Once Again

Chapter 11: Present Day

"Did we choose the worst day of the year to do this?" I fan my top against my skin.
"It appears so. March has been crazy so far." Rhys responds.
We're talking about the unseasonably warm weather at the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival we're at. Three things he and I both love. Regretting my decision to not wear a tank and shorts with how hot it is.
"Oh my God! No way!" A woman's voice shrieks from somewhere near us. A petite brunette flings her arms around me and then Rhys. We both give each other quizzical looks over her head.
"Rhys Bauer and Sarah Bailey!" The woman shrieks again. She's obviously sampled some of the bourbon here already. Her mauve lipstick is smeared on her teeth and her hair is falling out from its updo. A balding man lingers nearby giving us a polite nod.
"Staci Greene! I mean no—Staci Sharp!" She gestures at herself proudly.
Memories of me kissing Aaron in her basement on her 14th birthday come flooding in.
"You two haven't changed one bit!" She explains in her sweet drawl. Staci has though. I barely recognize her, but of course I don't let on that I didn't recognize her.
"How are ya!" She asks oneither of us in particular.
Rhys and I look at each other in confusion as to who should answer and we both just respond with "Good" in unison.
A peel of laughter rolls out of her. "I always knew you two would get married!"
Rhys is wearing a wedding ring, I am not.
"Oh uh—"
Rhys squeezes my shoulder with a slight smile on his lips. "How are you, Staci?"
Staci introduces us to her husband who seems to be aware his wife has maybe had too many bourbons this early in the day. He humors her by making small talk though and then excusing them to go get some food. She gives us another sloppy hug before winking at us and disappearing into the growing crowd.
"That was a blast from the past." He nods in her direction.
"To be honest, I'm surprised that hasn't happened more since I've been back, but I guess the city is just too big now." I nod
"I run into people if I'm on that side of town pretty much everywhere I go." He says as we walk over to some vendor tents.
"Well you always were Mr. Popular so that's not surprising." I shrug, taking a small sniff of some handcrafted soap.
"Yeah...sometimes I just want to be anonymous though. Everyone knows and...I can't stand the pity. People wear me out." He sighs, sniffing a bar and screwing his face in distaste.
I frown. The Rhys I once knew loved being around people. Thrived as an extrovert. I know he lost touch with not just me but a few other close friends over the years and it seems like that part of his life just stopped once he got married and became a father. I know that's not necessarily unusual for people. There's a shift in priorities when you get married and have kids, but we've had other friends I know who managed to have families and still keep friends.
"Well I feel honored I'm one of the few you'll tolerate in your presence." I tease.
He stops and turns towards me, his face serious. "You're one of the only, Sarah."
I swallow and hand him a soap bar to sniff. He nods his head in approval.
"You were the first person I wanted to...reach out to when...But I waited. I wanted to reach out for the right reasons and not have you think.." He drops his head a little. "I guess there really was no way around having you think things, so I just gave up after a while. Then when I saw Bridget and she told me you were back in town I knew it was time."
He's speaking in code, but I know what he's saying. At least I think I do. I try to put my uneasiness and frustration about the timing of it all to rest as much as possible, but I can't deny that anger flares up still when he refers to his absence from my life.
I paste a smile on my face and scoot us towards the register. "Whatever was in the past, we're here now." The pitch in my voice betrays my attempt at the reassurance I'm trying to give us both.
"Come on" I grab his hand after I finish buying my fancy soap and a familiar electricity jumps up my arm. I pull him towards the food tents with their large smoking BBQ pits.
We spend the rest of the day seeming to avoid any more awkward encounters and enjoy the festivities. It's nice seeing him loosen up again. The old easygoing Rhys doesn't necessarily appear, but I'm starting to realize that may never happen. We've both changed and I grieved the loss of him long ago. It's hard balancing the past with reconciling the man he is now.
"What are you thinking about, Bauer?" He squints over at me. The sun makes his features obscured but I can see those white teeth flashing at me.
"It's nice to see you having fun." I smile
His smile grows wider and he lifts a cup to me encouraging me to clink it with his. "It's the company I'm keeping, not what we're doing."
"You've always had a way with words." I smile rolling my eyes but wanting to believe what he's saying too.
"You know that's far from the truth." He laughs.