Tightening the Knot (19 page)

           
Once Meredith sat down, it seemed that the line was moving rather slowly.
 
Perhaps some of the women were taking this very seriously.
 
When they were through, the organizers had the men organize into a similar line, except in reverse for “more fun.”
 
This put Greg near the end.
 
What Meredith had chosen for him was becoming less and less important because she knew what he liked most of all was food that was still very hot.
 
The steam from his plate was dissipating with any hopes of delivering on that preference.
 
She considered taking this plate for herself, but worried what sort of fun punishment might be in store for breaking the rules.

           
Several people had already finished and had begun to mingle by the time Greg sat down with Meredith’s dinner.
 
They sat at a round table with three other couples.
 
Two of the couples obviously knew each other well and were engaged in heavy conversation that never let up.
 
The other couple had placed their hearing aids on the table as they sat down.
 
Greg and Meredith mostly ate in silence as well.

           
As they were about to leave though, Greg noticed that she had not touched her dessert.
 
“I know you love cheesecake so I got you a big slice.
 
Don’t you even have room for a few bites?”

           
It did look tasty and it was irrational to think a fresh pan hadn’t been brought out since her time at the buffet, but she couldn’t bring herself to risk it.
 
“I’ll tell you later,” she said.

╣ Chapter 25 ╠

           
Meredith expected to find the shirt buddies from dinner leading her and Greg’s last activity before the dance.
 
Instead, they were introduced to another couple, Martha and Stan, who seemed less than thrilled to be leading the group.

           
“Okay, everyone,” Martha started, “we’re going to spend some time talking about putting the fun back in the
fun
damentals of a good marriage.”
 
She put air quotes around the word fun and also included a slight eye roll, which was probably not in the script.
 
“The first
fun
damental is communication.
 
Of course, we all know good communication is essential to the success of any relationship and we’re going to do a little game to remind ourselves.”
 
Meredith got the distinct impression that Martha had to hold back from adding more quotes to the word game.
 
“Each couple should take one box, but don’t open it yet, and they’re all the same so it doesn’t matter if you take a pink one or a blue one.”

           
There was a table in the center of the room with piles of pink and blue boxes.
 
All the chairs were lined up along the walls.
 
A few had been taken, but most of the couples had been milling around the table waiting for instructions.
 
Greg happened to be closer to the table and now picked up a blue box, then looked at Meredith as though asking if he had made a good choice.
 
She nodded, sure it wouldn’t matter.
 
The cutesy pastel theme was starting to get on her nerves, mostly because all the pink and blue reminded her of a baby shower.

           
When it appeared no one else intended to pick up a box, Martha continued her explanation.
 
“Now everyone grab a chair and spread out.
 
You’ll want to be facing your spouse, but leave some space between each couple.”
 
Meredith and Greg staked out a good corner while the other couples took their places as well.
 
“Ready?
 
Good.
 
Now if you have a blue box, the husband should be holding it, and if you have a pink box, it goes to the wife.
 
Each box has the same four objects inside, one for each of the
fun
damentals, and the person holding the box needs to get his or her spouse to guess these objects by describing them.
 
I’ll put on some music to drown out the clues.”
 
She sat down, pushed a button on a CD player to fill the room with
muzak
, and buried her face in a magazine.

           
“Is the music supposed to make it harder?”
 
Greg wanted to know.

           
“I don’t think so.”

           
“What did she mean by ‘drown out the clues?
’”

           
“That didn’t make sense to me at first, but I think she meant drown out the other clues.”
 
Meredith gestured around the room.
 
“You know, so I can’t guess off what anyone other than you says.”

           
“Alright, I guess we should get started then.”
 
Greg opened his box slowly, tilting it towards himself and giving Meredith an exaggerated hairy eyeball, as though she might be trying to sneak a peek.
 
He studied the contents for a moment,
then
nodded.
 
“We’re
gonna
start with an easy one.
 
