Laura’s Night

Laura heard a knock at the door. It was her next door neighbor, Evelyn Mercer, holding a gray envelope.

“Eve,” said Laura as she opened the door. “Please come in.”

Evelyn entered, extended her arm and said, “Vince and I are hosting a dinner party next week. We’d love for you and Omar to come.”

“Oh! That’s so nice of you. Thank you!” Laura opened the envelope and pulled out a glossy card. The address, date, and time were written in an elegant font.

“We hope to see you there,” said Evelyn. “I have to get going, but I wanted to drop this off instead of just putting it in your mailbox.”

An hour later, Omar returned home from work. Unlike Laura, he was accustomed to upper-class life. His family had always been comfortable. They owned a successful business founded by his great-grandfather that had supported them well and continued to grow.

Laura’s upbringing was almost the opposite. She was the first of her family to graduate college and had worked for everything she had—years of school, years of hard work, years of waiting for it to pay off. And it finally had. She earned this life, and she was proud of it.

About six months ago, they moved to one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city. Their house was big and old, with high ceilings and wide wooden floors. She was still getting used to everything—the house, the street, the feeling of having her dream realized. Being next door to Evelyn and Vincent, a wealthy couple who threw lavish dinner parties and hand-delivered invitations was like something out of a movie.

It was just next door, but Laura didn’t want to seem eager, so she planned to arrive at least ten minutes late. The evening was warm and the street was quiet. She could hear the party before they reached the driveway—voices, music, the low hum of a good evening already underway. A pricy bottle of wine in hand, she and Omar walked over.

She stopped on the sidewalk and just stared at the Mercer house. It was three stories, brick and stone, with steep gabled peaks and bay windows and a covered porch at the top of broad stone steps. Ornate white trim ran along the gables. The brick chimney rose from the left side of the roof. Two old maples flanked the house, their large, dark green leaves were just starting to turn gold and red at the edges, wide canopies reaching out over the sidewalk.

“Come on,” said Omar, gesturing toward the gate that led to the backyard.

She followed Omar through the gate and then stopped again.

The yard was strung with fairy lights—threaded along the wooden fence and around the canopies of four cloth gazebos. The lights were warm and low, casting everything in gold. Tables set with white linen, candles already burning in the centerpieces. Each table had its own small vase with an arrangement of lovely red and pink chrysanthemums, yellow and pink alstroemerias, with little blue speckles of forget-me-nots. People moved through it all, glasses in hand, voices low and easy. Evelyn had clearly thought about every detail.

Evelyn appeared almost instantaneously, warm and unhurried, and took the bottle of wine from Laura’s hands before she could even offer it, then disappeared back into the house. Vincent was sitting at one of the tables near the patio. He stood when he saw them. They talked for a while—easy conversation, the kind she had come to expect from him. Eventually, she and Omar floated apart into the party, and Laura was on her own.

Laura walked around observing the yard while the party grew bigger and everyone mingled.

In the corner of the yard, she noticed a small vegetable garden. It looked slightly weedy and half-neglected, but still healthy. She couldn’t help but smile, remembering all the days she’d spent gardening with her mother as a kid. She wondered if Evelyn tended to it herself or if she paid a gardener. Either seemed plausible, she thought.

She wandered over to a small, long table with various drinks and glasses spread out. A man wearing all black stood behind the table.

“What would you like, ma’am?” asked the man.

“Could I get a white wine?” she said, picking up a wine glass. As the bartender poured her drink, a woman approached.

“When you’re done with that, honey, can you make me a Shirley Temple?” said the woman.

“Sure thing,” the bartender smiled.

Laura made small talk with the woman as the bartender made her drink.

“So, how do you know the Mercers?” asked the woman.

“Oh, I live next door. You?”

“Oh, you must be Laura! I’m Kate, I’m an old friend of Eve’s. We went to high school together.”

They chatted for a few minutes, and then Kate was pulled away by another guest. Laura went back to wandering.

A few minutes later, she noticed the gate pop open and a woman walk through. Behind her, a man—likely her husband—seemed reluctant to enter. It almost looked like the woman was dragging him. She watched them slowly walk to their seats, then to the bar without speaking to anyone.

Just then, she heard the dinks of silverware tapping on glass. She looked up to see Evelyn standing on the patio.

“Everyone, if you haven’t already, please take a look at the seating chart over there,” Evelyn gestured to an easel standing on the patio, which held a framed poster of a printed seating chart. “Dinner will be served shortly!”

She glided down the steps and disappeared into the small crowd. Laura walked over to the easel and looked for her name. When she saw it, she was shocked.

“We’re at the main table?” she heard Omar say. She realized her husband was standing right next to her.

“How did that happen?” she replied.

Omar shrugged. “They must really like us.”

As she walked toward the table, she still couldn’t wrap her mind around how quickly Evelyn and Vincent had accepted her. She tried to stay calm and suppress the giddy smile growing across her cheeks.

They found their way to the table and sat down. She noticed the reluctant man from earlier was sitting near one end. But other than Evelyn and Vincent, she didn’t recognize anyone. She heard music and suddenly noticed someone sitting on the patio with a cello. The entire evening was turning out to be just as enchanting as she’d imagined.

Moments later, four caterers came spilling out from the back door and distributing small bowls amongst the guests. Cabbage and potato soup. Laura had expected something fancier, but it smelled amazing. She sipped it from her spoon as she listened to the buzz of conversations around her.

The main course was filet mignon with a small leafy salad on the side. Now, this is fancy, she thought. The meat was so tender it fell apart like butter on her fork. It took all of her strength not to scoop it up in one bite.

A few minutes into the meal, Vincent stood and tapped a fork against a wine glass.

