Flirting with Fifty

“Check my purse, would you? And my wallet? Just in case?”

Paige rummaged through Elizabeth’s purse, which, typically, was like Elizabeth, full of everything impractical, with almost no essentials. “You have like eight pens in here, and three pairs of reading glasses.”

“You can never have too many.”

Paige pulled out a pair of little Lego men. “And these guys.”

“They’re everywhere thanks to the twins.” She glanced worriedly at Paige. “Did you find them?”

“Nothing.”

“Noooo.”

Paige glanced at her watch. “We have time if we go back now.”

“But we won’t have time for the long, leisurely dinner I’d planned.”

“That’s okay. We can sit at the bar and have appetizers and that will be just as fun.”

Elizabeth took the next exit and crossed the freeway to head north. “I’m so sorry about this. I was wrapping your gift and signing your card and I just spaced.”

“It’s okay. All I really wanted to do was spend time with you, so I’m happy.”

But Elizabeth wasn’t happy. “I can’t believe I did that. I think dementia is setting in.”

“It’s not dementia. You were just multitasking.”

“Maybe it’s time I stopped and focused on one thing at a time.”

Paige smiled sympathetically. “I tell myself that all the time now.”

Elizabeth phoned home and asked her husband to look for the tickets, asking if he would bring them out to the car once they got there. He called back and said he couldn’t find the tickets anywhere. Hanging up, Elizabeth shook her head. “So frustrating,” she said.

“Don’t get upset. It’s okay. We’re almost to your house, and then we’ll find the tickets and be off. We still have time for a quick bite, and if we don’t, we can always go get something after the play.”

Elizabeth pulled into the driveway of her shingled house, the glossy white trim contrasting with the brown stain on the shingles. “I’ll check the bedroom,” Elizabeth said as they stepped from the car. “You search the kitchen. Men are terrible at finding things.”

They headed inside, and Elizabeth turned on the hall light and suddenly there were shouts of “Surprise!” and “Happy birthday!” Elizabeth stepped out of the way, and Paige’s gaze swept the living room. Dozens of pink, lavender, and navy balloons covered the living room ceiling, with long curling ribbon hanging down like colorful confetti. There was a birthday banner high on the wall, reading happy birthday paige, featuring a photo of her as a one-year-old in a pink and silver party hat with a fistful of cake.

People streamed toward her, and Paige shook her head, shocked to see all the different people from her department. Paige shot Elizabeth an incredulous look. “You didn’t forget the tickets.”

“There were no tickets,” Elizabeth said, clearly proud of herself. “It’s a party. For you.”

“I had no idea.”

“I know. I’m still a good actress.”

Paige had never had a surprise party before and she felt off-balance, and yet these were her friends from the university. Greg and his wife, Leigh; Dr. Nair and his wife; beautiful Andi McDermott; and a dozen others. And then there was Jack, standing in the background, glass of wine in hand, watching. Her insides dropped, her pulse quickened. The way he was looking at her made her feel beautiful, hopeful, alive.

For a split second, she wondered yet again what her life would have been like with Jack. Would he have traveled as much? Would she have traveled with him? How different would her life be if she hadn’t run away from him in Paris?

Andi approached, catching Paige in a warm, fierce hug. “Happy birthday, gorgeous,” she said, giving Paige another quick squeeze. “So glad you joined us at Orange. You make the math department sexy.”

Paige laughed, winked. “What do you mean? Math is sexy.”

“And fifty is sexy, too.”

They talked for a few minutes and then Greg and Leigh joined them; then Dr. Keller walked through the front door with his wife, and Elizabeth snuck behind Paige to whisper, “You’re drawing the A-crowd.”

“I have a feeling Dr. Keller showed to spend time with Jack,” Paige answered. And it was true, Dr. Keller made a beeline for Jack and stayed glued to his side throughout dinner.

For the next couple of hours, they ate, drank—there were a number of lovely birthday toasts—and then there was cake. It was the most awesome cake Paige had ever seen—it was a math cake. The white icing was covered with math problems, mostly algebra, and in the center was an edible frosting photo of Paige in high school wearing serious glasses, clutching a trophy for the high school math team’s win at the district level.

Tears pricked her eyes. It was the most ridiculous and wonderful cake.

Elizabeth stood at her side, cake cutter in hand. “President of the math club leads PR High to a first-place finish in the district championship.”

“I didn’t know you had that photo.”

“You’ve always been a star.” Elizabeth smiled affectionately at her. “What do you think of the cake?”

Paige blinked hard. “It’s wonderful. I love it. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”