Third Lesson – Their Thoughts

Ellen sat as still as a statue on the couch in the middle of their living room and tried to hold a conversation with their friends, John and Annie, who were visiting from Ohio.

She just couldn’t control her eyes, as they focused on her husband leaning against the kitchen door frame while talking to his old girlfriend, Maria.

‘There it was again. That long look at each other then the quick turn away.’ She couldn’t believe there was nothing between them anymore. Maria looked at him with a kind of hunger and Teddy looks at her as if with memories in his eyes.

‘I can’t stand it anymore. It’s either Maria or me. But, I can’t, just can’t, live without him.’

“Are you alright, Ellen? You keep looking over our shoulders.” Annie fluffed her hair then sat straighter. “As I was saying, I’d just love for us to get together again and camp by the ocean.”

Ellen’s heart raced harder as she pried her eyes away from the kitchen door and keep this conversation going. “That would be a trip to prepare for,” she heard herself say as if another person had taken over her mouth and voice.

When she looked back, her husband and Maria were no longer standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. ‘What were they doing?’ Her flesh flashed hot and her stomach turned into a tight knot. She wanted to vomit. Instead she tried to keep talking, “Temperatures can change so rapidly, you know, hot one minute then hotter the next, and then cooler.” She wondered what she was talking about since both John and Annie looked at her wide eyed.

Ellen quickly stood, “I see your glasses are empty. Let me get you more wine. I’ll just be a minute.” She tried not to grab their glasses and run to the kitchen while keeping her shoulders back but she rounded the corner in time to see …..


Maria tilted her head back and looked at Ted while a sigh lifted her chest and memories of their times together passed through her mind. What a lovely time we had and what a lovely man to still want to be a friend.

She raised her glass to her lips and saw that his eyes traced her movements. ‘I wonder,’ she thought, ‘how are they doing as a couple. They’ve been together for over a year and seem to be happy. But what if they aren’t? What if there is still a chance for me?’

Teddy suddenly turned from her and walked back into the kitchen as if searching for something. Maria followed, grateful now that they were not visible to the rest of the crowd, especially Ellen who seemed to be interested in her every move. Maria had been careful not to hold Teddy’s hand too long when she had arrived and to just give a quick peck to his cheek.

“I wanted to let you know how grateful I am to be able to see you and talk to you once in a while.” Teddy tilted his head. We shared some wonderful times.” He turned away from her.

Maria lifted her head toward him and took a step in his direction. “I think of that so often.”

When he turned back to her, his eyes were closed but a small box was in his hands.

Maria’s took a little gasp.

Just as he opened his eyes and smiled at her with that familiar pinch between his eyebrows that signaled he was going to ask a question, Ellen entered the kitchen and asked in a stiff voice, “What’s going on here?”