Second First Date

Second First Date

Covid-19 was real. Despite the President calling it a hoax in March 2020, Mel’s wife lay at home, gasping for breath, twisting in her sheets awaiting 911 responders to take her to the ER. They took her to MedStar in nearby Olney, but she never came home.. She was one of the unlucky ones, expiring only two days after arrival at the hospital. There was no effective treatment for her, and the ventilator extended her life for only a few hours.

Cremation services picked her up from the hospital and she now resides in a squat brown urn resembling the Brown Betty teapot she so loved. She sits on the mantelpiece above the fireplace above an array of horse brasses they collected on their trips to England

Mel has been a bonafide widower for a year now, and like everyone else, he has been sheltering in place waiting for the pandemic to subside. He was able to get his two immunization shots of Moderna, and vaccinated citizens are now being advised by CDC that it is safe to socialize with others who are vaccinated.

Those new guidelines are why he was going on his second first date, his first first date having been with his now deceased wife over fifty years ago. He admitted to himself that he was a bit nervous, but his friends John and Dorothy have been saying that it is what his wife would have wanted, and Mel finally agreed to meet a widow friend of theirs who they said would make a perfect match. He doubts that very much, but the idea of getting out of a self imposed lock down and spending some time with a non-digital zoomed family was an attractive thought.

He asked if he could bring wine, but John and Dorothy said “Absolutely not.” They had recently joined a wine club, Bright Cellars, he heard them say, and they wanted him to experience their offerings. Sounded good to Mel, but he picked up a mango cake from a bakery in Mercado to take to them instead.

Mel approached the house haltingly, thinking, maybe a year is too soon. But John’s booming welcome banished his concern. It was really good to be in the company of old friends.

They introduced Mel to Beatrice, who immediately told him she only responded to Bea. She looked to be about his age, but unlike him her hair was so brown as to be almost black, while his hair had been white for over thirty years. They told them that they had a choice of an Australian merlot or a cabernet sauvignon. Mel opted for the merlot as did Beatrice.

The hosts served up finger sandwiches on a three tiered serving dish like they use at high teas, and they related to each other how they had each spent the pandemic year, and what they thought of the change of administrations, all the while refreshing their wine glasses. Mel admitted to himself that he found Bea intriguing, widely knowledgeable on a wide range of topics, humorous, and all together attractive.

Unfortunately Mel was prone to excessive gesticulation when telling a tale, and toward the end of the evening, with a wide sweep of his arm he connected with Bea’s hand, the one holding her glass of merlot, effectively tossing the merlot onto her lap and onto the floor. But the crystal was not dropped and no glass was shattered. Aghast and apologetic, Mel tried to help clean up the mess he had made, but no way was he going to wipe up wine from her lap. Fortunately, Dorothy took control and cleaned up the mess. She disappeared for a while with Bea and when they returned said they had shouted it out, whatever that was.

Mel was not so expressive for the rest of the party, but he was pleased to see Bea taking his clumsiness in stride and acting like having merlot dumped in her lap was an ordinary occurrence.

When the party ended, he thanked John and Dorothy for rescuing him from his cocoon, told them how much he enjoyed the wine and got information on how to join the wine club. When he said goodbye to Bea and how much he enjoyed meeting her, she told him she would like to do it again and gave Mel her phone number.

Later that night, at home, after going on-line and joining the wine club, Mel spoke to the urn He told his wife about the evening, ending with “I think you would like the wine…...and her.”