"Then lets just forget it then," Joyce said as she finished her coffee.
"No, if we're going to be friends and not just in-laws, we shouldn't have things between us," Sharon said. "Besides, it's not something that I really hide or I'm ashamed of, I just thought that Karen or Stephen might've mentioned it to you before."
Now Joyce was intrigued.
"To put it simply, I'm a lesbian," Sharon said, draining the last of her coffee as well. "In fact I've been one all of my life."
"But you were married, you had two kids," Joyce said in surprise, but then added. "I'm sorry, it's really none of my business."
"No, I want us to be friends so let me tell you," Sharon insisted. "Unless you already have a problem with it and I won't."
"No, no I don't have any problem with it," Joyce replied. "In fact, I've never even known anyone who was, and living in New York that's saying a lot. Please go ahead."
"Well, back when I was in my teens, I was still pretty unsure of my sexual orientation. It was 1970 and despite all those stories you might have heard about the swinging sixties, a lesbian lifestyle still wasn't very socially acceptable. At least not in my household. I was unable ... unwilling ... to make the choices that I would've had to make to follow that road. To make my parents happy, I tried to live a heterosexual lifestyle. I met Jack on my first job out of high school and two months after that I was pregnant. My knowledge of birth control left a lot to be desired."
The image of Karen's older brother Mike, who she had also met at the wedding, flashed through Joyce's mind. He was the baby, Sharon was referring to.
"The idea of being an unwed mother didn't appeal to me either so Jack and I were married a month later. Seven months after Mike was born, I was pregnant again, this time with Karen. Jack was nothing if not persistent."
Joyce found herself listening intently, the story was fascinating.
"After we'd be married a few years, I found that some desires wouldn't stay buried and I had my first lesbian affair with the woman across the hall. It lasted six months until Jack came home unexpectedly from work. In hindsight, it was pretty stupid having my lover over to my own home for a romp in the hay. But with two toddlers, I didn't have that many options."
"He didn't want a divorce?" Joyce asked.
"That was a surprise to me as well." Sharon replied. "Jack never mentioned what happened again. He simply moved into the extra bedroom and never ventured into my bed again. Later, when he became ill, we made our peace with each other. I really cried when he died."
Joyce didn't know what to say. Thankfully, Sharon didn't expect her to say anything.
"Can I get the two of you anything else?" the waitress asked as she stepped back alongside the table.
"No thank you," Sharon said as she glanced over to the woman on the opposite side of the table to see if she wanted anything. "Just the check please," she added when Joyce didn't say anything.
The waitress placed a small green check down next to Sharon's setting. The redhead pulled out her pen and scribbled her name, room number and how much of a tip she wanted to add on it and handed it back. The young woman's eyes lit up when she looked back at it, most guests only left a dollar or two.
"At least let me pay half," Joyce said.
"No, I'm the one who invited you to lunch, remember?"
Joyce acquiesced with a smile, thinking she'd make it up later as they'd already agreed to spend the rest of the day together. She was gathering up her things when she caught Sharon's eyes followed the young waitress as she walked away. It made her wonder if she hadn't been here with her, would Sharon had tried to pick the pretty girl up.
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