15
Years Like Yesterday, Part I
He
was just starting his third beer when she arrived, 20 minutes late. They saw each other and both smiled naturally
as she approached from the entrance. They
hugged hello and she sat down and ordered a glass of red wine.
“You
look great.” Konstan said, still smiling. “I cannot believe it’s been so long; I really
don’t even know where to begin.”
“You
look the same! Like seriously- I want to
hear all about what you’ve been doing in Europe all this time and how it feels
to be back home.” She was also unable to
remove her smile.
“You
know, before we get into all that, the show will be starting soon, so I think
we should probably order some food now since we only have a half hour before we
have to go in.”
“Oh,
it’s ok, I already ate. I may eat
something later, but right now I think we should just have these drinks and
then go in the concert hall to make sure we get a good seat.”
“Uh,
ok. I’ll get the bill so we are not
rushed, but I got us VIP tickets, so our seats are assigned. We just need to get there before the show
starts.” Konstan had not eaten since
lunch because they had agreed to eat dinner together, but he immediately pushed
any negative thoughts about this change of plans out of his mind. He was full of energy now that he was sitting
with her and he’d easily be able to get through the concert and eat later. He ordered the bill and they jumped into
discussion. They spoke fast - going back
and forth, back and forth.
“…I
just reached my expiration date in Russia.
I’m not sure if you’re following it so closely, but the country has
dramatically changed over the last few years and doing business was getting
harder and harder with all the corruption.
Once the war started in Ukraine, I hit my breaking point... 20 years
abroad is a long time and I’m telling you, I’m really happy to finally be back
stateside. I wish I’d come back sooner
actually. New York’s something new and
exciting. I’m seeing my country through
new eyes and while it’s similar to what I remember, I’m different, so it’s also
different. It’s hard to explain.” He was trying to keep it light, as he figured
that she would not have been following Eastern European news so closely. “Anyway, tell me about yourself, what’re you
doing these days? I saw on your Facebook
profile that you’re doing yoga and are a psychic/spiritual healer, what’s that
anyway?”
“Oh,
yes, I opened my own yoga studio a while ago, but it was so much work and
stress that I ended up closing it after I got divorced. I just couldn’t deal with all the pressure.”
“Oh
yeah, I read that in a link you recently posted to an interview you gave to a
local magazine. What happened? Who did you marry anyway?”
“I
married Scott and it was mess. We
weren’t good for each other and after a couple years the whole relationship
just fell apart. I was in a bad place
and he couldn’t deal with it. That’s why
I studied to by a psychic and healer. I
really wasn’t in good shape even when you knew me way back when. I had to figure out who I am, what I wanted
and why I wasn’t making myself happy. So
anyway.” She was absolutely giddy with
excitement and she put her hands together and raised them up and down like a
child as she spoke. She hadn’t changed a
bit, Konstan thought to himself.
Lisa
continued, “After studying in this
spiritual healing course I decided I wanted to teach it and help others, so I
took a teaching course and now I’m doing private yoga lessons at a studio my
friend runs and psychic readings to help people better organize their lives.”
“I’m
not sure what a psychic reading is, but if helps organize and inspire me, I may
want one. We can all use a little
spiritual guidance I think.”
She
blushed and finished her wine. “I think
you already have a good understanding who you are- just look at you and what
you’ve done with your life! I don’t
think I could tell you anything you don’t already know.”
“Are
you dating anyone?” Konstan asked.
“Yes,
kind of. Not really. I don’t know.”
“What
does that mean??”
“Well,
I’m seeing someone, but I am not sure if we’re really dating or not.”
“Cool,
who is he? How long have you been seeing
each other?”
“We’ve
been together for ten months now, but he’s young. Only 24.”
She again blushed a bit. Konstan
thought she was getting uncomfortable and didn’t say anything. She continued, “I met him walking my dog and
we kept bumping into each other and then, after a while, we started seeing each
other.”
“Sounds
like a nice romance. And don’t worry
about the age, dating younger people is kind of natural I think. We can teach and show them things that we
learned from life and they can teach us to remember how to be carefree and
happy- it’s a good trade. Though I’m not
sure if it works on a longer-term horizon.”
He was being supportive, there was no jealousy- he had resolved
long ago that they would not be a good couple in any way. Despite their once close friendship when they
were young, they were opposites in terms of how they saw and lived life. He was happy that Lisa had someone in her
life, even though she clearly had some commitment issues. He then asked one of his usual default
questions, “What does he do for a living?”
“Don’t
be judgmental!” she interjected and pouted her freckled face.
“What? Trust me, I just quit my job and am trying to
be a writer at the age of 42, I’m the farthest thing from judgmental you can
get, but if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to, it’s all good. Relax.”
