Love Lessons

“I forgot to ask what your friend’s husband does for a living.”

Catherine answered just as they heard noises from the other side of the door. “He’s a professor of philosophy.”

She thought she heard Mike groan, but then Karen was in the doorway, greeting them with a bright smile.

“Catherine!” Karen said as if they hadn’t just seen each other at work the day before. “I’m so glad you could come. And you must be Mike.”

He gave her one of his high-voltage smiles, making her blush like a teenager. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Karen. Catherine’s been telling me all about you.”

“Has she? She hasn’t told me near enough about you.”

“Then maybe you should just ask me what you want to know.”

“Maybe I will.” Still smiling, she led them through a spacious, stone-floored entryway to a den decorated with moss-green walls, bright white trim and overstuffed upholstered furniture. Built-in bookshelves filled one wall, overflowing with books and stereo equipment. A big-screen TV was installed over the white-brick fireplace, but it was turned off. This was obviously the room where Karen and Wayne spent their relaxation time.

Five people mingled in the den. Karen turned in the doorway to speak to Catherine. “You know everyone, Catherine. Why don’t you introduce your friend while I check on dinner?”

A short, pleasantly dumpy man with a shiny balding head, friendly myopic eyes and the smile of a saint approached them with his right hand extended. “Wayne Kupperman,” he said to Mike. “Welcome to our home.”

“Thank you. I’m Mike Clancy.”

A more feminine version of Wayne—short, plump and sweet-faced with thin mousy hair pulled into a loose bun—approached them with a tall, thin, shy-looking man in tow. “Catherine, it’s good to see you again.”

“You, too, Bonnie. Mike, this is Wayne’s sister, Bonnie Diamond and her husband Chris. And this is our friend Julia Montgomery,” she added, nodding toward Julia, who was eyeing Mike warily. “Everyone, this is Mike Clancy.”

Mike shook hands all around. Julia barely touched his fingertips before moving away from him. Catherine could tell that Mike was a bit startled by Julia’s frostiness. He was more accustomed to women giggling and flirting when he turned on the charm, she reflected wryly. His charisma had certainly worked with Karen, and seemed to now be affecting Bonnie, who was almost fifteen years his senior.

“Let me get you both a drink,” Wayne offered eagerly, moving to a small wheeled serving cart set against the back wall. “What would you like?”

Catherine glanced at the wineglass in Julia’s hand. “I’ll have what Julia’s having.”

“That’s good for me, too,” Mike seconded.

“How are things at work, Catherine?” Bonnie asked, sipping her own drink.

“Pretty well. How about you?”

“Busy as always. Trying to keep up with all the new regulations for over-the-counter cold and allergy medications, and all the new prescription drug plans.”

“Bonnie’s a pharmacist,” Catherine explained to Mike when Bonnie turned to answer a question from Julia. “Chris is an orthodontist, and Julia’s an attorney.”

/> “I see.” He took another deep sip of his wine.

Karen appeared in the doorway a short time later to call everyone in to dinner, and they filed into the dining room, which was decorated in a sunny, Tuscan-themed style. The discussion about drug laws that had begun in the den carried over through the first course of dinner.

Catherine wondered at one point why Mike was being so unnaturally quiet. She certainly didn’t believe he was shy; she had watched him meet a few new people at Laurie’s party, and he’d been completely at ease with them. She knew he had friends and family members in skilled, white-collar professions, so it couldn’t be that he was feeling self-conscious about his job, could it?

Was he intimidated tonight because these were her friends and he was anxious to make a good impression? Or was he just bored with a quiet evening of dinner and conversation?

The conversation turned to the food, which was excellent since Karen took pride in her culinary skills, especially with Middle Eastern dishes. Karen and Wayne had experimented with a strict Kosher diet early in their marriage, she had once confided to Catherine, and while they no longer followed those restrictions, she had become quite a creative cook. Catherine noticed that Mike eyed some of the exotic dishes a bit warily, but he ate enough of everything to be polite.

Despite Mike’s lack of significant contribution, conversation was lively around the table. Julia, Bonnie and Chris got into a heated debate about rising medical costs and how they were influenced by lawsuits. Karen and Catherine discussed a recently published scientific breakthrough that had drawn national attention to one of their research colleagues. Wayne told an amusing story about an absent-minded professor in the Philosophy Department who had recently lectured an entire class period before realizing he was wearing a pajama top beneath his tweed blazer.

“I heard about that,” Mike said, looking up from his plate. “One of the guys in my history class has that professor, and he’s been entertaining us with weekly stories about the latest crazy thing Dr. Summers did.”

Wayne smiled wryly. “Charles could have been used as the model for all those absent-minded professor stereotypes in Hollywood. He just doesn’t seem to live in the same world as the rest of us.”

“Shouldn’t someone be concerned about his behavior?” Julia asked with a frown. “Maybe he should be evaluated for dementia or some other medical condition.”