Playing With Old Fire

Hey, kiddos! After a little bit of a break from writing I finally have a couple more submissions ready. This story, as with my last entry, The Exchange, is also based on true events - names, dates, and places have been changed for obvious reasons.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

-HJ

*****

It was mid-summer, several years ago, when I was in the midst of preparations for my move to Scandinavia. I had finally secured a place in a design school in Finland, and was going to be on my way to what was to become an incredible life-changing adventure.

During that summer I had endeavored to do as much as I could with my friends at home, to enjoy all the little things that we'd done together since high school, organize hangouts and parties, and just relish in the small familiar things before leaping into the unknown. We mostly stayed around my hometown, where all my friends still generally lived. I was about 27 at the time; having been out of high school for around 8 years. I'd started college a few years after graduating, and spent some time working and living as an adult - something I would highly recommend of any fresh high school graduate - so I was still working on completing my studies. But, I digress.

As the end of the hot month of July was approaching, I was with a school buddy at a local bowling alley when I ran into a very old friend. My buddy had gone to the bar to pick up another round of drinks, and when he came back he told me there was some girl who was asking about me, said she knew me. He said she wanted me to meet her back at the bar, so I went to see who it was. When I approached the large bar counter, I couldn't believe who I saw; it was a girl I had known since before high school. We'd dated for some time, or really, just hooked up a lot, during my first year or so of high school, but we'd drifted apart due to personality differences. In fact, it was a bit of a bad breakup; she was a complete drama queen back then, which is something I normally avoided like the plague. She wasn't shy about her sexuality or promiscuity, which didn't bother me in the slightest, but as we ended the relationship she'd found another guy rather quickly and I thought she might have fooled around on me while we were still together. As I'd grown more mature, mentally and emotionally, I came to understand more of what kind of person she was, who I was, and why we didn't work...and she became one of those people I'd wondered how the hell I was ever with.

It had been over ten years since we'd last seen each other, and now that I saw her again somewhat unpleasant memories began to surface. It wasn't what she did or how she acted back then - I'd long since laid that to rest. It was just that she hadn't been a very good person, and I wouldn't have minded not running into her again. But as I approached, and as I saw her turn and smile, she actually looked...different. I don't really know how to pinpoint it. And she also looked pretty good...When I knew her, she was a bit heavier. She was pretty short, which didn't help her overall figure, but she was still pretty hot; full sexy lips, nice curvy thighs and full ass, and more than a mouthful of amazing tits. Maybe her open sexuality drew me in even more, who knows. But now she'd seemed to have really fell into her form; her dark wavy hair framed her more healthy-looking features, her chest pushed tightly against her button up shirt - which, open on the top, offered a very pleasant view of her generous cleavage. As I took a cursory look over her front, I noticed her thighs filled her skin tight jeans very nicely as well, which had some tone and very, very nice shape...she did still have a bit of extra curve, but, that being more to my liking, she was looking really good as I caught myself checking her out. I was staring probably a millisecond too long at the crease where her thighs met, when I internally shook my head and brought my eyes back up to hers. She kept a friendly and surprisingly warm smile that betrayed no suggestion that she saw me looking, and continued toward me. It was actually interesting to see her now, and she seemed to have almost no hint of the drama bitch-goddess I knew. And she seemed very enthusiastic to see me...

"Oh my god, I can't believe you're here!" She almost shouted. As I walked up to her, she put her arms around me and pulled me into a friendly hug.

"You too!" I replied, "I thought you'd moved out West years ago." I'd seen or heard about it at some point that she'd met some guy and they moved to Las Vegas or some other place out in the desert.

"I did! I actually just moved back..." She hesitated. "Things didn't quite work out."

"Ah, sorry to hear that."

She had just a hint of somber expression, and it appeared for only a moment. "Yeah, sometimes it happens like that."

Just then the bar tender brought up a round of tall beers and announced, "Two Coronas, and a Heineken."

"Ah, that's ours." she said, turning. "I better get these over to our lane, I think the girls are getting thirsty. Listen, why don't we catch up sometime?"

