Better as a Memory

Proactive not reactive remember, well I didn't remember. I forgot all about proactive and reacted and hit the guy. It was like a bug got into his eye, he blinked and retaliated. Lying on the ground I heard him asking the other guys why I hit him. As I was shaking my head to clear it, they told him that Bobbie and I had been engaged until a month ago.

"Oh shit James, I didn't know. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have said anything if I had know," Bull responded to the information.

I forgot all about that discretion is the better part of valor bullshit as I got up. This time I manage to get in three punches before finding myself on my back again. Bull kept saying he was sorry and I kept getting up and trying to hit him.

The only reason he didn't win the fight by TKO was that I refused to stay down. He knocked me down seven times but I got up eight. The last punch I threw he just ducked and watched me go down all by myself. I think he was afraid he was going to break his hands on my face and that's why he left. It certainly wasn't anything I did to force him to leave.

I guess it was pretty funny; Bull hit me I hit the ground and I got up to start all over again. Nobody was laughing though, least of all me. Not only was my face broken, my broken heart was back to punish me some more. I couldn't and didn't want to believe that Bobbie had become such a slut. Maybe I felt responsible because I had introduced Bobbie to sex. I don't know, but the way I hurt before was nothing compared to the way I was hurting now. Not my face, but my heart.

On Monday my face was swollen in several places and a rainbow of colors, none pretty. The reaction was probably similar to what the Frankenstein monster got, people turning away in horror. At least that's how I saw it. No one wanted to look me in the eye and when they talked to me they looked anywhere but at my face. I don't blame them; it even scared me that morning when I was trying to shave.

That afternoon after my classes when I got to my Chevy, Bull was leaning against the front fender. He held up his hands as I approached.

"I don't want any trouble James. I came to apologize again. If I had known about you and Bobbie I wouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry. If it makes any difference I called Bobbie Friday night and canceled our date. I wouldn't take her out on a bet." Like I said before, Bull was actually a pretty good guy.

"I was going to find you sometime this week and apologize to you Bull. I shouldn't have gone off the deep end like that. I never really believed that stuff about seeing red, but when you talked about Bobbie that's what happened. I'm sorry if I hurt your hands," I said to him as I started laughing.

He cracked up and laughed with me. We sort of got into a giggling fit; we would stop laughing then look at each other and start all over again. A suggestion was made to retire to a nearby bar and continue our discussion.

"I know just the place Bull. You want to ride with me or follow me?" We jumped into my car and I drove us to Tulley's. That was where the crap with Bobbie started; maybe this could be the place it ended too.

Two months later Bobbie took one more shot at me. I hadn't talked to her and only saw her around school once in awhile as our classes didn't coincide. She surprised me by calling me at home. Bobbie's sorority was having a casual dance and she asked me to go with her.

"I don't think so Bobbie. To be honest I have moved on and don't see a reason to take a step back."

"Come on James. I need a date and rather go with a friend instead of some stranger. That's all it will be, a couple of friends having a good time."

I thought I had gotten over Bobbie but when I heard her voice I got all excited again. I think they call that being a glutton for punishment. I'm thinking, maybe she regrets what she did; it couldn't hurt to go with her as a friend and other rationalizations. Truth was the memory of Bobbie and our good times together were a lot closer to the surface than I realized. I wasn't as far along getting over her as I thought.

"Okay Bobbie, I'll pick you up at 7:00." I should have known better.

Bobbie's mother answered the door and seemed really glad to see me. When Bobbie came down the stairs she looked good enough to cause a riot. She was wearing a summer dress that buttoned down the front. When we got into my boat of a car, she made a remark about me still having the play pen. When we got to the dance a couple of the top and bottom buttons of the dress had been undone. This made the dress about ten times as sexy.

After finding our table, we had a couple of drinks, talked, danced and just had a good time. An hour into the dance, Bobbie asked me to go with her to get her sweater out of my car. When we got to the car, she said the sweater was in the back and as I climbed in to find it she followed me into the car.

"The two of us back in the playpen. Seems like old time, doesn't it? Do you remember the miles we put on this back seat James? I miss you James and I still love you. Don't you still feel something for me?"

