Guessing Game
Joe E Hartley
March 2022
Hello reader,
This is a follow up on my story The Survivors Club with a bit of a back story of how the club developed. Hope you enjoy.
joeehartley
Carol considered herself an organizer. Before her husband died, she arraigned all of their social affairs. She insisted that they entertain often, and found any excuse to invite people over. Her husband's growing wealth required negotiating some business deal that would necessitate cocktail parties or a formal dinner.
She prided herself on being able to entertain any and all of her husband's business partners and their wives, or significant other. She knew that she aided in closing many of the business deals resulting in the growth in their net worth.
She felt lost after her husband's death and noticed that she no longer had a social network. All of their acquaintances were nothing more than business partners and not interested in her at all. She knew little of building empires, but missed the parties.
She found that the only people interested in spending any time with her, were only after her money. She found herself growing cold and bored. She decided to travel and again grew tired of being forced to pay for a companion.
She found nothing but loneliness, until she accidently met another woman at a coffee shop wo wanted to start up a conversation. She did not know Carol or have any idea of how wealthy she was. She claimed to be lonely too and just wanted someone to talk to for a few minutes. Carol listened to the woman's story of her late husband and how the support group she thought she had vanished after her husband's death.
Carol could relate to this woman's life story and they ended up spending the afternoon together and even shared a meal. Over the next few weeks, they saw each other often and shared activities, coffee, meals and drinks. Never once did this woman ask for Carol to pay for anything nor indicated she knew how wealthy Carol was. Carol developed her first true friendship with this woman.
They shared the loneliness they both felt and together they decided that there might be others who felt as they did and decided to find these other people and form a social club.
Once they decided to expand their little group it grew and soon there were eight people sitting around a table at the coffeeshop every Tuesday and Thursday mornings. They discovered that although they could stay there for several hours without being kicked out, eventually they would be asked to leave.
Carol thought often about inviting this little group over to her house, but was afraid that if they saw her obvious wealth, it would change the group. There were now a nice mix of men and women in the group and the conversations often changed to the lack of intimacy since they became single.
For some reason they decided to name their little club after the newest male member joined. He had commented that they should all be happy that they all survived the loss of a partner and were moving on with their lives. He also commented that he missing hugging another person.
The newly formed Survivors Club would now greet each other with a hug. They finally overstayed their welcome at the coffee shop when the groping started. It seemed so casual, but the young people at the coffee shop did not want to see old people making out in public.
That is when Carol decided to act. The group was about twelve strong now and she ascertained that none of them lusted after her money, but it really didn't matter if they did. She informed them that she had a large house where they could meet and that she'd loved to host a dance for them all and maybe other activities.
The following Tuesday everyone met at Carol's home and were impressed, awed might be a better word. Carol had her servant direct everyone to the area she had set up for them. It was a comfortable living room with overstuffed chairs, sofas and a coffee bar.
Carol met the group, "Welcome and please have a seat. There is coffee and croissants on the bar, please help yourself."
Jack, the newest member and the one responsible for the club's name commented, "Wow, you put on quite a spread. I had no idea that you were wealthy."
"I find it is easier to not flaunt it and as you mentioned before all the people on the dating sites are just gold diggers. I've gotten to know everyone here over the last six months or so and I get the impression that you are all real and lonely like me. We can have some privacy here and one of the things I really miss is hosting parties," Carol explained.
"What kind of parties did you have in mind? We've only ever just sat around drinking coffee and sharing life stories?" Jill, one of the earliest members asked.
"I thought maybe we could have a dance once a week. I do have a great room, that would be perfect for dancing. The best thing about being here is that no one is going to kick us out if we get a bit friendly with each other." Carol offered. "One of the things I miss the most after my husband died was hosting parties, so if you're comfortable with this I'd love to plan and host the activities for the Survivors Club."
Sounds of approval filled the space and Carol said, "Well then, let's get this party started," opening her arms to hug Jack.
Hugs were shared all around and soon everyone had their coffee and the sharing began. Life stories flowed until the realization hit the members present that there were many things that could happen here without being subjected to critical eyes.
The dance idea seemed to excite everyone there.
