The Reunion Trap Ch. 05
The Reunion Trap: Chapter 5
I noticed that there were more people crowded into the large room than I expected to be there. We had arrived about a half-hour late, but that was part of my plan. I had no desire to hang out here and wait for the people that I needed to talk to. Besides, they may enjoy this thing. I hadn't even entered yet and was already feeling annoyed by the whole spectacle. A little sign-in desk sat by the door, with little Kathy Johnson handing out tags. Celia practically dragged me over to the desk.
"Name?" asked Kathy.
I just looked at her in disbelief. This was our five-year reunion, not our thirtieth. I didn't answer her. If she couldn't figure it out on her own, I would just leave. I looked over at Celia before speaking.
"I think this was a bad idea, let's just..."
"Jace?" asked Celia. "Is that you? Wow, you look so different. Here's your name tag. I'm so happy you came. Please, come talk to me before you leave. You disappeared half-way through our senior year. I want to know everything!"
I took the tag she offered in a bit of shocked confusion. A couple of questions immediately popped into my head. Why did I look so different to her? And how could she not know what happened to me? Puzzled, I absently stuck the tag in my pocket and strode into the reunion. A felt Celia come up beside me and snake her arm into mine. At least I had one ally here. Looking around, I saw many familiar faces as they laughed and joked with each other, catching up after several years apart. Honestly, I was glad for them. Most of the kids of my school were okay, I just had never got that close with them. In my mind, I wished them all well. Then I heard a voice that sent a chill down my spine and much of the old anger came bubbling back up.
"Hey Jace," said my former best friend, Paul, as he came up and offered me a beer. "Please."
I looked at him dead in the face as I took the offered beer. "Hey Paul."
"Can we go somewhere private and talk?" he asked nervously.
"Sure," I replied as I felt a tug on my arm.
Looking over, Celia gave me a smile. "I'm going to let you two catch up."
"What are you going to do?" I asked, not wanting to abandon my wife to a room full of strangers.
"I'll be fine. Besides, I want to do a little reconnaissance," she answered. "Now go, love."
"Love you," I replied as I left with Paul.
I was glad Paul had approached me. This was half the reason I came here, after all. Paul led me to the other side of the conference room, and we found a small table.
"First, thanks for hearing me out, Jace," Paul began. "I would like to start by apologizing for bringing you to that party under false pretenses. It was Nadia that asked me to bring you. She swore me to secrecy, so I told you that it was that girl I wanted to see. I honestly didn't think it would matter or I never would have drug you along."
"Well, I figured most of that out on my own, though I didn't know it was Nadia," I cut in. "I figured you just dragged me along to play wingman for you even though I hadn't been invited. What I don't understand is why you didn't have my back when everything went down."
"Well, that's the second thing I feel bad about. I saw you talking to Nadia and figured you were good. Cindy took me upstairs and gave me the first blowjob of my life. It was amazing and probably still the best blowjob I ever had. We had moved onto the bed and she was riding me when all the commotion started. I would have thrown her off me and rushed to help if I had any idea it was you in the middle of it. I don't care if it was the whole football team." "Okay, I get it...but what happened to you after that?" I asked.
"That's the weird part. By the time I found out, it was something like 30 minutes later. I drove to your house, but your parents said you weren't home. I drove around looking for you for two hours but ended up going home and going to sleep. I was at your house the next day and you were already gone. Your parents were useless. I finally tracked down your brother and he told me about the prison. That's the weird thing. Nobody said shit. Not the teachers, not the newspaper, not your parents. I confronted Nadia and she broke down and told me what had happened that night but had no idea what had happened to you either. It was your brother that finally put us on your trail. I mean, from our point of view, you fucking vanished. I drove to the prison once, but couldn't bring myself to go in. I felt awful for my part in it, so I wrote you a letter and sent it to you. When I didn't hear back, I sent a second and a third. After that, I figured you didn't want to see me. I told Nadia about what I had discovered, and she broke down right there. That was the only time I ever spoke to her and I moved on, Jace."
"That's the God's honest truth?" I asked him point blank. The look on my face showed that I would offer no respite if he lied to me now."