I really had no idea where this was going until Bobbie started to check my tonsils with her tongue. After that the little head took over and all good sense went out the window. It's a good thing I had just had new shocks put on the Impala because the old ones would have never held up. It was like old times and we tried to set new standards in pleasuring each other. I guess she wanted to show me what her graduate courses had taught her.

In my defense, I had been celibate since Bobbie and I had broken up. I didn't intend to be but it had just happened. I just couldn't get interested in any other girls, so no nookie for James for over three months. Anyway, I was lost when she stuck her tongue down my throat. After about an hour we went back into the dance. Bobbie had a "canary that ate the cat" smile on her face.

These type of dances usually lasted about five hours, usually from 8:00 to 1:00. Another hour or so later when I got back from the bar, Bobbie wasn't at our table. I thought she had gone to the ladies room. I waited for about twenty minutes before I ask one of Bobbie's sorority sisters if she had seen Bobbie. She told me she saw Bobbie going outside with one of the guys from the Sigma Tau frat.

Well hell, she wouldn't do it to me again would she? It turned out that yes she would. I stepped outside and at the back side of the parking lot I saw a car bouncing up and down. You remember the old song, "if the car's rocking don't come knocking", the car was really rocking. Apparently the Sigma Tau guy didn't have new shocks like I did. I walked over to the car and Bobbie was straddling the guy in the front seat. Her dress was pulled down so she was naked above the waist. Bobbie's panties were hanging on the rear view mirror. There was no doubt as to what was going on.

I guess it was my shadow that caused Bobbie to look up and see me. She got a horrified look on her face and tried to disengage from the guy.

"Don't stop now Bobbie; if you hurry you can get five or six more before the dance is over." I walked off and left her with her new playmate.

There is an old saying that goes "Love will make you crazy". Love certainly screwed up my life. At the beginning of the night, I thought Bobbie and I might get something going again. Crazy huh?

Anyway, Bobbie left school two weeks later at the semester break. I'm glad she did because I don't know if I could have stayed at that school seeing her almost every day. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA and got my teaching certificate. Started my teaching career and my new life.

One last thing, remember Bull? He and I became very good friends. We even discussed Bobbie a few times. He never did date her, even though she called him a few times. I even dated his sister for a while but she and I were better friends that lovers. Bull and I spent a lot of time together and grew close.

**********************

Back to the future.

Things were a little cool between Jessie and I for a few days after our latest go around about the reunion. Jessie wanted to persuade me to attend my class reunion and I refused to let her talk to me about it and would walk out of the room if she persisted. Finally Jessie got her way but she didn't fight fair, she used tactics that only women can use. I was sitting in my chair reading and she came in and plopped down in my lap. Before our little tiff this was not unusual for her to do. What made it unusual this time is that she was sans clothing. She was as naked as a newborn baby. Unfair, unfair. Jessie had an unfair advantage in our argument.

"James, please go to the reunion. It's important to me," Jessie pleaded with me. "I want you to make sure that you don't have any feeling for Bobbie."

"Why can't you believe me? I told you Bobbie was out of my life a long time ago. Why do you insist that I still feel something for her?"

Jessie finally confessed why she was obsessed over my early relationship with Bobbie. It seems that just before I got the invitation, my friend Bull told Jessie about our fight and why it happened. He was telling her the story of how he and I met. Bull didn't realize the questions that the story would raise in Jessie's mind. Then my mother had mentioned a few times how hard I took it when Bobbie and I broke up. Mom wasn't trying to cause any trouble, but Jessie asked her about Bobbie after talking to Bull. Thanks a lot buddy, thanks a lot Mom. I guess in hindsight, I never should have mentioned that Bobbie was my first real love. I didn't help my position with that bit of info.

(Now just between us guys, I have to admit that once in awhile I did think about Bobbie and the fun we had in the back seat of that Impala. I remembered how great she looked laying naked on that big back seat as she reached for me. But then I would remember how she lied and cheated and that would erase all the good memories.)

