Ten-Year Reunion

"Oh, my. Looks like you're a better judge of romances than me," she told him as they watched the kiss go on and on. She looked up into Chaz's eyes and said, "Hmmm. Maybe that's why I'm still single!" She smiled but Chaz could sense something deeper in her words.

As the final stanza began, she was looking at him and he pulled her close as they listened together: "There must be an angel with a smile on her face, when she thought up that I should be with you, but it's time to face the truth, I will never be with you."

As the band played he said, "If you don't mind me asking, how is it that a woman as intelligent and beautiful and as kind and amazing as you hasn't ever been married?"

"Um...how long do you have?" she asked looking back up at him still trying to seem carefree about it. "It might take a while."

"It appears I have all night," he said nodding over at the two lovebirds.

Taylor laughed quietly as the song ended and said, "I'm really sorry, Charles. I thought you two would be great together."

"No, I think they belong together," he said nodding toward Mark and Campbell. As they walked off the floor, Chaz said, "I really do have time, Taylor. So unless you were only kidding, I'd love hear whatever you'd be willing to share."

"I had no idea you were such a glutton for punishment," she said trying to sound playful.

"Hey, if I can handle 25 missions in Afghanistan, I think I can handle a conversation with a beautiful woman over a real glass of wine."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," she told him.

It was dark outside but still pleasantly warm. "I can follow you, Charles. Just let me know where we're going," she said as they reached the parking lot.

"I'm happy to drive unless you feel the need to maintain the option of a quick exit."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked wrinkling her nose. "You might be the one wanting to duck out after I start droning on and on about my personal life." She feigned a yawn and said, "I'm getting sleepy just thinking about it."

"So will you let me drive?" he asked as they got to his car.

"Okay," she said sweetly.

He opened the door and just as he did he heard, "Dude! I thought that was you. Where are you going so early?" He saw 'Ms. Freeman' and said, "Ohhh. Duuude!"

"It's not like that, Jimmy. We're just having a drink together."

"Uh-huh. Sure. Okay. Um...see you in ten years okay, bro?"

"I'll see you again soon. Now that I'm back home, there's no reason not to get together more often, right?"

"Um, yeah. Sure." He bent down and wiggled his fingers at Taylor who raised her hand in a wave back at him. "Okay, well...have fun, bro," Jimmy said.

Chaz got inside and said, "Sorry about that. Not all of us mature at the same rate."

Taylor laughed and said, "James is a nice boy. He's just a little...different."

Chaz started the car, dropped it in gear, and said, "That's one way to put it." Taylor laughed again as he pulled away.

"Is the Local 907 okay with you, Taylor?" he asked as they pulled out of the campus parking lot.

"Sure. That sounds fine," she told him. She rarely got out and wasn't familiar with this particular pub and eatery and thought he was referring to some kind of local union headquarters. She trusted Chaz, something she rarely did when it came to men, so she was okay with whatever choice he made. It was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night. There were only two other people inside and they sat in the corner of a wraparound wooden wall.

"White wine again?" he asked.

"I'm okay with red or white," she told him. Chaz ordered two glasses of cabernet for them and waited.

"Okay, let me hear it," he said in a friendly, cheerful tone. "And don't leave anything out."

Taylor laughed at his silliness. "In a word, I have trust issues," she said.

Chaz sat there waiting. He looked at his watch and said, "I see. Okay, so I guess we're done." He pretended to get up to leave and Taylor laughed again.

"No, I'm serious," she said. "When I got pregnant with Tegan, I was SO in love with her father." Their wine arrived and she looked pensively at her glass then said, "He was my first, you know? He was so handsome and such a nice guy." She still for a while longer before saying, "Or so I thought."

"Let me guess. When he found out you were pregnant, that was it."

"I was so young and so naive. I thought everyone was just like him. Or rather the way I imagined him. Prior to that I was the most trusting person you could ever meet. I had wonderful, loving parents, a big sister who's still my best friend. Well, other than Tegan. My life was perfect. I believed him when he told me he loved me and I also believed him when he promised he'd...you know."

Chaz nodded, sure he knew exactly what her boyfriend had said. It would have sounded someone very close to this. "I don't need to wear a condom, baby. I'll pull out before I cum. I promise."

