Valentine’s Day for Singles
Studying the calendar, Ruby suddenly realized Valentine’s Day was less than a week away. Groaning aloud, she pushed the intercom to buzz her boss Andy. “Have you made a dinner reservation for Valentine’s day?”
“Oh, thanks for reminding me. Can you get us into that new place on Dupont Circle?”
“Probably not, it falls on Friday this year, but I’ll give it my best shot.” Ruby sighed.
Good thing Andy was easy to work for and a friend too. For example, he wouldn’t go ballistic if the new restaurant was booked, but it was going to be difficult to get a reservation at this late date with any decent restaurant. She wished he wasn’t such a last minute kind of guy. On the other hand, if she had been paying better attention, she would have noticed before today that Valentine’s Day was approaching.
She grumbled to herself. “February sucks and it’s cool that Valentine’s Day is a reprieve for couples, but what about the singles? What saves February for us?”
For the past three Valentine’s Days Ruby had been “between guys” and Valentine’s Day was a painful reminder that she didn’t have someone special.
Ruby used to love Valentine’s Day. No store bought Valentines in their house. She and her mom spread construction paper out on the dining room table, along with lacy doilies, and stickers. It was a labor of love to make each Valentine unique. Ruby realized as she was reminiscing that it really was much more fun to give than to receive when it came to Valentines. She remembered how much fun it was to make and deliver those Valentines.
An idea started forming. Was Friday to be another miserable one at home, soaking in the tub with a good book and then turning in early, trying not to think about all those couples out there celebrating their love? Or could she turn it into something else?
Calling the restaurant, Ruby worked her way through the receptionist, the hostess and finally the owner and was able to secure a reservation for Andy and his wife at 8:00 on Friday. He would have to be satisfied with that. Then she made a quick call to the Iliff Nursing Home, where Andy’s mom lived now. She often ran errands for Mrs. Sheldon when Andy and his wife were busy, and she and Mrs. Sheldon had become fast friends. She explained her idea to Doreen the volunteer coordinator, and the plan was set in motion. Then Ruby called her friend Beth. Beth too was between guys and would be in the same “single” boat on Friday night.
“Hey Beth, would you like to celebrate Valentine’s Day with me this year?” Ruby asked.
“Why Ruby, I thought you’d never ask.” Beth responded in a low sexy voice. “You know I’ve had the hots for you for such a long time.”
One of the things Ruby loved about Beth was her deprecating strange sense of humor and she burst out laughing.
“Seriously Beth, I’m not going to sit home on Friday night feeling sorry for myself. I have an idea. Can you come over for dinner? I’ll pick up some Chinese.”
“I’m in and intrigued.” Beth answered. “See you what, about 7?”
“7:00 works,” Ruby replied putting the phone back in its cradle.
She poked her head in Andy’s door. “I got you reservations at the new place, but you better not be late or they will give it to someone else.” She warned. “Do you need for me to do anything else – flowers or candy or anything?”
“No, I’ll take care of that myself. You’re a miracle worker and a life-saver Ruby.”
“I was hoping you’d feel that way. I need about an hour off this afternoon. Would it be ok if I left a bit early? I’ll get the Lenzner paperwork out the door before I go.”
Andy glanced at his watch. “Sure, go ahead. See you tomorrow.”
Although the sky was still gloomy as it was a typical mid-western February day, Ruby felt happier. As she prepared the overnight envelope to send documents out, she hummed a little tune.
Leaving work she drove straight to the craft store where she loaded up on valentine supplies. It amazed her how little things had changed since she was in the 4th grade. The stickers were better than anything she had seen as a child, but otherwise it was the same. Red and pink construction paper and lacy paper doilies. “Standard Valentine Fare,” she thought to herself.
By the time Beth got there, Ruby’s dining room table looked like it had when she was in the 4th grade. They took their food into the living room and ate right out of the containers. Ruby explained her idea to Beth over dinner.
After dinner, they tackled the job, cutting, pasting, and gluing and created dozens of unique valentines, chatting all the while about their lives, their jobs, and their families.
“I’m posting your plan on Facebook,” Beth declared as she left that evening. “Let’s see who else is dateless on Friday and wants to join in.”
Valentine’s Day dawned – just as gloomy as anyone would have predicted, but Ruby’s heart was light. It was amazing how different she felt about today compared to the last three years.
Everyone knocked off work a bit early that day, most of her co-workers running home to get into their red dresses and perfect their makeup. Ruby swung by to pick Beth up. When they pulled into the parking lot of the Iliff Nursing Home, Ruby was surprised at the number of cars.
“Looks like your notice on Facebook got a crowd out here.” She joked to Beth. “I’ve never seen this many cars here.” Beth just smiled.
When they came through the doors of the Iliff with their Valentine card offerings, Doreen greeted them with a huge smile on her face. “Girl, you are something else. This is better than Christmas!” She announced.
Ruby looked at her puzzled. “What’s going on Doreen?”
“You don’t know? When your boss Andy got wind of what was going on, he got the cafeteria working on it. He contacted a lot of other families about coming out tonight. We’ve got a crowd here bigger than Christmas time.” Doreen explained. “Dinner will be served in the cafeteria in a short while, Andy got a piano player coming in to play romantic tunes and we’ve cleared some room for dancing. Get in here girl!”
As Beth and Ruby made their way to the dining room to pass out their hand made cards, Ruby caught a glimpse of Andy and his wife. They were blowing up red balloons and tying them to the backs of the chairs.
Ruby approached “Does this mean that hard won reservation I made for you is down the tubes?” she asked reproachfully.
“You better believe it, there’s no where I’d rather be than here tonight and I’m ashamed it took my miracle working, life saving assistant to show that to me.” Andy grinned.