In addition, in the last six weeks there had been eight messages on our voice mail from Bobbie. She personally invited me to the reunion and asked that I return her calls. Unfortunately I wasn't able to delete all of those messages. Jessie listened to a couple of them and asked me about them. I admitted that there had been four others. Dummy, when would I learn to keep my mouth shut?

"James I love you, but if you don't go to the reunion I think we should postpone the wedding for awhile." Jessie really shocked me with that statement.

"Are you breaking up with me, Jessie?" I was scared and pissed off, all at the same time.

"No I'm not, unless you want me to. I just want to be sure that you are over Bobbie before we get married. I don't want her shadow hanging over us after we're married."

"Damn it, how many times do I have to tell you that I have no feelings for Bobbie. You know the story, you know how she hurt me not just once but several times so how could I feel anything but contempt and anger for her?"

Jessie and I debated, argued, talked and discussed the subject for the next 30 minutes; all the while she was sitting on my lap, nude. Women don't fight fair. I finally agreed to go to the reunion. I had one final question for Jessie, which I hoped would change her mind.

"Just for the sake of argument, I know this won't happen, but just say I see Bobbie and discover that I still love her. Aren't you afraid of losing me?" Maybe this little threat would change Jessie's mind.

"Yes, I am. But I would rather it happen now than after we're married. I might get over it now but if I lost you after our wedding, I don't know if I could take it." No more was said on the subject that night; we adjourned to our bedroom to discuss other important matters.

The reunion was scheduled as a two day weekend event. Friday was for registration, a meet and greet brunch and a dinner dance that evening. Saturday there were some side trips around the neighborhood, a tour of the old school building, and another dinner dance in the evening.

We lived about hundred and fifty miles away, so I would drive up Friday morning and back on Sunday morning. Jessie insisted that I stay overnight because the nearly three hour drive would be too dangerous after the dinner dances. She wouldn't agree to my suggestion that I skip the dances.

I got to the hotel with enough time to check into my room, get registered with the reunion committee and go to the brunch. Before I went to the brunch, I called Jessie to let her know I had arrived safely and give her my room number.

To tell the truth, I had a good time at the brunch. I got to see a lot of my old friends of course, even the girl I dated before Bobbie. I felt pretty good about myself as I had aged better than a lot of the "in" crowd or "jocks". Jessie liked to run so I had run with her and still had the same waist size as I did in high school. Never hurts to feed the ego.

The only drawback at the brunch was that I was always on guard waiting for Bobbie to show up. But she never came to the brunch. If she had attended, after all those phone calls and the handwritten invitation, I know she would have found me.

Back in my room, I made sure my clothes for the evening were in order. Jessie had made me buy two new suits and almost a whole new wardrobe just for the reunion. The evening was to start with drinks at 6:00 with dinner at 7:00 and the dance following. I called Jessie again and suggested that I come home. She asked about Bobbie and I had to admit that I hadn't seen her yet. Stay there she ordered me.

I was standing at the bar after dinner and felt two rather nice points of pressure on my back and someone's hands go over my eyes.

"Guess who," Bobbie said. She was the only one that would greet me that way.

"Hello Bobbie," I responded and turned around. This was the moment of truth. In spite of what I told Jessie the big question remained, did I still love or have feelings for Bobbie? In the first two minutes of our meeting, I was vindicated. The only feeling I had for Bobbie was a little residual anger at the way she had treated me.

There she was in all her glory and I do mean in all her glory. She looked fantastic. Bobbie was wearing a tight dress that ended about 4 inches above her knees showing off those great legs. The dress was very low cut and showed a lot of cleavage. Bobbie grabbed me...gave me a tonsil searching kiss, took my arm and led me over to her table. No one was sitting there so we were as alone as we were going to get in that room. Bobbie moved her chair closer to me and began her attack. I knew what she had in mind very quickly.

She wanted to know if I came alone and smiled like a cat with a mouse when I said that I had. Her next question was what room was I in. To distract her "Operation Get James", I asked her to dance. We danced for a couple of songs and went back to the table. During the dance Bobbie left no doubt that she wasn't wearing a bra and not much in the way of panties. She had taken my hand and rubbed it across her rear. I got myself disengaged from the humping and took her back to the table.

