by: KLS

It was hard for Pretty Wife to concentrate on the Mommy and Me activities. She understood that these activities were important in raising an uber Heir. Consolation Husband had said again and again: Junior must be the best!  So she flashed great works of art, the Greek alphabet, and mathematical formulas at Junior, but her heart just wasn't in it. 

In fact, if she thought about it, her heart hadn't been in much since that rainy night six years ago.  If she thought about it long enough, she'd realize that she'd just been going through the motions: getting married to Consolation Husband--even Junior, though a joy, could not pierce the haze she walked in.

But she didn't want to think about it.  So she bundled Junior up and headed out of the Mommy and Me class into the bright sunshine.  She settled Junior into the car seat in her sensible Volvo which was only a reminder of what her life had become: safe, reliable, boxy.  She was not going to think about it.  She'd think about the errands she had to run today: dry cleaners to pick up Consolation Husband's shirts, and a birthday gift for Consolation Husband's secretary.  And maybe she'd pick up some flowers, work on her flower garden.  Gardening never failed to calm her.

She was thinking of the flowers she'd like to plant--daisies, black-eyed susans, impatiens--when there was a knock on the passenger side window.

It was Dinner Guest/Stranger.  He was leaning down, looking into her car.  He looked at her, then in the backseat at Junior.  Then he made a motion with his hand that indicated that he wanted her to roll down her window.  She didn't want to.  She wanted to just pull away, but that would look silly.  She could imagine Stranger telling Consolation Husband.  "Hey, C.H., I saw your wife the other day in town.  I tried to say, 'hi,' but then she just peeled out!" It's not like she could tell Consolation Husband that she was frightened. Frightened of what?  She didn't know, so she rolled down her window.

"Hi," he said brightly.

"Hi," she said.

"I'm glad I ran into you," he said.  And then, before she could respond, he reached his hand inside her car, flipped the lock, and crawled into the passenger seat.  He had to move a few books that were on the seat.  Pretty Wife had picked them up at the library during storytime.

Stranger read the titles, "How to Have the Best Marriage EVER! and The Pirate and the Auctioned Bride.  Interesting titles.  Any good?" He asked before tossing them into the back.

"Get out! What are you doing in here?" Pretty Wife said, looking around her. She had heard about car-jacking on Oprah, but she couldn't remember what she was supposed to do.  She could just get out, but then Junior would still be strapped in his car seat with Stranger. 

"What do you want?" Pretty Wife said, her hand gripping the steering wheel.

Stranger didn't respond right away.  Pretty Wife could feel his gaze on her face.  She just looked straight ahead.  The silence was almost unbearable, and then Junior hit a button on his toy key-chain that played London Bridge.  Junior laughed, and Stranger shifted his gaze away from Pretty Wife to the passenger side window.

"Cute kid," Stranger said.

"Thanks," Pretty Wife said.

"I wanted to talk to you," Stranger said.

"You don't even know me!" Pretty Wife said.

"Maybe not anymore, but I did once.  And I know that Consolation Husband is not who he appears to be."

This again! And suddenly Pretty Wife had an idea.  She slammed her hand down on the horn and just kept pressing it over and over again, loud and insistent. 

"Wait," Stranger said.  "You don't need to do that.  I'm trying to protect you!"

But Pretty Wife didn't want to hear anymore.  And soon, just as she predicted, Betsy from the fabric store--where Pretty Wife had just bought fabric to make Junior's Halloween costume--came out of her store. Pretty Wife just kept pressing the horn.

Stranger took one last look at her.  Pretty Wife could've sworn she saw an element of sadness in his eyes, eyes that seemed so familiar to her.  They seemed so familiar that she stopped pressing the horn, just as he was getting out of the car.

"Wait," she said, not knowing why.  But he was gone.

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...to be continued...

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Disclaimer: This fiction is intended as parody only; the characters, plot, etc., are the intellectual property of its authors. This story is not in any way affiliated with the Lifetime Channel, Lifetime Television, or the Lifetime Original Movie franchise.


by: Neftzer and friends (AAB, TRVMB, JMG, KLS) (c)2003
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