"Um, yeah, sounds good." I said, a little hesitant. She did seem different as we had this brief exchange. Ten years is a long time, so who knew what she'd experienced, and who she was now. "God, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has."

It was so strange. I could pick up hints in her voice that reminded me of the girl I knew back then, but other than that it seemed like a whole new person in front of me. I guess it goes with the territory of meeting up with people you hadn't seen in forever. Time never stands still.

"Well, I'm gonna get back to our game." She said after a pause. "Don't leave without getting my number!"

I smiled. "Alright. Talk to you soon then."

I watched her as she started back to her friends, smiling at me with her hands full of beers, and as she turned I couldn't help but take a look at her ass. I'm not an open perv, and I was certainly a taken man, but I have no qualms about looking and occasionally enjoying what I see. She was definitely looking good...

When I returned to my lane, my buddy had been impatiently waiting on my turn to roll. As I walked up to the ball return, he asked me who it was. I told him it was an old friend, who I was really surprised to see back in town.

"Cool. Man, she's pretty cute." He said.

I chuckled. "Yeah, she looks great since last I saw her too."

"She seemed, uh, really happy to see you."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't think there was anything to read into, but she did seem excited. "Yeah, I guess."

We finished up our game and rolled another. Every so often I'd look over toward my friend's lane. She was almost at the other side of the alley, but I could see that she would sometimes be looking over at me and we'd wave. We played just one more game, and decided to call it a day. I put on my regular shoes, and walked up to the counter to pay. As I was chatting with the attendant, I heard the patter of trotting footsteps behind me.

"Hey!" she called to me, "taking off?"

I turned to her. "Yeah, just played a couple games and we're going to go catch a flick or something."

She reached onto the counter to grab a card and a pen, flipped it to the blank back and started to write. The attendant finished with my credit card and handed it back, and as I turned the girl slid the paper card in front of me.

"Here's my number, give me a call and let's catch up soon!" As she said the last words, she leaned in close suddenly, and I felt her squeeze my ass.

Now that was definitely a surprise. She had been friendly enough before, but I didn't detect any flirting or even any hint of interest besides seeing a familiar face after a long time apart. And not only had we not seen each other for years, but our relationship wasn't anything special...at least not to her as far I remembered. I figured that maybe she'd had more than one beer, and inwardly shrugged...besides, the sudden contact made me twitch in my jeans despite myself. I just sort of smiled back at her and told her we'd catch up soon, then.

As we left, my buddy gave me a look that said he'd seen what happened. I shook my head, "I don't know, man."

Several days passed, and I noticed the card with that girl's number sitting on my bedside table. I'd tossed it there absently, as with most other things that end up in my pocket, and hadn't really thought any more about the encounter. I had been busy with things, finalizing preparations for my travels, and more stuff with friends. But as I laid back in my bed, I thought about calling her up and setting up a meeting...maybe even in a group, I thought. I wasn't really worried about anything happening since I certainly wasn't interested, and was very much content in my long-term relationship. But I also thought about her rather forward touch that other day and thought maybe it'd be better to hang with her in a group setting. I shook myself out of my thoughts. I was overthinking it. The hell with it, I thought. We're both grown-ups, and I knew where my boundaries were. I pulled out my phone and dialed up her number.

"Hello?" I heard a familiar voice after a few rings.

"Hey, it's Jack." I replied.

"Oh, hi!" She said, her voice suddenly lifting. "I was wondering if you were going to call."

"Just been a full past few days. Have a lot going on, especially as we're getting near the end of summer and my flight date."

"Flight date?"

"Yeah. I suppose that's some big news; I'm about to move."

"Oh, wow." She said. I thought I could hear just a hint of disappointment. "Where are you going?"

"Europe, actually."

"Holy shit!" She exclaimed. "That's crazy! But really cool! When do you head out?"

I chuckled. "End of August."

"Wow. Going overseas, that's amazing!"

"I know! It's going to be an incredible experience for sure!"