“Everyone, if I could have just a moment of your attention.” Vincent spoke confidently, and paused. “I won’t take up much of your time. I just want to thank you all for coming to this party. You all know how I enjoy my gatherings. I want to thank my wife Evelyn for making so many arrangements. I truly could not have brought you all here without her.” He paused, looking around the yard.

“Look at all these faces,” he continued, extending his arms. “This is beautiful. You all have a special place in my heart. Especially all of you at this table I’m standing at, right here.”

Vincent went down the line, saying a few words about each guest at the main table. When he got to Laura, he said, “And my newest friends, my next-door neighbors, Laura and Omar. I know you’ve been here for six months already, but I hope you feel welcomed to the neighborhood.” He made eye contact with Laura, smiling. Then he continued thanking the rest of the guests at the table.

Laura could feel herself blushing.

“How flattering,” whispered Omar, pushing his elbow into Laura’s arm, smiling warmly. She flashed him a wide grin.

The buzz of the conversations around the table continued when Vincent sat down. The caterers soon brought out a slice of cake for dessert. Strawberry cake with white buttercream frosting. Laura’s mouth was watering before she even tasted it.

After dessert, the caterers brought out coffee. Laura hardly touched hers. She sat at the table listening to the hum of the cello and watching the soft glow of the fairy lights against the night sky, and the rhythmic breath of the candles as they burned low. She watched the caterers collect plates and Evelyn float around talking to the other guests. Eventually she reached Laura.

“Are you enjoying yourself, love? Is there anything I can get you?”

Laura stood. “Oh, I’m having a wonderful evening,” she said, smiling. “This is such a gorgeous party.”

“I’m so glad,” Evelyn took Laura’s hand and held it between hers. “You’ve barely touched your coffee. Can I get you some tea? Or some more wine?”

“Oh, you’re so sweet,” said Laura. “I’m okay. Thank you, though.”

“You brought a bottle of wine with you. Please let me share it with you.”

Laura hesitated, and then agreed. She and Evelyn went inside, and Evelyn pulled the bottle of wine from the freezer. The kitchen was huge, and she could suddenly imagine how four caterers managed to prepare several dozen meals in here. Evelyn poured them each a glass and they stood at the island counter.

“Do you like it here?” asked Evelyn.

“Do you mean your house or the neighborhood?” asked Laura, stifling a nervous laugh. “Because the answer is yes to both.”

Evelyn smiled widely. “I’m so glad.”

They talked for a while, and then Laura noticed Omar standing in the living room chatting with other guests while Vincent sat on a large, leather couch. She walked over to him. Vincent stood immediately and greeted her.

“Laura,” said Vincent, smiling. “I wanted to talk to you for a moment.”

Laura returned to the kitchen with Vincent. Without a word, Evelyn moved to him, kissed him on the cheek, and went into the living room.

“I already thanked you in front of everyone, I know,” said Vincent. “But I wanted to thank you again face-to-face. I hope you can tell after this evening how much my friends mean to me. I couldn’t be more grateful to have you as my newest friend. I wish you and Omar nothing but the best with everything in your lives. You’ve both earned it. Thank you so much for coming. Please stay as long as you like, okay?”

She thanked him and hugged him. She thought it was a bit over the top, but perhaps he was just being drunk and sentimental. That was fine, she thought.

As they returned to the living room, the conversations faded slowly as guests left one by one.

Eventually, Laura found herself saying goodnight to the Mercers and walking home with Omar, feeling a slight buzz from the wine.

“What a lovely night,” she said.

“Truly,” replied Omar.

They pecked each other on the lips and held hands as they walked home.

In the days following the party, Laura didn’t hear much from the Mercers. She didn’t think much of it. She spent most of her time at the lab anyway, so she assumed they were just on different schedules.

It hadn’t been a week before Evelyn was knocking on Laura’s front door once again. This time, she was wearing a black dress, holding a white envelope. She invited herself inside and handed the letter to Laura.

Evelyn cleared her throat. “I don’t know how to tell you this,” she paused. “Um, is Omar home?”

“Honey?” Laura leaned back and shouted. Omar shouted back from somewhere in the house, but Laura didn’t respond.

“He’ll be down in a minute,” she said to Evelyn.

“Go ahead and read the letter. Vince wrote it for you.”

Laura opened the envelope as Omar walked down the stairs.

“What is—Oh, Evelyn, it’s good to see you,” he said. Then noticed the somber look on both of the women’s faces.

The letter had clearly been typed and printed from a computer instead of a typewriter. It was printed on some sort of fancy paper. Laura read it aloud.

Dearest Laura and Omar Vega,

It is hard for me to find words I haven’t repeated to you a thousand times. What I haven’t told you is that I will no longer be here by the time this letter reaches you. I’ve been terminal for some time, and my last dinner party was my way of saying goodbye. I am sorry for keeping this secret from you.

I want you to know that your friendship, however brief, was like a final gift. I believe that life is measured by the people one values, and its people like you who make me a richer man than any amount of money ever could. Please do not feel badly for me. They say the brightest lights burn out the fastest, and my life has been brighter and fuller than most people could ever dream. It is friendships like yours that make this true.

Keep living your dreams and working hard. You are good people who deserve everything you earn in this life. Please take care of my Eve. She cherishes your friendship as much as I do.

Farewell,

Vincent Mercer

Laura looked up at Evelyn. She was crying.

“Please,” Evelyn gestured to the envelope.

Laura looked inside. It was a check, signed by Vincent. The memo read, “For your new life.” She covered her mouth when she saw the number.

“This is enough to pay off our mortgage,” said Omar.

“I know,” Evelyn nodded, dabbing the corners of her eyes with a black handkerchief. “He knew.”

Laura’s arms dropped. The letter, the check, and the envelope all fluttered to the floor. She and Omar pulled Evelyn into a warm embrace.

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