Gina and Mike (10 page)

“You clean up nice,” Rob said as I approached the corner booth with the candy apple red vinyl seats and white piping. The diner looked like it hadn’t changed much since the 1950s. The tables were original with metal banding and chrome column bases. I laughed to myself because people pay a mint to duplicate the retro look in their homes and here was the real-deal. 

“Thanks. I hope I smell better.”

Rob inhaled. “You smell good. Much better than you did earlier. I mean, uh. Not that you smelled that bad before, but you smell better now.” He pulled on his earlobe. “God, I’m an idiot.”

I laughed. It was fun to watch a guy squirm in social awkwardness. 

The waitress came over. She was a young girl with pigtails, saddle shoes and bobby socks and a pink and black poodle shirt. Guess it went with the diner’s retro look.  I noticed a hula-hoop hanging on the wall along with a pair of white roller skates and a high school letter jacket. A jukebox sat in the corner.  The owner was smart to capitalize on nostalgia. People love reliving their youth, and from the age and crowd in the diner, I’d say it was working. 

“Can I get you something?” the young girl asked.

“Tea, please. Earl Grey if you have it.”

The girl bounced away.

Rob sipped his coffee while his eyes lingered on mine. “So what else besides tea do you like?”

“I love cheese pizza and reading and running and traveling and winning.”

“Winning?”

“Yeah, I like to win my cases.”

“Ever lose?” Rob asked.

“A couple of times.”

“How’d it feel?”

“Lousy. The bastards deserved to be behind bars. Enough about me. What about you. Did you ever lose a patient?”

Rob looked down table. “Yeah, a few.”

He gripped his coffee mug tighter and his body stiffened.

“What made you go into medicine?” I asked, wanting to get off the whole death thing because it obviously bothered him.

“Guess I always wanted to help people. I had a friend who had Crohn’s disease and that’s what got me interested in the specialty.”

“Was it hard?” I asked, dipping my tea bag into my mug.

“Very hard. There were times when I didn’t think I would make it. I used to have this nightmare where I would wake up and be late for an important exam.”

“Were you?”

“What?”

“Ever late.”

“No,” Rob said. “But I always set two alarm clocks 10 minutes apart just in case the one would fail or I’d fall back to sleep.”

“So at least you were prepared.”

“Yeah, you could say that. But maybe a little obsessed.”

Rob took another sip and smiled. He had straight teeth, and it made me chuckle because it reminded me of what was noted on the sperm donor’s profile.

“So, want to go out on a real date sometime?” he asked.

“That would be nice.”

“Are you free this weekend?”

“Actually, I’m flying home for my 20
high school reunion. I can’t believe it’s been that long.”

Rob nodded. “I know what you mean. I had my 25
last year. It was the first one I was able to make.”

“This will be my first, too.”

“Where are you from?”

“Pennsylvania.”

“That’s a long way from Florida. I’m from the northeast, too. Vermont. How’d you end up in Florida anyway?”

“It’s a long story. The short version is that I was offered a job out of law school in the sex crimes division in Miami. All of the other offers were from places in the northeast.  I’m not crazy about snow and ice, so I picked Miami. I was ready for a change of scenery. Got here and never left. What about you?”

“Honestly, I never thought I would be living in Florida. It’s a world apart from Vermont. But one thing led to another and I ended up where I had the best offer. I try to make it back to Vermont in the winter to spend time with my parents and ski some of my old stomping grounds. So when are you coming back from Pennsylvania?”

I poured some hot water into my mug and opened a fresh tea bag. “I’ll be back the following weekend.”

Rob checked the calendar on his phone. “I’m free on that Saturday. Does that work for you?”

I nodded.

“I’ll pick you up this time. Say around 7?” he smiled.

We talked through three cups of tea and then Rob walked me home. It turned out that I was as many blocks to the west of the diner and he was to the east. I looked up at the spring sky. Clouds veiled the stars. A twinkling light from a plane caught my eye as it crossed the sky. “I always wonder where people are flying to.”

Rob looked up. “When I was a kid, whenever I’d see a plane in the sky, I’d imagine that I was on the plane and it was taking me on a secret adventure.”

