I have a friend, you see. Oh, but wait. First, a bit of background info. She's a couple of years older than I am. And has two kids. Both in high school - and able to fend for themselves. She works till 3 in the afternoon. Her kids don't usually get home till about 6.
Right. So here's the thing - She often drops everything and runs off when her husband rings. Even if she's in the middle of lunch. And he wasn't supposed to come by and get her. I don't know if it's him who's decreed that she should be at his beck and call, or if it's just something she does of her own accord.
One day we were having afternoon tea at 4. We were supposed to meet for an hour, then she was to head home (5 mins walk from where we were meeting) to get dinner prepped for the family. The husband would get off work at 6 and be home around 6.30 so she figured she had plenty of time to get everything on the table for the family meal at 7.
At 4.15, just as we starting eating, she got a call from him. This was her side of the conversation -
- Hi, yup, eating now.
- Oh you're done already? Um, not yet.
- We just got our food. Maybe half an hour?
- OK, can. I'll meet you at the cab stand.
Then she hung up, and I said "Do you have to go?" out of politeness more than anything. She *did* say half an hour.
I wasn't expecting the answer she gave me.
"Yes, I'm so so sorry. He wasn't supposed to be done so early, but he's 5 minutes away. So I'd better start walking out now or he's gonna get grumpy. You know how they hate waiting! Let's catch up again another time, I'm so sorry."
And of course I smiled and nodded and we hugged. She left.
I now had an hour to kill with two barely-eaten servings of afternoon tea cakes and sandwiches in front of me, and a whole pot of Gryphon roobois tea.
----
Recently she asked if I could bake her a layer cake. She'd been wanting one for a while and I hadn't been baking cos of the termite fiasco and then the kitchen reno took a whole month ... so when it was finally done and I had time I told her I could do some baking the coming Tuesday. Want a cake?
YES! Hurray she said! I told her she could pick it up on Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
This conversation took place on a Friday. On Monday she texted me to ask if it was ready. Erm, No. I reminded her it was going to get baked on Tuesday, remember?
Well, she had rehearsals on Tues and Wed, she said, so she couldn't come by on her way back from work. How about she come and collect it on Friday, she asked.
Hmmm, I don't think the cake will last that long, I said. You'd have to fridge it, and I don't have the space to keep it in mine. What time do rehearsals end? I'm not going anywhere, and I don't mind even if you pick it up late.
"I'll have to butter my husband up and see if he will allow us to detour to your place to pick it up after dinner. Rehearsal's till 6 then it's dinner at the in-laws' place, and home straight after."
"You could pop by after dinner, I don't mind. I'll be home anyway."
"I'll ask him if we can swing by, but if he says no, can you keep it till Friday? The original plan was to collect it after work and bring it home before dinner. But now that I have to stay for rehearsals, I can't come over. I get off work early on Friday so I can come by and get it then."
I apologised but said no, I wasn't keeping it till Friday.
In the end she texted me back and said he agreed to collect it on their way home after dinner. To put things in perspective, I live 10 mins away from her (by car) and my place is definitely on her way home whether she's coming from work or her in-laws' place.
I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be inconvenienced because YOU have a crazy relationship with your husband. I told you last week that you could pick it up on Tuesday or Wednesday. If that was going to be a problem, then you should have just said so.
Ok, maybe you only just found out about the rehearsals. Then tell me and we can always shelve it till the following week - after all, I hadn't baked it yet.
But not being able to tell your husband that there is a cake that needs collecting (which is along the way anyway) and wanting me to keep it in my fridge till you can sneak off without inconveniencing him, and ending up inconveniencing ME in the process? That's just not on.
These aren't isolated incidents either. We don't meet very often because as long as he's in town, dinner is out of the question. And since most of us work, lunch and tea are difficult to orchestrate. Especially if it involves more than just the 2 of us. Weekends are untouchable for her because "my husband is home, I'd better not make plans", and that leaves the few times in a year when he happens to be out of town for work. Which is when she crams in all her meet-ups.
The thing that really annoys me is how she gets up and leaves whenever he calls. In the last year we've met up about 6 times. 3 of those times were what I call hug-and-go aka handover-the-stuff meetings, the other 3 times we tried to sit down to a meal but she only made it to the end of ONE of those meals. It's getting tiring. But I don't think she has many friends left. So I try to see her every now and then.
Tell me. What do you ladies think about this? Am I over-reacting? Is this normal to you? Does it sound like she's afraid of him? Cos I think she is.