"So where in Europe are you going, and what are you doing there?" She asked.

"Well, I'm going to be continuing my studies in Finland." I replied. "I found a really great design school where I should be able to finish my degree. They have a great program in my field, and it's in English which is kind of a necessity for me."

"Hehe, I was going to ask; do you even speak Finnish?"

"Very little." I admitted. "But in the Nordic countries you can get by pretty well with English anyway."

"So, if I may ask, why Finland?"

"Ah, well...the million-dollar question everyone asks; when I was studying at State I met a girl..."

"Ahhh, now it's starting to make sense." She quipped.

I chuckled. "She's actually from Denmark, but lives in Finland for her work."

"Well, that would be a good reason to go there then!" She replied.

"Yes, well we've been together for a year now...struggling a bit as you can imagine from the distance."

"I can't even imagine how hard that would be! Have you seen each other in that time?"

"Yes, in fact I've visited there three times already. I wouldn't move there if I hadn't been there first, either. But it's a truly beautiful place! The culture, the history...we've visited many places around Scandinavia as well, including her home."

"You're making me jealous!"

I chuckled. In that moment I took her meaning as it was, but also thought I could catch the tone of something more to her words. "So," I continued, "on my last trip I visited the school I had applied to and had an interview with the faculty there. It went very well, and I very much enjoyed the city."

"Where is the school located?" She asked.

"It's right in the center of Helsinki, on the southern coast."

"Oh, wow. Big place, then?"

I chuckled. "Well, most of the population of the country lives there. But it's not so big, really. It's not hard to get around downtown, and it doesn't have that overwhelming feeling like Chicago or New York."

"Cool!"

"So, we were talking about getting together sometime." I said after a brief pause. "When are you free?"

"Yeah! So, at the moment I'm still looking for work and my schedule is fairly open." She paused a moment. "I have some things going on tomorrow, but why don't we meet this Saturday?"

"Sounds good for me. I'm not working at the moment either. I have some things left to prepare for of course, but my days are pretty free as well. Let's do Saturday then."

"Hehe, alright! Do you have a preference on where we meet?"

"No, not really."

"Do you have a car?" She asked.

"Yep."

"Well, why don't you come by my place to pick me up and we can go from there?" She suggested. "If either of us has an idea before then, send a text."

"Sounds fine to me."

"Ok then. See you!"

She still didn't have any trace of flirtatious tones in her voice, throughout any of the conversation. God, she didn't even sound like the same person I knew back then... I'd dismissed what had happened at the bowling alley as a product of the circumstance; she was with friends, in a good mood, had had some beers, and saw an old friend for the first time in a long while. There was obviously a surface attraction between us still, something of a remnant of our past perhaps, but I had no apprehension about being around her alone. It really was a surprise to see her again, and it seemed like it was going to be cool to reconnect - to talk about ourselves and see how we'd changed...

-------

The day of our 'date' came none too quickly, and I was actually looking forward to meeting her. We had decided over text beforehand that we'd start by getting some food at a diner on the edge of town after I picked her up. I got myself ready, and, even though it was a date just between friends, and with a friend I wasn't even sure how keen I was to see, I found myself putting in a little extra effort getting ready. After making sure I looked good and smelled good, I was on my way out. When I got there she was already waiting, coming out of the house almost immediately when I arrived. She wore some tight black bottoms, which almost looked a bit dressy, and a much more casual light-flannel button up top. It was a nice look on her. Her black hair had the look that it was done up quickly, but not carelessly; tied up in a sort of messy pony tail. She waved as she trotted up to the car with a smile on her full lips. I got out to greet her, and we gave each other another easy friendly hug.

"So we're good for the diner?" She asked.

"Yeah, no problem! You hungry?" I replied.

"Fuck yeah, I am."

I chuckled. She hadn't lost her free use of vocabulary...it was something else I'd always found alluring in women. "Me too. Let's get out of here."

