“Thanks for sharing that, Krista,” I said sarcastically as I gave her a dirty look. “Really appreciate it.”
Matty laughed and said, “I’m happy to hear that I was missed! And hearing that someone was devasted actually makes me feel a lot better about the whole thing!” Matty said with a smile as he gave me a wink.
And with that, the three of us laughed, although I really had to fake it. And at the height of the laughter I kicked Krista’s shin under the table.
“Ow! Leah, that hurt!”
“Oh, I’m sorry; I thought that was the table leg. My bad!” I hoped Krista would end up with a nice big bruise to remind her to keep her mouth shut in the future. She deserved a lot more than a kick to her leg to make up for my being completely mortified. I would not have blamed Matty if he got up and ran away; he thought he was catching up with an old friend, but Krista painted a picture of me as a love sick crazed lunatic. I honestly wanted to die right then and there.
“In all seriousness,” Mathew said to Krista, “I was pretty devastated myself, as I was telling Leah.” He looked at me and gave me a sweet smile. “If I could go back in time, I would have figured out a way to stay in touch. I will always regret that I didn’t try harder. But I am so glad we have reconnected. Here’s to second chances.” And with that, Matthew raised his beer bottle and I raised my wine glass and we clinked them together. Krista, with no drink, chimed in with her stack of metal bangle bracelets; although I think the toast was meant to be between Matty and me. And Krista was actually lucky that she did not have a drink, as I will so pissed off at her that I would have likely ‘accidentally’ found a way to spill it all over the front of her pretty dress.
“So, are you two coming back in or are you going to sit out here all night? Leah, people want to talk to you!” Krista said as she stood up.
“Ugh, do I have to? How much longer does this thing go on for, anyway?” I sighed, resigned that the chances of me getting out of at least making one round of “hello’s” were slim to none.
“At least you guys know people,” Matthew said. “I don’t know anyone, and I have no way out until Leah is ready to leave, seeing she’s my ride.”
“How about this? Leah, you bring in Matthew and make the rounds. Should take you about an hour….”
“An hour?!” I exclaimed, interrupting her. “I can move faster than that.”
“Fine,” Krista sighed, rolling her eyes. “Say your hellos, get in your hugs, and then you and Matthew can leave. You two can sneak off the way you did when we were kids to do whatever it was that you used to. I personally intend to stay until this party is officially done!”
Matty laughed and I gave a resigned sigh before I finally stood up and said, “Come on, Matty; help me schmooze my way outta here!”
And with that, the three of us headed back inside and I circled the room to say hello to my former classmates. I introduced Matty as an old friend of Krista’s and mine; no way was I saying he was Molly’s boyfriend. Matthew never volunteered that information, either, so it wasn’t like I was lying about anything. At several points we held hands to make sure we stayed together as we moved through the crowd. I suspected people thought we were a couple, and I was happy to oblige that, especially if that news somehow made it back to Molly. And I had to admit that it was good to see most everyone in person after so many years; we ended up staying slightly over an hour. I told myself that the evening counted as a year’s worth of socialization for me, and that I was now free to leave.
After confirming that Krista would be able to get a ride home with someone else and hugging her goodbye with promises to talk to her soon – and a whisper in her ear that I was not yet done with punishing her for embarrassing me – Matthew and I headed towards my car.
“This is a really nice town; feel like driving me around a bit to show me the sights before dropping me back off at my hotel?” Matthew asked as he buckled up. “Unless you have to get home?”
“Of course we can take a drive,” I replied a bit too eagerly. My dogs were safe at home, likely sleeping the night away; and they had a doggy door they could use to access the yard if nature called. Plus, I had a security camera hooked up that fed into an app on my phone so that I could check on both the inside and outside of my house at any time; it was almost as good as me physically being there.
“Not sure how much you can see of the area in the dark, but I’ll take you around to some of the better lit places. The college is always illuminated at night, so we’ll definitely drive over there.” And with that, I drove the short distance to my alma mater and place of employment. Granted, Lakeview was a small town, so everything was a short distance drive. But the campus was all lit up and looked beautiful. “I’d forgotten how pretty this place looked at night,” I said to Matthew, still feeling a sense of wonder that he was actually here, talking to me and sitting next to me in my car. “I haven’t taught a night class in years, so I’m usually home well before dinner.”
“This is a such pretty campus. Did you live in the dorms?” he asked.
“Yes,