“What kind of adventure?”

“The little boy kind, with bears and tigers and cowboys and Indians.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“It was,” Rob said. “But I always made it home safely.”

He looked at me and shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m telling you all this, Gina. I didn’t mean to bore you. You’re so easy to talk to.”

I smiled. “You’re not boring me. I’m enjoying it.”

We arrived at my apartment building, a luxury high-rise located minutes from downtown Miami and the Metrorail. I loved my unit on the seventh floor because it had an oversized balcony.

Rob looked at me and I thought for a second he was going to lean in and kiss me. Instead, he held out his hand. “Thanks, Gina.” 

“Thank you,” I responded. “For both the tea and the conversation. It was great getting to know you better.”

Rob smiled. “See you in two weekends, right?”

I nodded. “Thanks for walking me home.”

“No problem. I’ll call you next week after you get back. If you need to reach me before then, here’s my number.”

He handed me his business card. “My personal cell’s on the back.”

I took the card and slid it inside my purse. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date.”

“Me, too,” he said. “So I guess this will be a treat for both of us.”

I smiled. “Thanks again for the talk and tea.”

He waited until I got inside the door before turning to walk away. I scrambled up the stairs to my apartment and watched him walk away. I liked him. He was easy going, kind of like a comfortable pair of shoes that fit just right without having to break them in. I was definitely looking forward to getting to know Rob better. 

****

Mike

When Jack called to say goodnight, I asked how his mom took the news about him getting the F.

“She said no video games for a few days. She thinks I’m playing too many games and not doing my school work.”

“Are you?”

“I play games but I do study. But maybe not as much as I should.”

“Well, guess your mom has a point then.”

“Maybe a little one.”

When I got off the phone with Jack, I remembered the time in high school that Gina and I went skiing the night before a huge chemistry test.  The school ski club had planned the outing for weeks, and I was so pissed that the teacher scheduled the exam for that day. My buddies and I tried to get her to reschedule, but Mrs. You’re-in-school-to-learn-not-to-play wouldn’t.  So, I went skiing and bombed the test. Mom and Dad went ape shit on me. Gina, on the other hand, got an A. She always got A’s. Even in math and she totally sucked in math.

I wondered if I would see Gina at the reunion, and if I did, what I would say to her. Maybe she wouldn’t talk to me. Or maybe I’d have to be the one to start the conversation. Just thinking about her made my groin ache like it did when I was a scrawny teen and only had to shave once a week. She’s the only girl I’ve ever dated that made me feel this way.

Lisa was great. She was, or is, beautiful and smart. But Lisa was right when she told me at the end of our marriage that she couldn’t compete with Gina any longer, even if it was just a memory.

Jack was maybe one at the time and we had just gotten home from visiting Lisa’s parents in Connecticut.

“I’m sorry, Mike,” Lisa cried that night. “I thought I could make you love me the way you loved her. But that’s never going to happen. I know that now. ”

“Christ, Lisa. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. “

“I know,” she said. “I should never have forced the marriage. Deep down I knew you still loved her but I thought if I loved you enough that it wouldn’t matter. But it does. I want more. I know that now.” 

“And you deserve more,” I told her. “You deserve someone who will love you the way you deserve to be loved. I’m sorry I wasn’t that guy. But God, Lisa, please know that Jack means everything to me. You gave me him, and I will never forget that.”

I hated myself for what I did to Lisa. She deserved better, and I felt guilty that I couldn’t give her what she needed. I thought I could. We had a great time for a while. But in the end, no matter how hard I tried, it wasn’t enough for her. I knew it even before she said it. Letting Lisa go, as hard as it was, felt right. I was happy when she married the dentist she worked for as a hygienist. It was obvious in the way he treated her and the things he bought her that he adored her. Worshipped is probably a better word. And he was good to Jack.

****

Gina

I parked the black Audi I had rented in the back row of the parking lot at the hotel. I had a clear view of the ballroom entrance. I didn’t recognized many of my classmates as they walked toward the ornate double doors. Every time I reached to open the car door, I stopped. My heart pounded and my throat tightened. I needed a stiff drink. Something to take the edge off.  I just wasn’t sure I could walk into the ballroom alone.

