Reunited

"Yes?"

"I'm really glad we're doing this."

"Me too, Dean," she told him.

"I'll uh...see you soon then."

"Yes. See you soon."

He tossed the phone down then took a close look at himself in the mirror, and decided to shave again because his dark beard was heavy and after 12 hours it was very noticeable. When he finished, he jumped back in the shower to get rid of any trace of perspiration or shaving cream before getting dressed. He had two changes of clothes with him, and he chose the nicer of the two, wishing he had a suit and tie to wear even though he knew she wouldn't care. She'd never cared about anything but being with him when they were together, and it was hard to imagine her being any different. Then again, they weren't 'seeing' each other, so it was a moot point.

"That's about the best you do, good buddy," he told himself as he put his wallet and comb in his pocket before going downstairs to have the concierge call him a cab.

As he was waiting, the one person he didn't want to see saw him and waved. Nina was with the same woman who'd seen them earlier, and was headed his way.

Dean smiled politely, nodded, then said, "Evening, ladies."

"Hi, Captain," the other woman said respectfully.

"Hello, Dean," Nina said just as flirtatiously as before as though her earlier incident hadn't taken place.

The junior crew member knew better than to say anything, but the look on her face said it all.

"I told you we'd run into him," Nina said to her co-worker.

"Oh, right," she said in nervous agreement.

"Just like we talked about earlier today. Right, Dean?" Nina said to him as she again touched his clothing.

"Um...sure," he replied not wanting to create a scene.

"So where are we going?" she asked as tried hooking her arm in his.

He pulled away instinctively, something not lost on the other flight attendant who now appeared to be very confused.

"I um...I'm actually having dinner with someone," he told her. "An old friend."

"Oh. Well, I have a friend for him so I don't see where that's a problem," Nina said, a wicked smile on her face as she looked at her younger companion.

"Um, except that...he's a she," Dean said with a weak smile.

"Oh," she replied, a look of disgust on her face.

"Sorry. I don't mean to be rude. It's just that we haven't talked for a very long time, and we do have reservations. If you ladies will excuse me...."

"I'd have thought you received my message loud and clear after we landed...Captain," Nina told him just loud enough that only he could hear.

"I don't want any trouble, okay," he said just as quietly. "And it's just dinner."

"Well, in that case...I guess I can wait until later," Nina said, making sure her co-worker heard. "If I have to."

She had a spare key card to her room which she slipped into his shirt pocket.

She tapped it then said, "I'm a very light sleeper, Dean. Stop by anytime. And...no need to knock."

She walked away before he could respond, and the other flight attendant walked by with her eyes wide open, shaking her head, in an 'I'm just tagging along with her' kind of way.

Dean smiled understandably then, again, forgot all about Nina and her antics as his cab pulled up.

Unlike Dean, Danika had no restrictions on her wardrobe. But deciding what to wear proved to be a challenge. She needed to wear something warm but had no desire to so she chose a cute, pale-pink dress and only reluctantly wore a dressy-looking, white cardigan over it.

She was very proud of the fact that she could wear a size 8 dress at the age of 47, but when she thought about being a size 6 most of her life, she felt a little less so. Still, her figure was very feminine and again, for her age, looked very nice. What she wouldn't admit was that her figure still very nice for any age, but Danika had always been a modest woman, so it was unlikely such a thought would even cross her mind.

Her once-shoulder-length hair was shorter now but still fell to her chin where it turned under ever so slightly. It was perfect with her heart-shaped face, and it was still naturally dark without the aid of any dye or touchup product.

Pearls were perfect with pink and white so she wore them in her earrings and matching necklace which were all she needed before touching up her makeup and adding some lip gloss with just a shade of pink to it.

She slipped into a pair of white heels then picked up her purse and headed north to Renton.

Dean was in the lobby waiting, and when he saw her walking toward the entrance, his heart skipped a beat. He knew she was in her mid-40s, but she still looked just as beautiful to him as he'd remembered her. Even the new hairstyle looked sexy on her, and as she got to the door, he smiled then opened it for her.

"Hi," he told her as she stepped inside.

"Hi," she said back, trying to hide her nervousness.