"Is the father in your daughter's life?" he asked.

"No. Not at all. His parents had money and after trying to essentially bribe me into having an abortion, they made sure he never saw us again. Then again, he had no desire to see me—or his daughter—and I was still too naive and trusting to even ask for, let alone demand, child support."

She took a first sip then said, "My mom was amazing. Both of my parents were. She helped me raise Tegan while I went to college and my father insisted on paying for everything. He worked two jobs so I could study and be a part-time mom while my own mom basically raised my daughter. I got a teaching job within a month of graduating and after one year out in Kent teaching ninth graders, I got a job here in Renton and by the time you were a senior, I got my first apartment. It's been tough, but I've never asked for a dime since I started working. That said, my parents never asked me to repay them and once again they're helping Tegan with her college expenses. Honestly, Charles? I don't know what I'd have done without them."

"So do you still have these...trust issues?"

"I suppose. It's not like I've dated a lot. During college, my daughter and school were all I had time for and then I threw myself into teaching so completely I still didn't have time and now here I am at 39 living all alone." She quickly added again, "I'm not complaining. Just telling it the way it is."

"Do you date at all?" he asked taking a second sip of his glass.

"Occasionally," she said. "Over the years I've probably averaged oh...three or four dates a year." She smiled and said, "Maybe."

"Now that your daughter is away at school, what's keeping you from finding someone?"

"Fear? Old habits. I'm not really sure. I mean, you get so used to living alone it's hard to imagine yourself living with someone else, you know? Would I be willing to make the kinds of compromises a married person has to make? Could I share my life with someone else? I promised myself I'd start dating when Tegan went to school, but I've managed to find an excuse to say 'no' to pretty much every guy who's asked me."

"Have there been a lot of guys asking?" Chaz wanted to know.

"Not so much a lot of them, more like one or two who are very persistent. I'm sure know one of them." Chaz raised an eyebrow waiting for the big revelation. "Marty Davidson was a math teacher when you went to school here."

"Oh, sure. I remember him. He seemed like a really good guy."

"He's now an assistant principal in Auburn and once he got divorced, he started asking me out and hasn't ever really stopped asking."

"So why don't you go out with him?"

Taylor sighed. "Are you sure you want to know?" she asked.

"It's up to you. I'm just listening. No pressure."

"Well, he's a nice enough guy but...um...he's changed a lot since you knew him."

"Changed? As in the Jimmy kind of change?"

"How shallow is that?" she asked.

"It isn't. If you find something unattractive, you can't change how you feel. You can't just will yourself to find a man who's um...heavy and maybe losing his hair...to be good looking to you unless he is." Chaz thought about what he said and laughed. "I hope you don't scold me for being tautological."

Taylor covered her mouth and laughed. For the first time she really laughed. "Sorry, but that struck me as being very funny. I can't find someone handsome because I find him unattractive."

"But you have to give me credit for remembering what a tautology is, right?"

"I told you you were always a good student, Charles."

"And you really were the best teacher I ever had, Taylor." She looked away when he said that. "Now I know why. Teaching—and your daughter—were your whole life. I'm sure you were as good a mother as you were a teacher so I'm kind of envious of your daughter."

She still hadn't looked up when she asked him a question. "Charles? When you told me earlier I was still...you know..."

"Beautiful?" he suggested.

"I was going to say 'not old and totally haggard looking' but, okay, that sounds much nicer."

"Hey," he said waiting for her to look at him. When she finally did he held out his hand and waited for hers. She looked at him, then down at his hand, then back at his face. "It's okay. I won't bite." He smiled understanding now how hard this must be for her.

After some additional hesitation, she placed hers in his but didn't squeeze back when he wrapped his around hers.

"Charles. This is silly. I'm your teacher and..."

He waited for her to look at him again and said, "Taylor, you haven't been my teacher for ten years. We're now just two adults with a past connection having a drink together."

"So it's just a drink then, right?" she asked hopefully yet not convincingly.

"It doesn't have to be," he said putting his other hand on hers.

She pulled hers back and said, "Maybe you should take me back now. It's...getting kind of late."

"Okay. If that's what you want." He expected to reply immediately and stand up. Instead she just sat there.

"I'm...I'm not very good at this, Charles. At...you know...relationships."

