“Really?” Doug asked, the forced smile still on his lips but a noticeable shift in his eyes. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
“Well, I haven’t been. It’s actually an old friend,” I finally admitted. “Crazy enough, he was at the reunion on Saturday. We were close as kids, and we’ve reconnected.” Still not wanting to admit that Doug might have feelings for me, I tried to ignore the look of disappointment on his face.
“We’re just catching up,” I added, wanting to, for Doug’s sake, downplay my reconnection with Matty. And that is all it was at that point; a reconnecting of two old friends. Who had kissed in the car the previous evening. And who had a date tonight.
“Well, that’s nice, Leah,” Doug said as he stood up. He paused before giving me a bright smile and heading towards the door. “I hope you have a great time. I look forward to hearing about it later.”
“Yes, thanks, Doug. You have a good night yourself, okay?” I asked with a bit of concern in my voice. I didn’t want to hurt Doug’s feelings, but I realized I likely just had. I was rarely the focus of anyone’s attention, so being in the position of having to let someone down was a new and uncomfortable feeling for me.
With a quick wave, Doug walked out of my office, shutting the door behind him. “Crap,” I said softly, dropping back down into my chair. I felt terrible thinking that I’d hurt Doug’s feelings. But I told myself that I was probably reading way more into his reaction than was there. I was reminded that he had acted the same way when we had to cut his Advanced German Literature class from the schedule last year due to lack of enrollment.
“Enough of that,” I said aloud to only myself. “Gotta get this class over with so I can leave and get all dolled up.” I couldn’t help smiling every time I thought of Matthew saying that. And I had to admit that I was excited to get dressed up just for him, the same way I had once gotten ready for the school dances we had gone to together.
My hour-long class seemed to drag on endlessly. I handed the students back their essays and covered some bullet points of what everyone had done right along with a handful of things that most students needed to work on. Classes at Lakeview were small, with summer courses even more so; and they had a much more casual vibe to them. I couldn’t help glancing at the clock frequently as I awaited the moment when I’d be able to leave; I now remembered how it felt to be a student watching the hands of the clock tick slowly by, wishing class would be over.
I was so anxious to get home that once the time finally hit two-twenty, I abruptly stopped talking and practically yelled, “Class dismissed!” I grabbed my briefcase and left the room ahead of my students, which I never did; I always stayed back to answer questions or set up one-on-one meetings. But today I was not going to risk being delayed; I wanted to get back home and start getting ready to see Mathew.
I had just made it to my car and was about ready to start the engine when my cell phone rang. “LEE-AH” Matty said in his sing-song voice. “Whatcha doing?”
“Just finishing up my homework,” I replied jokingly, letting him know that I recognized his familiar greeting from our childhood. I also realized that this was the first time I’d ever spoken to Matty on the phone since as kids he’d never called. “Are you coming over tonight? I’ll leave my bedroom window open for you,” suddenly regretting that last part as it sounded way too forward.
Matty laughed on the other side of the line. “Well, of course I am coming over tonight. Don’t I always? But I think tonight I will try something different, like coming to your front door.”
“My front door?” I said with fake shock in my voice. “Why, that is so unlike you, Matthew Boyd! Afraid you can no longer scale the side of a house?”
“While I am confident, mostly, in my abilities to get to your bedroom window, I think I’ll stick with walking in the door tonight. Just so I don’t mess my clothes up, you know. Besides, I want my Leah to be escorted properly out on her date.”
Butterflies filled my stomach, and embarrassingly I started feeling tingly and even a bit wet. I had spent years recovering from and pushing away my feelings for Matty; and in less than three days, they had come rushing back with a vengeance.
“So,” I cleared my throat before asking, “What time shall I be ready tonight?”
“Six, if that still works for you? I’ve got my rental car and, upon the recommendation of a few of the folks over in Lincoln that I met with today, reservations at Nonna’s for six-thirty. Have you been there?”
“Several times, yes. It’s nice. Very nice, actually. It’s the nicest place in town.”
“Perfect, that’s just what I wanted; the nicest place to take my Leah,” I could feel Matty smiling into the phone, and I wondered if he could sense that I was smiling, too.
“Okay, six it is. I’ll be ready,” I said.
“Oh, and Leah? Can I ask one favor?” Matty asked
“Of course. What is it?” I replied
“Will you wear your hair down for me tonight?”
CHAPTER NINE
Again, with my hair, I thought to myself as I drove home, not able to keep from smiling at the memory. While I almost always wore my hair up – either in a ponytail or a braided updo, and then in messy buns when they became popular - Matty had always liked it when I wore my hair down. I used to tease him that he had a hair fetish. The only times I could remember wearing my hair loose were to
