It was a night for reunions. I hadn't seen Stacy in ten years. Running into her at the grocery store had been such a pleasant shock, that I couldn't stop thinking about her the entire time I was getting ready to go out. I had already told my husband, Sam, all about her. In my stories of our times together, I had described her as the closest person to my fantasy woman I had ever met. She still was.
The last decade had been wonderfully kind to her. If anything she was more desirable than before. She still had a youthful appearance, but now there was an impish glint of experience in her beautiful blue eyes. Neither she or I had grown any taller. We were both cursed to never make five foot tall. But what she lacked in height she made up for in so many other ways. At the store her long, straight, dark hair had been in a loose ponytail. She wore no makeup to hide her olive complexion. She still had a trim body that even the sweats she wore looked good on. All through talk of children and jobs I couldn't help but imagine her laying innocently against me, asking me what she should do, as she had so many years ago.
In minutes it was if we had only talked yesterday. I never hesitated in asking her to join us at the local country bar later. She never hesitated to accept. The only moment of any sexual suggestion was when she asked me if I thought she and Sam would get along. I brushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear and told her that he would absolutely love her.
I had to get my mind straight. After all, Stacy and Sam would not be the only introductions made tonight. I was meeting Sam's old friend from high school for the first time, as well. I had heard Sam and a few of their mutual friends talk about Steven before. He seemed to be a nice guy with a good personality. I wanted to make a good first impression. I wondered what he would look like as I blow dried my hair.
Sam and I are known as "regulars" to the bar we entered. The music blared louder and the smoke poured out as he opened the front door for me. As we made our way through hugs and handshakes of other regulars, Sam led me to the bar. As he yelled out our beer order to the bartender, he slapped the man sitting on the nearest barstool on the back. When he turned around, and recognized Sam with a smile, my confidence faltered.
Steven was a very attractive man, if for no other reason than the similarities between him and my husband. They had the same shaved head, the same style of facial hair, similar devilish smiles, the same perpetually relaxed way that they held their bodies. The only striking difference was the eyes. Where Sam's eyes had always melted me with the hot gold and green tones, Steven's eyes were so bright blue that I felt a chill run through my body as I looked into them.
We grabbed our drinks and made our way to a somewhat quieter corner table. When Sam introduced me, Steven smiled and I made the fatal mistake of quickly looking away from his stare. My second mistake was looking at Sam instead, and seeing him recognize the embarrassment and grin back at me. This was going to be a very long night of very careful speaking and eye contact. I turned from Sam, a little annoyed that he knew me that well, and saw Stacy walk in the bar. I hadn't told Sam about inviting her, so he was surprised when I started walking away from the table.
I heard him start to call after me and stop mid-sentence as he saw the direction I was heading. He was as captivated by the woman walking through the door as everyone else in the bar. I giggled as I realized it was like a scene from a movie, where the hottie walks in and even the music scratches to a stop. The music didn't stop, however, and I felt my confidence come back as I felt the envy around me when I hugged her hello.
As I walked her by the bar for a beer, and then to our table, I kept finding myself staring at her. She was in jeans and a t-shirt, had a little makeup on, and had let her hair down. She made my mouth water. Just as I was wondering if she wore her hair like that because I had told her how much I liked it so many years ago, I caught her looking at me with the same kind of appreciation in her eyes. She quickly looked away and I grinned this time.
I made the introductions, and noticed that Sam recognized her name immediately. I guess my stories of the good old days had made an impression. I knew that he was already thinking ahead to what tonight after the bar might hold. He and Steven were perfect gentleman. There was no doubt that they were interested in my friend, but they played it off well. After the second round, Sam politely asked Stacy to dance. She looked to me for permission....good girl.....and I warned her to watch her toes.
Now the table was quiet. Steven was staring at the posters on the wall, deliberately not talking to me. I didn't think I had done anything to make him dislike me yet, but I wasn't sure.
"I've heard a lot about you". I said. I did look him in the eyes, but only briefly. He seemed relieved that I spoke. So it wasn't dislike, but discomfort.
"Don't believe anything Sam says....it's all a bunch of lies". We both laughed at his joke. I reached for a cigarette to have something to do. Steven lit it for me and this time the look was longer. There was something there. I wasn't sure what it was, but I could see the corners of his mouth turn up in a way that meant he had something on his mind.
He cleared his throat and wiped the grin off his face. "Your friend seems nice."
"She's very sweet". The thought of the double meaning made me smile and I covered with waving down the bartender. "Do you dance?"
"Not well, why?"
"Well, I was hoping you would dance with me later". It didn't seem like that big of a deal to me, but he seemed to almost choke on the drink of beer he was taking.
"Sure, I'll dance with you. Will Sam mind?" It was cute to see old fashion traits in him. He tried the drink again.
"You could ask if it makes you feel better, but, no, he won't mind. He might even get a kick out of it". I could see he was a little confused but that was OK. If Sam wanted him to understand he would explain.
We spent the next several hours getting very inebriated, dancing, telling stories and laughing. Things were going extremely well. Everyone seemed to act like old friends. Stacy and I went to the juke box and I could almost feel the guys watching us walk away. As we looked through all the music, she stood very close behind me. I could feel her breath on the back of my neck and my ear. I couldn't concentrate on the music at all, so I just randomly pushed buttons.
