Many thanks to Jill for inspiration and support, to mastertofu for the insight, and to aimingtomisbehave33 for the much-appreciated feedback that finally whipped (no pun intended) this final CLS chapter into shape.
Special thanks to you, reader, for following along this journey with me. I hope you enjoy it! Stay tuned for more adventures in this universe.
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Chapter VII -- The Reunion
Nicole was overwhelmed by the networking scene on the West Coast. Since her move across the country 4 months ago, she had been to these events at least once a week and given out countless business cards. Although she had made peace with the fact that a certain degree of flirting was harmless and almost necessary, the follow-up calls she received were never about a job, but rather a date.
It made her want to try a solely virtual approach to networking, but she knew she was a people person. Working in graphic design meant selling yourself as the product to hook a client. She just was doing too good a job of that at the moment.
She drank down the rest of the white wine out of the clear plastic cup. Her eyes roamed around the room, casually checking out the men in their crisp shirts and dress pants. A couple of them had flair, but the confident stance that attracted her was not present, except in one guy standing with his back to her.
There was something oddly familiar about him...
***
With a stellar recommendation from the good professor, Peter had got a job in Silicon Valley pretty much right out of college. It had taken him a few years to get used to the rhythm of life there, but he was enjoying it. Despite the workload, he made time for casual dating/hookups and albeit infrequently, showed up at a network event or two.
He had been at this event for over an hour. There was only so much schmoozing with engineers that he could handle. He turned away from his table to leave. As soon as he did that, he bumped into the cater waitress. Even as he apologized, she insisted it was her fault and gave him a shy smile before gathering up her tray.
Peter didn't presume to know women, but he had learned his fair share (and then some) in college. His "affair" with Professor Park had been eye-opening in more than one sense of the word and embracing his sexuality had made him whole.
He watched the girl walk away and took an extra two seconds to admire the way her hips swayed. Shortly after the waitress disappeared from his sight, he made a beeline to the door. It would have been a successful escape, were it not for that distinct voice calling out.
"Leaving so soon?"
Peter didn't do a silly double take. He didn't screw up his face with confusion, doubt or heartbreak, and instead mustered up a generic happy face to turn around and face his ex-girlfriend.
"Hey you!" He presented a reasonable blend of excitement to see her, but the longer he looked at her, the less he had to pretend. The different haircut and new business clothes were expected and easy enough to take in. With his post-breakup training, he'd even learned to recognize the degree of sexual energy a woman was putting out. He didn't remember Nicole oozing with it, but that didn't mean he was unaware now.
Steadily, he held her gaze and watched as recognition morphed into wonder and twinge of desire in her eyes. It was unmistakable. His ego invisibly inflated; everything else with a propensity to inflate was in check.
"Care for another drink?" The petite cater waitress was back all of a sudden, carrying a tray half full of white wine cups. How she managed to get her and the drinks between Peter and Nicole without dropping anything was for her to know and for gravity to find out.
Peter looked down at her, smiling. His gaze kept drifting to Nicole intentionally. With her hands devoid of any drink, he made a point of grabbing two cups from the tray and politely thanked the waitress. There was a slight pout when she left the two of them alone to distribute the rest of the drinks, but he couldn't care less.
"You look good, Nicole. I had no idea you were on this side of the country." Of course he hadn't kept tabs on the first girlfriend he had ever had, who had dumped him brutally for his high school bully. It wasn't like they had tried to stay friends after, let alone see each other around the campus. But seeing her there was an incredible surprise, despite his poker face. As for any emotions she evoked in him, they were mostly in his pants at this stage.
"Yeah, thank you. It was just time for a change, you know, greener grass... Here, I am." She sipped her wine and used that time to size him up. It wasn't that she was interested; she was just being polite, talking to him, making sure their breakup hadn't irreparably damaged him. He actually seemed a whole lot better than how she remembered him, but maybe it was the wine goggles.
They both finished the wine in their cups. It was a cheap, relatively dry white, with no discernible aroma. Peter barely managed to swallow the last sip without making a face. "Listen, why don't I buy you a drink elsewhere? We'll actually have to pay for it, but it'll be infinitely better than this stuff, I promise."
Nicole was surprised by his cool, like she had been by his body language earlier. Saying yes to his request came naturally given the smooth delivery. It almost sounded like something Brad would say, but it didn't have the undertones of seduction. Or did it?
She grabbed her blazer and followed him out. She immediately felt lost in the neighborhood, but Peter walked confidently alongside her at a casual tempo.
She had thought she knew what to say to him when he turned around at the event. Her mind had prepared ample dialogue options -- well, monologue options since she'd be the one steering the conversation while he mumbled shyly. However, his response had not only effectively sidestepped all her preparations, but also completely changed the landscape of their interactions, not to mention the location thereof.
He had clearly gotten the upper hand...
"We'll get there before you have a chance to feel the cold," he said. He had noted the shapely bare legs under her skirt and the fact that she was carrying her blazer instead of wearing it. Her initial confidence in approaching him seemed to have vanished.
They walked 2 blocks in awkward silence. Peter was silently daring her to take control, whereas Nicole was lost, in thought and in real life.
Their destination was a hole-in-the-wall wine bar. "How long have you been in this city?" she asked. It was answered de facto by the bartender calling out "Hey, Pete, the corner is free and I have that vintage you were asking about."
Peter waved at the bartender; as they made their way to the corner, he replied "I think we'll try something less temperamental tonight, at least for now."
That last part made Nicole look at his face carefully. He was walking a fine line between patronizing and intriguing; she couldn't decide which was more surprising to her.
Given the configuration of the table, they sat next to each other, facing out into the open space of the bar, small as it was. She smelled his cologne; it was a clean, fresh scent - unassuming and innocent, somehow. Nicole was glad at least there was one thing unchanged in her first love.
The cute bartender, Rosalie, brought out two glasses of the house red blend. Peter held his glass and turned towards Nicole, making it obvious he was waiting for her for a toast.
Nicole raised her glass in kind, but the toast wasn't forthcoming. Peter kept staring at her with a maddeningly neutral expression. Nicole was usually pretty good at reading people but she had no idea what he was thinking.
Just as she was about to mumble something about new beginnings, Peter broke the awkward silence with a toast of his own. "To surviving past trauma."
He gave her a daring smile and took a big swig from his glass. Nicole felt the color rise in her cheeks, as she nervously sipped from her own glass. She supposed she deserved that.
She had broken up with Peter in just about the most traumatic way possible. What could be worse than getting dumped for your high school bully? If that hadn't been bad enough, she had then gone on to pour salt onto his open wounds via a string of explicit photos and videos, sometimes with a third partner in tow. She could only guess at the destruction left in their wake.
"Are you feeling OK, Nicole? You seem a little confused right now." Peter's words brought her back to the present. She had to admit Peter looked pretty good in his tailored suit. He had also traded in his thick, dime-store glasses for a designer pair of spectacles that suited his clean-shaven baby face. But it was more than the makeover. He was carrying himself with a confidence that just wasn't there before.
"To be honest I am a little confused. I figured you'd never want to speak to me again after... After the way things ended between us."
Peter gave what sounded like a bitter chuckle, but there was no malice in his eyes. "The way things ended... That's an interesting way of putting it. How is dear old Brad anyway?"
"We're not together," she answered concisely. She still wasn't sure which way this conversation was headed. The words coming out of Peter's mouth should have sounded angry but his tone remained perfectly pleasant. They might as well have been discussing the weather.