It’s like a string of beads with a cross on the end.”

           
“A rosary?”

           
“One down, um, three to go.
 
The next is a little… thing with, um, bits in it?”
 
He paused for a moment, but Meredith made no attempt to guess.
 
“Oh, grains, it has little grains of…”

           
“Sand?”

           
Greg nodded encouragingly.

           
“Oh!
 
An egg timer?”

           
Greg looked thoughtful for a second, then shrugged and held up the item.
 
“Is this what you mean?”

           
“Yes.”

           
“Okay, I was calling it a sand timer, which is why I thought I couldn’t say sand.”

           
“I see, so now we’re halfway there.”
 
Meredith glanced around the room a bit.
 
This almost felt like a game and it made her feel slightly competitive.

           
“The next one is something you write on.”

           
“Paper?”

           
“Yes.
 
And now we have a problem.”

           
“Uh-oh.”

           
“Well, I was saving this one for last because I’m not sure I know what to call it.”

           
“Just try to describe it.
 
Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

           
“It’s black.”
 
He looked up expectantly.

           
Meredith let out a snort.
 
“Keep going.”

           
“Okay, it’s kind of long and made out of some sort of fabric.”

           
“Is it a scarf?”

           
“It’s thinner than a scarf.”

           
“Not a winter scarf, but like, you know, an accessory?”
 
Meredith did not own any scarves and didn’t think she had ever seen Judy wear one.
 
She wouldn’t be surprised if that limited the scope of Greg’s knowledge of women’s wear.

           
“I don’t think so.
 
I think this is narrower and, um, not as… or
more dense
.”

           
“More dense than a scarf?
 
I don’t know what that means.”

           
“Just, you can’t see through it.”

“Oh.
 
Hmm… a belt?”

           
“There’s no buckle.”

           
“I mean a belt that you tie, like a sash.”

           
“Oh, that could be.”
 
He looked around shiftily.
 
“Let’s just go with that.”

           
“So we’re done.”
 
Meredith noticed that at least one other couple was sitting back, looking rather bored, so there was no reason to feel smug, not that she would have.
 
She glanced up towards the leaders.
 
Martha was still using the magazine to ignore everything else in the room and Stan had his head back against the wall and his mouth open.
 
Meredith couldn’t see his eyes, but assumed they were closed.

           
She turned back to Greg, who was absently looking through the box.
 
“So what
fun
damentals do you suppose these things represent?”

           
Meredith grimaced.
 
“Please don’t say it like that.”

           
“Sorry, I was trying to mock it, but you’re right, it’s not even funny when I say it.
 
But what do you think they represent?”

           
“I don’t know.
 
Is there one for communication or is that just the box?”

           
“I was thinking maybe the paper is communication since you could write a note on it.”

           
“That makes sense.”
 
Meredith tipped the box her way to remember which items she had guessed.
 
“And I suppose the rosary is a reminder to keep God or faith in the marriage.”

           
Greg held up the belt, then quickly put it back in the box and looked over his shoulder.
 
Other couples might still be trying to guess.
 
“What about the belt thingy?”

           
“I don’t know.
 
Is it… no, that’s stupid.”

           
“What were you going to say?”

           
“I was just thinking since the seminar is called “Tightening the Knot,” maybe the belt is something you can tie in a knot.
 
But I’m not sure that’s a
fun
damental.”

           
Greg smiled.
 
“It’s hard to stop saying it that way, isn’t it.”

           
“It’s not funny.
 
I didn’t mean to say it, I’ve been brainwashed or something.”

           
“Okay, so we’ll just wait to hear what the leaders have to say about the belt.
 
What do you suppose this timer is all about?”

           
“I don’t know that one either.
 
It just makes me think of death.”

           
“Death!?
 
How do you get that?”

           
“I’ve just been mildly afraid of hourglasses ever since I saw The Wizard of Oz.
 
You know, when the witch gives Dorothy the one with the red sand.”