"You...you look amazing," Dean said as he initially raised his arms then stuck out a hand before freezing and just standing there.

Danika smiled but didn't laugh as she put a hand on his shoulder then kissed him on the cheek.

"And you really are even more handsome than I remember."

Dean felt 18 again as he asked if she was ready to go in and sit down.

"How was traffic?" he asked nervously, knowing it was bad most of the time and often terrible.

"Not...awful," she said with a smile that caused his heart to skip another beat.

"We have a table over near the window," he told her.

The Wild Fin was glass enclosed with a kind of leaning tower of Pisa look only without the lean. It wasn't a five-star restaurant, but it was a very popular place and always quite busy.

Dean helped her with her seat, and Danika thanked him. He sat down across from her then smiled, again feeling like he was 18.

She waited for him to speak, and when he didn't, she said, "I'm still flabbergasted by the sheer coincidence of how we met."

Dean was listening, but he was mesmerized by the beautiful woman sitting less than five feet away. She'd aged to be sure, but it was more of a 'fine wine' kind of thing. Her face wasn't older it was...mature. And...beautiful.

"Right. Yes, what a crazy thing," he agreed.

"I obviously had no idea you flew, let alone that you were a captain."

"Well, we kind of lost track of one another," he reminded her with a smile.

Danika smiled warmly then corrected him.

"More like 'totally' lost track."

"True. We said goodbye and went out separate ways," he said.

"Well, one of us 'went'. The other one stayed, but...point taken," she said warmly, the smile still there but perhaps a bit more melancholy.

"Danika, you look...sensational. I mean, you really look...amazing."

She smiled happily and thanked him sincerely.

"I'm not sure what to make of that, Dean, but it's so nice of you to say, especially when you're the one who grew up to be insanely attractive. You were such a handsome young man when we...well...back when. But you've become this...."

She thought for a moment then said, "No. Actually, this is what I expected. Handsome, successful, confident. You were really something to see in your uniform, by the way."

"Right now I'm not feeling so confident," he told her truthfully. "I have butterflies in my stomach, and my hands are still clammy."

Danika laughed quietly.

"Then I'm not the only one who's nervous."

"No, not hardly," Dean replied just as their server walked up.

"I'm still not even sure I can eat," she told him.

"Please do," Dean encouraged. "Anything you like."

He smiled then said, "As you may have noticed, I actually have a job now."

Danika laughed quietly again then ordered her food then watched Dean do the same. Neither of them wanted alcohol, so the water on their table was more than adequate.

"I've thought of you a thousand times," Dean told her. "Or maybe...ten thousand."

"I will admit to having done the same," she replied. "I also have to admit I've had mixed emotions looking back, though."

"How could you not?" Dean said with genuine understanding.

"Yes. Exactly. The fact that my then-husband abused me didn't make what we were doing right."

She could tell Dean was going to say something to justify it so she kept talking.

"But in my mind, when a man starts physically intimidating his wife, the marriage, in some sense at least, is over. Legally, it's still in effect, but it's little more than a formality. Or at least that's how I see it anyway."

"I agree wholeheartedly. Marriage is a commitment, but 'for better or for worse' doesn't mean letting someone slap you around. I couldn't agree more that when a man hits his wife, he's broken that commitment. But I do understand everything you've said. All I can say is I don't regret one moment I ever spent with you."

"In spite of my convoluted emotions, I too, don't regret our time together."

She smile then also said, "Not one minute."

"I want you to know I've never said a word to anyone about...us. Ever."

"That doesn't surprise me," Danika said with a warm smile. "Nor have I."

She smiled a different smile then added, "In case you're wondering, the answer is 'no'. I've never had any kind of relationship with anyone else your age or even close to it."

Dean smiled too, then asked her a question.

"Is there anyone special in your life?"

She shook her head then told him, "No. No one. This may sound strange, but there's never been anyone who loved me...sorry. There's never been anyone who made me feel loved like you did. I've tried. Lord knows I've tried. But they were just diversions. And honestly? I always had some amount of fear in the back of my mind that whomever I married might end up doing what my first husband did, so that just made things all the more difficult."

Dean leaned forward a little then said, "Danika. I know I was just a kid, but you have to know I really did love you. I even told you once, but you...you shot me down pretty hard."

