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…

***