20. Re
“The end of separation is meeting again.” – Turkish proverb
I steppedinto my red shimmery dress and fed my arms under the straps, smiling at the rewarding buzz of the zipper as it slid up my back with ease. I’d wanted to wear this to my birthday dinner last night, but since it became a casual fun fest on the beach instead of a flashy soiree at a gourmet restaurant, it hadn’t exactly been appropriate. It was very appropriate tonight however, for the occasion of my high school reunion.
I slid my feet into matching red shoes and put the earrings on that Selena gave me. One last push of the bobby pins secured my chignon and I pressed my lips together in front of the mirror, then grabbed my evening bag and headed for the car.
I arrived at the venue and clicked my heels up the steps, entering through an open door into the foyer. A voluptuous woman I didn’t recognise was handing out name tags. “I know you, you’re Kelli Crawford, right?”
Crap. I had no idea who she was. I’d only been out of high school eight years, surely that wasn’t long enough to forget a face? Unless she was someone my teenage snobbish self had ignored. I cringed at the memory of who I used to be. “Yes, hi, how’ve you been?”
She must have sensed my confusion because she quickly revealed her identity. “Don’t worry, you’ve no need to recognise me, I didn’t go to the school. I married Cody Baxter, did you know him?”
Yep. He was one of Will’s arch enemies and instigator of the whole Kick Me Post-it note craze. “Yeah, I did. Well, I’m very happy for you both,” I replied. Poor woman. “How did you know who I was?”
“Your photo on the cover of Beaut? magazine last month.”
“Oh, right. Thanks,” I said, wondering if she noticed that the cover shot had been photo-shopped to death. My jaw line had been sliced and chiselled to the point where if I really looked like that, I wouldn’t have room inside my mouth for a set of teeth.
I pressed my sticky name tag onto the right side of my chest, up high enough near my shoulder to prevent the usual chest-staring from guys with the excuse they were just trying to read my name tag. I almost considered slapping it on my forehead, then they might at least look me in the eyes.
I wandered into the balloon-filled function room, my eyes searching for one person only, finding everyone but him. What if he wasn’t coming?
I’d never thought of that until now. It would make sense, I mean he wasn’t the most popular guy in school, far from it, so why would he want to revisit the past? But Will did say I was wearing this dress the night we met up again, so it either had to be tonight, or I’d have to wear this dress every night until I found him.
I weaved my way through the crowd, stopping here and there to greet people I recognised, until my eyes travelled to the far corner of the room. Near a table of drinks stood a guy with his back to me wearing a light grey shirt over black pants and cropped brown hair. His head tipped back as he downed a drink and then he turned around.
It was him. It was my Will. Well, he wasn’t mine yet, but that was just a technicality, it would only be a matter of time. Or not. Who said it was important to take things slow, anyway?
My eyes fixed on the target, I waltzed over and stopped in front of him. “Hi, Will.” A smile sliced across my face and his eyebrows rose.
“Kelli? Hi, how are you?” He tucked his hands into his pockets.
“I’m great, you?”
“I’m great too.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah, it is great.”
Oh c’mon, Kelli! Two nights ago you were practically ripping him out of his Superman costume and now you can’t even hold a decent conversation?I opened my mouth to ask him a question, when a guy came up and slapped Will on the back. Why did guys always hit each other to show their affection? No nice soft hugs, they just whacked and nudged and slapped each other silly.
“If it isn’t the one and only McSmelly! Didn’t think I’d see you here tonight.”
“Cody.” Will acknowledged him with a brief nod.
“And look at you, Kelli Crawford – still as stunning as ever. Trapped at the drink table with McSmelly, are you? Don’t worry,” he winked, “just pretend there’s a call you need to take and make a run for it. He’ll be none the wiser.” Cody chuckled and grabbed a drink from the table, swigging it down his throat in one gulp.
“Actually, I’m talking to Will here, so if you don’t mind?” I cocked my head to the side, gesturing for him to get the hell away from us.
“Huh.” His eyes widened and he crossed his arms. “Well, I know when I’m not wanted. Which isn’t often, by the way.” He winked and nudged Will sharply in the ribs. “I think I’ll go and see my lovely wife. After I’ve danced with my old flame, that is.” He shot a glance towards the gorgeous Lucy Montgomery and swaggered in her direction.
“Idiot,” I said.
“Yeah, some people never grow up,” Will remarked.
“Ah, Will?” I grasped his shoulder and turned his body around.
“Oh, don’t tell me, not again.”
“Yep, ’fraid so.” I plucked a Post-it note with Kick Me written on it from his back.
Will shook his head and sighed. Then he glanced at me. “Thanks for that.”
“No problem,” I said. “So, what do you do these days?”
“I’m in business,” he replied, taking his hands out of his pockets. “Actually, I’m an employee, but I help businesses. I’m a consultant to various corporations on management skills, start-up planning and techniques for boosting efficiency and productivity.” He nodded with pride. “I’d like to eventually run my own business, but for now I’m getting as much experience as possible.”
“Sounds like an important job to me. I might need your services one day,” I said, adding a subtle glint to my eye.
“Really? But I thought you were involved in modelling.”
“I am, but I won’t be forever. I’m thinking of starting up a homewares design company.” I smiled, the more I told people about this the more excitement surged within. “Except, I know nothing about business, I’m only good for the creative side, so I’ll need advice on all the other aspects of owning and running a business.”
“Then I’m your man,” he said, and his face flushed to match my dress, no doubt realising the possible double meaning of his words.
“I’m sure you are,” I replied softly. “Do you have a business card?”