There was a knock on the driver’s side window and I shrieked and jumped in my seat, hitting my head on the car ceiling.

It was Tom. I’d recognize that dimpled smile anywhere. I rolled down the window.

Tom bent over, his George Clooney head inches from mine. “Hi, Gina. Mind if I join you?”

I unlocked the passenger door and Tom walked around to the other side and slid in.

“My god, it has to be…”  

“Twenty years,” he smiled. “I see your mom, though, when she picks up her cholesterol medicine.”

“Yeah, she says she sees you at the drug store and walking your dog in the park.”

Tom smiled. “Klondike, my dog, loves the park.” He patted his stomach. “And it’s good for me, too. Did you come alone?”

“Sue was supposed to come with me but she had to do something with her daughter, Chloe, first. She’ll be here later. I’m supposed to go in awhile.”

Tom cocked his head. “So what’s stopping you?”

His blue gray eyes met mine.  “I don’t know. I thought I could do this. I really did. But now I’m not so sure.”

“What are you afraid of, Gina?” Tom asked.

“Afraid of? Not really afraid of anything. Just feel awkward. I mean, I haven’t been back since I left, except to visit Mom. I’m not sure I belong here anymore. Or if the others will even like me.”

“Gina, you can always come home,” Tom said. “Just because you moved away to pursue your career and do your own thing doesn’t mean you’re not one of us. You’ll always be one of us.”

I patted Tom’s hand. “Thanks, Tom. You always did have a way of making me feel better.” I laughed. “Remember those unknowns in chemistry?”

Tom smiled and nodded. “Sure do. I saved your ass more than once in that class.”

“You’re so right. I was pathetic when it came to figuring those substances out.”

Tom narrowed his eyes and sighed. He opened his mouth like he was going to talk, only he didn't say anything.

“What is it, Tom? You look like you want to say something.”

“I do but I don’t want to upset you.”

“Upset me. Why would anything you say upset me?”

“Well, I have a question I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time. Something that’s bothered me for twenty years.”

“Ask away.”

“Maybe we could get together before you leave?” he said. “I’m not sure this is the time or the place to have this discussion.”

I looked at Tom. He pushed up on his wire-rim glasses.

“Oh, no. You’re not going to get away with that. Now you have me curious. What question could be that important that you had it for twenty years?”

“I’m not sure tonight’s the night, Gina.”

I slapped my lap. “Yes, tonight is the night. Now I’m way too curious to wait another second. What is it?”

“It’s about that night.”

“What night?”

“The night that Coach Smith did what he did to you.”

My mouth fell open. I couldn’t speak. My heart raced and I could feel my skin warming up. Tears pooled in my eyes

“Don’t worry,” said Tom, taking off his glasses to dab his glassy eyes with the palm of his hand. “I never told anyone. But I wanted to. That bastard deserved to be punished. But I told myself that it was up to you to tell, not me. And if you didn’t want to tell anyone, then I had to respect that. Besides, I didn’t want to make things harder for you.”

I shook my head. “But how…”

“How did I know?”

I nodded.

“That night. The night you were babysitting for Coach Smith and his wife, I was out for a run through the neighborhood. I lived several streets over from them. I turned the corner to see you get into your car and speed away. Then I saw Coach Smith stumble down his driveway waving a pair of pink bikini underwear and mumbling.  I stopped running and dragged him into his house. When I realized what he had done to you, I punched him in the face. A couple of times.”

I remember seeing Coach Smith at the gas station days later and his eye was black and blue. “So that’s where the black eye came from?” I asked.

Tom nodded. “He bragged about what he did to you and I told him that if he ever laid a hand on you ever again, I would kill him. And I meant it. When he told me that you wouldn’t say anything because of his threat to do something to Mike, I knew you wouldn’t. I knew you loved Mike too much. It was so hard for me not to say anything, Gina. I wanted to tell Mike. Maybe I should have. But I just kept thinking that it was your secret to tell, not mine. And I was mad for a long time that you hadn’t told anyone. Even after the baseball season was over and the bastard couldn’t hurt Mike anymore you kept quiet.”