Took the Opportunity

The ceramic fish gurgles when I pour my pomegranate iced tea from it and we giggle like school girls. We love that pitcher. I think we come here for the pitcher itself.
No, not true. I usually don't have the opportunity to be here.
But, every once in a while I can turn a blind eye to my long list of chores,
if my schedule is free of appointments
and meetings
and I'm feeling healthy enough
and naughty enough to ignore all of things I know I should be doing
instead of being here.
The opportunity never really presents itself.
But sometimes I find it anyway.

And we find ourselves here.
When he's at work;
and they're at school.
I can squeeze the time out of my day
and the opportunity sometimes drips out, too.

And she can usually talk me into it if I hesitate at all.
I tell her she's a bad influence and she laughs, like I just told her she was a beauty queen.
And that makes me laugh.
And I throw the laundry in the spare room and hope nobody notices.
I grab my coat, along with the opportunity and head out the door.

And we find ourselves here, with the fish pitcher of iced tea
and "Grown Up Grilled Cheese" with Havarti and Granny Smith Apples and honey between home made whole wheat bread.
They are all the frosting on the cake - Limoncello Mascarpone Cake, to be specific...two forks, please!
We jump on the opportunity to finish the piece of cake - together!

She knows me as well as I know her. Our secrets are safe, shared over a secret lunch.
Slow service...but, no matter. That's why we go here - besides the great food. And the pitcher.
She is never shocked at my true confessions. I have supported her through everything she's weathered.
The opportunity to bare our souls, belly laugh and tell our secrets means the world to us both. Sometimes serious, and sometimes so goofy that it may look like we are having a liquid lunch...but neither of us drink.

We hurry home before school is out and husbands return home. We scurry to make up for lost time, vacuuming and ironing, throwing a meal together and straightening the house. Maybe the opportunity to lunch with a friend wasn't what you would have chosen with all of this work to do...but, a woman's work is never done. It may have not been handed to me...but I TOOK IT anyway! Hah!