Oz - A Short Story by Ann Warner Read Free Book Online Page A

sports.
“Biochemistry,” she said. “I’m studying the metabolism of”
    “Geoff, they want us for more pictures.” The
speaker was the blonde bridesmaid, the one cute as a bug’s ear. She
laid a proprietary hand on Geoff’s arm and gave Glenda a smug
glance.
    “You’ll excuse me.” Geoff nodded to them
before leaving with the bridesmaid.
    Glenda watched the two walk away, feeling
like a child who had started playing with a toy only to have it
snatched away by another child. She wanted to stamp her foot in
frustration, but she’d known when she agreed to come it was going
to be a dull evening. Sighing in resignation, she looked at Steven
to find he was watching Geoff walk away with as much regret as she
was.
    “Rotten luck he had that accident. On track
to be one of the best players the Pies ever had.” Steven finished
his champagne and exchanged his empty flute for a full one from a
passing tray. Glenda wondered if the accident was the reason Geoff
Flemington walked with a limp. “So how did the two of you meet?”
She took a sip of her own champagne. It was light and crisp,
obviously expensive, and the bubbles tickled her lips, but it was
still inadequate compensation for a lost evening.
    “We were apartment mates at the University
of Chicago. I thought he went back to Australia.” Steven shrugged
before finishing off his second glass of champagne. “Couldn’t have
though. Way too far to come for a wedding.”

    By the time dinner had been cleared and the
cake cut, Steven was slurring his words and talking to anyone who
would listen about the lousy refereeing at the last Bears’ game,
and Glenda was suffering the full effects of her sister’s parting
prediction on the subject of her attending the wedding with Steven.
“No good deed goes unpunished.”
    Well, she’d been punished enough. Further,
she’d more than fulfilled her role as date-for-the-wedding. Likely
Steven wouldn’t even notice she was gone.
    She slipped out of the ballroom into the
hall to find it was deserted except for Geoff Flemington, who was
pacing and talking on his phone. As she approached the coat check,
he ended the call, snapped the phone shut, and smiled at her. “Are
you willing to take a word of advice from a bloke who has nothing
to gain from giving it?”
    Intrigued, she nodded.
    “Give Steven a pass.”
    She cocked her head. “You mean forgive him
for the way he’s acting this evening? Or dump him?”
    He grinned. “Isn’t English brilliant?” His
expression turned serious. “The latter.”
    “A done deal, actually.” And given Steven’s
behavior, it was both a relief to say it and a relief to know it
was true.
    “In that case, would you like to dance?”
    He had to be joking. Maybe he was making fun
of her. There was certainly a glint in his eyes.
    “What about your date?”
    He shook his head, smiling. “The best woman,
as you may have noticed, has a husband and incipient child and is
in no need of my escort services.”
    Incipient child, indeed. Glenda smiled. The
poor woman looked like she could give birth at any moment. “What
about her?” She nodded toward the blonde bridesmaid who had stuck
her head out the door, and seeing Glenda with Geoff, was morphing
from cute to petulant.
    Geoff glanced over his shoulder, turned back
to Glenda, and held out his hand. “Glenda Lewellen. A fellow
scientist needs you. Please. You will save me, won’t you?”
    His sincerity and desperation were obvious.
But it was the fact he had remembered her name, although he did
pronounce it oddly, that made her place her hand in his. Besides,
one dance wouldn’t hurt. It would delay her departure by only five
minutes. She could manage another five minutes.
    He led her back to the ballroom and took her
in his arms. “Lucky they’re playing something slow.”
    Glenda wondered if he was referring to his
limp or to his dancing ability, then decided, as he guided her
around the floor, the limp didn’t seem to hinder his