Will’s eyes lit up, his fingers diving into his shirt pocket. “Sure do. Didn’t think I’d need these tonight, so I’m glad I brought them.”
He handed me his card, which had the same photo that was on his Facebook profile and included his office address, phone number and email address. “Thanks,” I said, unclipping my evening bag and dropping the card inside, then closing the bag with a pop.
“Well, I wish you all the best with your idea, it sounds great to me. I remember you were always good with art at school.”
“You do?” He did?
“Yeah, remember that mural all the students had to contribute to on the brick wall outside the library? You painted that little worm reading a book and he had these big googly eyes.” Will’s fingers circled around his own eyes and I withheld a giggle at the memory of our night at the fun fair with his novelty sunglasses.
“Ah yes, the bookworm.” I nodded, then struck with an idea, I opened my bag and retrieved my phone.
“You’re not doing the ‘I’ve got to take this call’ thing that Cody suggested, are you?”
“Huh? Oh no, of course not! Sorry, I’m jotting down an idea for a product. Since deciding to start this business I’ve been getting ideas at the most inconvenient times and if I don’t note them down I’m scared I’ll forget!” I jabbed at the keyboard on my phone. “Done.”
“It’s okay, I understand. So what’s the idea?”
Wow, he really was interested in what I had to say and he hadn’t even looked at my chest. His eyes fixed on mine. Unlike Cody whose eyes had done the usual ‘Going Down’ elevator trip, getting stuck on the way back up at the seventh floor instead of tenth where my eyes were.
I leaned forward, enthusiasm overtaking my body. “Well, when you mentioned the bookworm, I got this image in my mind of a bookcase, but one that’s shaped like a worm, kind of long and curvy and you attach it to the wall and it has individual slots for each book, so it kind of looks like a domino effect, with the books following the curve of the design. Make sense?” Sensing a lack of oxygen from my verbal dump, I drew in a deep breath.
“Sounds fantastic! You could simply call it The Bookworm.”
“I could. Oh, and it would look great attached to a wall beside a staircase, it could slant upwards along with the stairs.”
“Well, I’d buy one, definitely,” Will said with a smile.
I smiled back and tucked a non-existent strand of hair behind my ear. “So, are you married? Have any kids?”
“Nope. Not at this stage, but I’d like to.”
“Me too.”
“You would?” His eyebrows rose. “I didn’t pick you as the marriage and kids type. Guess I was wrong.”
“There’s a lot about me that would surprise you, Will.”
“Yeah? Like what?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Um…” I looked at the crumpled Post-it note in my hand and smiled. “Do you have a pen?”
“Do I ever,” Will replied, his fingers diving into his shirt pocket again. “Red, blue, or black?”
“Surprise me.” I smiled.
He handed me a red pen. “To match your dress.”
I leaned on the drinks table and placed a cross through the c and the k at the end of the work Kick, replacing them with ss. Then I stuck the Post-it note that now read, Kiss Me, on the left side of my chest, slightly lower in position than my name tag and waited patiently for Will’s reaction.
His eyes practically popped from their sockets, resembling the bookworm I’d painted in the school mural. “Are you serious?”
“I’ve never been more serious in all my life.”
He stood frozen to the spot for a moment, then laughed. “Ha ha, nice try. This is some kind of joke, right? I bet Cody put you up to it and any minute he’ll pop out of the woodwork with a camera and yell, ‘Ha! Gotcha!’, and then he’ll–”
I lurched forwards and pressed my lips urgently to his, my hands sliding behind his neck and down across his jaw line. When I finally pulled back, he was frozen in another position; lips protruding, eyes in blissful shock, his body about ready to slide to the floor like a lump of rapidly melting ice.
“Holy moly,” he whispered.
I chuckled, then drew him in for another kiss, realising that after the whole adventure that was my fiftieth birthday, Will and I had not kissed. Not once. He’d tried of course, but never struck gold and when I finally wanted to kiss him, he went off to have a shower and left me laying on the bed a tingling pile of desire until I was launched back in time. I was glad though. This was meant to be our first kiss. Not in the future, but here, at the beginning, where it all started.
We smiled at each other as we came up for air and I gestured to the dance floor. “You don’t like robot dancing by any chance, do you?”
Will grabbed my shoulders. “Do I ever! I’m like The King of robot dancing!” He led me towards the dance floor. “And that’s not just because it’s the only style of dance I know.” He winked, his eyes telling me it most certainly was.
A crowd gathered in a circle around us, clapping and cheering, except for Cody who stood on the sidelines shaking his head in utter disbelief. When the song ended and slow music took over, he pulled me close to him. “You’ve got me under your spell, Kelli Crawford,” he whispered.
“Then let’s make some magic,” I replied, leaning my head towards his and relishing the soft, warm touch of his lips again.
As we swayed in time to the music, he brought his lips to my ear and whispered, “Never in a million years would I have dreamed that Kelli Crawford would waltz into my school reunion and ravish me.”
“It just goes to show, you never know what the future has in store for you,” I replied, even though I was privy to some of it.
“That’s right,” he said. “Do you ever wish you could jump ahead in time and see what your future’s going to be like?”
“Well, it could be… interesting, but nah, I’d rather stay exactly where I am and let life lead the way.”
“Yeah, me too. Life is for living, is it not? If you’re too focused on the future you forget to have fun in the moment.” Will pulled back, putting a stop to our slow dance. “Speaking of fun, the annual fun fair’s on in the city all month. Being Saturday night it should be open till late.” His eyes twinkled. “What do you say we skip this joint and go have some real fun?”
A smile crawled onto my lips and I clasped my hand in his, eyeing the exit. “Hell, yeah!”