My name is Maggie Malone, and this is my story.
It all starts as most stories do innocently enough. April 1st, all fools day and it turns out I was the biggest fool of all. Life wasn't perfect I knew that, but all and all I thought it was damned good. I had three great kids, a loving husband and like most of the world, not enough time. I was about twenty pounds fatter than when I got married but still sexy as hell. Life was good.
I was at the time, the vice-president in charge of Human Development for C.E.O. World Wide Industries. The corporation was again downsizing its employees in the name of the God profit. I wasn't worried about me. After all, I had successfully survived several down sizing. I was beginning to think myself almost irreplaceable. By day's end, I found out how wrong I could be about everything. My world had turned up side down.
The company reorganized me right out of the door. My husband, we were celebrating our twenty-five anniversary on April 1st determined his anniversary was the perfect day to announce he was leaving me for his twenty-five year old secretary. My oldest son called to announce he was marrying the love of his life. Reason for celebration right? Maybe but the love of his life was a guy named Arnold. My daughter called to say they were moving to Brazil for a year and the youngest called to announce he was starting a new job in Seattle Washington in one week.
Normally I handle adversity well, but normally I had friends and family surrounding me with love and laughter not this year. We had just moved to New York City less than six months ago to be closer to my husband's job. We had the apartment here and a house in Connecticut.
Talk about time to reorganize and get your life together.
First, I ate the entire stock of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in my freezer. I then drank all the scotch in the place and ruminated upon what in the world I had done to deserve all this mess. Deciding not one damn thing and not being the type to spend a lot of time brooding. I sat down to figure out how to fix it.
First, I moved back to Connecticut.
There I took the time to read my contract including the fine print. The result of all my diligent study. I got a great settlement from my former company including a guaranteed pension, all my stock options and sixty months salary while I looked for a comparable job.
I went to Las Vegas and got an amicable divorce. I got the house, the cars, the securities, and life time health insurance. He got his sweetheart and the city apartment.
I traded the huge house for a cute two-bedroom condominium and even bought a cat. He was an Egyptian Minx no tail and a very sexy purr. He liked his space and I liked his independence it worked. I traded the big car for a Mercedes convertible and I was ready to face the world again.
Once, I had my lifestyle secure financially at least. I started to work on me. I joined a gym and went three days a week. I even traded my sedate French twist with gray wisps in for a short haircut in a shade of red almost as great as the original. The three days a week at the gym helped and soon, I was wearing clothes that hadn't been out of my closet in years. Good thing retro was in.
It was just about then that an old collage friend called and invited me out. Ronnie never invited anyone out. She never paid and so would wait until you called her. I smiled and figured "What the hell I wanted to see the new restaurant she was raving about and agreed. It would be worth the bill"
"The Matador" newest restaurant in town required reservations at least three weeks ahead and so Ronnie surprised me when she said Friday night at eight and that she would meet me there. She also mentioned I should dress. What did the lady think I would show up in shorts and a halter top? Now I really had something to prove.
Normally the naturally pale type I usually wore very colorful very feminine clothes. I went with my new hair color; I opted for basic black. This basic black had style. An original from the sixties it had a high neck but the front was slit down to my navel and held together by ribbons. There was no back, it ended just before what the law, and your mother always told you good girls kept covered. It was perfect.
Ronnie met me in the bar and I was impressed with the décor and the service. I also was impressed with the clientele coming and going. This looked like a good place to pick up single men and I blushed at my thoughts. Ronnie must have been thinking along the same lines. She smiled leaned over and whispered "Which one do you want to take home?"
I thought about it for a minute and said "what the hell. The tall distinguished man with the beautiful gray hair at the bar. The one who has been watching us for ten minutes? How about you?"
Ronnie smiled and held up her hand a young sweet blonde man in his twenties came immediately.
