her finger off of the button as the door catch clicked open.
Once inside, she walked through those corridors with a cold feeling. Over the last sixteen months, the last three in particular, she had grown out of the woman that used to come here and she really resented that person and this place.
She looked around, it was a week night so no kids, the widescreen was tuned to Sky Sports again with no one watching, two teams of ladies were playing darts, with a few men around just close enough to remind them that while this was ladies darts league night, it was still a male shrine and they shouldn't try to get above themselves.
The yellow lined 'child free' area was still there and she thought back to the old farts that would stand either side of it just waiting for a child to so much as approach it with intent, one of the worst culprits was the man she was here to see. She walked to one side of it and perched on a bar stool, something she remembered Brian would never let her do, Bars were man territory.
"Catherine!" boomed a voice, it was Mike Stafford and he was wearing that fucking suit.
"Cathy please, Mike,"
"Sorry Catherine, but Brian..."
"Mr Stafford," she said, "As I said on Monday, Brian is dead, I like people to call me Cathy. You can call me Catherine if you wish MISTER Stafford."
"Oh," he spluttered, "Cathy, yes right," he tried to chuckle, "That might take a bit of getting used to. Right," he rubbed a hand through the sweat on his forehead, rubbing that hand on his trousers, then with a grin he rubbed his hands together, "What can I get you to drink?"
"Diet Coke please," she said.
"A little something in it?" he grinned.
"Ice and lemon if you have some," she smiled in a no nonsense manner.
"Sure I can't slip you a Bacardi in there?" he grinned like an idiot and Cathy got her first whiff of that appalling suit of his.
"Mike, I told you I'm driving," she said.
"Oh I know that," he tried to swell with importance, "but we have any number of taxis leaving here tonight, if you wanted to have a drink..." she followed his hand to the corner where the 'old gals' were sat mostly dressed in black and cackling to each other.
"Mike," she groaned, "I TOLD you, I don't drink on school nights, I have to drive to work tomorrow, you know to the SOLICITORS OFFICE I work in?" She took a deep breath, "Just a Diet Coke, thank you."
"Sorry," he tried to make up for his obvious lack of knowledge around women, "keep forgetting that kind of stuff being a committed old bachelor."
The diet Coke arrived and the barmaid, a new girl, favoured her with a smile. Mike indicated one of the tables further into the magnolia painted room.
"Won't you sit down?" he said.
"No, this is fine," she said picking up the glass and sipping.