Melts in your Mouth: Long Time No See
Devin:
It had to be her. He hadn't seen her in several years,
probably 8 or so, but that face, that figure, that hair, those mannerisms.
It had to be her, though he’d never seen her dress so
provocatively, baring her midriff and shoulders in a tight-fitting ensemble
which clung to her pert smallish-medium breasts. She had always dressed
conservatively when he’d seen her in the past.
"Andra?", he asked hesitantly, even though he was
pretty sure it was her.
Leaning against the wall just outside the Ladies Room, she
turned her head just a bit and looked up at him, as if noticing there was a
person there for the first time.
She was standing near a table outside the bathrooms close to
the entrance at the Regal Theatre that the guy frequented. He had just finished
watching one of the Jurassic Park movies, the Friday 2:30pm matinee, and was on
his way out of the relatively people-free theatre when he rounded the corner
into the main lobby and saw her. He had observed her for several seconds prior
to saying anything, her sight on the bathroom entrance, though he had likely
been in her peripheral vision.
She focused her eyes a bit and then a big toothy smile came
to her face.
"Hi. Brandt?", she half asked, half stated.
"Uh-uh. Devin." He smiled back at her.
"Devin?", she seemed to search her brain,
"ohhhh...Deeeeviin (elongating the ev). Hi, how are you?". She
sounded pleasant and friendly.
--
His thoughts immediately flashed back to the last time he
had seen her. Andra Milker had once been
'the girl of his dreams' (or atleast one of 'the girls of his dreams'; he had
met another girl when he was a kid - a dreamy, intelligent, athletic, kind and
ambitious exotic girl whose ancestry was Peruvian and this was the family's
first generation within the US, her father a doctor, but that is a tale for
another time). He didn’t know it at the time…because the first time he met
Andra was when she had been re-assigned to his department as his manager.
Yes, he knew – being attracted to a woman at work is bad
enough, let alone it being his manager. And to make matters even worse, she was
married, though she had no kids (atleast at that time). So, having a romantic
relationship with her would’ve been like crossing three Rubicons. A smart
person just wouldn’t do it.
And he didn’t – because he was smart.
But he was quite attracted to her – for she had sparkling
intense green eyes, her dark hair was slightly curly, and her persona just
oozed fun and sexiness. She seemed like a cross between Danica Patrick and
Jennifer Garner and Jean Louisa Kelly. Even though she was in her mid-twenties
(slightly younger than he) at the time, her personality was a mixture of
high-school gossip girl in the know, homecoming queen, and professional
go-getting manager. Whenever she felt he was getting close to one of her red
lines, she would bring out the ‘professional’ card.
As his feelings grew towards her, it made working at the
company more difficult. One of his colleagues observed his growing attachment
and teased him about it to no end. A lot of good work was done in a relatively
short time, roughly two years, as he was inspired to perform for her and he
used his personable leadership style to push others on the team to also do
well.
However, it seemed that she got wind of his feelings toward
her. In the position of power and apparently not sharing his feelings, though
she was occasionally flirtatious, she began to distance herself from their
personal interactions. It wasn’t healthy to fantasize about one’s boss – it
became a distraction from his work product and at some point, he eventually
felt he had to move on, which he did, taking a job at another company for a
decent increase in salary.
Still, he missed her greatly and occasionally thought of
her. He missed her morning pep talks and the one-on-ones with her, which had
been mostly in the first year and a half of their work together.
--
But having reminisced on all that, it had been many years
since he had last seen her…atleast seven, maybe eight. The rumor (he had kept
in touch with some people that worked with her for awhile after he had left)
was that she had moved on to a different company and taken an executive
position, that she had popped out a couple children, and that she was either on
the outs with her husband or had divorced.
Physically, she looked just about the same as when he’d last
seen her. He couldn’t quite say the same for himself. He’d had a bit of a baby
face all through his twenties, but that had just started to fade. He’d also put
on maybe seven to ten pounds, though some of that was muscle. Still, he knew he
was handsome (or ‘cute’ as one of his colleagues had told him Andra said about
him years ago) and though he was not in peak shape, he was not far away since
he worked out and ran regularly.
“You look good”, he complimented her, “I know you’ve had
kids, but it doesn’t seem to have taken a toll on you in the slightest.”
She smiled politely. “Thanks. But, you’d be surprised.”
Having the babies at a relatively young age and getting
immediately back into shape had kept her physique in good form, though he
detected maybe just the slightest hint of jiggle to her bubble butt of a fanny.
“Well you look good to me”, he said, hoping that didn’t
sound too forward.
She didn’t respond to his compliment, but said, “We should
catch up some time.”
“Certainly”, Devin agreed, “are you in town for long?”
“Just tonight”, she said, and gave a sad face.
“That’s too bad. Looks like it’ll have to be some other
time”, he said, somewhat dejected, though he tried to hide it. Andra looked to
her side. There was an awkward couple moments of silence. He didn’t know if he
should wish her well and say goodbye or not.
At that point, the person whom Andra had been waiting for
came out of the women’s restroom. It was someone Devin recognized, though he
had known her only in passing. She had also been in management and was a friend
of Andra’s - Michelle Suchonet. She was also pretty, though not quite as pretty
as Andra, and she had put on a couple pounds since he’d seen her several years
ago.
“There you are”, said Andra, sounding relieved.
“Hi”, Devin said, “Michelle, right?”
“Hi”, she said, warmly adding, “hey, I remember you. You
used to work for Andra, didn’t you? Is your name Devin?”
“Yes, I did. Good memory.”
She smiled at him warmly.
Trying to think of something to push the conversation, he
asked, “So where are you ladies off to tonight?”
“We’re going to Forbidden Dish”, Michelle said, her eyes
lighting up as she said the name, “gonna meet some friends there and have some
drinks and…appetizers.”
Devin had not been to Forbidden Dish, it being one of the
newer restaurants in the area. He had driven by the building – it looked quite
large and fancy, probably an expensive place, if his instincts were right.
“That’s cool”, he said.
“Well, you’re welcome to join us, if you want”, Michelle
said. Andra gave her friend a sideways look. Michelle quickly added, “though
it’ll just be us girls. You might not want to spend the night with a group of
women.”
“Hmmm, I might”, he said, rubbing his jaw in thought, “I’ve
always wanted to check that place out.”
“You did?”, Andra said, giving him a quizzical look that he
couldn’t quite get a read on. She seemed simultaneously puzzled and mildly amused
and her nose sneered slightly on one side in a fashion that he found sexy and alluring.
“Mmmhmm”, Devin said.
Andra appeared to be a little bothered. “Well, like Michelle
said, you’re welcome to join us. Excuse us, but we really need to get going.
We’ve got reservations and we’re meeting someone there.”
“Sure ladies, don’t let me keep you. See ya later Andra. It
was good to see you again. Michelle, same to you.”
“You too Devin. Maybe we’ll see ya later then”, Michelle
answered.
“See you Devin. Take care”, said Andra.
And with that, he watched them walk out. Once the girl of
his dreams – she was gone from his life once again. Unless…
***