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Chapter Six
August 8, 2009 | Filed Under Dawn, Meeghan | Leave a Coment
Meeghan rapped her fingernails on the deck railing. The view was spectacular from her home. Green hills ran into the San Francisco Bay with the twinkling lights of the Golden Gate Bridge serving as their backdrop. She shivered against the cool night air but found the chill more tolerable than the brisk climate within her abode.
Her phone read 11:25 PM. Neither Lisa or Dawn had returned her calls. She contemplated calling River but hesitated. There was something so untouched, sacred about her earthy friend that made complaining feel like an act of human pollution. Or sacrilege.
In the meantime, another blue pill it would be.
Meeghan stepped back from the deck and curled up in a sturdy, oak patio lounge chair. She sank into the cushion and pulled a cashmere throw over her shoulders. Within seconds she was asleep.
A few minutes later when the always momentarily unfamiliar sound of her ringtone sang, Meeghan jumped.
Dawn.
“Hey,” Meeghan pulled herself to sitting.
“Sorry I’m calling so late. Charlie had a thing and then we went by the studio to watch Rick’s live broadcast, he really is a shoo-in for the lead anchor position so I figured a family cameo wouldn’t hurt….Are you OK?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Meeghan cleared her throat. She actually did feel a bit better. “It was just Max…dinner…I don’t know.”
Somehow her problems always seemed so trivial when it came time to explain them. Was she supposed to say that her husband, the one who had rescued her from a failing career and given her the life she’d always dreamed of had hurt her feelings?
Dawn was silent.
Both women sat with the discomfort of Meeghan’s situation. Max wasn’t cruel. He was simply unaware. There were probably thousands of women who would love an everyday Extreme Wife Makeover from the inside out, but Meeghan wasn’t one of them and perhaps she’d discovered that too late.
Meeghan started to explain, “I’m not ungrateful for all that he’s done for me, for us. The kids love their life. It’s just that most days I feel like he looks at me like a coat hanger, something empty and unfinished that needs a designer label to be complete.”
Dawn still didn’t know what to say. Should she tell her friend that she saw all of this coming from the minute Max came into her life? Should she tell her that maybe if she hadn’t given up on herself and her goals she never would have been attracted to Mr. Fix-It?
A good friend would never say any of those things.
“I know how you feel. It’s getting late. Let’s meet for breakfast tomorrow.”
Meeghan paused before answering. She knew a filtered response when she heard one.
“9 AM? Milk?” The Sausalito cafe had always been a favorite of theirs.
“Perfect. Try to get some sleep. Love you.”
“You too. Night.”
Meeghan placed her glowing cell phone on the small coffee table and looked out across the black, still water. She smiled a bit, grateful for friendship even when it was strained by unspoken words.
Tomorrow, she decided, would be an opportunity for truth.
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