Vivienne’s daughter, Monica, had just stormed out of her house. They had a massive argument over Monica’s announcement. She was going to marry a man named Zach. Vivienne couldn’t believe it because she had no idea her daughter had broken up with her boyfriend, Anthony.

Anthony’s family wasn’t as wealthy as Monica’s family, but they were respected in the high society of Hartford. Vivienne dreamed of his daughter marrying well and never worrying about money. However, it seemed that Monica’s new man did not come from money at all. He lived in the small town of Mystic. Moreover, he was a fisherman, and his parents worked blue-collar jobs their entire lives.

That won’t do. She can’t marry him! Vivienne thought, trying to calm her rapidly-beating heart after the fight with Monica.

“I can’t marry Anthony, Mother! He cheated on me with at least three women in just two months! Do you want me to be miserable?!” Monica had asked in tears.

“That can’t be true!” Vivienne yelled back, and that’s when Monica decided to storm out of the house.

Vivienne sat in her living room and thought about what to do. She had to fix this somehow. If Anthony was really a cheater, it made sense that Monica became attracted to someone outside their society. But what if this Zach was with her for her family’s money? Men could be gold-diggers too.

She had to check out Zach without her daughter. It had to be a scenario where he was forced to act as himself and not the version he wanted Monica to see, so she came up with a plan.

The following day, Vivienne took a taxi and arrived in Mystic, Connecticut, wearing the most horrible clothes she could find in her old boxes. She wore a stained skirt which she purposely ripped on one side and a sweater that smelled like mothballs. It was perfect. She would see Zach and observe how he acted around regular people.

Luckily, Mystic was such a small town that everyone apparently knew where Zach lived. Vivienne just asked a lady at the local grocery store, and she pointed her in the general direction.

She reached his house, which was worse than Vivienne could’ve imagined. It looked run down and had an unkempt garden. She saw beer bottles and cigarette buds lying around as she approached the front door. Monica has never seen this house before, Vivienne thought, convinced of it. There’s no way her daughter would’ve fallen for a man who lived like this.

She wanted to run but had to get this done, so she raised her finger and rang the doorbell. A man with a gray, sweat-stained shirt answered the door. He was clearly in his 20s. This had to be Zach. He had a bottle of beer in his hand and an unshaven face.

“Yeah?” the man said.

“Oh, hello,” Vivienne began tentatively. Now that she was there, she had no idea how to talk to him or what to say to discover what kind of personality he had.

“Lady, what do you want?” the man continued irately now.

“I’m sorry. I was wondering if you could help me. I’m a bit lost,” she finally blurted. “Are you Zach?”

“Yeah, that’s me. What do you want?” Zach asked and belched. Vivienne couldn’t help looking disgusted, and he laughed.

Suddenly, a woman started yelling from inside the house. “Zach! Where did you put my lighter? You’re always losing stuff! YOU IDIOT!”

Zach turned from Vivienne and started shouting at the woman. “I’m the idiot? I’M THE IDIOT! You’re the one that loses everything as soon as it gets here. I don’t know where you put it! Don’t blame it on me!”

“I can’t believe I’m still with someone like you! I’m going to leave you tonight!” the woman screamed some more, and Vivienne heard the distinct sound of breaking glass. She raised a hand to her chest.

“THE DAY YOU LEAVE WILL BE THE BEST OF MY LIFE, CRAZY WOMAN!” Zach snapped loudly and turned back to look at Vivienne. “Look, lady. Get to the point. I’m busy.”

“That’s your girlfriend?” Vivienne breathed. It was the only thing that came to her mind after that horrible display. These people were awful.

“None of your business, old woman. Now, go away,” he bellowed and slammed the door in her face. Vivienne jumped as the door closed and couldn’t believe her daughter was actually dating that man.

This is awful. Monica was not only going to get her heart broken again, but this man was clearly abusive and dangerous to women in general. Vivienne had to stop it. But first, she had to go back to Hartford, which meant finding a taxi in this small town.

She started walking the streets and noticed the other houses around the block. They were old and tiny, just like Zach’s, but others maintained them. At least, not everyone was bad in this area. They were covered in snow this time of the year. Suddenly, a woman came out of one of the houses, saw Vivienne, and waved.

Vivienne smiled and waved back, not knowing what else to do. The woman started walking towards her. She was around her age and had the kindest smile in the world.

“Hey, there! Do you need help? Are you lost?” the woman asked.

“Oh, no. Don’t worry about it. I just need to find a taxi and go home,” Vivienne answered and tried to walk away. But the woman wouldn’t let her.

“Wait. I’m Georgia. It’s getting really cold out here, and sometimes, it’s hard to find a taxi on the main road. Come inside, and I’ll call one for you,” she suggested.

“I’m Vivienne. Nice to meet you. That’s such a kind offer, but I don’t know….”

“I insist,” the woman continued and urged Vivienne inside.

