IMITATION MEANS FLATTERY

I'd just returned from a shopping trip when Steven met me at the door. “Where have you been?” he asked.

I held up my bag. “I ran over to the store to pick up a cute vestie looking thing.” I pulled it out of the bag and held it up for him to see.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “So you really needed a green vest?”

“Well...need and want are two different things aren't they?” I tucked it back in the bag and went to hang up my coat. “But a friend of mine was wearing one at work the other day and when I told her how great it looked on her she told me where she got it and that there were still a lot of them on the rack so, I decided to go check it out.”

I went into the kitchen to start dinner and Steven followed me in. “I thought women hated when someone copied their look.”

I opened the refrigerator to pull out the defrosted container of sauce. “Some do, but if she's going to tell me the name of the store and let me know there were plenty left I didn't think she'd mind.” I opened a drawer and pulled out a pot for the sauce. “They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” I reminded him. I pulled out another pot and went to the sink to fill it with water. “Besides you know how much I hate to shop and I really don't have the fashion flair other people have, so when I see something I like I have to pounce!”

I looked over at Steven who looked a little scared as he choose his words carefully. “Well,” he finally said. “I do know you hate to shop.”

I smiled at him as I put the pot on the stove and turned the burner on. “Smart man.”

“So what happens if you both wear it on the same day? Isn't that a problem?”

“Can you grab a box of pasta for me?” I pointed to the pantry he was standing next to. “And to answer your question I didn't buy the exact vest she had, mine is a little different.”

He pulled out a box of ziti and handed it to me. “Wait, then why did you have to rush over to get one?”

“Well,” I leaned back against the counter. “I have to admit I was going to go over and get the exact same one. She was right, they had a bunch of them but, when I put it on the only thing I could think of was that when I wore it to work everyone was going to play the Who-Wore-It-Best game.” I looked at Steven and shook my head. “I have to be perfectly honest, I've never won that game.” I grabbed a spoon and gave the sauce a quick stir. “So when I saw they had other styles I got one of them.”

“So it's not really an imitation of someone else's style, it's more a resemblance.” Steven said as he opened the box of ziti and dumped it in the pot of boiling water.

“Exactly.” I answered as I gave the past a quick stir. “Which is still a compliment to her style. But just not a creepy as buying the exact same thing.”

Steven pulled the plates out of the cabinet and placed them on the counter. “I have to say, we've been married thirty-one years and the way you figure things out still confuses me.”