Frozen Garlic Bread

Madeline poured herself another glass of wine and left the friendly glow of her computer. She would ask Rog what he thought about the idea of signing Penny up for a dating service and which type of service would best suit her.

He should know. That is how he met Joan after all. It was not exactly a dating service, but one of those social networking sites like myspace.com or facebook.com. She had remembered him showing her the page Joan had set up, something about "I hate Kafka," because it had completely appealed to Rog, who was not a big fan. Madeline wondered now if Joan was even familiar with Kafka. She did not seem the type. More apt she had heard that somewhere and thought it sounded intelligent. Joan had also listed herself as a 100-year-old-woman. This had made Rog laugh and for a few minutes believe they were soul mates.

Madeline often wondered if one could really know if someone typing lines into a computer was a soul mate or not. What was real? What was not? Joan was certainly not a 100-year-old woman. She was not even legal. But, if she made Rog happy, well then, that was all that mattered. Penny was taking a traditional stance with this relationship, saying that it was moving too fast. They were too young, but it was Madeline's belief that when one found happiness, even if just a glimmer, than one should and go for the carpe diem. Happiness could be so short-lived.

In reality, it had surprised Madeline to hear that Joan was moving to this area. She had said it all had to do with a special environmental program for which she had won a scholarship, and little to do with Rog. Then suddenly, Joan was always at Rog's house, the one that his uncle had left him, and first it was replanting the flowerbeds, painting the walls, and then oh-by-the-way-I-am-about-to-be-your-daughter (cough, in law). Indeed Madeline had coughed, but managed to seem gracious and congratulatory.

As tempting as it was to dwell on all this, Madeline remembered she would be having company tonight. There was not much to offer in the way of dinner, as she had not been to the store recently. She thought about calling Penny and having her pick up something, but then again, Madeline was the one inviting her to dinner. It would have been rude to have her guest bring in the meal.

She finally decided on making a large pot of pasta. She had several jars left of Rebecca's homemade sauce. And it would go well with the red table wine she still had sitting on the wine rack. There was even a loaf of pre-made garlic bread in the freezer, waiting for such an opportunity. No one would mind if it was not homemade.

Just as she was pulling this out of the freezer, there was a knock on the door.