The Reunion

the 'date' (continues)

What I did, was something, I never thought I could do. I looked into her eyes, her blue starry eyes "Rachel, I think I'm in love with you" I exclaimed. Just moments after saying it, I turned all red. I know it wasn't a really big deal to some, but for me, it was like conquering Rome. I mean, I was an introvert, being bold or blunt was not my cup of tea.

At first she thought of it as some kind of a joke and she laughed, but that laugh slowly started to dissolve when she came to know that I was serious. Now, second thoughts started to arise in my head. I knew at that very moment, that I had fucked things up. Even Mike was giving me those shitty looks. An awkward moment of silence arose between us, she looked a bit startled and I, on the other hand, terrified. Then we both absorbed ourselves to the drinks and no one spoke a word after that.

"I'm gonna hit the restroom" she excused. Just as she left Mike rushed towards me

"Nate, are fucking kidding me? That was too soon!" he growled.

"I-I didn't know what to do man" I stuttered and held my head in my hands. At this moment I looked like a 4th grader who just failed in his exams even though he was well prepared for it. My face was all red and sweating like hell. Mike's face told the whole story. I was done!

15 minutes had passed and there was no sign of Rachel. I was getting really anxious. "I wonder what's taking her so long!" I hollered. "I hope everything's fine in there".

With a big laughter Mike said "Maybe she's checking whether her pepper spray works or not", I just hate it when he does that. "Fuck you Mike!" I whined. While he was trying his best to make my moment even more shittier, Rachel got out from the restroom. "Pepper spray!" Mike murmured and he left.

"Everything okay?" I inquired with a huge frown on my face. She just nodded her head in reply. She tried to show me that nothing serious happened, but the look on her face was narrating a whole different story. Now, as much as I wanted this night to persist, I started hoping for it to end. "I think I'm gonna head home" she said while grabbing her stuff. "Come on God, I didn't mean that LITERALLY!"

"uhh, care for a ride home?" I asked.

"Yeah sure" she replied and heaved her handbag on her shoulder.

I got my car out of the parking lot, she came and sat beside me. I swear my heart was banging like hell. Her hotel was just 8 kilometers away. I drove slowly as there was snow everywhere. I kept stalking her in regular intervals, whereas, she just kept drawing things on the misty window with her finger. She looked kind of gloomy, even I didn't know the reason but I was sure that the incident in the bar had something to do with it.

"Nice weather huh?" I said while my eyes were on the road.

Her head was against the window and with a really gloomy voice she replied "yeah, maybe". My interpretation of this incident was simple, she just wanted me to mind my own business; well that's what I thought.

I had to keep the conversation going, but nothing came to mind. So I kept on driving. Casually, my eyes laid on the dashboard, there was a token number for the dry cleaners was lying there. Actually I had given a suite for dry cleaning, which I'll be wearing at the reunion.

"So tomorrow's the reunion, excited much" I asked. She just mumbled a few words which I was unable to decipher, except for a few and they were "yeah, little bit, hair appointment", but I just kept nodding my head, as if I was completely convinced with her answer. Eventually, after a minute or so, we were at her place.

"So this is it I guess" I said and switched off my car. She just paid a deaf ear to me and kept staring out the window. I really didn't like, how the things were going. I mean it was a complete disaster and undoubtedly I was the one to be blamed for it. "Come on Nate, fix this shit up" I said to myself, but the fear of getting a silent treatment for reply kept my mouth shut.