𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓

     I open the door to the house and smile at our guests. I’m praying this will be the last batch because the backyard is already filling up. I look at a tall slender woman who might be in her early thirties. Her hair is blonde and it’s tied back into a ponytail. Her gray dress reaches her knees.

     The man is dressed in a similar outfit as Dan. Flannel shirt, leather jeans, and sandals. His hair is dark with a receding hairline. He looks very solemn. Judging from their appearance, I’m sure they’re the newlyweds Anna told me about who moved in two months ago. They didn’t do anything like a housewarming, so the neighbors hadn’t gotten to know that. Anna said she didn’t even know their first names.

     The woman smiles at me, revealing a set of clean white teeth. “Hi, I’m Clara. This is my husband Ethan. We live two blocks away.”

     She stretches her hand toward me. I say, taking her hand and shaking it, “I’m Sarah. Sarah with an aitch.”

     She giggles. “All right. I get that often.”

     She lets go of my hand, and I direct it toward Ethan. He takes it and shakes it gently. “It’s nice to meet you, Sarah with an aitch.”

     He laughs, and I laugh in response. I’m beginning to like his sense of humor so much that I wonder why they’re not interactive. I pull back my hand, still holding onto my big smile before it drops. “Please, come inside.”

     “All right,” Clara says and leads Ethan into the house.

     After I close the door, I show them to the backyard where the other neighbors are chattering, laughing and enjoying the festive. I return to the kitchen to find Anna with the crate.

     I say as I near her, “It’s the newlyweds. Clara and Ethan.”

     “That’s their names?”

     “Yes.”

     She looks up at me. “I’ve never had the opportunity to chat with them. They’re always traveling.”

     I stop by her side and take one handle of the crate. “They seem like nice people.”

     She takes the other hand, saying, “I’m sure they did,” as we pace out of the kitchen.

*   *   *

     I weave into the crowd, gripping a bottle of Coke in my hand. My eyes frantically scan the people present for the housewarming. I don’t see Ms. Gillian. Anna was right. She doesn’t do parties. I was hoping to ask her some questions about Adrienne Styles. I guess I’d have to visit her at her house.

     Dan is chatting with the Parker brothers and Ethan. I can’t hear what they’re talking about. Everywhere is lively. But I’m sure it’s something exciting since they’re laughing and sipping from their beverage.

     Distance away, Gilbert is playing with the kids from the neighborhood. Kevin had fallen asleep after Dan cleaned him up. So far so good. Everyone is having fun, and I can’t say this festive isn’t exciting. I’m sure I’m not going to forget it.

     “Sarah with an aitch,” Clara shouts my name. “Over here.”

     I turn around to see Anna, Clara and Emma. I start to regret telling her how I spell my name. I don’t doubt that’s going to be my nickname in this neighborhood from now onward. I walk past clusters, each engaged in a chat, toward the cluster Clara is part of, and I halt.

     “You and your husband did such an amazing job. I’m starting to regret not having a housewarming when we moved in,” Clara jabbers.

     “Thank you.”

     Emma looks at me with a small smile. After she takes a sip of her Coke, she says, “You look serious. What’s on your mind?”

     I shrug. “Nothing.”

     But that’s a blatant lie. There’s a lot on my mind. Particularly about Adrienne Styles. I’m surprised no one here has mentioned her when Anna told me she was loved by everyone. If her name hadn’t slipped out of Anna’s tongue, I’m not so sure she’d have mentioned her either. It’s as if Adrienne has been forgotten, and even when they’re in her former house, no memory of her has surfaced.

     I start to wonder if Adrienne was truly loved by these people, or if they’re just the nicest neighbors. But on the other hand, I understand why they wouldn’t want to talk about Adrienne. Perhaps they’re trying to put a painful past behind them. Whatever their reasons are, I don’t think I can trust anyone of them. At least not until I find out if Adrienne truly killed herself.

     “Let’s talk about something interesting,” Anna says. “Like how we met our spouses.”

     “I’m not yet married,” Emma chips in, and we giggle.

     “Talk about how you met your boyfriend then,” Clara suggests.

      “Let’s start with Clara,” Anna says, “how did you meet Ethan?”

     She sips her Coke, and then she chuckles. “You don’t want to know.”

     “We do,” Emma and Anna mouth in unison, and I nod.

     “All right. Fine.”

     She glances at us with a wistful smile and starts, “Ethan and I met in a cliché way; boy meets girl. He bumped into me and soiled my dress with his coffee. He kept apologizing. I told him it was all right, but he kept saying he was sorry over and over. To make up for the damage, he took me out for dinner. We got to know each other, we fell in love, and blah blah blah.”

     Everyone stares at her with a funny smile on their face. I notice when she peers at her husband.

     “It’s your turn, Emma,” Anna says.

     Emma lets out a sigh and settles her bottle on a nearby table. “James and I met back in college. I had gone to a party with my friends. I was sitting alone by a table, looking at my phone screen when he came to my table and asked me if I’d like to dance with him. Not wanting to be rude, I accepted his request. He took my number afterward, called to check on me, and we went out occasionally. Then we fell in love.”

     “When are you guys getting married?” Anna asks abruptly, and I think it’s a bit early. Emma doesn’t strike me as someone who wants to get married any time soon.

     “He’s asked me to marry him, but I turned him down.”

     This piques my interest too. Along with everyone else, I shout, “Why?”

     She blurts, “I’m not ready. I mean... I love James. He’s adorable and kind, but I’m not ready to start a family with him yet.”

     I suspected as much. I’m happy that she knows she isn’t ready yet. My younger sister rushed with her marriage and months later, she plunged into her worst nightmares.

     “If you think you’re not ready, then you’re not. Marriage is a blessing, but if you end up marrying the wrong person, it becomes a curse. You’ll forever be unhappy. Take as much time as you want and don’t make any hastened decisions,” I say, letting my sentiments get the best of me. I don’t want Emma to suffer the same fate as my sister, who has now divorced from that psycho of a husband.

     Emma nods. Anna and Clara stare at me, wondering if I have had an experience before. Everyone takes a sip of their beverage, and then Anna says, “It’s your turn, Sarah.” She winks at me. “How did you meet Dan?”

     I’m not ready to talk about how I met Dan at a friend’s wedding. He was the best man, and I was part of the maids of honor. We’d met formally at the reception, and I remember when he tried to flirt with me. I had deliberately spilt Chardonnay on his expensive suit to get him away from me. The next day we met again on the train. Later when we got married, he told me we weren’t just crossing paths. He’d been stalking me. Apparently I was his crush.

     “We’re waiting, Sarah with an aitch.”

     Clara’s voice snaps me out of the reverie. I sigh. Just as I’m about to narrate how I met Dan, my phone chimes. Thank God for creating this distraction. I pull my phone out and look at the screen. The number isn’t familiar, but I say, “It’s urgent. I’ve got to pick this.”

     “Go ahead. We’ll be waiting,” Clara says as I scurry away into the house. The noise minimizes when I step farther away from the backyard. I pick up the call and place the phone to my ear. “Hello, how’s this?”

     “It’s Jeffrey. I got your message.”

     Finally, someone’s going to tell me something about Adrienne. A smile forms on my face.