27. New and Old

Ian regrets taking Chrissy to meet his ex-wife.

Sandy Stewart found an empty seat and sat down in the small auditorium that was used for presentations at City Hall. She had come to watch her daughter, Carey, receive a prestigious award from the mayor during the city's annual civic award ceremony. Carey was a volunteer on the city's recreation board and had single-handedly secured several government and corporate grants to replace the aging (and sometimes dangerous) playground equipment at the city's playgrounds. The award was in appreciation for her hard work and dedication.

Sandy deliberately chose a seat toward the back so that she could watch the people enter. Carey had informed her that Ian was flying in to watch her receive the award. Ian was Carey's father and Sandy's ex-husband. Sandy hadn't seen Ian since their divorce almost six years before and a part of her was looking forward to his appearance. Their divorce had been amicable and, though she no longer loved him, she still held a strong fondness for him. Indeed, she had even considered 'hooking-up' with him while he was in town just for old time's sake, but Carey had informed her that Ian had remarried, so that was out of the question.

As she watched the people enter the auditorium, she noticed a strange young woman come in and scan the room for a place to sit. She had rings in her nose and lower lip, several earrings in each ear, very dark eye make-up, burgundy lip-stick and short, uncombed black hair. Her intense blue eyes locked with Sandy's for a few moments and Sandy felt a slight chill before she looked away. The woman found two seats next to one another and sat down, laying her jacket over one of them as if saving it for someone else. A few minutes later, Sandy saw Ian enter and look around the auditorium. She felt a slight twinge of arousal at the sight of him. He had obviously been taking good care of himself and looked better than she remembered.

She watched as he sat down next to the strange woman that had caught her attention earlier and began talking to her. It took several seconds of watching the two of them interact before it finely dawned on her... Oh my God! That's Ian's new wife?! She's a kid! And she's dressed like a punk-rocker! What the hell did he do, have a mid-life crisis?! She wondered if he'd gone out and bought a little red sports car, too. She shook her head. She remembered that he was capable of some foolish things, but that took the cake. She sighed and turned her attention to a speaker that had approached the microphone and announced that the ceremony was beginning.

When the ceremony was over and the awards had been handed out, the audience was invited to a small reception that was being held in a large room across the hall. As the people filed out of the auditorium and into the reception room, Ian turned to his wife, Chrissy, and said, “We're parked in a two-hour zone. I better go out and move the car so it doesn't get towed or something. I'll be right back.”

She nodded and he started toward the exit. A part of him was a little uneasy at the thought of leaving Chrissy alone in the same room with his ex-wife, no matter how big that room was. Chrissy didn't know what Sandy looked like, but he worried they might bump into one another, or worse, that Carey would introduce them to each other while he wasn't there. He had no idea how Chrissy might react to meeting Sandy. She could be temperamental and unpredictable.

He shrugged and decided that he was probably worrying needlessly. After all, what was the worse that could happen? 

He  decided to walk a little faster.

It took him about half an hour to walk to the car, find a new parking space and walk back. He entered the reception room and scanned the crowd for Chrissy. His heart skipped a beat when he found her on the opposite side of the room, sitting at a table -- next to Sandy!

“Oh, crap!” he muttered aloud as he hurried across the room almost at a trot. He almost stopped, though, when he saw Sandy laugh out loud at something Chrissy said to her. He approached the table cautiously.

“What's going on?” he asked suspiciously when he reached them.

“Oh! Hello, Dear!” Sandy greeted him warmly. Then she turned to Chrissy and asked, “You don't mind if I call him 'Dear', do you?”

Chrissy shrugged. “You should hear some of the things I call him.”

Sandy laughed again, turned back to Ian and said, “Dear, your new wife is absolutely priceless! We've been trading 'Ian stories' with each other.”

“What?!”

“Ian,” asked Chrissy, “Did you really set the community Christmas tree on fire while making s'mores with the neighborhood kids?”

Ian gave Sandy a look of betrayal. “You told her about that?!”

Sandy made a dismissive gesture. “Ian, be a dear and get us something from the refreshment table, would you?”

“Yes, Ian,” echoed Chrissy with a smirk, “Be a dear, would you?”

He glared at the two of them for several seconds, then rolled his eyes in exasperation. As he turned and started for the refreshment table he heard Sandy ask, “Would you like to hear the story behind that strawberry-shaped scar on his left butt-cheek?”

“Yeah,” answered Chrissy, “I've always wondered about that.”

Ian let out a big sigh. It was going to be a loooong evening.

Author's Note

As always, suggestions and criticisms are welcome.

Reviews

[John Lauterbach]

Not the way I expected it to play out. I suspect Sandy has a manipulative side she'll bring out to rock the loveboat. Between Ian's fear of Chrissy 'sharing' him and Sandy's ogling of him, I didn't think they would get along. I suppose Chrissy wouldn't know about that, but I think there's some dramatic setups afoot here.

[Tina Kline]

Very enjoyable chapter. This explains why sometimes its better to let the past stay in the past if you can.

[Craig2591]

Thank you.

[Tabitha t]

haha I love the ending...but I wanna know why too!
good chapter very entertaining as always.

[Craig2591]

Thanks for the review.

[Kaya]

I can't believe I just harassed you to write more only to find a new story up!!! That said..

I'm not sure if I've made it clear how much I just adore Chrissy, but she's awesome. I think by now Ian should be expecting the least expected outcome... Its quite often the way with her I think. I love it!! I can't wait for the next one.

[Craig2591]

Thanks. I rewrote part of this. I didn't like the part about Chrissy's old assault charges, so I removed that. She certainly keeps Ian guessing, doesn't she?

There will be more to come, soon. I'm looking forward to seeing what you post soon.