Her smiled disappeared as those words hit her.

"I...I only did that because I knew I'd eventually have to let you go. You had so much potential, and I was right. I mean, look at you. A college graduate and an airline captain? I knew you were destined for great things, Dean. And I couldn't be the one to hold you back. So I told you you couldn't possibly love me because you couldn't possibly know what love was then."

"And yet I did," he told her with sincerity.

"The funny thing is...I loved you, too. But had I let things continue, you'd have never achieved your goals."

"I still have one very important goal left unfulfilled," he told her.

She waited until he said, "To find someone...like you...to fall in love with...only for the rest of my life this time."

Danika forced a weak smile then told him, "That makes two of us."

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence just as their server reappeared with their food.

"This looks very good," she said, grateful to be able to change the subject.

"Maybe I should have ordered that," Dean said as he looked at the blackened salmon on her plate.

"I'll share," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, but I was just kidding," he told her, aware that his heart was still pounding in his chest.

Unable to resist asking, Danika returned to their former subject.

"When I heard your name on the intercom, I asked a flight attendant if I heard correctly. She told me I had then made quite a show of letting me know how um...hot...you are."

"Would her name be Nina by any chance?" Dean asked.

"Yes. That sounds right. Pretty girl. Your age maybe?"

"I'm not really sure. I don't have any interest, but she's, well...she's pretty relentless."

"I can't blame her, you know," Danika said.

"Except that she's a married woman," Dean gently replied.

"Again, I can't really say anything, can I?"

"There's a world of difference, Danika. I've met her husband, and he loves her dearly. The man dotes on her. And they have two beautiful kids. So please, don't even think about comparing yourself to her."

"How is it your words still have such an effect on me even now?"

"I had no idea they did," Dean replied with a smile.

"You were the most unusual high school student I've ever met, Dean. You were just 18, but you spoke like an adult. You had some amount of knowledge about nearly every topic that ever came up, and that made me feel like you were the older person. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth."

"I did read a lot as a kid. When you looked like I did, you had to find something to fill your days."

Danika smiled then said, "True. The photos you showed me from before we met were incredible. How much weight did you lose?"

"Nearly 50 pounds."

"Well, a 2,000-mile bike ride will do that, huh?" she said recalling his trip from Auburn to Yellowstone Park and back the summer between his junior and senior years of high school.

"I worked all summer on a dairy farm out in Enumclaw to buy a bike and have enough to to buy food," he said, recalling the event that changed his life.

"And you got your braces off, too, as I recall."

She said that like she didn't recall every detail of each conversation they'd ever had.

"Right. Yeah, my 'grill' was rather unpleasant."

"And look at you now."

Dean didn't respond so Danika said, "Anyway, I know you're single based on your earlier comments and what this Nina said, but has there really never been anyone in your life?"

He laughed quietly, looked right at her, then said, "Not until you walked in here."

Danika felt flushed from head to toe and wanted to take off the cute little cardigan she was wearing but didn't want him to know he was having that kind of effect on her.

"Again, I'll remind you this isn't love, Dean. It's just...melancholy."

"Okay. If you say so," he said with a gentle tone and a kind smile.

After that, the floodgates opened and years of separate lives began knitting together as they talked and shared for hours. The first two of those took place at the restaurant before they moved across the street to a quiet place that sold coffee where they talked until the shop closed at 1am.

"I still can't believe this," Danika said as Dean walked her to her car.

"I agree. And yet it is, and in some sense it's as though the last 15 years don't matter."

"Oh, they matter," she told him with a warm smile. "If they hadn't, you wouldn't be flying commercially, and...I'd still be married to someone who enjoyed hit...."

"Don't say it, okay?" Dean said, stopping her before she could. "That's over, and he's long gone."

He gently reached out and touched her arm then said, "And I'm here."

"Dean. Don't," she said even as her body cried out for him.

"I'm not trying to start anything," he said quietly in the cold, night air.

Danika was shivering, and he didn't even have a jacket to offer her.

"You need to get in the car and get warm," he told her.

"I should have worn a coat," she said.

Suddenly she smiled and told him, "I suppose I just wanted you to see me."

