I got on the train and took a window seat. The train left the terminus and I looked at my fellow passengers, there was the usual mix of regular commuters and people that, for whatever reason, were on this train.
My glance attracted the attention of a woman, seated in a seat some five rows away, that faced mine. She held her gaze for a second, a puzzled expression on her face.
I thought no more of it and looked out of the window at the inner city scenery rushing past. I glanced back at her and she quickly looked away. What was I to make of this? Was she looking at me, or was it a coincidence that our eyes met? I looked back at the passing scenery.
The train stopped and people got on and off. As the journey resumed I glanced once more at her. This time she held her gaze for a second or two more. I looked away.
Halfway into the journey, I looked once more at her. Gone was her puzzled expression, replaced by a half-smile. I self-consciously smiled back, my mind scrolling through my life trying to place her, without success.
The train reached my station, I rose and moved to the nearest exit. She now stood beside me. I had the chance to get a closer look at her, I still could not place her. I stepped onto the platform and headed for the station exit. "G'day Tony."
"What?"
"You're looking well, it's been a while."
I stopped and turned to face her. "Do I know you?"
"You used to, I expected that you would have forgotten me." There was that smile again. "You were my first boyfriend."
"Michelle? Is that you?"
"None other."
"What have you been doing with yourself these past thirty years?"
"The usual, married with two kids, no longer married and the kids have grown up and have lives of their own, and you?"
"Married, three kids, also no longer married. Look, do you have to be anywhere?"
"Not particularly, just heading home to my new house and a lonely meal. That's a hint by the way."
Christ, she hasn't changed much. Memories of thirty years ago, when she was my first love, and the year we spent together. We were very close and got to know each other, that was until she moved away and we lost touch. "I can take a hint." I took my mobile from my pocket, "Julie, yes it's Dad, I have just bumped into an old friend and I want to invite her to have dinner with us tonight, will that be a problem? Great, we'll be there in ten."
I turned to Michelle, "I hope that's alright with you."
"Very much so."
I had reached my car and opened the door for her. "Thank you." She said as she slid in.
"Why did we have to lose touch?" I asked, trying to find a reason, other than the fact that she and her family had moved interstate, and I had other things on my mind.
"Writing to each other was never going to keep the spark alight, was it?"
"At first I saw your face every time I wrote but, over time, the image faded."
We had arrived home and I ushered her inside to be met by Julie coming from the kitchen. "Julie, I'd like you to meet Michelle Jackson, my very first girlfriend."
"Hi Michelle." They hugged. "Did this idiot dump you for my mother?"
"It was way before your mother's time."
True, but how did she know that?
"Dinner is ready to be served, follow me." Julie led the way into the dining room. I held Michelle's chair out for her. "Would you like a glass of wine?" I asked her.
"That would be nice, thank you." The conversation while we ate could fit into the category of 'toe in the water', each of us testing the other to see whether to take the plunge.
Food eaten, wine consumed and the table cleared. "Okay," Julie said, "Spill, what's the story, how did two you meet and what happened to split you up?"
"Your father and I met at school and we grew closer two years before we were to graduate from high school. For one fabulous year, we were, as they say now, an item and yes, we were lovers. We were over the age of consent, so we weren't going to get into trouble for that reason. Then my father got a promotion and was transferred interstate. I was inconsolable when he broke the news and your father and I even contemplated running away together. Our parents put a stop to that little plan before it got started."
"We did try to keep in touch, but it was never going to work, we just stopped writing."
"So, for the past however many years, you have led separate lives and now, suddenly you meet up again. Are you hoping to get back together with Dad?"
"I hadn't really thought about it until I saw your father on the train. It took a while before I was certain it was him and a while longer before deciding that I would talk to him. My future depended on his reaction. I felt I was in with a chance when he smiled at me."
"When I first saw you my memory recall went into overdrive but couldn't remember your name. It wasn't until you told me that I was your first boyfriend that it all came rushing back. I was getting instant flashbacks, our first kiss, the first time that we'd made love, the time your period was late."
"I'd forgotten about that, trust you to remember that one, you were scared let me tell you, you had visions of having to marry me."
"That part didn't bother me, what frightened me was having to front up to your father to explain how it was that I'd got his daughter pregnant. I was shitting myself."
"In a way, I was sort of hoping that we would have to get married. My father had just announced that he had been approached with the offer of an interstate promotion. I thought that if I told them that I was pregnant and wanted to stay with you, that would have solved the problem. Then my period arrived." Michelle looked at Julie. "Your father was relieved, I was disappointed."
"How is it that you're back here?" I asked.