"I swear it on my sister's life," he said solemnly. I knew he and his sister were very close, so I was reasonably sure I could trust him. Besides, his story did mesh with a few other things I had learned recently.
"Well, Paul," I said. "For what it's worth, I believe you. But I never received your letters. I had a lawyer mention the same thing. Some of the guards had it out for me for one reason or another."
Paul looked visibly angry. "So, that's why you never answered? Damn. We lost five years of friendship because of a misunderstanding and a few douchebags? Well, my friend, I hope you agree we should make up for lost time. Fuck those assholes."
Abruptly, he stood up and stuck out his hand. I followed and shook his hand, sharing an iron grip with an old friend. Before I could let go, he pulled me into a hug and by the time he had released me, I could see tears streaming down his face.
"You're leaking," I said, chuckling at his discomfort.
"So are you," he replied with a shit-grin. He wasn't lying, I could feel the wetness on my cheeks.
We laughed and spent the next half an hour catching up. He was surprised I was married and floored at how successful I had become. Paul had done alright for himself too. He had dated Cindy throughout high school but broke it off when he went to college. He got a degree in marketing and had been working for an ad firm out of Denver. I filed that away as I wanted to find a way to lure him out to California with Celia and me. Just when I was about to ask him what his future plans held, my wife walked up to us. She had a concerned look on her face.
"Is...everything alright?" she asked with some trepidation.
"Oh, yeah," I answered. "By the way, I'd like to introduce you to my good friend, Paul. We've just been catching up and patching things up. Paul, this is the love of my life and my wife, Celia."
Paul wiped his eyes and they shook hands in greeting.
"It's nice to meet the woman that captured Jace's heart," he said, smiling.
"And it's nice to see that you two have reconciled," she said, taking a deep breath. She seemed nervous for some reason.
"Now, Paul...will you keep me company and tell me all about my husband? He has another appointment tonight," she smiled at him before looking at me.
"Of course," he laughed. "Be careful what you wish for."
"Hon," she said. "I want you to know that I've already spoken with Nadia. You need to talk to her. Don't worry. I trust you. Besides, play your cards right, and this whole thing could all work out in the end."
Paul and I looked at each other questioningly. He just shrugged helplessly and smiled. I looked back to Celia and she just kept smiling at me before looking off behind her. I followed her gaze to Nadia, standing only ten feet away. She still looked good, but she also looked like she was ready to throw up. I imagined I looked the same way. We stared at each other uncomfortably until the moment was broken in the worst way possible.
"Holy shit, you have some nerve showing up here!" yelled a half-drunk man with a full beard. It took me a moment to recognize him as Nick, her boyfriend from high school. "You don't belong here. You never graduated with us. Besides, I figured you would have learned your lesson. Never mess your betters."
"Hey Nick," I calmly replied. "Nice to see you again."
His eyes narrowed at my sarcastic comment, but he didn't make a move towards me. He had grown a little fatter and a little wiser. I noticed he wasn't in the same shape as back then. He had a decent beer belly forming and didn't seem to want to try his luck with me again. Unlike him, I was actually in better shape now than I was back then. I just smiled at him and waited for him to make the next move. He apparently decided to change tactics.
"Oh, and if isn't the most likely to be a prick tease," he yelled at Nadia. "Fucking whore...string me along for months and cheat on me by blowing this douche at the first opportunity." "Fuck you, asshole," screamed Nadia. "I never gave myself to you fully because you never earned it. And, Nick...I never cheated on you. I told you we were through two days before that fucking party. But you couldn't get it through your thick head that we were through, could you? Well, it's been five years. Have you figured it out yet? Do you know how many lives your ego fucked up that night? Your buddies had your back because they thought you had been wronged. How many of them lost their scholarships fighting your misplaced battles? No, you should be the one who is embarrassed to be here! So, fuck you, Nick!"
By then, Celia gave me a nudge and I crossed the room to Nadia, standing between her and Nick, who was beet red and had clenched his fists. I looked him down and slowly shook my head. Luckily, his brain cells were working overtime and he deflated.
"Fuck this shit," he mumbled as he turned to leave. "I'm out of here."
