Page 45 of Save the Date

“I love your blazer,” a pretty redhead shouted from across the table. “Where’d you get it?”

“Eileen Fisher,” Emma replied, unsure if she was being made fun of or not.

“I think I follow her on TikTok!”

This was highly unlikely considering Eileen Fisher was a traditional and elegant clothing brand mostly utilized by older women and not fashion influencers. But Emma let it slide.

“How do you know, Kyle?”

“Who’s Kyle?” the redhead replied. “Do you mean Kevin?” Before Emma could ask “Who’s Kevin?” and get stuck in a Hollywood club edition of “Who’s on First?” she recognized someone out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh my god,” Emma exclaimed loud enough for Matt to hear her.

“You okay?”

“I’m… I… I have to pee.” Emma shot up and took off in the direction of the neon restroom sign. After escaping the VIP section, she looked back to find Matt taking another round of shots as Kyle cheered everyone on. Feeling safe that he was no longer watching, Emma changed course and headed toward the club exit. She needed to make a phone call.

“Hello?” Jackie answered drowsily. At 11:43 p.m., it was far past her bedtime and Emma was a bit surprised she’d answered at all. Maybe she could sense that something was amiss. Some women had a sixth sense about these things and could do that. Unlike Emma, who had held on to the belief that she was being pranked until the moment Ryan left their apartment with her engagement ring in his pocket.

“Hey. Sorry to call you so late.” Emma paced the littered sidewalk. She’d tried to find a spot that was far enough away from the club to hear her sister on the phone but not far enough away that she could be kidnapped without anyone noticing. “I’m out with Matt and…” Emma wondered if this was going to be one of those moments that changed both their lives forever. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to carry that responsibility, but she also knew her sister deserved to know what she had just seen.

“We’re at the club in Hollywood and I think I just saw Chris.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“He was…uh…dancing. With another woman.” Emma bracedherself for the intensity of Jackie’s reaction. Instead, she was met with silence. “Hello?”

“Sorry, was just checking my email now that I’m up. This one mom in Izzy’s class keeps letting her kid bring a hamster to school and—”

“Did you not hear me? Chris is out in a club dancing with another woman,” Emma cried out.

“Oh my god, Emma. Do you think Chris is cheating on me?” Jackie asked before bursting out laughing. “I know Chris is out. He goes out all the time.”

Now it was Emma’s turn not to respond. She’d known Chris had been a big partier when he was younger, but she’d always assumed that had stopped once he became a dad.

“You know he grinds with other women?” Emma finally asked, growing increasingly suspicious that her sister might be in some sort of open marriage. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but Jackie wasn’t exactly the type to break social norms. She loved social norms.

“I don’t know what he does. But I know he’s not cheating.” She let out a large yawn. “Deep down, Chris is afamily guy. His mother would kill him if he had an affair.”

Emma had never heard of this type of logic before, but she had met Chris’s mom, who was quite formidable. “You really don’t mind that he’s out here, dancing with other people, without you?”

“Mind? It’s great. He gets it out of his system, and I’m not expected to leave the house after nine.”

As a couples therapist, Emma shouldn’t have been so shocked to learn that her sister and brother-in-law had figured out a constructive compromise that allowed them both to have their needs met. This was exactly the type of negotiation she often encouraged in her clients even though it required a level of trust not everyone was capable of.

Yet, despite all her training, Emma was still finding it a bitdifficult to believe that her sister was totally cool with this situation. Jackie had once stopped speaking to Chris for an entire week after he liked another mom’s bikini photo on Instagram. But maybe that was because other people she knew could see it? And it was highly unlikely the PTA from McKinley Elementary School was out partying on a weeknight.

“They were very close together,” Emma murmured into the phone, just to make sure she had covered all her bases.

“That’s how people dance, Emma,” Jackie replied with another yawn. “How’s it going with Matt? Is he still as hot as last time?”

“Yes, he is still very hot,” Emma said with a laugh. Jackie’s obvious crush on Emma’s maybe husband was perhaps the most unexpected twist in what had been a whirlwind of a few months. She wasn’t used to her sister thinking much of her partners and it gave her a bit of a thrill to finally have something Jackie would want for herself.

“Take a photo for me.”

“I’m not going to do that. I’m glad I called though because I was starting to worry that I couldn’t marry someone who enjoys going to clubs if I hate them so much. But maybe we could work something out like you and—” Emma suddenly stopped her mindless pacing. “Let me call you back tomorrow.” Emma hung up as a concerned Matt made his way toward her.

“Hey, I’m sorry if you were having a bad time. You could have told me and I would have—”

---