She looked down when she said it, and Dean moved closer.

He gently raised her chin then smiled before saying, "I'd have thought you were beautiful had you worn a canvas bag."

"You're the only man who's ever made me feel that way," she told him as her body shivered. "Beautiful, that is."

"May I at least hug you?" he asked.

"Hugs are nice. And warm," she said, smiling in spite of the cold.

Dean took her in his arms and held her while doing his best to warm her up by running his hands along her back and upper arms.

When she began to pull away, he tried to kiss her, but she turned her head.

"We...we can't do this," she said without looking at him.

"Help me understand why?" Dean said as he waited for her to look up at him again.

"How can you be so smart and yet not understand?" she said, as her eyes locked with his.

"Maybe I'm not so smart?" he said without smiling, because he really didn't understand.

"I still feel the same thing I felt 15 years ago,' he told her. "And I know you well enough to know you feel something, too."

"I...I do," she admitted. "But...."

"But what? What's changed?" Dean asked, the desperation in voice coming through.

"Everything," she told him.

"I...I don't understand. I honestly don't."

"Dean. You're an airline pilot. A captain. You're young, smart, funny, and...incredibly handsome."

"I'll take your word for that, but what bearing does that have on...us?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" she said as gently as she could.

"I believe you'll have to," he told her.

"You know why, but you won't admit it, because you're caught up in the fantasy of 'us' when we were both much younger."

"But the difference in age is still the same. And my feelings haven't changed."

"Look at me, Dean. I'm...I'm 47 years old now. You can't possibly think...you can't honestly say...."

Unable to hold back his feelings any longer, Dean leaned down and softly kissed her while she was speaking.

"That I'm still...." she said, her voice trailing off as his lips pressed against hers.

She wanted to finish her thought to convince him this wasn't real, but his lips on hers told her that it was. And her body was telling her even more strongly than her mind that this was not only real but as real as it gets.

Her willpower gone, she gave in and kissed him back. Gently at first, and then more passionately, and finally--hungrily--to the point where she was no longer cold. Her body was on fire like it hadn't been since he'd loved her so many years ago.

When the kiss finally ended, Danika was shaking, but for an entirely different reason.

"So...now...what?" she said, again unable to look at him. This time, it was out of fear that he might say she'd been right all along, and that kissing her had shown him she was correct.

"So now we make plans to see each other again," he told her as he gently placed the palm of his hand on her face. "Soon."

"Okay," she said as she looked back up at him. "If you're sure that's what you really want."

"Danika? I've never been more sure of anything in my life. Ever."

She'd toughened up because of the abuse and the eventual divorce, but right then she felt vulnerable and in spite of her best efforts, tears welled up in her eyes.

"Hey. It's all right," Dean told her as he pulled her close.

As he held her tightly, she quietly said, "Yes, Yes, it is."

Dean walked her to her car, kissed her goodnight, then told he'd call the next day.

"You mean today, right?" she teased.

"Oh. Right. It's after midnight, isn't it?"

"Quite a bit after," she told him with that beautiful smile of hers.

He opened the door then waited for her drive off before calling another cab.

It was just before 2am when he got back to the hotel, and just minutes before his arrival, Nina had stopped by his room for the third time, unbeknownst to him. The first time was a little after midnight, and when he wasn't there, she was disappointed. The second time was a little after one, and this time she was fuming. But for him to still be out...with her...at this time of night made her furious.

By the time she returned to her room, rage was welling up inside her. Rage caused by the pain of hurt and rejection coupled with want and need. She'd ignored three texts and a call from her husband, hell bent on finally having the man she wanted before he was out of her life for good. And yet he'd ignored her and chosen some...hag...over her.

Nina knew who he was with. She also knew that in spite of her being at least 10 years older than her, Danika was still the more attractive of the two of them. But hatred colors everything in a sea of red making it impossible to distinguish fact from fiction, and Nina's world was nothing bet crimson from shore to shore.

After pacing the small room several times she looked out her door one last time, and that's when she saw him. He was opening his door, and when he heard hers open, he glanced her way and smiled. She smiled back, momentarily heartened, then watched him go in without so much as a second look.