“Ok,
well, he’s a bouncer at a bar in my neighborhood. That’s why I kept bumping into him. He was standing outside every night when I’d
walk my dog. We started talking and one
day he asked if I was seeing anyone and when I said no, we started meeting
after he got off work.” She was working
herself up; Konstan could see she was uncomfortable talking about this.
“Sounds
nice. We should go get our seats; the
concert is starting soon.” He
interrupted in an effort to settle things down.
She immediately stood up. They made
their way to the concert hall. A booty
call with a 24 year old bouncer, is that how these things start these days?!, Konstan thought to himself as he followed her. He wasn’t being judgmental, just a bit surprised
at the strange and random happenings that allow for love and relationships to
begin in this world. As they walked, he
looked at her. She was still in very
good shape, the yoga was clearly keeping her physically healthy.
They
found their seats. Two other people, a
couple in their early-60s, were sitting at the table with them. They all said hello and introduced themselves
and then the older woman, who was there with her husband, said to Lisa- “Are
you two married?”
“Oh
no, we went to high school together. I
haven’t seen him in over 15 years!” She
replied with another big smile and they all had a laugh about how fantastical
the whole situation was.
They
ordered more drinks and the conversation moved away from her personal
life. They talked about travelling,
which Lisa said she really wanted to start doing more of.
“See,
that’s good that you have a young boyfriend who can take time off of work to
travel with you.” They kept talking in a
fast flurry until the show started.
Lisa
said that she had met the singer at the spiritual healing class she initially
took and was excited to hear her sing.
Once the show started, they both sat back to enjoy the music. It was a folksy soulful type of music where
the singer’s voice is the dominant instrument.
They were both transfixed on the singer for the first few songs. After a little while, Lisa leaned in to say
something, so Konstan also leaned in a bit so that they wouldn’t disturb the
people around them.
“Isn’t
she great- I just love her- do you like it?”
She asked in a whisper, but while she was asking this, she put her hand
on Konstan’s upper thigh, an intimate gesture that he was taken somewhat aback
with, as he wasn’t thinking about anything romantic happening with her at all.
“Yes,
she is really great.” He replied
quietly, pretending not to notice her touch.
And then he pulled back, took a swig of his beer and focused on the
music again. A new song was starting,
but after only a few seconds, his gaze shifted to Lisa again- She looked
exactly the same as he remembered her and he studied her face, its freckles,
the ridge of her nose, her pouty, but full lips, the same black curly
hair. It brought back a lot of good
memories from his childhood. It’s
uncanny how if you share certain stages of your life with someone, those
people, no matter who they turn into will always be special he thought as he
pondered her image. He leaned in again,
which she noticed and leaned forward.
Again her hand came to rest on his upper and inner thigh as he whispered
to her.
“You
know, 15 years is just like yesterday.
It feels like not a single day has passed since we last saw each
other. I’m so comfortable with you, it’s
really amazing.”
“Yes,
I know, right? I feel the same way-” She
radiated happiness and looked directly into his eyes when she spoke.
The
concert was very good, and the energy between them remained high
throughout. They kept coming together to
say short things to each other between the songs, as the excitement of seeing
each other after so many years was overpowering for both of them. At one point just after a particularly strong
song, they both leaned in again and Lisa said, “ I just love that song. She is so amazing.” And then, looking into Konstan’s eyes, she
raised her head a bit and leaned in further toward him and closed her eyes
while pouting her lips. It was clearly
an invitation and he kissed her soft lips lightly a few times before he even
knew what he was doing. He then pulled
back to hear the next song, adrenalin surging through his body.
Konstan
had no idea what was happening, but it was exciting and, unexpectedly, it all
felt kind of right to him. He started
having strange and crazy thoughts, were these seemingly very different people
who lived completely opposite lives possibly soul mates? Could something really be between them after
so many years or was this just loneliness and nostalgia making them act and
feel this way? He decided to just
breathe, take it easy and go with the flow without any major moves,
declarations or discussions. His little
voice continued reminding him how the relationship ended in flames 15 years ago
because he had told her he had feelings for her deeper than friendship and that
freaked her out so much they stopped communicating. This kept him in check and he resolved it
best to keep the evening platonic even as they continued whispering ideas,
memories and thoughts to each other.
After
the show, they waited around to meet the singer and Lisa met some other friends
who were there. One of her girlfriends
said after talking with them for a while, “How long have you two been seeing
each other?” to Konstan’s ironic delight and Lisa’s surprise.
“Oh
no, he is just an old high school friend- I haven’t seen him in 15 years before
tonight.” She quickly corrected.
“Oh
really? You both have such a positive
and comfortable energy between you. I
would have sworn you were a couple- you look so good together.”
As
the theater was closing and it was still fairly early, they decided to get a
drink a nearby bar…
It's about to get interesting....Please click the link
below to find the second and final installment of the story:
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Beautiful story Michael. Keep it up...the writing that is.
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