Bill fiddled with his bow tie, wondering when the dinner would be brought out. When his neighbors, Paul and Joy, invited him to their dinner party, he knew right away he had no desire to attend. They were only inviting him because he was new in the neighborhood, anyway. But then they said that they had a lovely single friend that they wanted to meet- Livvy or Libby or something. He couldn't remember her name, but he wouldn't have come if it weren't for her. After a full year working as a gynecologist he still hasn't gone on a date or even made one friend. His days were quickly growing lonely.
As he crossed and uncrossed his legs he found himself wishing he were at his home next door all alone again. Of course the single friend he'd come here to meet had called in at the last minute claiming sickness. Now he sat at a dinner table uncomfortably trying to join the conversation of the other guests. God, he was the worst excuse for a doctor and this Libby was not doing him any favors by being absent.
Eventually Joy brought out the chicken and pasta dishes, and he helped himself to plenty. Glasses clinked and the conversation died enough for him to strategize about how he could leave as soon as possible. Just then the doorbell rang. Joy slid out of her seat, rushing to the door. When she returned, a young woman with short brown hair stood at her side, her cheeks flushed pink from the cold outside. Despite the flashy white dress she wore, he couldn't stop himself from looking into her large green eyes. Luckily, she was looking right back. A smile tugged at his lips. If this was Libby, the wait was worth it.
She tore her eyes from him, looking to Paul. "Sorry I'm late. The club I've been singing at had to call me in last minute."
Joy touched the woman's arm. "It's fine," she turned to the table, "everyone, this is Virginia Johnson."
So, she wasn't Libby, but maybe Bill hadn't come to this dinner party for nothing. He decided he no longer wished to leave early. Virginia sat at the last seat open- practically the other end of the table, but she kept glancing his way. People kept trying to talk to her about her job, or to him about his new home, but the two of them only half listened, drawn to each other the whole time. They managed to speak a few words to each other, but nothing of importance.
When desserts came out, though, she began asking him about his job. Despite being on opposite ends of the table, their conversation flowed fine. The other dinner guests hardly noticed their private conversation going on.
The meal ended all too soon. He offered to walk her out to her car. When they got there, she leaned her back against it. In the dark of the night he couldn't quite see her face, but he knew her eyes searched his.
"So the father of your kids," Bill started, but then slammed his mouth shut. Just because he wanted the answer didn't mean she'd welcome this question.
"We're no longer married," she replied. "I didn't love him."
"Even when you were married?"
She shrugged, looking up the road. "I didn't particularly love either of my husbands, but the second time I married it was for kids. Is that unusual?"
"Is it unusual that you didn't marry for love?" He'd never thought of such a thing. Love, sex, marriage- it all seemed tightly connected in his mind. "What do you think?" He asked her.
"I think women often confuse love with physical attraction." She stated. "They often think that love and sex are the same thing. But they don't have to be. They don't even have to go together."
Intrigued, he mulled it over in his head. She seemed like she knew more about what he wanted to research before he himself even began researching. "I don't think I've ever heard a woman express such an opinion."
She smiled. "It's not a theory I usually trot out at dinner parties." A car drove past them, and they realized they must have been standing in Joy and Paul's front yard for a while. "I should probably get going. Maybe I'll see you around?"
"Hopefully," he nodded, helping her into her car.
He watched her car disappear down the road, wondering if he would ever see her again. For once his life seemed to be taking direction. He knew he would find a way to see her again and make it work for them.
Years later, sitting in their lake house, Bill and Virginia sit at the kitchen table. Tessa and Henry wanted to go out into the town, but Bill and Virginia decided to stay in. Sitting next to each other, they pick at their dinners, staring down the brown paper package in front of them. Years of their research lays within the pages of that book. They decide to open it, flipping through the pages of what will hopefully be sold to people across the country.
They turn the pages, already knowing what each page says, but enjoying the smells of the fresh paper and the crack of the spine. "I'm glad I found a way to see you again." Bill murmurs, caressing their names on the front cover.
Virgina's brows draw together. "What?"
"All those years ago," he clarifies. "When we left that dinner party we had no idea we would ever see each other again. But I'm glad we did. And I'm glad we made it work and that you joined me as a partner. When I went to that dinner party that night, I didn't expect to find my future wife and work partner."
Virginia stands from her chair, perching herself on his lap instead. She winds her arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we hadn't started dating. I'd probably still be a nightclub singer. I'd never have published a book, or even finished my degree."
"I don't think that's true." He rests his hands on her hips.
"Really?"
He nods. "You would have found a way to this work. Even if we weren't already in a relationship you would have found a way to complete this book with me. I would have needed a partner anyway. You were meant to do this work. What we have is more than just a regular courtship and marriage. We have that plus the work." He kisses her forehead. "But even if we didn't meet at that dinner party, we would have found each other and courted and married and written this book- just maybe in a different order."