We both stopped, then laughed, the moment cutting the tension between us.
“You first,” I said, gesturing to her.
“I wanted to apologize for what happened… uh, in the conference room.” A little flush of pink crossed her cheekbones,making her look adorable. “I don’t usually jump people in business meetings.”
“In fairness, I did part of the jumping,” I reminded her. “And I was the one who manhandled you onto the conference table.”
She gave me a rueful smile, then turned serious.
“What was that?” she asked. “I’ve been thinking about it all weekend and I still can’t figure out how it happened. Or why.”
“Oh, I think I know why.”
She gave me a quizzical look, her head tilting to the side. It was adorable.
“Well?” she asked impatiently.
Maybe it was stupid of me, but I shared the conclusion I’d reach after thinking about this all weekend.
“It’s because we had a crush on each other back when we were in school, and when we saw each other, it all came rushing back.”
Nicole
Twenty years ago…
“I can’t believe those girls all came to prom without dates,” my friend Mariah sneered as Grace walked by with her two best friends. “I think they’re all lesbians or something.”
The way she said lesbian clearly conveyed that she thought it was a huge insult. I didn’t share that I’d been having some very confusing feelings about girls lately myself. That would be social suicide.
“I’m going to go get a drink,” I said, following the trio of friends towards the refreshment table.
Grace looked lovely tonight in a jade green dress that hugged her lithe body and sky-high heels. Meanwhile I felt frumpy in a boring navy blue dress that my mother had picked out.
“You need something to hide your love handles,” she’d told me.
My prom date had been set up by my parents, the son of one of their business partners, and the guy couldn’t be less interested in me. He’s scarcely said a word to me all night. That was the price I paid for not having a boyfriend like all my friends. If only I was thinner. And blonde.
It wasn’t fair. Grace’s life was so perfect and she was so beautiful, and no matter how much lettuce my mother forced me to eat, I couldn’t get rid of my curves.
“Cute dress,” Grace said as I grabbed a drink. The look on her face made it clear that she was being sarcastic.
“Oh thanks, you too,” I said as I pretended to stumble, splashing an entire glass of red punch down the front of her dress.
Grace screeched in surprise, and I gave her a faux innocent look.
“Oops.”
***
I stared at Grace in shock, but as her words reverberated through my brain I came to a stunning conclusion: she was right. I’d definitely had a crush on her back in school. Not that I wanted to give her the satisfaction of agreeing with her. Old habits died hard.
“Are you crazy?”
“Are you telling me that what happened Friday was random?” she challenged.
“Sure.”
She raised one eyebrow. I guess I wasn’t the only one who noticed that I sounded unconvinced.