I felt Nadia slightly touch my arm as I watched him storm out of the reunion. I also noticed that most of my former classmates were staring at us. I saw several of them nod at me and all my class looked at me with a newfound respect. Once part of the truth finally came out, the rest of the lies crumbled like a house of cards. It took five long years, but I finally had some vindication. This was more than I could have hoped for, but the hardest part was still to come. I looked back to Nadia who was still holding my arm. The look on her face was filled with sadness and fear. I swallowed hard and let her lead me to the far side of the conference room, looking back to see my wife nodding her consent. It was expected, but still a nice sentiment. Hell, she was the one who set this whole thing in motion and had been clearly pulling strings behind the scenes for a while now. A plotline for a new book began to form in my mind. A filed it away for later. Now, it was time for some answers to some very frustrating questions. We sat down at another small table far enough away from the music that we could talk easily. It took her a solid minute before she looked up at me. She immediately started crying and I thought that it was going to be a very long night. Then she slammed her hand on the table.
"It's not fair," she cried. "We didn't do anything wrong and now it's too late!"
"Too late for what?" I asked.
"For us," she replied in an almost whisper.
"What do you mean?" I asked confused. "We barely knew each other. I honestly have no idea what was happening, but until your boyfriend barged in, I was in heaven."
"He wasn't my boyfriend," she grumbled cutely.
"Sorry," I replied. "Old habits. For the last five years, I thought you had cheated on him with me. If you would have just told me, I would've listened. Look, it's in the past now. I just want some answers and then I'll let you be. I can tell I'm causing you pain, but it's not your fault what happened. Don't feel bad. You're right. You didn't do anything wrong, so you have nothing to feel guilty about."
She looked at me oddly, tilting her head as confusion took its turn with her. "You think I'm upset because I feel guilty?"
"Yeah, I guess...why?" I replied, feeling that I had obviously thought wrong.
"Because, though I did feel some guilt, my pain is due to losing you," she sniffed before turning those burnt-caramel eyes of hers to mine and staring hard. "I was in love you. Fuck, I think I still am."
I could feel my eyes get wide as my mouth dropped open. "What? How? Why? We barely knew each other in school, and I haven't seen you in over five years."
"I have a confession to make," she said nervously.
"Okay..." I slowly replied, trying to draw the rest out of her.
"One day in class, you had left your laptop open. Deb happened to see that it was a list of links on a website she didn't recognize," she started to explain as my mind began quickly filling in the blanks. They had got ahold of my story archive. How much had they read? My heart felt like it leapt to my throat. She looked at me, worry crossing her gorgeous face before continuing her confession. "Well, Deb copied down the address and we started clicking on some of the links. We didn't know they were stories and poetry until then. She had a crush on you at the time, and we would read the stories to each other. I thought you were attractive and kinda funny, but I didn't realize how intelligent you were. Despite that, I was prepared to let Deb have you until we came across one particular poem."
My mouth went dry and my heartbeat in embarrassment as I was almost sure to which poem she was referring. It quickly passed as I realized that the fact that she had had a crush on me and was still talking to me was proof that she must have enjoyed it. I continued listening to her spill her secret.
"Deb was reading it and she suddenly choked up," she recalled. "I asked her what was wrong, and she got up and ran to the bathroom. Curious, I took her laptop and continued reading."
'Twas sweet caramel, edges singed dark
Ensnared - hard I fell, impossibly deep 'n stark
Yep, that was definitely from that poem that I had written specifically about her. It was one of my earlier works and I found it a bit cringy now, but it had been heartfelt.
"That's the moment I fell in love with you," she said, barely a whisper. I could tell this was tearing her apart.
"But you're over it now, right?" I asked, hoping for her sake that the answer was yes. "After all, you're beautiful, smart, and charming. You must have had tons of guys asking you out."
"Oh, I did get asked out a lot. Most guys are so shallow, though," she said.
I noticed that she hadn't answered my first question, but instead told me about how she had tried to contact me again. Her story lined up with what Paul had said. She even told me about their conversation. Then she dropped another bomb.
