The Perfect Spouse: A Novel. Sioux Dallas

the button on the remote to lock it, he walked into the building. Bright lights were spilling out on the sidewalk and rousing music could be heard faintly. He opened the door and was hit with music, the cacophony of voices, laughter and the odor of fresh-baked pastries.

      On one of the long tables, near the front, was a thirty-two cup coffee pot, a big pot of hot water and a basket of a variety of tea bags. There was regular sugar, artificial sugar, and cream beside four big trays of a variety of pastries. There were also finger sandwiches and a big bowl of cut fruits.

      Napkins, paper plates, small paper bowls and swizzle sticks were in abundance.

      The room was decorated with Christmas lights, good-smelling greenery and beautiful ornaments. In a corner was an eight feet tree beautifully decorated with gaily wrapped packages on a red velvet skirt under the tree.

      He had noticed that in the window was a scene to represent old Jerusalem. There were handmade houses, an inn and an ice-cream stick stable with straw inside. The full nativity was in place including lighted angels and a star on top of the stable. Eye catching and interesting.

      On a small table near the window was a menorah and items connected with Chanukkah. On another small table were items acknowledging Kwanzaa. Jason was impressed with the thoughtfulness of the religions.

      “Jason. Hello. I’m glad you decided to join us. Leave your coat in the room over there,” Amanda greeted him. “Come on with me and I’ll introduce you to the staff and some of the members.”

      “No. Please. Can’t I just blend in and look around?”

      “Whatever you wish, but the Harpers will want to meet you.”

      “Who’re they?”

      “The owners. And the rest of the staff will want to meet you.”

      “Well, okay. Lead on McDuff,” Jason grinned nervously.

      “Would you like refreshments first or do you want to meet everyone first?”

      “I’ll have to meet the staff sometime, so I might as well do it now.

      Amanda slipped her hand into the crook of his right arm and led him to a couple who reminded him of his grandparents. The man, about six feet tall had beautiful silver hair and sky blue eyes. His ruddy complexion showed he was an outdoor person. His muscles and rugged appearance led one to think he either worked out often in a gym or participated in a lot of outdoor exercises. He wore tan slacks and a yellow shirt with no tie. Jason guessed him to be early sixties.

      The woman was about five-six, small build, obviously dyed black hair, and brown eyes. She wore a natural sweet, laughing expression and moved toward Jason as if she already knew him and was glad to see him. She was dressed in a long, green gown with white lace trim around the neck. Small silver heels with pointed toes peeped from under the gown. He guessed her to probably be sixty.

      Amanda smiled and greeted the older woman. “Elaine, you’ll enjoy knowing one of our new members, Jason.”

      “Jason, welcome, welcome, she gushed with an honest voice. We want to help you and make your life as happy as possible. If we can do anything to make your membership with us happier and worthwhile,” she tittered, “don’t hesitate to tell us how you feel.” She turned and looked around. “Joe. Come here, please,” she called to the tall man.

      “Joe, this is Jason, one of our new members. I’m sure you’ll want to get acquainted with him.”

      The man hurried to them with a wide grin and his hand held out. “Jason, that’s a manly name. We’re glad to have you in our family. Now that you’re one of us, feel free to call on us for anything.”

      Jason hardly knew what to say. The couple seemed to be sincere, but he had learned to wait until he knew people before he made a decision. He smiled and thanked them.

      Amanda smiled at them. “Excuse us. I’m going to introduce Jason to the staff.” She turned him around and faced a crowd of people. “Now you’ve met the owner, Elaine and Joe Harper, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the staff.

      Jason was not really interested in meeting others, but he went with her although he only truly wanted to walk around and observe.

      “Jason, you’ve met Corella Swanson, our manager. This is Anthony Petrillo, her assistant. Tony is responsible for organizing our parties.”

      The two men greeted each other. Jason noticed that Tony’s smile didn’t show in his eyes. Tony was about five-ten, about one sixty with close cropped black hair and brown eyes. His brown complexion showed a Mediterranean heritage. Jason guessed him to be early thirties. It was obvious Tony thought well of himself. He had on blue dress slacks with a sharp crease in them; a grey silk shirt and a blue and red stripped tie.

      “You’ve met Dottie who is responsible for the membership records and you’ve met me. I’m her assistant. Jenny Carson is the Treasurer. This is Andrew Murray her assistant and in charge of publicity. He’ll remind you if you ever forget to pay your dues.”

      Jason was cordial to all he met, but knew he’d have trouble keeping them in mind until he got better acquainted.

      Andrew Murray, called Drew, attached himself to Jason and encouraged him to return to the refreshment table. “You’ll meet a lot of people tonight and you’ll have trouble keeping them separated. Don’t let it bother you, Jason, just relax and enjoy the evening.”

      Jason looked down at Drew, guessing him to be five-eight and about one fifty. His dark brown hair was cut short and Jason smiled to himself thinking that Drew cut it short to keep the curls in control. He had beautiful grey eyes, a wide mouth that smiled a lot and a pleasant face.

      Drew excused himself to welcome another new member which relieved Jason. He wandered around looking at the room and observing some of the people. He was startled when someone slapped him on the shoulder and boomed, “Hi there. My name is Gary Beaumont and I’ve been a member since the place opened. I’ve enjoyed dating some lovely women, but I’m not looking for a wife at the present. How about you?”

      Gary was the same height as Jason, but not as heavy. In fact, he was very slender even though he looked healthy and quite able to take care of himself. His red sweater with white reindeer and snowflakes around the bottom was just right with his navy slacks. His light brown complexion led Jason to think Gary was African American, at least part because he had dark brown hair and amber eyes.

      Jason had observed a mixed crowd, which was good. There was even a couple of Native American and one or two who looked Oriental. He looked at Gary not really wanting to socialize, but was too polite to ignore him. “My name is Jason and I just joined.” They talked for a few minutes.

      When Jason saw a couple of women heading in his direction, he excused himself, hurried into the room with the coats and outer wear, grabbed his overcoat and hurried out. He had had all he could take for this one night. No way did he intend to tell his full name and much about himself until he was better acquainted. He thankfully pulled into the underground garage and got out of the car.

      “Hey, neighbor.”

      Jason whipped around to see an older couple exiting a car near him and beginning to walk toward him.

      “Hello,” he called. “Excuse me, but I have to hurry home.”

      He was almost breathless when he all but ran into his apartment and firmly shut his door and locked it. Who was that couple? I don’t remember seeing them before. Apparently they live here, but I don’t know anyone in the building yet.

      Jason prepared for bed, set his alarm to get up earlier than usual and fell into bed, thankful to be in his own home. He had probably been asleep about an hour when he sat up startled at a loud banging on his door.

      “Hey, buddy. Open up and let us in. It’s party time. Don’t be an old stick in the mud.”

      “Yeah, don’t stick in the mud,” another voice giggled as only a drunk could do.

      Jason