Page 107 of Atmosphere

Joan stared at her. “I’m not allowed to want company?”

“Who would you bring?” Barbara laughed as she grabbed a bag of ice. “You’re just going to sit with Mom and Dad all night.”

Barbara put the ice in the cart and started walking to the register. Joan followed her, each step growing heavier.

“I am not just going to sit with Mom and Dad all night,” Joan said.

“Do you have any male friends?”

“I have friends, Barb. What do you take me for?”

“You have a man you want to bring to my wedding?”

“Yes, maybe,” Joan said. “Or I could bring a girlfriend. Someone to have fun with.”

“You want to bring awomanas your date?”

Joan felt her shoulders tense, her gut turn.

“What you’re asking is not only preposterous, it’s also tacky,” Barbara said. She walked up to the cash register and then leaned in and whispered to Joan: “You do realize bringing a woman as your date will make you look like a…you know…”

Barbara smiled as if this was hilarious, and then turned her attention to the cart. She unloaded the groceries onto the conveyor belt and made small talk with the cashier.

Joan simply stood there, staring at her, wondering how it was so easy for Barbara to stick a knife in someone and then carry on withthe mundanity of her day. She did not move until Barbara stared back at her with all the groceries packed in bags and in the cart. “Joan, what are you doing? Let’s go.”

They picked up Frances from ballet. Joan could not look at her sister the entire way home.

When they got back to Daniel’s house, Frances ran into the family room to watch TV. Daniel was in the kitchen, grabbing things for the grill.

“Good trip?” he said.

“We got everything we went for,” Barbara said. “But somebody got a little touchy about not having a guest at the wedding.”

Daniel looked at Joan and then at Barbara. “What do you mean?”

“We don’t need to talk about this,” Joan said.

“You’re the maid of honor,” Daniel said. “Of course you can bring a guest.”

“It’s fine,” Joan said.

“But she doesn’t have a date,” Barbara said. “She has never had a date to a single wedding. She used to ask me to go as her date…and, listen, I’ll be busy.” Barbara laughed.

“Barb is right about that,” said Joan.

“She was asking to bring a girlfriend,” Barbara said to him, as if this was the funniest thing in the world.

“A woman who is my friend, but it’s not important, really. Let’s drop the subject.”

Daniel looked at Barbara and nodded toward the dining room. “Can I talk to you in the other room?” he said.

Barbara looked shocked as the two of them went into the other room. Joan put away the ice.

When they came back in, Barbara had a fake smile on her face.

“Joan, we would love for you to invite whomever you would like to our wedding,” Barbara said. “As your guest.”

Daniel walked by Joan and put his hand ever so briefly on her shoulder.

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