A CUPPA TEA AND SOME HOT NEWS

A CUPPA TEA AND A SOME HOT NEWS

Do you want to know a secret?

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“Yoo-hoo!”

“Come on in, Maddie,” Charlie said.

Maddie walked through the doorway with a perplexed look on her face.

“How did you know it was me? Are you doing that esp thing again?”

Charlie smiled and replied, “Of course, and why not?” Then she laughed. “Oh, Maddie, you’re so gullible.”

She put her arm around her friend’s shoulder as they walked to the kitchen table. “First of all, you called not more than five minutes ago saying you’d like to come for tea. Second, you live across the street. I saw you leave your house and head for mine, and lastly, who on earth but you would open the door and yell, ‘yoo-hoo’?”

Maddie sat and said, “Well, Charlie, (although her friend’s name was Charliene, she always called her ‘Charlie’) you should be more careful. It could have been a burglar, or maybe a murderer, or well, just anyone looking to do you harm.”

Charlie laughed, “Maddie, do you really think, and use your head on this one, do you really think that if someone were about to ‘do me harm,’ they’d open the door and holler ‘yoo-hoo’? Seriously?”

“Well, you make it sound so silly.”

Charlie gave a light chuckle. “Yeah, well, we both know how silly we can be. Neither of us is what I’d call completely normal. Remember the time, we went out with our husbands and to everyone’s shock, I stood on the barstool and started to sing?”

“Oh, my lord! Yes. I doubt I’ll ever forget that night. You had people staring as though you lost your mind.” Maddie rolled her eyes.

“What a fun night it was and what a great way to celebrate my sixtieth birthday!” Charlie walked to the stove and put the kettle on.

Laughter finally broke through Maddie’s attempt at reserve. “I was terrified thinking you’d slip and fall breaking your skull.”

It was Charlie’s turn to laugh as she replied, “It’s a good thing Larry was there. If you remember, he grabbed my hand to keep my steady.”

“Charlie, he was laughing as hard as the rest of us. I really doubt he’d have been much help if you’d have slipped but the upside was that the bartender was so amused, he bought us all round of drinks. You’re right, it certainly was quite a night.”

“Oh, and, Maddie, how about the cruise to Cozumel for your birthday? Remember? You got up and danced around the dining room with all the waiters! I laughed so hard; I was sure I was going to wet my pants! Then you got Jerry up to dance with you! What a hoot!”

“Yeah, that was fun, wasn’t it?” Maddie said softly.

Too quickly, Maddie got quiet and serious. “What happened to us, Charlie? We always considered ourselves blonde, bold, and beautiful.”

Charlie reached for her friend’s hand and said, “That was well over ten years ago, Maddie and age has a way of slowing us down a bit. We’re still bold! We’ve never been the kind to back down and I doubt we ever will, and I dare anyone to have the audacity to say we’re not beautiful! As for the blonde? Well, I just got tired of the constant visits to the hair salon.”

She stood and retrieved the whistling kettle from the stove. She poured the hot water in the teapot and placed that and a plate of scones on the table. Once she sat, she reached for Maddie’s hand and said, “Okay, Maddie, spill it! All of a sudden you look unhappy. No! Not unhappy! More like you need to make a decision and aren’t sure of yourself. Is everything all right with you and Jerry?”

Maddie’s eyes opened wide. “What? Oh, God, yes. We’re fine! It’s not that at all. No, it’s not that and I do have a decision to make and I’m not sure if it’s the right one for me or not.”

“Okay, Maddie, I think whatever it is, it needs more scones and maybe a dash of whiskey in our tea.”

Maddie laughed at her friends “a dash of whiskey in our tea” answer for everything. Charlie poured the tea and placed a walnut/cranberry scone on each plate and added a teaspoon of Irish whiskey to each cup. She sat once again, and placed her folded hands on the table. “Talk to me, Maddie. What’s going on?”

“Charlie, we just celebrated my seventy-fifth birthday and ..”

She paused and took a breath.

Charlie replied, “I know, Maddie. We went with our husbands to that new lounge in town, and well, we both got a bit tipsy, but what fun we had, as usual.”

“Charlie, when we got home and were getting ready for bed, I took a good-long look in the mirror at myself.”

“So what, Maddie? We all do that and whether or not you want to believe this, you’re still gorgeous!”

“Maybe, although I never considered myself to be gorgeous. Attractive? Yes, but gorgeous? Well anyway! I was thinking, maybe I should be as bold and brave as you and allow my hair to go gray.”

Charlie began to laugh. “Is that what has you so upset? I thought you said it was something serious. I’m sorry for laughing, but, Maddie, you’d be a very hot-looking grandma! Go for it!”

Maddie relaxed a bit and began to smile as she slyly looked at her friend. “Charlie, there’s more. Another reason that’s swaying me in that direction.”

Charlie placed her cup on the saucer and stared with concern into the eyes of her friend.

“Maddie, I know you’re not pregnant. We’ve already passed that biological deadline decades ago.”

Maddie’s smile grew as she began, “I guess, well, I think, and this of course is only my own opinion, but well, I don’t think I’d look that great as a blonde-haired GREAT grandma!”

Charlie’s eyes opened wide as she almost spit her mouthful of tea across the table.

“Wait! What?”

Maddie nodded her head and Charlie jumped off her chair and wrapped her arms tightly around her best friend as happy tears began to glisten in her eyes.