Once in Love
Episode Six
Joan shows up the next morning uninvited at Mrs. Williams’ house, and Mrs. Williams sees her as she is about to take her daughter to school.
Isabel, being the first to spot Joan, says, “Mom, that is the lady who got your phone number from you.
How does she know our house?” She asks her mother, who is equally shocked.
They were about to enter the car so she could drop Isabel off at school. “Oh, Joan, what a surprise. What did you come here to do?” Mrs. Williams asks after seeing Joan.
Isabel doesn’t care to greet her; she just detests Joan right from the first day she bumped into her.
“Oh, my friend, it’s good to meet you again. I didn’t know you lived in this neighborhood. I came here to check on a friend,” Joan says, flinging her hair and purposefully turning around so that Mrs. Williams would see the designer clothes she wore from head to toe.
Joan had always been materialistic from the beginning, which was one of the reasons Mrs. Williams left her while they were in high school.
“Oh, my dear, I live here with my family.
Sorry, I’m in a haste now. I would have ushered you in to see where I live, but don’t worry, I will call you when I drop my daughter off at school,” Mrs. Williams says as she enters the car with Isabel sitting at the back.
The gate man opens the gate, and she drives off.
Joan just stares at her as she drives off. While in the car, Isabel says, “Mom, I don’t think dad will like that woman, even with the way she dresses.
You know dad is coming back soon, and he will not want to see you talking to her. She dresses differently from you.”
Mrs. Williams knew her daughter would talk about Joan where she leaves her.
“Baby, you know she dresses that way because she is not yet married; when she gets married, she will change,” she assures Isabel, even though she knows such a change is unlikely.
She has always known Joan to be the kind of person who dresses as she pleases, and she never saw her changing, not even in the nearest future.
“Don’t worry, baby, I will talk to her, and she will change,” she says.
Isabel jumps up happily, and she opens the car. Isabel goes out to class while she drives back home.
In class, Isabel talks about a lady that showed up at their house, and her mother says it’s her high school best friend.
“If you see the way she dressed, I won’t even want to talk about the way she walked,” Isabel narrates to her friends and even mimics the way Joan walked, making them all laugh.
Mrs. Williams, on the other hand, goes straight home to clean.
She stops at the gate and honks for the gate man to open it when she sees Joan again.
“Ah, I thought you had gone? And to think about the fact that I spent so much time before dropping Isabel off at school,” Joan just smiles as she follows her inside the house.
“Don’t worry, I knew you wouldn’t take long anywhere. You know I just came to this town, and I don’t have many people I talk to here.
I hope you’re not angry that I’m just everywhere,” Joan asks, keeping a pitiful face.
Mrs. Williams chooses not to say anything to avoid making Joan feel bad. She wonders how Isabel will react when she comes back and sees the woman she detests inside their house.
She also thinks about how her husband will react if he returns and sees Joan there.
She might just go home before that time,” Mrs. William thinks, disconnecting herself from the thought of everything that will happen.
“My friend, your house is so beautiful, but this is the second time I am running into you and I haven’t seen your husband, is he out of town or he is too busy with work?”
Joan asks, and Mrs. William contemplates how she will respond to that question.
“Why is he asking about my husband? Does she know him?” she wonders but decides to just answer the question.
“He has gone out for work for now and will be back soon, don’t worry, you will get to see him,” Mrs. William says, even though she hoped Joan wouldn’t come back because she wouldn’t be able to say no to her.
“Business trip you mean, or is he out there with some other woman?
You know that is what a lot of men these days do, they leave their wives at home running after those small girls, I know a lot of them,” Joan says, keeping a serious face.
Mrs. William tries to ignore her words and, in a bid to change the subject, gets up from the sofa.
“Isabel should be waiting for me to pick her up from school by now. I will drop you off then go and pick her, come with me,” Mrs. William says, although Joan’s words keep ringing in her ears.
Despite the doubts raised by Joan, Mrs. William reflects on her marriage, believing her husband would not betray her.
“He has gone for a business trip, not running off with some girl.
That is what I need to believe,” she says, āngrily hītting the brakes as she almost has a truck run them over.
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