"We seemed to be doing pretty good up until about two minutes ago."

"That was before I realized I might have..."

"Feelings for me?" he asked again supplying what he hoped was the correct missing word.

"It's ridiculous, isn't it? I haven't seen you in ten years, I don't really know anything about you, and yet..."

"Does it help knowing I have feelings for you too, Taylor?"

"Um...not really," she said. She tried to laugh but it sounded forced because it was. "It sounds...scary."

He put his hand back out and cocked his head and waited—again. "I can be persistent, too," he said as he waited. When she finally looked up he smiled and patted the top of his head as he told her, "And I'm not going bald."

Taylor laughed again and said, "Stop! You're making me feel worse." She looked at him then offered him her hand again then said, "And you also don't look like you're pregnant with twins, either."

He opened his eyes in feigned shock and said, "Why Ms. Freeman. I never!"

She laughed again and said, "I am so going to hell, aren't I?"

Chaz gave her a sinister look and said very seriously, "Are you Roman Catholic, by any chance?"

"Um...yes. But in name only. I haven't been to mass since I was 18. I think that's when I stopped believing in all that. Why? Are you Catholic, too?"

"No, I'm a fundamentalist...heathen," he said in a deadpan tone causing Taylor to laugh again. "You see, you really are beautiful. And even more so when you smile."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "I think you're very handsome, too, Charles."

"So...I have two questions. Well, three actually."

"Okay," she said finally looking and smiling at him. "Shoot."

"First, would you please consider calling me 'Chaz'? I haven't been Charles since high school and then it was other with my teachers."

"Oh, sorry. Again, old habits. Yes, I can call you Chaz—Chaz." She almost giggled and Chaz breathed a sigh of relief. "What's next?"

"When you said you didn't know if you could make compromises and share you life with someone, were you serious or just being rhetorical?" He tilted his head slightly and said, "Uh-oh. Did I use 'rhetorical' correctly? I feel very paranoid around you when it comes to grammar and the like."

She laughed again and said, "It's fine. I know what you meant...Chaz. Honestly? I'd like nothing more than to finally find someone I really could trust and love and yes, share my life with. As long as he wasn't controlling, I'd be happy to make compromises, too."

"Okay, well, in that case here's number three. I was wondering if...I mean...now that we kind of know one another, if you might like to maybe go on an actual date with me."

"Had you asked me at the reunion, I'd have politely turned you down."

"And now?"

"Well, I...trust you now, Chaz. So yes, I'll go out with you." She smiled and said, "Oh, my God. I'm going out with one of my students. Sorry, former students. Even so..." The way she looked at him changed as she sat across the table. It was as though whatever was left of the former student-teacher barrier had just melted away forever.

"Close your eyes," he said. She gave him a funny look and he said, "It's an exercise in trust. You did say you trust me, right?"

"Um, well, yes. Yes, I did say that."

"So...do you?"

She smiled and said, "Yes."

He pulled his hand back and said, "Then go ahead. Close your eyes."

When she did he very quietly stood up and sat next to her. The wooden bench didn't make a sound. "Okay, open," he said.

She flinched hearing his voice so close to her but opened her eyes and saw him looking into her eyes. "Hello, there," she said.

"Is this okay?" he asked as he put his arm around her.

She reached up and took his hand with hers and said, "It's very okay. This is...nice."

"So far, so good?" he asked with a warm smile.

"Very good," she said returning his smile.

"Would it be scary if I told you I'd very much like to kiss you?"

"No," she whispered. "It would be absolutely terrifying."

"You know the best way to get over being afraid of something, right?" he asked his face just inches from hers.

"No, I'm not sure I do. Can you teach me?" she said, both of them understanding the irony of the situation.

"Well, you have to keep doing the thing you're afraid of until you stop being afraid."

"I'm going to need a lot of work, I'm afraid."

"Then there's no time to lose, is there?" he asked.

"No. None," she replied.

"Then we better not waste any more of it."

"No, that would be very bad...to waste more time."

Her eyes closed as he leaned toward her and kissed her softly on the lips.

When the kiss ended she said, "I might still be a little bit afraid. Can you teach me some more?"

He kissed her again and this time she kissed him back.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much," she whispered. "So...where would you like to take me...on our...date?"

