Preface

The situation with Nancy was awful. I thought that maybe we should reach out to Peter’s father. The wedding was approaching and I had a dream of a peaceful, happy event with smiles and hugging.

Peter and I drove to Lexington where his father was living at the time. We went out to dinner and had a very nice time. I did not ask him about the stories Nancy told about his family but it was clear from comments that he made that he was not particularly fond of Nancy. The dinner was a good first step. We agreed to meet again for dinner some time soon.

Nancy was preparing to move to Eagle, Colorado, which I felt was a little peculiar since Peter and I were to be married soon. Within a few years she would probably have a grandchild in Cincinnati, but that had no particular hold over her. I thought that once Peter and I had a child, Nancy would fall in love with the child and then perhaps like me a little as the mother of her grandchild. If I was willing to hang in there a few years, maybe things would work out after all. Boy was I naive.

Peter and I had recently hired a few salesgirls to help out in the shop. One of the salesgirls had boyfriend problems constantly. She liked to discuss the intimate details of her personal life in the shop and Peter and I were too inexperienced and immature to discourage her. We heard about every last detail of the various ‘jerks’ she met and broke up with on a regular basis. She was a very attractive girl and had no shortage of men who wished to date her.

One of the 2 guys from Nancy’s ill-fated birthday party stopped into the shop pretty regularly to see if Nancy was around. He had a pretty tight afro-style hairdo and hairy arms. Behind his back, the salesgirls started calling him Velcro Thighs. The name stuck (no pun intended) and frankly, even Peter and I started referring to him as Velcro Thighs (VT.)

VT started stopping by to chat with our salesgirl. Occasionally they would walk down to the food court together to get a coffee or food. Eventually they began casually dating. I really didn’t think anything of it until Nancy came in and said she was dating VT. I was stunned, I didn’t know what to say. I asked her if she meant as friends or what because VT was only a year older than Peter and 2 years older than our salesgirl. Maybe Nancy was misinterpreting his intentions. Nancy said they hadn’t kissed or anything but that she ‘knew’ he liked her because he came over to her apartment to talk all of the time.

Peter and I discussed what to do, he was clearly a complete jerk and I didn’t want to lose our salesgirl over a bad guy. (Nancy was on her own as far as I was concerned.) We decided to tell them that VT was dating both of them. When we told the salesgirl, she said that Nancy was too old for him and he only liked her as a friend. When we told Nancy, she said that VT had denied dating the salesgirl and only liked her as a friend and Nancy believed him. Wow.

I was absolutely stunned that Nancy would believe some bad player over her own son who had witnessed the beginning of some of VT and salesgirl’s dates. The salesgirl had even described some of the intimate acts they had performed on each other and told us that she had spent the night at VT’s apartment. Peter and I just gave up, there was nothing more we could do.

As the weeks passed, Nancy suggested that we all rent a ski cabin in Eagle, CO. and go out there over the Christmas Holiday. Peter and I were saving for and planning our wedding so it was out of the budget for us. Nancy suggested the plan to the salesgirls, the 2 guys- including VT, and who knows how many other people. About a week later our salesgirl came to us saying that VT had asked her to specifically go on the trip, that he would be going on the trip and wanted her along. I could not believe it, VT had unbelievable nerve. Now he wanted to have 2 women under each other’s noses not only at home but on vacation?

Our salesgirl bought her plane ticket and went out with VT to celebrate that night. Nancy called to excitedly tell us that on her date that afternoon, she and VT shared their first kiss. Our salesgirl spent the night at his apartment that night. The next morning, VT visited Nancy’s apartment and asked her, "Can oral sex without protection give you AIDS?" Finally, I thought, Nancy cannot deny the slimy nature of VT now. But no, Nancy claimed he was just randomly asking the question as a matter of curiosity.

Our salesgirl finally realized the truth of what was going on with VT on her own, and cancelled her trip to Colorado. They went out to dinner where he apologized to her and they agreed it was better that they didn’t speak. But Nancy was not so easily convinced, she still believed that VT was a great guy and ended up moving him in with her when she eventually moved permanently into her condo in Eagle. Nancy became overtly hostile to me after she decided VT was her man. She rarely brought him around Peter or me and VT never came into the shop after our salesgirl broke up with him. I guess the one good thing that can be said about Nancy’s palpable hostility towards me was that I hardly ever had to see her.

I asked Peter if I should just quit working at the store. But he said that I was going to be his wife, that the whole thing would pass and Nancy was moving to Eagle anyway so he needed my help running the shop. We were both very naive and overly hopeful.