Dinner in Stuff

Trying to come up with something that everyone likes for dinner last night, I settled on pasta. I made stuffed shells. I used a meat sauce because I was sure the Megan (the neighbor) would have mentioned being vegetarian when I asked her if she had any dietary restrictions. I tossed a salad with a raspberry vinaigrette and toasted some garlic bread. We almost always drink water with meals in my family but I had a few drink options if that didn’t seem good enough with a guest.

Then Megan showed up at the door with a nice looking bottle of wine. I felt a little guilty telling her I was really grateful that she’d brought that, but I don’t drink and my kids are all underage. (I’m sure Olsen would have been happy to have wine, but…)

She seemed embarrassed that she’d brought something that didn’t really work with dinner and I felt bad for making her feel that way. Then she seemed to think about it and mentioned that she had several bottles of a sparking pomegranate juice that she could bring over instead. Sounded like a nice idea, so she ran home and exchanged the wine for juice.

Overall we had a nice night. It definitely felt like sitting down to have a meal with a family was something almost completely foreign to her. She was wearing jeans and a tight top and it looked like she made an attempt to dress up. I had stripped off my pantsuit (I was in court yesterday) and was in capris and a t-shirt.

We learned a lot about her yesterday. I’m sure she learned a lot about us. I had written here before that I wasn’t sure if she had any kind of job because she always seemed to be home, but I found out she technically has two jobs, though I’m not sure how much time she really devotes to either.

She’s a personal trainer for a local gym, and apparently she’s a certified masseuse, although she says she doesn’t do it very much. And in a moment of slightly awkward humor, she made a comment that both jobs just make her feel like a glorified prostitute because she sometimes has sex with her clients.

Then she put her hand over her mouth and said, “Sorry, I shouldn’t say that in front of your kids.”

I responded, “It’s all good. My kids know what sex is.” And even though that might have come off a little condescending, we all laughed and I think it’s better that way. Both because it made her feel less uncomfortable and it stopped her from elaborating.

She did comment that she made a lot of money when she was younger and fortunately isn’t suffering for it these days. I know it left the question hanging out there about how she made her money, but since I already know the answer I really didn’t want the conversation to head that direction.

Other than that we talked about other people in the neighborhood. I talked about my job, and life in Boston in general. She mentioned that she never had any intention of living here long term but because she ended up buying the house she lives in, she thinks she’ll stick around.

When the evening was over we sat out on the porch next to a space heater and gossiped a little more. She seemed to not want to leave, but I had another busy work day planned for today so I eventually encouraged the night to come to an end.

I walked outside with her and then kept walking toward her house with her. Finally I stopped. She hugged me and told me she really enjoyed the evening and hoped that we did it again. I said, “We definitely will,” and I’m pretty sure I meant it.

She stared at me for a moment too long and said, “I haven’t had a friend in years.” I decided to take that as a compliment instead of something weird. I get it. It’s hard for adults to make new friends and I wouldn’t mind if we pull it off, even if I’m 20 years older than she is.