Being a divorced mother of two had its ups and downs, and today was no exception for 39-year old Amy Hunter. Work had been particularly hectic and she hadn't been able to get away from the office until 6:00, which meant she had to rush home to get ready for her date at 7:30. In the five years since her divorce, Amy had gone out with only a handful of men and never really gotten serious about any of them. Tonight she was having dinner with Bob Stone -- a first date arranged through a mutual friend. And although Bob seemed like a decent sort of guy, in their initial phone call she hadn't sensed any real chemistry. Still, this was her first night out with a man in about in three months, and she was looking forward to spending the evening with another adult and not just her two kids.
Thanks to the particularly heavy Friday traffic, she didn't arrive home until 7:00. Her 15-year daughter Madison was sprawled across the sofa in the living room texting on her phone and barely acknowledged Amy as she entered the back door, depositing her handbag and car keys on the kitchen table.
"Hi honey," she shouted, and getting no response, walked into the living room and looked at her. "I'm going upstairs to change. I've got a date tonight, remember?"
Sitting down next to her on the sofa, Amy could feel her daughter instinctively draw back. This had been the pattern for the last few years -- her darling little baby had changed into an obnoxious teenager, pulling away into her own world with no time for her mother. Still, Amy knew it was important to try to keep the lines of communication open.
"Hope you had a good day at school." She paused, not really expecting a response. "Where's your brother?'
"Out with his friends." Finally, an answer!
"Oh, okay," Amy replied. "I'm not quite sure what to wear tonight," she continued, "so I may ask your advice."
"Whatever," Madison answered, her eyes still glued to her texts.
"Thanks, sweetie. I'll be down in just a minute to see what you think."
Amy went up the stairs to her bedroom, threw open her closet door, and pulled out a couple of outfits. Dressing for a first date was always a challenge. In the first six months after her divorce, Amy learned a few basic lessons about being back in the dating game. Good looking, with dark brown eyes and black hair and standing a little over 5 foot 6, her 34-25-36 figure easily attracted men's attention. She made sure to eat well and exercise, keeping her weight under 130 lbs. As a result, she seemed to be fair game for any single guy in town and even some married ones. She instinctively brushed off their unwanted overtures and in return was unfairly perceived as a bitch who thought she was too good for everyone.
As a result, she stopped going out much and avoided social situations where she didn't already know most of the people. She also tried to dress in a way that wasn't too sexy or draw too much attention to herself. Still, she enjoyed nice clothes and worked hard to maintain her looks as she approached 40. Maybe it was just vanity, but she did feel like wearing something a little special for her night out.
The first outfit she tried on was a floral print skirt with an equally colorful silk top left unbuttoned to reveal a black leotard with scoop neckline that showed just a bit of cleavage. Stylish but still somewhat casual -- just right, she thought, for a first date.
Eager to find ways to reach out to her daughter, she rushed downstairs and into the living room.
"So, what do you think? Look okay for my big night out?" she said with a broad smile.
Madison shrugged, barely glancing up from her phone to say, "I guess so."
"Maybe I should wear a dress instead?" her mom suggested.
"If you say so," the daughter replied and returned to her texting.
As she headed back upstairs to find another outfit, Amy couldn't have imagined the series of events that her daughter's texting was about to set in motion. Madison had just contacted her brother, Dave, to see if he could give her a ride over to her boyfriend Alex's house.
"Be there in 5," he replied. "With MB&R right now."
MB&R, Madison knew, were Dave's three closest friends, Matt, Brandon, and Ryan. And Ryan just happened to be Alex's older brother. "So," she thought to herself, "they could show up in five minutes or it could be an hour." She groaned, settled back in the sofa, and went back to texting a girlfriend about how annoying older brothers could be.
In a few minutes, her mother reentered the living room, this time wearing a blue-colored pencil dress, short sleeved and knee length. The overall effect was more formal than the skirt and top, and the fit definitely accentuated Amy's figure. In fact, she had already decided it was a little too sexy for a first date but thought she'd run it by Madison, hoping it would at least get some comment from her daughter.
Instead, the teenager barely took notice of her mom, once again diverting her attention from her phone for only a second. In response to the question "Well, what about this one," Madison gave just the slightest shrug of her shoulders and mumbled, "Whatever."
With that, Amy stormed out of the living room and marched upstairs, muttering to herself that she didn't seem to be able to do anything to get her daughter away from that damned phone. She slammed her bedroom door and stared at her closet, silently fuming.
Unfortunately for Amy, the slamming of the door masked the sound of her son and his friends arriving and, with her bedroom door closed, she couldn't hear the conversation going on below.
"Hey sis," Dave began as Madison popped up from the sofa, ready to innocently flirt with the older boys. The four were all freshman at the local community college; Matt was the youngest, having turned eighteen earlier that year, while the other three had already celebrated their nineteenth birthdays. Matt was the clown, Brandon the athlete, Ryan the more intellectual, and Dave the most upbeat and positive of them all, the one who held the group together.