The Reunion - Episode 12

 

The bar was just what Mariah needed ,as she sat there debating whether she was going to take a sip out of the glass of gin and tonic placed before her ,her mind drifted to the fact that Michael didn’t even notice her when she walked away ,it also drifted back to the look on Judith’s face when Lisa told her about her husband’s cheating scandal …she felt messed up ,her heart felt heavy ,and in a matter of seconds ,the debate was over ,she decided to drink ,at first …it was hard to keep the drink down ,she managed to get the hang of it after a couple more drinks . 

Growing up ,Mariah always found solace in her company , suddenly ,she felt like that wasn’t quite enough ,she found herself wanting more ,as she looked at her glass and the contents in it ,her mind wandered to all the places it hadn’t visited in a while ,the first stop was ; Chinelo . She remembered that bright Sunday morning, she got a call from Chioma ,Chinelo’s sister . At first it was all sobbing and rambling and then she said it, those three words; “she is dead” those three words literally sent shivers down her spine.

The second stop involved Michael and he was the last person she wanted to think about, she was done riding the ‘Michael train’, she took a large gulp of her drink.

“You know, drinking never solved anyone’s problem.” The bar tender said ,he leaned on the counter as he moved closer to Mariah ,he had served her two glasses ,but until a second ago ,she had no idea what he looked like.

“Then why do you keep serving me?” she shot back rudely

“Because it’s my job, so what’s the problem? Is it a guy?” he asked plainly 

“The last time I checked your job description involved serving and not therapy.” she shot back rudely; again …it was definitely the alcohol talking.

“Actually therapy is also part of my job description.” he replied mischievously 

“What?” Mariah asked “you’re not serious are you?” she whispered and he let out little fits of laughter 

“I am, I have a degree in psychology.” he replied.

“Then why are you here, are you part of the reunion …I mean are there like hidden cameras at the bar?” she asked as she looked around in her almost drunken state.

“hmm …that’s actually a good idea ,but no …my step father owns the hotel ,he said and I quote ; ‘what will you do with a useless psychology degree in Nigeria .’ and I said ,this .” he said as he scanned through the bar, Mariah laughed hysterically as she tried to drink out of an already empty glass . “Whoa! No more drinks for you.” the delightful bartender said as he forced the glass out of her grasp.

“Nooooo, I want more.” she whined...

“Sure, how about we talk first …here’s a glass of water.” He said as he moved the glass towards her, all she did was look at it scornfully as she moved it aside

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/the-reunion

. “I’ll take that as a no …so let’s talk.” He said as he leaned in a little closer.

“What of the people at the bar?” Mariah asked somewhat thoughtfully 

“I’m not the only bar guy.” And he wasn’t, the whole bar could function without him in a way ,the  only reason he took the job ,was to meet people ,people being ‘the ladies’ ,he was trust fund kid with a psychology degree he didn’t need ,he had enough inherited money to last him a lifetime. “So miss?” he asked hopefully. 

“None of your business “she replied, she felt a bit tipsy, but she could feel her mind in the right spot …well! Not quite.

“So what’s up Miss ‘none of your business’, talk to Me.”  the bar guy said almost charmingly.

“I think there’s something wrong with me ,I mean …I’m twenty seven ,single ,jobless …and on top of all of that ,I’m not any closer to getting the guy I want …” she explained ,she couldn’t tell if she was drunk ,but she was definitely over sharing personal information with a complete stranger. “Look at him.” She said as she turned to actually look at him, he was laughing with coco the African American, and all she wanted to do was spit on them. “ I mean I get that I’m not tall ,or extra skinny …but I’m not bad ,I mean …I’m cool and beautiful in my own way …we were supposed to be on a date ,instead he decides to spend the whole time with skinny latte over there , why doesn’t he see me ?” she asked as she ugly cried ,and that was all it took for her to realize that her mind wasn’t in the right spot .

“hey.” the guy he bar said, he walked out of the bar arena and he made his way to a bar stool beside Mariah, she looked away as he leaned in closer. “hey.” He said compassionately, as he lifted her chin up, she looked at him and all she could think of was Michael, and why he decided to sweep her under the rug for their alleged dinner date. “I think you deserve more than some guy who makes you cry ,I mean I don’t know you …but I know guys like him ,guys like me, he doesn’t deserve to make you sad ,not for one second ,not ever .” he said as he let go of her chin .