"Once Paul told me what had happened to you, I was livid. My father had forbidden me from visiting you in prison," she explained. "After my letters had failed, I figured you wanted nothing do to with me. Still, I knew what had happened and that you had been wrongly accused. Having just turned eighteen, I had access to funds and hired our family lawyer anonymously to investigate your case. I was going to pay her a handsome sum, but once she found out about the details of your case, she refused to take payment. She did the work for free, saying that you should never had to have hired a high-priced lawyer like her. I should tell you, once everything came out, the case and her role in it skyrocketed her career. She's a state rep now, so it worked out great for her. I laughed when I found out that we were going to lose her as our family attorney. Serves my parents right for being so judgmental. For what's it's worth, I'm so sorry you had to go through that, and alone too. I hope you can forgive me."
"Wow," I said, trying to buy myself some time to process all this new info. "I honestly don't think there's anything to forgive. It seems like all of us were the victims of a half-assed revenge scheme for imagined wrongdoing. It would be funny if it hadn't derailed our lives. I want you to know that I landed on my feet and have finally set things right with Paul. I know we were never close. That chance was stolen from us. Things are different now. I'm married to a woman I love immensely, but I want you to know that not all guys are shallow. There's a great guy out there. I promise."
"I know there is," she replied. "But he's taken. Thank you for your time and understanding, Jace. I think it's time for me to go."
I started to protest, but she got up and walked out. I got the sense she was crying. I started to go after her, but my wife intercepted me and put her hand on my arm.
"Let her go, hon," she commanded before her demeanor softened. "Did everything go as you expected?"
"Not really," I told her. She led me to a table, and I filled her in on the entire conversation.
She took it all in, thinking a for a moment before responding.
"Did you know she has only dated women?" she asked me. I shook my head in renewed confusion.
"No," I stammered. "I...I had no idea. Are you sure? How do you know that? I mean...what?"
She laughed at my discomfort as she returned her hand on my forearm. It was her way of comforting me.
"You may be cross with me," she started to explain. "But I found out where she lived and reached out to her. Did you know she aspires to be an actress too?"
The bombshells kept falling. I felt like I was being carpet bombed by secrets.
"It sounds like you two are becoming good friends," I said with a hint of animosity. It had been years since I felt betrayed, but the feeling was seeping into my heart. My wife always had my best interest in mind, so I squashed the feeling. I trusted that she had gone behind my back for a damned good reason. I thought she was trying to help me put the past behind me. And it had worked better than I expected. I had my friend Paul back and wasn't a pariah anymore. Nadia was still an enigma, but I did have many of those answers that I had wanted for so long. Still, I had a feeling that the Nadia chapter of my life hadn't quite closed yet. For her part, Celia just smiled, and we enjoyed chatting with Paul and exchanging contact info.
We left shortly after that. A few classmates came up and said hello, but I was ready to put high school behind me now. I nodded, smiled, shook a few hands, and continued on my way. The moment I walked out of the reunion; I felt a weight lift off me. We've all heard people say that, and I didn't really believe it until it happened to me. I took my wife's hand in mine and smiled genuinely at her.
"Thanks, honey," I told her. "I have to admit, I do feel much better now. And as awful as how Nadia and I ended up, I never would have met you if it hadn't. I think I'm content now. I love you so much."
"I love you, too," she smiled, though I detected a little gleam in her eye, like she still had an ace up her sleeve. "Now, why don't we do some dancing?"
I could hear the main ballroom thumping with music. It wasn't part of the reunion, but part of the main area of the inn. Nodding, we walked to the dance floor and practiced a few dances we had studied for a project we had done the year before. Between every song, some guy would walk over and ask Celia to dance. She always said no until Paul came up and asked. At first, it seemed she would turn him down too, but she seemed to see something behind me and suddenly agreed. To my annoyance, it was the first slow song of the evening. Not that I was worried. I trusted my wife completely and was beginning to trust Paul again too. I had just wanted to press our bodies together. With the reunion safely behind me, I was feeling frisky. As I walked off the dancefloor, I felt a tug on my shirt. Turning around, I came face to face with Nadia. I had thought she had left, so was completely caught off guard.
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