6. Frankie
Frankie
F ive years later…
I walked around the crowded convention center, only half paying attention to the tables of vendors lined up in long rows. The annual education conference was one of my favorite events, but my real goal for visiting the vendor exposition was to hunt for good giveaways. Last year I’d scored a handful of chocolate, a nice compact umbrella, a charger for my phone, a water bottle, several stress balls, and an array of other trinkets. Living on a teacher’s salary, I was a pro at looking for freebies.
My eyes caught on a table at the end with a stack of little notebooks and pens. Ooh. I could use a new notebook for my bag. Unlike a lot of people who kept notes and lists on their phones, I preferred to track things in writing. I made a beeline over to the table, not even bothering to see what product or service they were selling before grabbing a notebook and dropping it into my tote bag.
“Kiss?”
I glanced up as someone waved a bowl of Hershey’s kisses in front of me. The person’s voice sounded familiar. I looked up into a pair of sky blue eyes, jolting as I recognized the vendor.
“Aurora? Is that you?”
My old college friend looked different from the last time I saw her. Aurora’s blonde hair was darker now, smoothed back into a low ponytail, and her make-up was much subtler than she used to wear back in college. She was dressed in a black pencil skirt and a conservative white blouse that did nothing to hide her incredible tits. Tits that I’d spent a lot of time dreaming about during my senior year of college despite knowing that she was unavailable. And straight.
Aurora made a squealing noise. “Oh my God, Frankie!”
She rushed out from behind the table, pulling me into a tight hug. Since she was several inches taller than me, it had the effect of smashing my face against her cleavage. Not that I minded. I took a deep breath, smelling vanilla and something floral. It was nice.
Aurora pulled back and gave me a bright smile.
“I haven’t seen you since before graduation,” she reminded me. “What are you doing here?”
Before I could answer she rushed on, “Well, that’s a stupid question. This is an education conference, and you were studying education last time I saw you.”
“Yes, I’m a teacher now.”
I glanced between her and the display behind her, which advertised tools to help kids with learning disabilities. An ID badge around her neck identified her as a marketing manager for the company.
“You’re clearly not a journalist though.”
She shook her head, her expression turning sad for just a second before it cleared.
“No, it was a nice dream, but I needed to actually make money,” she explained. “Plus, as you know, print journalism is dying and now everyone with an iPhone and a laptop is a journalist. Anyway, I’m working for an educational company in St. Louis now, managing their external marketing.”
I had the distinct impression that she was not excited about this change in her career.
“Do you live here in Chicago?” she asked.
“Yes. I grew up here and after college, I didn’t want to live anywhere else.”
“Listen,” she said. “I’m not flying back to St. Louis until the morning. Any chance we can have dinner and catch up after I finish here? I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to these last five years.”
I glanced at my watch, although it was just for show. I didn’t need to be anywhere.
“Sure. That would be nice.”
Aurora looked like I’d just given her the winning lottery numbers. “How about I meet you at five thirty?”
“That works. There’s a bar up the street called O’Malley’s, we can meet there. Just turn right when you go out the front door, it’s about a block away.”
“Great. See you soon.”
I spent the next hour wandering around the rest of the tables before heading over to O’Malley’s to meet Aurora. She got there about two minutes after I did. The place was crowded with happy hour patrons, but after a short wait we were able to get a table in the restaurant. We sat on either side of a small table in the corner, then ordered drinks while we perused the menu. I noticed that Aurora had changed into jeans and a scoop neck sweater. It made her look softer.
We plowed our way through a couple of appetizers while we caught up on the last five years like we were old friends instead of two people who kept randomly running into each other and hanging out together during our last semester of college. Hell, I’d never even gotten her phone number back then. Not that I needed it…
After a while our conversation turned to our lives now. I was surprised how easily we were able to talk.
“Are you still with Sam?”
I finally asked the question that had been on my mind since she’d hugged me in the convention center.
“Who?” Aurora paused. “Oh, you mean Sam, that guy I was dating senior year of college? Oh God no, I dumped his ass right before graduation.”
My eyes dropped to her left hand, and she noticed. She gave me a flirty smile and I realized that I was just as attracted to her now as I’d been back in college, maybe more. Then she said something that changed everything.
“I broke up with Sam right after I realized that I’m bisexual.”