They chatted a while, and Georgia called the cab company in town. Apparently, all the drivers were busy, and none of them wanted to drive all the way to Hartford.

“Oh, dear. What should I do? I have to get to Hartford tonight,” Vivienne muttered, biting her bottom lip.

“A taxi from here to Hartford is so expensive. Are you sure? Maybe, you can stay here, and tomorrow, you can take the bus,” Georgia noted.

“Oh, it’s alright. Someone else is paying the taxi,” Vivienne lied. “It’s important for me to get home tonight.”

Just then, someone opened the front door and came in. “Hey, Ma!”

It was a handsome man in his 20s who looked remarkably like Georgia with a kind face and smile. Georgia hugged him and introduced him to Vivienne. He was visiting his mother and brought over fresh fish he had caught that day.

“Oh, boy. I meant to ask. Do you know anyone going to Hartford tonight?” Georgia asked her son after stashing the fish in the freezer.

The man stood in the middle of the living room and pursed his lips. “Oh, I don’t. Why?”

“Vivienne has to get there tonight, but none of the taxis in town want to take her,” Georgia replied.

“Well, why don’t I take her? I was thinking of going to Hartford this weekend and buying some stuff. But I guess tonight works too,” Georgia’s son offered.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to put you out. You look tired,” Vivienne muttered, embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s go,” the man insisted and guided Vivienne to his car. It was an old pickup, but he assured her it worked perfectly and would get them to their destination.

They talked during the more-than-one-hour drive to Hartford, and Vivienne was pleasantly surprised by his kind demeanor. Not many people would have offered an older woman a ride just like that, and she hadn’t talked about paying him. He was a kind, hard-working man.

Well, not everyone in that town is as awful as Monica’s new boyfriend. Why couldn’t she meet a boy like this? Vivienne was lost in thought as they entered the city.

“Ma’am. Where exactly are you going? I can take you anywhere,” the man wondered.

“Oh, there’s this gated community…,” Vivienne began, giving him the directions to her area. But she told him to stop at the gates instead of leading him to her house.

“Here! Have some money for the ride. It’s what I would’ve paid the taxi,” she said, holding out some cash in her hand and opening the door with her other hand.

“No, no. I couldn’t. I was already coming here anyway,” the man rejected her offer.

Vivienne tried to insist. “Please, take it.”

“No, ma’am. I really couldn’t. I used this ride as an excuse to see my girlfriend, who lives around the area. I should thank you!” the man laughed, and Vivienne joined him.

“Well, then. I appreciate your kindness,” she finally said before getting out of the truck and waving goodbye at the young man.

Oh, I never even asked his name. Jesus, I forgot all my manners, she thought after reaching her house.

Her meeting with Monica’s horrible boyfriend had truly shaken her, but at least, she met some great people that got her home safely. Obviously, she knew that money wasn’t everything, and many average folks were great people. But her daughter had made a colossal mistake.

Why couldn’t she have picked someone like Georgia’s son? He was pretty nice, Vivienne thought as she changed out of the old clothes and into her pajamas.

Suddenly, her phone pinged with a message. It was Monica. She said that she was bringing her boyfriend for dinner tomorrow night and hoped Vivienne would be nice.

“Oh, dear. I’m going to have to break your heart tomorrow. But you definitely can’t marry that man,” she muttered out loud, looking intently at her phone.

The following night, Vivienne was worried. Her daughter’s car had just pulled into her driveway, and Zach was coming with her. She had no idea how to explain what she did yesterday and how she ended up at that man’s house. But Monica would have to see reason. That horrible man was sweaty, rude, and had a girlfriend.

There was a knock on the front door, and Vivienne breathed deeply to gather her courage. She was about to start a huge fight with that man, and Monica had to listen to her. But when the older woman opened the door, her mouth dropped. No arguments or screams came out — just a tiny squeak.

“Mom?” Monica asked, frowning at her mother.

The man standing beside her was not that sweaty Zach she had met the previous day. It was Georgia’s son!

“Ma’am?” the man asked and looked at Monica with a confused expression. “This is your mother? I gave her a ride from Mystic last night.”

“What? Mom, what were you doing at Mystic?” Monica wondered, placing her hand on her waist.

“Oh, dear. Come in! Come in! This is your boyfriend, Zach?” Vivienne inquired as she guided them inside quickly, breathing heavily. She was ecstatic.

“Yes, Mom. This is Zach. But did you meet him yesterday?” her daughter asked again, refusing to let her change the subject. They both removed their coats, and Vivienne was smiling at them with the most relieved smile in the world.

“Yes, dear. It’s a long story. Sit down…,” she told them and explained everything that happened the day before, including how Zach ended up driving her back to Hartford.

There were two people named Zach in the town of Mystic, and the lady at the store only knew one of them. The rude one. Monica found the whole story hilarious and their original fight had already been forgotten by the time Vivienne finished.