The Reunion - Episode 5

 

Background music… lights…cameras. All the things Mariah thought of as she sat at the bar with Michael, it was a surreal feeling .sitting with the guy she had loved for so long, she loved him before she even knew what it meant . This bar would forever be a mental landmark of her reunion with him, she looked at him as he sipped on his gin and tonic, she wondered how he still had the same effect on her, even after all the years between them. He was currently talking about his amazing basketball career, and although she was blown away by it, she was more interested in coming up with a cool reply than actually listening to what he was saying . She kept thinking of what Lisa or even dead Chinelo would say.
“What about you?” she saw his lips moving, but she had no idea of what he had just said.
“What?” she asked as she took a sip of her diet coke.
“I asked what you’ve been up to, bubs.” he replied with an ooh so charming smile 
“Well…I’m a freelance writer, it’s not much but I love it when it’s going well …which is rarely, and then I work at super supermarket.”She explained all in one breath.
“I don’t know where that is, but its sounds …fun.” he stated, and it was obvious that ‘fun’ wasn’t the word he was looking for, but she agreed with him anyways.  “God! I can’t believe I’m looking at you right now…the last time I saw you was graduation day, you had your not so fitted uniform on ,but you still looked as cute as ever.” Mariah smiled ,but it wasn’t a good one …Michael always saw her as cute, not like she was complaining, but most of the time, it was like he was mocking her on purpose .
“The last time I saw you, was after graduation …you were with a girl.” She added as she took another sip of her icy diet coke.
“I was?” he asked as he moved closer to her “hmm…I can’t remember that.”
“Seriously? How can you not remember a girl you kissed …I mean it wasn’t a kiss kiss, but still, you should remember.” Mariah hated the fact that he couldn’t remember the girl when she could, and that said a lot about her, was she a lost cause even before she had a real life.
“ Not to sound chauvinistic and all …but, I can’t remember half the girls I kissed before and after graduation .” he replied with a mischievous grin that he couldn’t hide, and as surprised as Mariah was …she never thought a day would come when she would see Michael like any other guy.
“wow.” She started

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

. “I’m sure they all remember you.” she stated plainly.
“You know what I liked about you? You were so naïve and innocent, I think you still are.” he stated his theory and Mariah wasn’t sure how she was supposed to respond to that, luckily for her, he continued. “you were not like the other girls, that’s why I liked you …the funny part is that, I think you always thought I was this remarkable gentleman.” He stopped for a second, like he was trying to collect his thoughts. “You made me want to be a remarkable gentleman.” He finally finished.
“You weren’t?” Mariah asked the first thing that came to her mind ,he was right …she never saw him as anything other than remarkable ,she literally worshipped the ground he walked on, and now that she thought about it ,he wasn’t as remarkable as she once believed .
“no, I wasn’t …I was what you’d call a male whore, I’m not proud of it ,but I was every mother’s definition of the boys to stay away from …back then ,anytime my friends came up with one mischievous plan or the other ,I’d look for a way to hang out with you, so that I won’t get into any trouble.” 
Mariah didn’t know what to feel, she felt flattered by his confession, but her heart fell …she always assumed that he liked her company, well! He did, but she didn’t think he had particular motives. suddenly, it was like her senses came back to her, she had been pining over the last memory she had of him with that girl, and he couldn’t even remember the girl …she didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she felt stupid, she didn’t want to be that girl who pined over a boy who didn’t value the rare  existence of girls  …in fact, she didn’t want any girl to be that girl.
“You just ruined all my good high school memories.” she replied with a smile, her memories of his good image were ruined, but definitely not her feelings. He smiled at her, but then, he was suddenly looking over her shoulders …she tried to see what had caught his attention but it was of no use.
“Noah, what’s up.” he asked a guy sitting just a few meters away from them.
“Dude! Long time.” Noah replied as he walked towards them.
“You remember Mariah right?” Michael asked, and Noah nodded, she could only wonder what he was up to “okay, you guys should catch up.”  He added, and at that moment, as Michael walked away from the bar, she was one step closer to figuring out how much of a jerk he was.
“Mariah …I remember you, you always wore an oversized uniform.” Noah pointed out with so much humor and all she could do, was take a gulp of Michael’s drink, she wasn’t a fan of alcohol, but she needed something stronger than coke.
“I remember you too Noah, you were always the class clown …you still are .” she replied, she looked round and then she spotted Michael ,he was with a lady she once knew as Dorothy, unlike her …Dorothy was a girl who didn’t wear an oversized uniform, she always had this perfect look about her .
“Yeah, want to go to my room?” he asked with a disgusting wink and Mariah couldn’t take it anymore.
“Bye Noah.” she retorted, she rudely walked away and marched over to Michael since Dorothy was no longer in the picture.
“you know ,before today, I thought you were the perfect gentlemen …it’s annoying, but I still think you are ,but that doesn’t mean you can hand me over to another guy just because you want to talk to a chick …I mean, a beautiful lady …that was a jerky move, I’m not some girl toy you could move around.” At this point, Mariah felt like she was missing the point of her talk. “Never do that to any lady, ever again…you can’t just hand her over to another guy so that you could talk to another girl …that’s just rude.” She continued babbling till she stopped, and suddenly …she felt stupid but then she knew Lisa would be proud of her outburst.
“Wow! You’ve changed …in a good way, high school Mariah wouldn’t have said all that.”
“High school Mariah didn’t know that you had a rude bone in your body.” she stated plainly and he giggled, and she was back to being a naïve teenager as soon as she smiled sheepishly.
“I’m sorry that I pawned you over to Noah, it’s a bad habit I have …you don’t deserve that.” He replied remorsefully.
“No girl deserves to be pawned over, worst …to a pervert like Noah.” she said as she recalled his invitation.
“I’m sorry I …” he was in the middle of his apology when his phone rang. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.” he was about to walk away and Mariah’s heart fell but then he stopped on his tracks. “There’s this brunch thing tomorrow, and then a chill out by the pool, I would love to see you again.” as the words flew out of his mouth, she could literally feel her heart melt, and that made her smile.
“see you there then.” she said in the most casual way she could, he smiled at her in a way that sent shivers down her spine ,and as he walked away …her smile went along with him.