“What are you wearing?!!” Amy jumped, horrified at the sight of her friend in leather jacket and jeans, and the same old ponytail!!!  at such an event.

“What?! It’s rock style!” replied Kara with an innocent tone, scanning the place. It was a medium size restaurant, decorated with balloons and all kinds of ingenious handmade ikebana ornaments on each table. And, of course, an exhibition of various paintings, all around the walls. Right in front of her, was placed the usual “Reunion Class of 2011” banner so you wouldn’t get confused on your way back from the restroom, after a few drinks. A bunch of people, not more than fifty (imposed limit), all dressed up in fancy outfits and, for the ladies, excessive make-up, and over- the-top hairdos, seemed eager to practice their rusted socializing skills.  Amy, on the other hand, looked so elegant in her sparkling beige mermaid dress, with the light make-up and wavy sunny hair.

“Ah, such a waste! With your sporty physique and tan skin tone, you would’ve rocked that dress!” she whined disappointed.

“I shouldn’t even be here! It’s not like I graduated. I only attended for like… a couple semesters.”

 “Yeah, I still haven't forgiven you for dropping out. Anyway, I’m glad you came! Come, I’ll take you to our table! Everybody’s here already.” She took her arm and began dragging her enthusiastically through the crowd.

“Look, there’s the Art teacher! Remember him?” she asked eagerly, pointing with sparkling eyes at a middle-aged man, who was standing next to a painting, engaged in a highly intense conversation with one of his younger fellow teachers.

“Vagally” came the dry reply while taking their seats at the table.

“Oh, I’m still so in love with him!”

“Isn’t he like...fifty? ...and married?” snapped Kara without any effort to hide her repulsion, noticing the dreamy glare.

“Love doesn’t care about age!” pouted back Amy, lowering her eyes, “…or anything else”.

In moments like this, she always scolded herself for being unnecessarily harsh on Amy all the time. After all, in some aspects, she was still the same sensitive romantic teenage girl she met first year in Art Class. To this day, it was still a mystery how this frail dreamer managed to stay friends with her all these years.

“Oh, there he is!” Amy jumped out of her seat. “Dante!” she shouted, waving with frenetic gestures.

From across the venue, a tall, elegant man, in a cream slim fit suit, waved back smiling.

“Dante! Over here!”

Kara’s heart just skipped a beat.

 “Dante???”

But Amy didn’t hear her faint exclamation, nor did she notice the sudden pallor on her friend’s face.

She never mentioned her new boyfriend’s name before. She was acting all mysterious about him, only referring to him as Mr. Twice ‘cause of..., well... yeah, it’s exactly what you’re thinking. And now, all of a sudden, she was insisting so hard on introducing him to her.

The man excused himself to the group he was with and started walking towards them.

“This can’t be happening!” Kara was gradually turning blue at the sight of Mr. Sunshine parading with slick moves, like America's Next Top Model, stirring up waves of turning heads with each table he was passing by.

“This isn’t happening!” She shook her head hard, grabbed the glass of ice water in front of her, and emptied it with big splashy gulps.

“Hello, dear,” he greeted Amy while gently catching her waist. Amy casually greeted him back with a kiss on the cheek.

“Here you are! Let me introduce you to my friend.” Amy turned around and pulled Kara by the arm, dragging her in front of him, and continued in her chirpy voice:

“Kara, this is Dante! Dante, this is my friend Kara! Well, it’s AyKara actually, but I just call her Kara, you know…”

Kara stumbled in place, her chin drawn to the ground ‘cause her head weighed like a ton, all of a sudden.

“It's so nice to finally meet you!” he greeted in a casual manner.

The sudden rush of blood blinded her sight for a moment, to the point she couldn’t even see his invitation to shake hands. She slowly raised her head, her brown eyes darker and pupils narrower.

“Amy, we have a situation,” approached an elegant lady in a red dress.

“What is it?”

“You should come see for yourself!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I have to jet for a second,” apologized Amy half-heartedly, frightened by the intense stare between the two:  Kara looked like she would fire lasers from her eyes any moment, while he was prepared to extinguish them all with that charming innocent smile.

“I’ll be right back!” and left without getting any reaction.

“So, this is how you’re gonna play!” Kara suddenly hissed.

“Sorry?” tilting his head with one eyebrow raised.

“Pretend like you don’t know me...”

“…?” both eyebrows raised.

“We dated, you jerk! In freshman year!”

His deep blue eyes began scanning her thoroughly from head to toe, with an eyebrow arched and… was that a sarcastic grim? Was this amusing to him?!

“You don’t even remember the girls you’ve dated!!”

“I usually do, but looking at you... I mean, look at you: punk-rock outfit at such an event (you could’ve, at least, put on a dress), pretty ordinary features and, may I add, a rather scary personality! You don’t seem like my style!” he concluded, reaching for a seat at the table. “Are you sure we even dated!” he casually added while pouring himself a glass of red wine.

“You’re still such a bastard!”

“Hey, I never forget a girl I like!”

That candor in his voice and that intense gaze that went straight through her soul must’ve pulled the pin off! She smacked one palm on the table and grabbed him by the necktie so hard that he dropped the glass, spilling the wine. Not to mention, he had to stand up on his toes and arms to be able to grasp some air.

“Look! I’m only telling you this once so, listen carefully! If you make that girl shed a single tear, I’m gonna kill you, you scumbag!”

She threw his shaky ass back in his seat and walked away, stirring up waves of turning heads with each table she was passing by.

He squirmed in his seat coughing, with his cheeks burning from both the strangle and the embarrassment from the staring eyes pointed at him.

“Waw, what a temper! I was not expecting this.”

                                                                                   End of Scene 

Author’s Thank You Note

I hope you enjoyed the story so far. Please look forward to the next episode.

Also available on Amazon e-book and paperback at https://amzn.to/3YHk507

I’ll be waiting for your feedback, comments, and theories.

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