I thought the bar would run out of bourbon the way Bobbie was drinking. It was funny, other than getting a little more amorous you couldn't really tell that she had been drinking.

Thank god for Mr. Lippincott one of my favorite teachers. He had been the favorite of most of the students, mainly because he was only about ten years older than the Seniors and was sort of cool. Mr. Lippincott may have been a little older than us, but it was obvious he found the grown up Bobbie fascinating. He asked her to dance and as they went to the dance floor I went to the bar. I needed a refill on my bourbon after that hump fest on the dance floor with Bobbie.

I drank one at the bar and got another to take back to the table. As I walked back, I watched Bobbie dance with our teacher. They were actually dancing, not humping, and I could see Bobbie a lot better.

She had always had a great body, but I didn't remember her having a bubble butt. And believe me I should know. She did now. Her breasts seemed to be larger too. Now I know that a women's breast can get bigger after having a child, but Bobbie didn't have any children.

When she came back to the table I took a closer look and could see the telltale signs of a face lift. A face lift at 28 or 29, she must have been rode hard and put away wet. Apparently Bobbie never got over being a party girl and it was catching up with her.

Bobbie sat down next to me and took my bourbon and knocked it back like water. "That old coot asked me to meet him in his room. Can you imagine that?" She seemed a little upset at his suggestion.

"He's only about ten years older than us Bobbie. I wouldn't exactly call him an old coot. Never mind that, tell me about what you've been doing since college."

For the next three hours and about ten dances, I heard about Bobbie's life. She married some guy she met at her new school about the same time I graduated. The marriage lasted for less than a year. Bobbie said she found him in bed with a neighbor. With Bobbie's past history, I think it might have been her caught in the act not her husband.

Bobbie was married a second time but that lasted less than six months and they had it annulled instead of getting a divorce. Apparently, she came out of the second marriage better off financially that when she went in.

During our talk, Bobbie kept putting her hand on my knee as she talked to me. Sometimes she would run her hand up the inside of my thigh until I stopped her. She would sit back and give me an evil grin. Bobbie had no doubt that she and I would be doing the horizontal mambo later that evening.

I danced a few times with other friends but most of the night was spent with Bobbie. Around 11:30, I decided to call it a night. Bobbie suggested that she go with me to my room. Suggest hell, she said, "let's go to your room and try and break the bed."

I declined her invitation and told her I was really tired. I told her I had gone to work early and then drove to the reunion and was a little trashed. She said okay but with a gleam in her eyes. In my room I stripped off my clothes and put on a pajama bottom. I sleep in the nude, but thought I should wear something until I went to bed.

Thirty minutes and two of those little bottles of bourbon later I was ready for bed. There was a knock on my door just as I was ready to strip. What now, I thought. Whoever was at the door had their finger over the peep hole but I could guess who it was. When I opened the door, there was Bobbie with a bottle of bourbon and two glasses from the bar.

Bobbie had changed clothes and was wearing one of the plush robes from the hotel. She said, "New in town sailor, want a little company?" She saw the look on my face and said, "Come on James, just one drink for old times' sake."

I knew better than to let her in, but I found I wasn't even that angry with her anymore. The only emotion I had was one of pity. "Okay Bobbie, one drink. But if you don't behave, I'll toss you out on your ass."

With a big smile she strutted by me into the room. By the time I shut the door, put on a shirt and joined her at the table she had two large drinks poured. As I sipped my drink, Bobbie knocked hers back quickly and poured herself another one.

"What are your plans now Bobbie?" I didn't really care but I was trying to make conversation.

"I hoped to talk you into a little fun tonight and then see where we could go from there."

"No Bobbie, I'm engaged and going to be married in a couple of months. We finished our run a long time ago."

"I know you're engaged, her name is Jessica isn't it? I still love you James, it's always been you. My first marriage was because I was lonely and the second was for money. I want you now."

"I'm not like you Bobbie; I can't screw around on someone I love. No, I'm going to marry Jessie."