I’m thankful for the manageable busyness today. It helps me keep my mind focused on more important things, rather than remembering that it’s been over a week since the reunion.
I haven’t received an email from Adrian and I may never receive one.
Not that I was expecting it. Just stating the obvious.
George hasn’t stopped asking me about Adrian. I’ve already told her the truth—that Adrian and I were locker mates in high school and we were sort of, kind of, friends. But George was relentless, looking for something that wasn’t there.
“I knew you weren’t as innocent as you looked, Kay.” Sometimes I wonder if that girl knows me at all.
I would have been able to put the lack of communication behind me if George was stopped pestering me about him. Then again, I don’t know what I expected. After the reunion, he was probably being pulled in several directions, so many old classmates wanting to hang out with “Big D” (ugh, that nickname is the epitome of cringe). I wouldn’t be surprised if he visited with a few old girlfriends as well. To see if the old flames still burn…
My phone blasts a cheerful tune and it snaps me out of my thoughts. The word “Mom” flashes across the screen. I reach over and push the green button. Would rather talk to her than a grumpy doctor any day of the week. “Hey, Mom, what’s up?”
“You answered the phone, Micaela!” I wince at the sound of my full name. I’ve insisted on being called “Kay” since my freshman year of high school. But you know how moms are. They always have to call you by the name they gave you. “Did I catch you at a bad time? You’re usually busy.”
“It’s steady today. But I can’t stay long.” It’s odd, getting a call from Mom. She usually doesn’t call when I’m working since she works during the day as a receptionist downtown. She works a normal nine to five and I work ten-hour shifts, so our schedules don’t line up. “Everything okay?”
“Just calling to see if you made reservations at the Motif this Sunday.”
“Relax, Mom, I got the confirmation email this morning.” She doesn’t need to know that I forgot all about it until yesterday night and then, in a nervous fit, I made reservations via the restaurant’s website. “The three of us are good to go.”
“Only three? Your friend Georgia not coming with us this time?”
“Nah, she can’t. She’s working on stuff for her stream, and I think she mentioned something about having plans with other friends.”
“That’s a shame. Your granny loves it when she tags along, you know. Maybe next time.”
“Definitely.”
“In any case, you’re a lifesaver, Micaela. I’m not good at that online reservation stuff.” She works at a doctor’s office. She works on a computer at a doctor’s office Monday through Friday. But she’s can’t make an online reservation? “You know how your granny gets when we can’t go to her favorite champagne lunch.”
Granny is a big part of my life. She helped my mom raise me and she’s supported me my entire life. She was my biggest cheerleader throughout pharmacy school, sending me sweet care packages while I endured grueling clinical rotations and studied for my pharmacy boards exams. That said, she is very clear about her preferences. If she doesn’t get what she wants—in this case, free flowing booze and delicious food on a Sunday morning—she can get a wee bit irritable. And by “wee bit,” I mean insufferable.
“If you want, I can call them later to triple check,” I offer.
“Only if you want, dear.” That’s Mom’s subtle way of begging me to triple check everything. Otherwise, Granny will skin us alive. She looks like a sweet old lady but make no mistake. Underneath that floral house dress is a honey badger ready to rip your face off. “Anyway, I’ll let you work. By the way, you’ll have to pick up food after work. Granny is having dinner with her friends tonight and I’m having dinner with some of my coworkers.”
“Granny’s out again?” Did I mention how much, at the tender age of seventy-seven, Granny has more of a social life than Mom and me combined? “Who is she with this time?”
“Who do you think? Her friends at the senior center. Apparently, they’re playing Spades today. Booze may or may not be involved.”
“I see.” Of course, booze is involved. Booze is always involved with Granny and her friends. “Well, you have a great time tonight, Mom. Thanks for letting me know.”
We exchange “I love yous” before ending the call. If my granny is a sassy old bird, then my mom is her Plain Jane foil of a daughter. My mom isn’t boring. She’s very pragmatic, level-headed, and calm. When faced with the same problem, my grandmother will blow her top while my mom will take the steps needed to solve the problem without losing her patience. I think I’ve gained most traits from my mother. I’m just as quiet and level-headed as she is. But when the situation calls for it, I can summon the sass of my granny.
“Lord, have mercy!” I look up to see Vera, one of my pharmacy techs, fanning herself in the doorway. She was a sweet older lady who decided to enter the profession after her youngest daughter left for college. And she was damn good at it. “This store may have air conditioning, but I’m feeling the heat right now.”
“Lemme guess — disgruntled doc call? Or is a patient requesting a consultation on their medication?”
“Neither. It’s something much better.” Her smile widens as she saunters over to me. I immediately tense up. “I’ve been married for twenty-nine years, but I can still appreciate a handsome man when I see one.”
“Ah.” I pack up my lunch and head for the door. Always good to prepare for the worst in my line of work. “Another ‘handsome’ customer, huh? No wonder you’re hyperventilating.”
“You need to go up and see him, Kay! He’s really easy on the eyes. Tall, dark, and handsome with those come-hither eyes.”
“The words mean absolutely nothing to me. But since you’re so enthusiastic, I’ll humor you and go have a look.”
“Oh, you won’t regret it, honey.” She throws me a wink. “You’ll know him when you see him. Very easy on the eyes, that one. Absolutely can’t be single, either. The woman who has his heart is a lucky girl indeed.”
I smirk as Vera sits at a table, fanning herself. That woman is happily married but put a nice-looking man in front of her and she’ll lose her damn mind. Reminds me every morning at Peterson whenever Adrian arrived. All the girls would stop what they were doing and just stare at him. He seemed cool with all that attention but I’m not sure I believed that. But I never had the courage to ask him directly.
I shake the thoughts out of my head. This isn’t the time to wax poetic about the secret melancholy of my popular classmate. All I need to do now is take one quick peek at the guy Vera’s riled up about and get back to work.
The moment I reach the retail floor, time slows. In the pain relief and cold medicine aisle stands a familiar figure with his wavy, shaggy hair. I stop about a foot away from him. Was he always that tall, or are the store shelves that short?
“Adrian?” He turns around and that signature smile spreads across his face. No wonder Vera swooned. “It is you. What are you doing here?”