Chapter 4

So, back to the beginning; I was in the parking lot at the hall where my twenty-fifth high school class reunion was being held. As I've mentioned I never attended any of my previous ones and wondered why I was here now.

I knew the answer. I wanted to see my old best friend Jenny from high school and hopefully see the girl I never forgot, Tina. I know Jenny would be here with her husband Mark since she was on the committee, but I wasn't sure about Tina.

I got out of the car and strolled into the room they had reserved for our reunion. I didn't reserve a room for the night because I had no idea how long I would be staying. I just hoped I hadn't made a mistake by coming. As I walked up to the greeting table I saw a lot of people and had no idea who they were.

Even the ones with name tags I didn't recognize. They were all courteous and said hi to me. I was about to leave when I spotted Jenny and another woman handing out the name tags and signing in everyone.

"Jeff! You made it! You came!" She jumped up from her seat and came over and gave me a big hug. She did have tears in her eyes.

"Damn! Girl! You're as beautiful as ever. I knew it was you the minute I set eyes on you. Where's your worst half?" I had to chuckle when I said it.

"Mark's at the bar holding a bar stool in place. It's so good to see you. You look even better than your pictures."

"What pictures?" I asked.

"You've been in the papers with your promotion. A few of our old classmates called me and asked me about you. You're kind of a celebrity," she laughed.

I looked at the nametags still on the table and saw one for Tina (Overhalt) Owens. Jenny looked over at me and said, "She'll be here. I called her after I talked to you and I can guarantee she'll be here."

"But, I told you I would think about it. How did you know for sure I would be here?"

"I remember you always saying things like I'll think about it. You usually went along with whatever when you said that; when the answer was no, you always said no. That's why I knew you would be here."

I had to laugh; I never knew that about myself. A few members from our class came up and introduced themselves to me. I did remember a few of the names but didn't recognize the people. I did my best to act like I did. I think many of them acted the same way towards me. Oh well, a little honest bullshit never hurts.

Two different female classmates introduced themselves and their spouses. By their names, I remembered our dates before going to college. Both women still looked pretty good.

I looked back over at the greeting table and I recognized her immediately. It was Tina signing in. When she turned around and saw me I couldn't help but hug her. It was much more than just a friendly hug. It was a hug of love and compassion. "Hi there, good looking," I said to her after releasing my grip on her. We both had watery eyes.

"The pollen must be bad in here," was the first thing she said to me. Even Jenny got a little emotional.

"You're so beautiful and I missed you so much," I said to her. She was dressed in a tight fitting dress that showed her curves. She definitely had the body of a woman who took care of herself. She and Jenny both looked great.

"It's so good to see you again," said Tina. "Jenny called and let me know that you were coming. I almost sat this year out." She looked over at Jenny and I could read her lips saying 'Thank You'.

"I'm alone here tonight and I would love to be your escort if you don't mind," I said to Tina.

"I'd love that," was her reply.

If I remember correctly there were over two hundred fifty graduates in our class and by the number that showed up, most must have been here. It looked like there were mostly couples but hard to tell with so many people present.

As we found a table, Mark came up and gave Tina a hug. I tried not to look agitated; I had forgotten that if she was good friends of Jenny then of course she would have been friends with Mark. He looked at my nametag and said, "Jeff! Nice to see you again after so many years." We shook hands and Jenny joined us as we sat down.

I wanted to sit and talk with Tina but it wasn't happening with all the classmates coming over and hugging and talking to her and Jenny. After hugging Tina she would introduce me as a former classmate also. It happened just about every time.

I did remember a few people but a large number remembered me because of the recent picture in the paper. I was surprised that so many that came up to me worked for our company in the Michigan plants. Either the old classmate, the spouse or a member of their family worked for the company.

I didn't get any alone time with Tina before the speaker started, but it felt good just sitting next to her. They had a brief talk on some of the family changes since their last reunion. If you wanted something mentioned you were to have turned it in to the speaker.

Jenny and Mark announced their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. They were having friends over the following evening and asked me to attend. Tina and most of their other friends already knew about it.

After doing births, marriages and even a few birthdays they mention class members that have died since the last reunion. It was a solemn moment. They mentioned Tina's husband, Ben. Even though he wasn't a member of the class he was known by many. I squeezed her hand and she squeezed mine back.

The speaker asked if there were any more announcements. Someone stood up and mentioned my new promotion. I was asked to stand so everyone knew who I was. It was actually embarrassing but I went along. I received applause and a smile from Tina.

Finally the party began and we went up to the buffet and got something to eat. I ordered drinks for our table; there were eight of us in all. Tina and I talked while we ate. Of course we were interrupted a hundred times; it was a party after all.

A band set up and after dinner they began to play. I asked Tina to dance. I wanted her in my arms. It felt so good holding her and old memories coming back. We talked about the letters and cards I had sent her. I told her it was all in the past, the main thing is she forgave me; she had her hands around my neck and pulled me even closer.

Throughout the night we danced and she did dance with a few others including Mark. I danced with Jenny and thanked her a hundred times for convincing me to come. She was still on the slim side; I squeezed her and she smiled.

"What are best friends for? Time and distance will never change that. I really did love you Jeff, it's just that I loved Mark more, and still do. By the way, I'm sure Tina feels the same way about you. Some people you never forget."

The song ended and we went back to the table. I wanted to talk to Tina some more but we kept getting interrupted. A slow song came on and I asked Tina to dance. We went up to the band and I slipped the lead player a twenty to play four slow songs in a row.

He looked over at Tina and said, "Yes Sir!" Tina laughed and told me I was rotten.

"It's the only way I can seem to get you alone," I replied.

"Jeff, will you do me a favor?" asked Tina.

I was rather surprised; what could she want from me? "Sure, I'd do most anything for you. What do you need?"

"Will you stop by my house tomorrow and let me introduce you to my daughters?"

"Your daughters? I don't understand; do they even know who I am?"

Tina gave a half smile. "They do now. It will take the next three slow songs just to explain." We both laughed but I was interested.

"I was cutting out your picture in the paper the other day and my daughters, Bev who is sixteen and Sue, who is fourteen, asked me who was the picture of?"

"You cut out my picture?" I asked.

"I've cut out a lot of pictures of you throughout the years, your graduation from college, your acceptance to the company, the promotion to vice president, I have them all. Our local paper puts in a lot of information on local people that succeed. Anyway back to my story, I only have three songs to tell you.

"As I mentioned I was cutting out your picture and my daughters came in and asked me who it was. I told them an old boyfriend from high school. I collected a few articles about you through the years. Of course that brought up a thousand questions.

"They wanted to see my old yearbook and your picture. I also had my old clippings of you in it. Anyway I showed them my yearbook and they saw all the articles and your picture. They asked, 'Mom, did you love him? Why did you break up? How come you never told us about him?' They asked endless questions.