Playground mom

There she is. I am going to make my move now and ask her about the progressive dinner. It's my way in.

I walked closer to her. She looked beautiful of course. I wonder if she puts on make up. I should do that maybe. But when? Oh crap, there's yogurt on my shirt. Maybe if I rub it in it won't be visible.

Oh no, Alexa, the mom from Ms. Curley's class is talking to her. I am not sure I can break in between them. Well, maybe I can befriend them both.

"Hi!" I said.

The women jerked their heads up. Did they see the yogurt. I looked down at my shirt, then up. Then they looked down at my shirt and looked up.

"Yogurt," I said.

"Yeah, I see," said Alexa, a tight smile across her face.

"It's hard to not end up with some kind of food on you," said Angela.

Thanks for the save, I thought. Maybe that's a good sign.

"Molly, right? Audra's mom from Ms. Peter's class," Angela said.

"YES!" I said. "And you're Angela. You are soo pretty."

"Uh, thanks," Angela said. "I thought I looked pretty dumpy this morning."

Alexa looked at Angela, then at me. Then at Angela.

"I am Alexa," Alexa said, thrusting her hand at me, flashing her very large diamond ring.

I grabbed her hand. This was going great. Great.

"Damn! That's a huge diamond," I said. "You got a rich one."

Alexa's eyes squinted as though she was trying to see something. Maybe the yogurt?

"John Michael does well," she said. "Thanks."

"John Michael," I said.

"Yes, my husband, John Michael," Alexa said, looking to Angela.

"What can I do for you Molly," Angela said, while her daughter pulled on her sweatshirt.

"Well, I wanted to see if you are doing the progressive dinner for the PTA. It's going to be so fun, or at least that's what I have been told," I said.

"Well, we did it last year," Angela said. "We may do it again. It's just a lot of effort."

"Totally," I said. "My house is a wreck, so I figure this will kick me into action so I can get my shit together."

Alexa and Angela gave me the same smile. Exactly the same, as though they were trying to prevent a fart from escaping too quickly. Maybe I should work on that smile. I think I could get it down with some practice.

"So you are hosting this year one of the houses?" Alexa asked me. "Angela did dessert last year, I think. We were at a Michigan game."

"Well, yeah, I think I am doing appetizers," I said. "I probably will just get something from Costco. But I could make cocktail wieners in jam in a crockpot. That's like, the best, but where do you even get cocktail wieners these days. They're hard to find."

"Cocktail wieners and jam?" Angela said, her face twisting slightly. "That sounds ... interesting."

"It's so good. You'll love it. Maybe we will be paired up!" I said. I knew how to clinch it. I knew how to get her to sign up to be in my group.

I was inspired. I had a bit of gossip that I has been storing up in hopes of entrancing Angela, but I risked sharing it with Alexa.

"You never know, maybe there will be some good dessert with this progressive dinner," I said, waggling my eyebrows.

"Huh?" Angela said.

"Well, I heard that one time, a few years ago, one of these dinners sort of broke down into like a swinger fest," I said, smiling with my most devious smile. "Like everybody started mauling everyone else after a couple bottles of wine. I never did figure out from this story where the kids were when this went down. My dentist told me. She heard about it."

Alexa's face crinkled. Angela's face whitened.

"I doubt that happened," Angela said.

"Oh, I think it happened," I said, taking a small hop. "After my dentist told me, I asked around. Apparently it really did happen and now they are limiting the alcohol that we are allowed to serve. Max one drink per house, which is a bummer, but you know, maybe a good idea. Though, depending on who is in your dinner progression -- maybe it would be fun!" I said with a laugh. I had them now. This was too good.

"Yeah, um," Angela mumbled. "Give me a second Darcey," Angela said sharply to her daughter who was pulling on her sweatshirt vigorously.

"So you are for sure doing this progressive dinner then?" Angela asked me.

"Oh definitely," I said with a smile. I held out my hands, hoping she would grab them and maybe we could spin around. "I have been wanting to do it ever since I heard about the swinging -- I mean I am not a swinger -- but it would be fun to get to know some more people. Not like that, but you know."

"I don't know if we will be in town," Alexa said, staring at Angela for a minute. "The cottage, you know."

Hmm. Not ideal to lose out on Alexa. She had a lot of sway with the playground moms. But maybe that won't be so bad. I need more time with Angela to befriend her. Angela is nicer. Less competition with Alexa gone.

"Cottage, right," I said. "I wish I had a cottage. Is it really like a cottage, with fitted stone walls and a thatched roof and wild raspberries and vines twisting the sides?"

"It's wood, I think," she said. "We built it on Torch Lake." Alexa looked at me and then turned to Angela. "I have to go Angie. See you at tennis."

"Tennis," I said.

"I should be going too Molly," Angela said, her daughter pulling again at her.

"Maybe we could do a playdate," I said.

"Maybe," she said and walked away.

That went well, I think. I need a new piece of gossip, though. Where am I going to find something that tops that? That's just too good. Maybe I should check my sources on that swinger thing. Maybe they didn't believe me. Swingers! So fun.