With that we climbed in to my car and headed out. She kept a bit quiet for the first part of the ride, except to ask if I minded if she had a cigarette. I said to go for it, as I still smoked now and then myself. She smiled. We'd soon found our stride in conversation after that. It was a bit awkward at first I think because, at least for me, it brought up some more of those old memories now that we were together like this. It was a strange feeling of uncomfortableness while still being happy to see someone after so long. But our conversation soon became easy, and continued verdantly after we arrived at the diner and placed our order.

We talked at length about her life and experiences since high school. It turned out she'd gone through a lot, several relationships, had a kid, and had even married a guy - the one she'd moved out west with. The marriage was very strenuous, and did not end well. Unfortunately, they'd also had a couple kids together, and she said she'd been fighting with him over the past several years. Finally, the divorce had gone through, she had full custody, and she'd come back home to reconnect with her roots - to sort of start over. I could see the effect that had had on her in her expressions as she spoke, and it seemed like through it all she came to understand a bit about herself and what she wanted in life.

After that, in an effort to redirect the tone of our conversation, she asked me about myself and what I'd been up to over the years. I had quite a lot to tell, as I had done some traveling in that time, all in the U.S., and had gone to school in three different universities. I'd had several relationships in that time as well, before meeting my current girlfriend - though I didn't elaborate too much about my personal life. We talked a bit more about what I was planning in the near future, and she seemed genuinely happy for me. She said it's what she needed as well, a new fresh beginning, and to have some life goals. I encouraged her to go back to school.

"Hmm, I thought about it." She sighed. She'd started a nursing degree before she left with her then-husband. "I don't know where or how to get back into it."

"Well, you have some time to figure it out, I think. But it's always good to start just for the sake of starting."

"Maybe..."

"That's what I did." I began. "I went to the two-year university here in town, not really knowing what I was doing. Initially I applied and was accepted into a school near Chicago right after high school, but the expense of the school was too much for my parents to help me with. I ended up working for a while after that, but after a few years I knew had to get out of that rut, to do something more meaningful. At the school here you get a nice variety of courses, you have advisors and councilors to talk with who can give you advice...and when you've decided, all of your course work is transferable to almost any four-year university."

"Not a bad idea." She replied, smiling.

We sat in silence for a moment, and it seemed like she was thinking deeply about something.

Then she smiled again and shook her head.

"You know it's amazing how things turn out." She began.

Isn't that the truth, I thought. "Yeah?"

"Take you for example. I remember when we were kids, even before high school, we'd talk a lot and hang out..." she paused.

I chuckled, "yeah, I remember."

"You've changed so much since then..." Her eyes suddenly took an almost seductive look as she gazed back at me. "And you remember how we used to make out all the time...you always wanted to kiss me." She held her gaze. "Shit, I still remember that time by the library..."

Well, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised we'd talk about our past. I certainly remembered the time by the city library too. It'd been a pretense to use on our parents to go study, but we hid out in a darker corner and did some pretty heavy petting...I chuckled. "Ah, yeah. I was really into you back then."

Her eyes suddenly changed, looking almost apologetic. "Yeah, I certainly played with you a lot..." she paused, looking a bit more serious. "I, I shouldn't have been like that."

I was genuinely surprised.

"Nah, we were just kids." I shrugged.

"No, really, it bothered me later when I thought about how I treated you, especially when we were together in high school."

I smiled slightly, I guess I was sort of flattered that she'd even thought about it. "Really, it's OK. We were both very different back then. And afterword I really understood why it didn't work out the way I wanted at the time."

She still kept that same look. "Yeah, but it was still really...mean. You were so sweet..."

"That's one of the reasons it didn't work." I teased.

"Yeah, but you were really attentive," she said suddenly, "and hot."

She looked like she was thinking of a specific memory, and continued, "It felt really good with you. I never could tell you then. You made me feel special, and I didn't know how to handle that."

Again, I was really shocked this was all coming out. I didn't really expect this now. This was something I had long since figured out and come to terms with years ago, and it was a little strange to be having this conversation.

"I know." I said, "And I got that later on. Really, it's OK!" I tried to reassure her. She looked visibly upset about it.