"Reagan?" Frank's voice carries over the music and slaps me in the face. Damn! He recognizes me.
"You know, Reagan?" Will asks in surprise.
"Yeah. We went to high school together." He turns toward me and smiles. That's the same smile that I hated when we were younger. There's always a motive behind his smile and it's never a good one. His eyes drop from my face to my chest and descend lower as he speaks. "It's been a long time."
"Not long enough." The words slip out before I have the chance to filter them. Will gives me a questioning look before he steps between Frank’s eyes and my body.
"I'm going to grab a drink at the bar. Would you ladies like anything?" His smile is tentative. I don't know him well enough to know what he's thinking, but I wish I did. He's obviously uncomfortable with the way Frank is looking at me.
"No, thanks." I respond before turning my attention to Felicity. "I think we're going to head out, actually. Maybe we can get together another time."
Felicity gets the hint and grabs her purse. I toss some money on the table for the waitress and stand. We're out the door seconds later. I don't bother saying goodbye. With friends like Frank, I can't help but question Will's judgment.
Felicity and I spend the rest of the night watching movies and eating popcorn. I'm disappointed that things went south before we had a chance to get to know each other, but it's probably for the best. Will may have been the only plan that I had at the moment, but he was a still a short term plan.
That doesn't stop him from calling me the next morning. Or the next afternoon. He leaves messages that I delete without listening to. He sends me a text message and I don't respond. After 24 hours of silence, I think he finally gets the hint. Now I'm going to have to change gyms.
The morning sun warms my face while the cool breeze off the water keeps me from overheating. My feet pound against the sand, digging in slightly, as I make my way to my marker. The halfway point in my run is a little over half a mile. I've thought about increasing my distance, going a full mile before turning around. It's not worth it in the end. I would have to wake up earlier if I wanted to make it work on time and I would be worn out by the time I got there. I need my energy, and my sleep, if I'm going to make it through the next few months.
Elliot is graduating from grad school in May and then he's coming home. I can't wait to see him. He wasn't able to make it home over the holidays and I have been too busy to even think about trying to plan a trip to see him. Only a few months and then we can reunite. I'll probably be sick of him after only a few days, but I'll still be happy that he'll be closer.
I reach my marker and turn back towards the house. I look down at my watch and immediately pick up the pace. I'm slacking this morning. I may not have to head to work, but I still have things to do today. Plus, I don't want my average time to suffer. I dig in harder and concentrate on my breathing.
Felicity seems to be excited that Elliot is coming home. She has been trying to get me to plan a party for him since she found out last week. I'm sure we'll celebrate. I'm sure people will migrate to our house like they always do. Elliot will be staying with us until he finds a place. That fact alone means that the party might last weeks.
Today Felicity and I are clearing out the guest room and starting to get it ready for Elliot. It's been our storage room since we moved in. I have no idea what's even in there. I moved a bunch of stuff from my parent’s house over about a year ago but never sorted through it. I have boxes of stuff I'm sure I haven't even thought about in almost a decade.
After showering off, I grab a cup of coffee. Felicity is on the back deck waiting for me, her coffee already half gone. We need to go shopping for furniture, bedding, pretty much everything you can think of. We can't do any of that until we clear the room out, though.
"Morning," I say as I take a seat across from her.
"How was your run?" She asks as she takes a sip.
"Refreshing as always." Running helps me clear my head. I needed a good run after last night. I still can't believe that Frank was Will's wingman. Elliot is going to get a kick out of that when I tell him.
"Ready to tackle all those boxes?"
"Not really but it has to be done and I'm not sure when my next weekend will be this free and clear. Did you pick out furniture yet?" I love to shop, but I haven't had the time so Felicity has taken over the project. She says the room needs to have a beachy yet masculine feeling to it. I have no idea what that means, but I trust her.
"I found a few places I want to check out today. Do you wanna do that first or clear the room first?"
"Let's get it cleared out in case we find stuff while were shopping that can be delivered today." Felicity nods in agreement, but neither of us makes a move towards the room. It's a scary place. I noticed that the door was open when I headed to grab my coffee. Felicity must have been in there while I was in the shower. It's a mess.
We finally make our way inside and start to tackle box after box. Some are full of old clothes that we set aside to donate. Others are full of random crap that I collected as a kid. I had not one but two sea shell collections. The third box I came across had dolls in it that I set aside to donate. By the time we made it to the last few boxes I was worn out. As I opened the box on top of the stack, I froze in place.
I pull out the shoe box that's inside and set it aside. I know what's in there, but I'm not sure that I want to relive those times yet. One day I will and I'll keep the box in a safe place for when that time comes. Until then, Luke's smiling face will remain hidden. I wonder if he still looks the same as he did back then.
George.
Derrick.
Adam.
Mike.
Tucker.
Will.
The list could go on and on. The past two years have been a whirlwind of sub-par dates. None of them even came close to comparing to Luke. Tucker lasted the longest. He made it all the way to the third date before I was done with him. The rest, Felicity calls them one-date-wonders. I left two of them in the middle of the date. I felt bad, but there was no way I was going to be able to suffer through the rest of the evening.
George talked too much. I expected conversation during dinner but not during the movie. Derrick barely talked at all. When his hand tried to slide up my dress before the appetizer arrived, I knew I was going to bail on him. I excused myself to use the bathroom and slipped out the back door of the restaurant.
They all called the next day. They all asked for another chance, one more shot. Derrick even promised to be on his best behavior. Not. Going. To. Happen.
My dates have made for great stories lately. Felicity and I have shared a few good laughs the last few months discussing my epic fails in the dating department. This weekend, I get to discuss those fails with Elliot, in person for a change.
He's finally finished with grad school. I'm not sure why he signed up for two more years of school, but he did. He graduated last week with his Master’s in Education. Then, he called to tell me that he accepted an offer to teach at our old high school. I think he's crazy to want to go back and spend his life there. I didn't hate high school, but I was glad when it was over. I certainly wouldn't want to go back.