Elizabeth Martin's Predicament
Thanks very much for your comments and votes. I have revised the story to improve and add some dialogues, and have made some other minor edits as well. Please continue to comment and vote on the story. I appreciate very much and am greatly encouraged by your comments and votes. Thanks to LaRascasse and CaffeineFetish for some very helpful comments and edits on the manuscript.
Early Thanksgiving
Elizabeth Martin looked at everybody sitting around the dining table loaded with delicacies she had worked so hard to prepare. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving. She had to organize her own little Thanksgiving party six days too soon because her husband Sam was leaving early Saturday morning for a conference and would only be coming back on the Saturday following Thanksgiving day.
There were only five people this year at her "Thanksgiving" dinner table. There was Sam on her left. To Sam's left was Jim Thompson, his colleague. Jim's wife Linda was sitting on her right. Mike Cooper was sitting between Jim and Linda completing the small circle of invitees.
Mike was her best friend's only child. His mother Susan had been her BFF since elementary school in a small town in the Northeast. Susan was thirteen when she babysat Liz who was four years younger than her. They became close friends that first day. They had even gone to the same college in Boston, though at different times. After she married Sam, Elizabeth had moved to the West Coast but they always kept in touch. The two families met often and went on many vacations together. She loved Susan, her husband John and Mike as much as she loved her own family. Emotionally, they were her surrogate extended family.
She always knew Mike was a brilliant kid. He had graduated from high school when he was only sixteen. He had his choice of colleges to attend anywhere in the world. He chose to come here to the West Coast. He finished his undergrad degree when he was only nineteen and for the last two years he was enrolled in the graduate school at the same local University working towards his PhD. She had invited him because he had no classes or labs for the entire week and with Susan traveling in Asia with her husband John, he didn't have any place else to be this holiday. He had come Friday evening and was going to be spending the entire week there.
Everybody seemed to be having a jolly good time enjoying the food, wine and the free-flowing conversation except Mike. Mike was not as boisterous as others at the table. He ate his food, answered questions and sometimes looked at her very briefly. Elizabeth knew Mike to be a quiet, unassuming young man so she didn't think anything was amiss. She thought maybe he also felt out of place with all the older people here. Everybody else was in their forties or close to forty. She and her husband were thirty-nine and forty-two. She guessed Jim to be in his late forties with his wife a little younger. She missed her six-year-old twin blessings, but they were both enjoying Disney World and other Florida attractions with her parents for the week.
Elizabeth was a pretty brunette with an oval face, high cheekbones, luscious lips and shoulder length hair. She had a beautiful floral evening dress on. It hugged her attractive hourglass figure nicely but didn't show anything. She always dressed modestly and could never be mistaken to be seeking attention to her sexy body. She had grown up in a conservative family and although she was not a prude, she couldn't understand people taking love and sex casually. She was a good wife and a doting mother who came to motherhood much later than Susan her BFF, thanks to the miracle of IVF after years of frustrating attempts at conceiving. She loved her daughters and her husband -- her little family.
Elizabeth was devastated years ago when she found out Sam was having an affair with a colleague at work. She was apoplectic and told Sam it was the end of the road for them. Sam kept saying sorry begging her for forgiveness. He promised to never hurt her again. Deeply concerned about the ugly impact of divorce on her darling daughters' lives, she decided to give Sam another chance and keep her family together.
Everybody had consumed all the food and drinks they could and soon it was time to call it a night. After all, Sam had to catch an early flight in the morning. Elizabeth told Sam to go check on his packing while Linda and Mike helped her in the kitchen with the dishes. Sam said his goodbyes to Jim and Linda and excused himself. After the leftovers had found a home in the refrigerator and the dishes were done, Jim and Linda said their goodbyes to Elizabeth and Mike, and then left for their home. Mike wished her good night as well and then left for the guest bedroom. She walked onto her bedroom where Sam had just finished packing. Soon, they were in bed and asleep.
+ + + + + + + + + + +
Saturday
When Elizabeth got up early next morning, Sam was already done with his shower and was ready for the drop off. She quickly got ready and drove him to the airport. There was minimal hassle as his bags were checked in and soon the flight was ready to board. She kissed him goodbye and reminded him to let her know that everything was okay once he was settled in his hotel. She headed back home from the airport and thought of her week ahead. She didn't have anything to do for the coming week. She ran her own home-based accounting consultancy, providing services for small businesses in the city. The project she had planned to be working on was postponed because her client was not going to be able to get her the data for another week.
It was almost eight o'clock by the time she hit the garage door opener on the visor in her car. She unlocked the laundry door and moved to the kitchen to make some breakfast. The kitchen was adjacent to the family room on one side and a breakfast nook on the other side. A formal living room, a formal dining area, and a guest bedroom next to a bathroom completed the first-floor layout. The master bedroom with attached master bath, two other bedrooms for the girls, and a second bathroom were all on the upper floor.
Mike must be getting up by now she thought. She didn't see him so called out to ask him if he was awake.
"I'm up Aunt Liz. Be there in a minute," Mike shouted back to her from the guest room. He was next to her the very next minute. He asked her politely if he could help.
"Just tell me what you would like. There is cereal, or I could fix you some eggs and toast," she said.
"Whatcha having?" He asked.
"I'm having some cereal and toast with butter," she told him. He told her he would have the same. She smiled to herself. This thoughtful kid didn't want to bother her too much. She threw some slices of bread in the toaster oven and got the cereal box from the cabinet and milk out from the fridge.
As they sat and ate breakfast at the small table, she asked him about his school. If there were any interesting projects he was involved in now or in the future. He talked easily about his school and classes but was most animated telling her about his special project. She could tell he was really sharp, but humble at the same time. He seemed like a true gentleman. She felt very proud of him and thought he would have been a good match for one of her girls had she had them early like Susan had him. She asked him if he had found a girlfriend. His smile vanished, and he suddenly got serious.