"How long has it been since you've had dinner in the Space Needle?" he asked her.

"I just turned 39 and I'm still waiting," she told him truthfully. "I've been to the top twice but never had dinner there."

"Then it's settled. I just happen to know a guy who knows a guy who can get us reservations on short notice."

"And now I know the guy who knows the guy who..." Both of them laughed.

They sat there sipping their wine for a few more minutes just talking and getting better acquainted before heading back to the high school.

When they arrived, Chaz asked her, "I don't suppose you want to go back in?" as he walked her to her car.

"I don't think so, Chaz. I wouldn't mind dancing with you again, but I think maybe we should call it a night. A very nice night I must say."

"I agree," he told her. She unlocked her car, he opened her door for her then he asked, "Are you less afraid now?"

"I was never afraid of you," she said with a bright, happy smile.

"How about of having a relationship with me?" he countered with a smile of his own.

"I think I'd describe it as nervousness, but not fear. I just can't go too fast, okay? I'm not afraid, but I really am...apprehensive. Is that fair enough?"

"Of course it is. Any honest answer is fair enough," he told her. "I'm so glad you came, Taylor. I don't know why but I have this feeling of my own about all this. About...us."

"You do?" she asked sweetly.

"I do. And I like the way it feels." He put his hands on her shoulders, smiled and said, "I like the way you feel, too."

She laughed and put her arms around his neck. "Same here. You feel very nice. And I'm also really glad I came tonight."

He leaned down and kissed her again. A soft, long, lingering kiss. "Wow," she whispered. "Now I have a kind of feeling."

"You do?" he asked as he brushed back a shock of hair hanging over her forehead.

"Uh-huh. Let's call it a very...pleasant feeling."

"I'm glad. You should have pleasant feelings and you deserve to be happy." She was not only still smiling at him, but that new look was still there. "I still can't believe how beautiful you are."

"It's really hard for me to believe that, Chaz, but in the short time I've known you, I really have learned to trust you. I certainly don't feel beautiful but...but you make me want to believe I am and I really like the way that feels. Thank you for that, Chaz. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Well, you are beautiful, Taylor. Inside and out."

"So...good night?" she said still looking into his eyes.

"I guess so," he reluctantly agreed.

"I...I've never done the hook-up thing," she said looking away. "Is...is that what you want out of this?"

He put his hand on her face and waited for her to look at him. "Hey, where is that coming from?" She looked like such an innocent little girl to him. So small and helpless and even fragile. "No, that's not what I want—at all. I want a relationship with you. A real, no-kidding relationship. No hook-ups, no one-night stands. Just you and me getting to know each other."

She was staring at him as though she were trying to see into his soul. "I'd given up hope there were still men like you out there, Chaz. Even now a part of me wonders how soon this will end. And yet there's another part. A small, growing part that never wants this to end."

He smiled at her and told her, "I like that part. A lot. Let's both nurture it and watch it grow, shall we?"

"Okay," she said softly as she stood on her toes to kiss him.

He watched her get in then remembered he didn't even have her phone number. He tapped on the glass and she rolled down the window. "See what you do to me?" he told her.

He could tell she had no idea what he meant. He took out his phone, opened it to his Contacts page and handed it to her. "This will be a lot easier than trying to track you down without it."

Taylor laughed and entered her number. Chaz leaned down and kissed her one last time and said, "I'll call you tomorrow and that's not a line."

"I look forward to it," she told him. "So...good night again, Chaz."

"Sweet dreams," he told her as she rolled her window back up.

It was just after midnight so he strolled back inside and started looking around for Jimmy. It took him about ten minutes, but he finally found him. He was sitting alone on the side of the gym. "What up, dude?" he asked.

"Oh, hey. What's up, bro? How'd it go with Ms. Freeman?"

"Really, great. Why are you sitting here by yourself? Where's Ellen?

He pointed out on the dance floor and looked until he saw her. "What the..."

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" Jimmy said.

Ellen was dancing with someone else to a slow song which wasn't all that surprising. What was surprising was her partner. It was Karen Powers and judging by the way they were holding each other, it wasn't exactly a dance between friends.

"Uh...what's the deal, bro?" Chaz asked his friend.