In Love With An Older Man 20

The next day, Cindy was preparing lunch for the twins when she heard the front door opening. Startled, she turned to see Gary smiling at her and holding a large white bag.

"Hey!" She walked over to him and hugged and kissed him. "What's the occasion?" It was highly unusual for Gary to come home on his lunch break. He normally ate lunch at his desk so that he could come home earlier in the evening.

"No special occasion. It's just that I've had you on my mind all morning and wanted to make sure you're okay. Submarine sandwiches all right?" He held out the bag, from which came delicious smells.

"Sure, that's fine. Thanks, Gary." She unwrapped the sandwiches, put them on plates, and sat the plates on the table.

"Can't eat just hot dogs all the time, you know," Gary said. They both laughed.

"So do you feel all right now, Cindy?" Gary's voice was soft with concern.

"Sure, Gary. I'm fine. It's so sweet of you to worry about me, though." They hugged and kissed again.

"Hey, Cyn, could you work Friday? I wouldn't ask you to, but Chuck asked for that day off and so far I haven't found anyone else to fill in." Chuck was one of Gary's deejays.

"Uh, sure, I guess so. I'll see if Mom can watch the twins that day."

"Don't worry about it. Marge from the synagogue told me her child care has a couple of openings for Friday."

"When did you see Marge from the synagogue?"

"I was there this morning posting flyers for a drunk driving awareness seminar on the bulletin board."

"Uh huh."

Gary laughed. "She's fifty-seven, Cyn."

"I know. I was just teasing you. So did you clear that with the rabbi?"

"Of course I did." Gary knelt to look at the structure the twins were building with blocks. "So, what have we here?"

"It's a tower, Daddy!" giggled Rebecca.

When Cindy walked into the radio station Friday morning, she felt as if she were returning to a familiar place after a long absence. Although she still worked there part time, it had been a while since she had gone in on a Friday morning and worked a whole day.

It was near noon when a very nicely-dressed middle-aged woman entered carrying what appeared to be a box of red ribbons.

"May I please see Gary Greenberg?" she asked.

"He just stepped out for a minute," Cindy told her. "I'm his wife, Cindy. Can I help you?"

"Oh, of course. Nice to meet you, dear." The woman smiled. "I'm Liz Hoffman, president of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Gary agreed to support us in our new red ribbon campaign. The object is to persuade people to tie a red ribbon around their car's antenna to remind them not to drink and drive over the holidays."

"Well, that certainly sounds like a wonderful idea," Cindy said. "I'll definitely tell Gary - "

Just then Gary came in. "Oh, hi, Liz!" he said, beaming. "Come on back to my office."

Cindy watched them walk down the hallway with a sinking feeling in her stomach. After about half an hour, they both returned, deeply engaged in conversation with one another.

"Liz and I have some business to discuss over lunch. Can you join us?" Gary asked Cindy.

"I'd love to," Cindy replied, immensely relieved.

Just then the phone rang shrilly.

"Hello, Cindy? This is Marge from the child care center. Jonathan just fell and hurt himself. His mouth is bleeding. I think he might have knocked a tooth loose. Can you come right away?"

"Of course, Marge. I'll be there just as soon as I can." Cindy quickly explained to Gary what had happened before dashing to the parking lot.

Cindy's pulse raced as she drove to Marge's child care center as quickly as she could. What if Jonathan had knocked out a tooth? What if he needed stitches?

When Cindy arrived at Marge's, she was relieved to find that Jonathan's injury wasn't as serious as she had feared. He had merely torn a small piece of tissue inside his mouth, not knocked out a tooth. The bleeding had almost stopped. However, Jonathan was still crying and, wanting to spare him any further trauma, Cindy decided to take both twins home. As soon as she was inside the house, she called the radio station to update Gary on his son's condition.

"He's still at lunch," the secretary told her. "Would you like for me to have him call you back when he returns?"

"Never mind," Cindy muttered disheartedly. She had that sinking feeling in her stomach again, and this time it was worse. What did Gary have to discuss with Liz Hoffman that took so long?

It was probably less than five minutes later that the phone rang.

"Hi, hon. Sorry, lunch ran a little over. So, how's Jonny doing?" Gary asked.

"He's fine now. He didn't knock out a tooth or anything. He's not even bleeding anymore. Actually, he seems to have completely forgotten about it." Both twins were playing happily together on the floor."

"Whew! That's a relief!"

"How did lunch go?"

"Quite well, actually. I feel that we got a lot accomplished."

"That's good, I guess." An awkward silence followed.

"Is everything all right, Cindy?" Gary sounded concerned.

"Oh, yes, everything's fine. I just...really wish I could have had lunch with you today too."

"So do I," Gary said softly. "Oh well, there'll be other times."

Another awkward silence followed.

"Cindy, are you sure you're all right?" Gary knew his wife well enough that he could tell when something was on her mind.

"I'm positive. Couldn't be better." Cindy forced cheerfulness into her voice and hoped that it sounded convincing.

"Well...all right, then. I'll see you when I get home. Love you, sweetie."

"Love you, too." Cindy hung up the phone and began to cry.