“I know .” she sobbed  “and I’m better than this ,crying over a guy is stupid …but I can’t help it ,there’s this pain in my chest ,it’s like I can feel my heart breaking into a thousand and one pieces ,and no matter how much I try ,the tears keep rolling down .” she said comprehensively ,somehow …she could suddenly explain how she truly felt about what Michael did ,not just what he did at the dinner ,but what he did ten years back.

“Do you know what you need?” he asked as he got off the stool.

“The strongest drink you have?” she asked with her eyes wide open, he laughed, and then he took her hand in his.

“Yeah, but you’ve had enough of that …what you need right now, is dinner.” he said with perfectly adorable mismatched eyebrows, she smiled …not because he had a nice face, or the fact that he smelled nice, but because …she was starving to death.

As they made their way to a dinner table, Lisa had her eyes on them, Mariah noticed as Lisa winked at her mischievously, she couldn’t bear to think of what was going through her friend’s mind at that moment, Michael didn’t notice her sit …hell! He didn’t even notice that she was gone. They sat on a table with an older couple and the vibe wasn’t as awful as sitting with Michael was.

“I actually thought this dinner was for me and Michael …I didn’t know it was a reunion dinner.” Mariah whined.

“What? Didn’t you get the memo; everyone got the memo …even me.” He replied in a duh tone.

“well I didn’t get it ,plus who in his right mind makes a group thing sound like a romantic thing …I should have known he was nothing but trouble from the first day I knew I liked him” The dining area became noisier by the second ,people began to walk in and in a matter of minutes ,dinner was served ,the mere thought of Michael smiling and acting like all was well with the world ,made her want to throw up…or was it the food ? She wondered, she stared at him as he smiled at his life sized Barbie, she stared so hard that she didn’t notice when Dayo walked up to her.

”Mariah.” he yelled 

“What?” she yelled back absentmindedly as she looked up at who she had just yelled at the scowl on her face grew even wider when she saw him?

“What do you want?” she asked, as much as she wanted to fake a smile, she didn’t have the  slightest amount of strength to fake it ,Dayo gave her a sympathetic look and all she wanted to do was dismiss him and so she did . “Dayo, I get it …you were an asshole who only asked me out to prove a point, but don’t come here and act all innocent and whatever it is you’re doing …for a second, I actually thought you were better than Michael, but you’re not.” she said with all the jumbled up emotions she felt.

“M…I’m sorry ,come on now …this was ten years ago ,how about we move on ,lunch tomorrow ?” he asked cockily ,she could feel the bar guy’s eyes on her ,it was like he was watching her every move ,and she was more than ready to give him a show .

“fuck your life ,now …walk away .” she blurted out ,her choice of words were as a result of how she felt ,she felt crappy ,it was like she wasn’t good enough for anyone ,she felt a rush of emotions and at the same time ,she felt absolutely nothing ,to be fair to dayo ,she knew she had forgiven him but she also needed a punching body bag to retaliate on how Michael made her feel . Dayo walked closer to her and did the unexpected ,he placed his palms on her face ,as if he intended to give her a kiss ,Mariah was nothing less than shocked ,the thought of Dayo kissing her made her freeze ,luckily for her ,the bar guy interceded .

“Guy, she said; walk away “he insisted word for word as he took a strong grip of Dayo’s hand, Dayo proved to be hesitant and the look on his face was priceless, with that he walked away.

“Thanks for that.” Mariah said with relief 

“Its nothing.” he replied with a smile on his face, as he returned to his sit. Stevie walked into the room and all eyes were literally on him, he gave a speech about past and present meeting, just to make the future better, he said a lot, Mariah wasn’t interested in half of it, till he said the next words.

“a lot of you have been wondering how this works ,and by ‘this’ …I mean the show ,well …as you all know there are camera’s everywhere ,and with the help of Michael .” he nodded towards Michael “ we got our hands on state of the art omnidirectional microphones ,we carefully handpicked the people on which the focus of our show would be on ,I can’t disclose their identity till the premiere ,which is the last dinner engagement we have ,of course …anyways ,have fun guys and remember to stir up as much drama as you can ,who knows, you might just walk away even richer than you came .” with that ,Stevie handed the mic over to one of the ushers ,Mariah was short of words ,she didn’t know how reality TV worked but she had a bad feeling about all of it .

“This is stupid.” the bar guy commented. “They are literally invading your privacy, all of you …and you guys have nothing to say?”

“He didn’t say that, they probably have particular people they are interested in.” 

