The Ladies Room
The game was too fun not to play. From one question to the next the participant's rankings changed. Apparently, the timing of the response mattered as well.
During one of the pauses between the questions, the handsome hunk who remained by her side during the game introduced himself. “My name is Jorgen Backman. I live on a farm outside of Ashbrook. What’s your name?”
“A farmer?” Pam matched his body structure with his proclaimed profession. He had to have thrown a lot of hay bales to get a chest that broad.
“Yes. And you are?”
“I am?” Maybe it was something in his voice, or the rich blue in his eyes that threw her off. Intrigued to figure out what it was, Pam had forgotten the question.
“This is the part where you tell me your name. Or you make up one, so I can’t find you on social media.” He grinned.
“Pam. My name is Pam Wagner. I’m a nurse at the senior living center.”
“So that’s where they hide all the pretty women.” He nodded his approval, and they were on to the next question.
The chatting went back and forth between the people at the table who Pam learned also lived in or around Ashbrook. William, the older gentleman who she guessed was Jorgen’s father, joked cordially with Jorgen and another man named Sam. Like Jorgen, Sam’s eyes caught Pam’s attention, but his salty personality made it difficult for her to admire him or them.
From their conversation, she learned the three men worked together but lived on separate farms. And, contrary to her initial impression, William was not Jorgen’s actual father. But, something deeper than they cared to reveal forged the paternal like bond between them. When they weren’t playing the game, all three men bantered back and forth about stories they had lived together in the past.
Unfamiliar with the people, Pam felt more at ease experiencing the stories as an observer. When they included Nancy, she presented her way of avoiding situations. “I have to go to the bathroom.” She stood to leave and waited for Pam to join her. Pam checked on her glass to find that both of their glasses were empty. It wasn’t until she rose to her feet that Pam's bladder forced her to admit that she too shared the need to use the ladies' room.
She politely excused herself, wrapped her purse around her shoulder, and motioned to speak.
Nancy pulled on Pam’s elbow and practically dragged her to the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind them, she wagged her finger at Pam. “You can look at the pretty man, but you cannot touch.”
“What are you talking about?” Pam tried to hide the obvious by taking an interest in the paper towel dispenser. The man who had kept her attention for most of the evening was even more tempting than one of those dark chocolate squares that came wrapped in gold foil.
“Jorgen Backman is known as Jorgy Porgy in three counties.”
“Jorgy Porgy?” She scrunched her face. The nickname made no sense.
“The nursery rhyme. Georgie Porgy pudding and pie. Kissed the girls and made them cry.” Nancy tilted her hand and waved her fingers towards Pam as though she were trying to summon the ending of the poem out of Pam’s mouth.
“She isn’t kidding.” A woman closed the stall door behind her. “He broke my best friend's heart.”
Pam’s mouth fell open.
The woman added. "What made it worse was Jorgen knew another guy wanted to go out with her.”
Pam had heard about small towns being hotbeds for drama, but never in a million years did she imagine she’d witness it firsthand. “This sounds like an episode of As the Wheat Spins.”
Just as Pam turned to walk away from the conversation, the woman added, “Oh, Jorgen’s been different ever since. But my theory is a tiger doesn’t ever really lose its stripes. Jorgen knows how to catch a woman but doesn’t know what to do once he gets her.”
Pam had no idea on how to handle the dump of information from a stranger. What was her motive for trashing a man’s reputation?
“By the way, this is Amanda,” Nancy introduced the woman who was quick to join the conversation. “She is cousins with Marianna who works in the intensive living unit of the senior center.”
If things weren’t confusing enough, the women just added a layer to the tapestry of small town life. Pam was friendly with Marianna which meant the odds of her running into Amanda were inevitable. Whether or not she liked it, she was friends by association with the hot guy’s enemies. “Everyone is related here.” Pam was still learning the ins and outs of small town living. How it was possible for any of them to not marry a cousin eluded her.
“Pretty much,” Amanda nodded to confirm her statement.
“So, Jorgen is a no go?” Her heart hurt when she said it. Before she was aware of his background, he seemed like a guy she’d want to spend more time with.
Both women nodded.
“Okay, I won’t talk to him anymore.” It felt like someone pinched her in the middle of her chest. She motioned to go into the stall.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” Both Nancy and Amanda rushed to stop her.
“You can’t be rude to him,” Nancy corrected.
“Well, you can,” Amanda added. She raised her left eyebrow in amusement of the imagined situation. Her facial expression relaxed, and Amanda returned to the position of a neutral person in the matter. “But, you’ll find yourself regretting it the first time he has to help you with something. And, that definitely will happen at some point in time.”
Pam had grown tired of the conversation. She wanted. No, she needed to move on to a more constructive topic.
“Jorgen and I have never been fond of each other, but we respect each other. It goes back to when we were on the playground in elementary school.” Amanda held up her hands like they were scale balances. “Yet, if there is a fire, Jorgen will be at my house with all the other volunteer firefighters trying to save my belongings.” She tilted her hands to demonstrate the shift in power, “And every couple of years, I’ll have one of his cousins in my high school English class.”
It made sense to Pam. Jorgen and Amanda hadn’t seen eye to eye on a lot of things. Jorgen probably had something about Amanda’s history that she knew would come out. So, Amanda was getting her side of the story in first. Pam wouldn’t have approached the situation that way, but she wasn’t the type to judge a person until a situation tested them and proved what they were made of. “Okay, be nice, but not too nice.” It was going to be how she handled both Jorgen and Amanda.
“Yes,” both women nodded.
“Now, can I go to the bathroom?”
Nancy and Amanda startled as though they had just been reminded why they went to the restroom in the first place.
“Sure. I’ll wait out here for you,” Nancy offered.
Less than ten minutes ago, she was close to falling in love with the man. It didn't make sense, but she felt connected to Jorgen. In the short time they had been together, she felt at ease with him. For once, she hadn't had to try to be funny or impressive. She also admired the way he revered his friends, especially William. However, she also believed in heeding warnings. A great amount of heartache came her way because she ignored her family's concerns about her ex-boyfriend Mark.
In the short amount of time she had been in the ladies’ room Pam had changed her mind. There was nothing that could make her want to have anything to do with Jorgen or his troublesome group of friends.