Walking down the Mall at noon, Toni saw Sylvia sitting on a bench, studying her hands in her lap. Toni sat down beside her.
“Hi. Had lunch?”
Sylvia started. “Oh, Hi. No – but, where´s Ned? You usually eat together.”
“Well, this is his day to eat school food and schmooze with the teachers, keep up with the gossip. Why don´t we get a sandwich?”
When they returned with bags from Falafel King, they settled on the shady bench. Toni opened the conversation along with her sandwich.
“How´s the building going? You and Sheldon get along all right?”
“Oh, sure,” Sylvia replied. “We´re both professionals. But I´m a little surprised he doesn´t hold it against me that I blew him away. I guess he´s getting plenty as it is, though.”
“Umm...” Toni temporized. “Are you telling me that Sheldon was the guy you liked but got rid of because he was screwing someone else?”
“Yeah.” Sylvia munched on her sandwich for a moment. “Since we talked that day, I´ve thought about what you and Ned said.”
“Uh huh?” Through a mouthful, Toni tried to make that sound encouraging.
“When it happened, he said we hadn´t discussed any rules, he hadn´t known how I felt, and he was right.”
“What happened, really?”
“Well, I realized, one Wednesday, that he must have been screwing Melanie.”
“You never saw them – I mean you really didn´t have any proof?”
Sylvia made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a grunt. “Never needed proof before, didn´t then. Anyway, he admitted it.”
“Okay, then what? Mind if I ask?”
“No. You guys got me thinking. And Wednesday is a real education for me.” She chewed for a moment. “Well, then I met Phil. I mentioned him when I was over that day.”
“Water lawyer, I think.”
A pause for a drink of soda. “Well, I started to talk to him about how I feel; sort of establish a set of...”
“What was his reaction?” Toni tossed a wrapper into the trash can.
“Almost blew me away. Said we weren´t in any kind of relationship where I had a right to tell him what to do. Actually, I was telling him what I wanted, but he said it worked out the same. I see his point. Anyway, he told me if I didn´t like the way he behaved, all I had to do was not see him.”
“Kind of put the ball in your court, I guess.”
“Well, Toni, that´s fair. I think he´s right – it´s my decision. But I like him and I don´t want to lose him like I did Sheldon just because he wants to be himself.”
“You have that right, too.”
Sylvia giggled. “Whose side are you on? Well, see, I like Phil. I doubt I want to live with him or marry him or anything, but he´s fun. We think a lot alike. And he´s...” Sylvia waved her hand in the air.
“Good in bed,” Toni finished.
“Yeah.” Sylvia mused for a moment.
“So now you have to decide whether that´s enough to make you look at your rules again.”
“Ned said you can´t own someone, and you said that you made your rules and dealt with people who broke them.”
“Right.” Toni bit into an apple.
“I got rid of Sheldon because I felt like he´d done something to me, but he really hadn´t. Phil´s right that we aren´t at a decision point, and I don´t know if we´ll ever be. And, I need to think about whether I´m ready to screw Ned, for example, and still let Phil screw you. It really seems too complicated to consider.
“On the other hand, I see you guys all so happy it makes me wonder... I guess I need to decide what my precious rules are, and how far I can expect others to live by my rules instead of their own.”
“Well, it´s fair to have your rules, Sylvia. You just have to be prepared to live with what happens when you apply them. Phil may have a point if you´re asking more of him than you have a right to, but it´s up to you if you, uh...”
“Want to sleep alone all the time.” Sylvia supplied.
“Well, sort of. Actually, the bunch of us at Wednesday have worked out some – I guess you´d call them rules – we work with and that fit us. You can see that, and it´s mostly talking stuff over and deciding what works for each of us on any given day. It´s not for everyone, though, and you don´t have to play our game unless you want to.”
“Umm.” Sylvia said. “One thing´s sure. You guys really enjoy what you have. You´re closer, care about each other more than most of the families I know.”
Sylvia put aside her lunch bag and took down her braid, letting it fall across the front of her blouse. “But, you know,” she went on, “it´s not just what you and Ned told me.
“You guys at Wednesday have something else that´s just as important. You trust your partners. You believe in their loyalty, and when Ned spends the night with, oh, say Dana – I´m making an assumption there – you know it doesn´t change his love for you. And vice versa. It´s that loyalty and trust that makes the difference. God knows how you developed that.
“I guess I need to think about this some more.”
“Seems to me, you´ve done a lot of thinking. And you sure put your finger on it with trust and loyalty.” Toni stowed the apple core in the bag and put it in the trash. Sylvia got up and did the same. “Want to bring Phil to Wednesday?”
“That´s one of the things I´m thinking about, Toni. Okay if I bring him with me next time I come for sun?”
“Sure. How about Saturday?”
“You´re on. Thanks for your advice, Toni.” Sylvia waved and strode off down the mall.
Toni smiled to herself. “I never said a word, really. She´ll work it out by herself, I guess.”