“You know you are one of the ‘particular people ‘right? I mean just think about it, one of the master minds behind the whole thing pretends to be interested in you, for what? To stir up drama? This is really stupid, you need to say something, they are completely walking over your right to privacy.” he completed angry.

“What makes you so sure that they are even doing that?” Mariah asked, she was confused and his words stung like a bee…everything seemed surreal to her, she could actually care less about the reality show, as long as she wasn’t in it.

“My step father owns the place, I hear things.” he said, Michael stood up to give a toast and Mariah instantly forgot about everything.

“thank you all for showing up ,this wouldn’t have been a massive success without y’all …here’s to scarlet 08 ,here’s to making a ton of money .” he said smiling ,and people giggled . “Here’s to a kick ass reunion ,cheers .” he said ,Mariah watched as he took a sip from his glass ,she wondered how she could still like someone she was mad at ,she wondered why she even cared about whether he liked her or not .she could feel the guy from the bar getting up ,everything was normal ,until he clinked his glass to make a toast ,she rapidly turned to stare at him ,she could feel a whole room of eyes piercing through her skin ,she put her head down as she noticed Michael’s . 

“I know what you all are thinking, ‘was this amazingly hot guy in our class?’ “The guy started, he managed to get a few laughs “well, I wasn’t …I wish I was though, I’m here tonight with the single most beautiful lady in the room.” Mariah suddenly felt the need to look up, she only hoped he wasn’t referring to her “I honestly wish I met her when you guys did, anyways …the floor is yours M.”  He said as he smiled at her, he didn’t know what her name was; M was the closest he got to knowing.  Mariah hated public speaking, she didn’t even know how to make a toast, she searched Lisa’s eyes for some kind of help, all Lisa did was; smile at her; she also went back to flirting with jerry. The bar guy nudged her elbow as he sat beside her.

“just say something ,trust me .” he whispered ,she decided to take his word on it ,as she shakily grabbed her glass ,she wondered what Michael was thinking ,their eyes met ,and for the first time than night ,he looked right at her, she cleared her throat nervously as she began her speech.

“a lot of you might not remember me ,and some of you know me as the naïve quiet girl of way back when .” she said as her eyes were still fixed on michael,she didn’t know what she was saying ,but she didn’t want to give a snobby speech ,so she diverted  “well! It’s so nice to see you guys again, at least some of you.” she said honestly, and surprisingly, people found it funny. “Here’s to the best time of our lives.” she completed as she raised her glass even higher as they all did, she took a huge swig of her drink, as she sat quietly. After a certain number of toasts, the room went back to its rowdy state, everyone’s attention was on something or someone, in her case, and it was the latter.

“What was that for?” she asked the bar guy, she suddenly realized that they didn’t know each other’s names, but what was the use anyway, she thought.

“I just wanted it to look like I was into you.” 

“Why?” she asked.

“he’s walking towards you right now .” the guy said ,he gave Mariah a soft peck on her cheek ,she couldn’t tell if it was still an act ,and she couldn’t ask because he was gone like the wind ,and just like that ,Michael replaced the effect he left .

“Take a walk with me.” he said as he held out his hand to her, she wanted to be a better person by not taking his hand, but she thought to herself ‘pride never helped anyone.’

As they walked through the same garden path of days past, she quietly wondered what she was supposed say, she wondered if she had any right to be mad at him.

“You look beautiful.” he said with a voice that made her fall even more.

“Yeah, that’s why you spent the whole night ignoring Me.” she replied sarcastically.

“It’s not like that bubs, coco just flew into the country and she didn’t want to be alone.” he explained sweetly.

“Who is she exactly?” Mariah asked, and she immediately regretted it, she felt like a jealous girlfriend. “You know what? Don’t answer that.” she said as she shook her head. In an attempt to walk ahead of Michael, he grabbed her by the hand and she stopped on the spot. 

“I’m sorry for being such an insensitive jerk, this was the worst date, even for me, and I promise to make it up to you.” he replied charmingly, with a smug look on his face.

“what if I don’t want you to make it up to me ,I know who you really are Michael …you think you are all that ,the fact that I like you, doesn’t give you the right to walk all over me and hurt my feelings any time you want.” She said all in one breath, he took a step closer to her, till there were no more steps ahead. 

“Did you just say you like me?” he asked, she tried to look away as she blushed, but he sweetly touched her face “I happen to like you too.” He added sweetly, before Mariah could process his statement, he placed his lips on hers, and she felt a rush of happy feelings go through her entire body, the kiss was like nothing she had ever felt before, and all she wanted, was for it to last a whole lifetime.