While trying to figure out what to wear for my second “non-date” with Jim I resolved to get rid of some of the clothes I knew I wasn't going to dare wear again. Yes, I had the figure to get away with it, I just couldn't imagine actually putting them on again. One outfit I found that still had tags on it was faux suede (that's right, I said faux suede) with bike shorts-type pants and a hot pink, cropped halter top. I made a silent prayer to God, thanking him for preventing me from ever wearing it and sparing me certain future humiliation years later when one of the old friends I reconnected with on Facebook posted a picture of me wearing it in one of those ridiculous photo albums labeled "Good Times" or "Back in the Day." Most of the clothes were still in good condition so I brought them over to Goodwill.

Jim offered to drive out to Fullerton and pick me up so that we could have dinner somewhere near me, but I didn't want to subject him to any possible weirdness by coming anywhere near my apartment. We met at one of my favorite Southwestern restaurants in Anaheim called Blue Agave. He caught me up on the drama that took place between his parents that caused him to extend his trip.

"I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of all that."

"Yeah, I can't wait to go back home. If anything good came out of all of this, it was that my sister and I got to reconnect. Since I moved away she and I really don't speak much anymore."

"Divorce is a traumatic situation. It forced you to lean on each other for support. Any reason you hadn't spoken in a while?"

"Not really." He thought about it a little more while taking a sip of his beer. "We never had much in common growing up. Even less, as we got older. The distance didn't help either, even though Arizona isn't that far."

I took a sip of my wine and thought about my grandfather; how I allowed distance to grow between us as I got older. By the time we finished dinner, I was on my second glass of wine and starting to feel pensive. I was about to ask Jim if he were to go back in time if he would change anything about his past when it hit me; he's only in his twenties. What exactly is there to change? I'd be surprised if he even had any regrets yet.

Jim walked me to my car while we talked a little about his trip back home. He was leaving late tomorrow morning and still had a little bit of packing to do. We talked about meeting up again the next time he came out around the holidays and the possibility of me coming out to visit him. Of course, part of me was secretly hoping I still wouldn't be here for the holidays.

"Thank you, again for dinner. You need to promise that you'll let me treat next time! It's not fair to you."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll think about it." He shot me a smile that made me a little weak. "Get home safe," he said before leaning down and kissing me on the lips. It startled me for a second, which made him pull back a little.

"Oh, sorry." he said.

"Oh...no, no. You're fine."

"Yeah?" He asked then leaned into me again.

Technically, it was the first time in decades that I'd felt his lips against mine. Before this, I hadn't realized how much I missed the feel of them.





Available at Amazon. Link below.

To read a teaser for the follow-up book ”Life, As Is” go to: https://hubpages.com/literature/Life-As-Is-chpt-1