It's been almost ten years since that one afternoon Alexandra came over. I remember it so well; it'll forever be written in my memory in stone. We never ended up finishing all those pies. I remember thinking it was a real shame, as I would have loved to see her completely covered from head to toe. We also didn't go any further than making out. That was fine, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to go any further than that.
But we made out for like forty-five minutes. It was heaven. I had liked Ally for years, that afternoon was a dream come true.
But it never happened again. She was going to see a movie with some friends, and she ended up missing most of the trailers, she was so late. She told me afterwards she could barely pay attention to the movie because of how paranoid she was that her friends could smell the chocolate and custard on her. She was very thorough in cleaning up, especially behind her ears, because I couldn't see anything on her after her shower, but when we made out for another few minutes on the couch, and at the door, and outside on the street, I could still smell that sweet chocolate all over. But maybe that was just me.
But yeah, it never happened again. It's hard to say why. It was clear we had an amazing time. We would bring it up with a giggle from time to time, and once or twice we joked about how we totally should do that again sometime, but it just never happened. We just didn't see each other much; our friend groups didn't overlap. But our eyes would catch each other's every once in a while, and in her smile I swear I could see her remembering that sweet afternoon.
I haven't seen her in five years now. We both finished school, we both got jobs, and we both just drifted apart. It's been over a year since we even messaged each other. I opened a conversation with her and checked, and it was me saying happy birthday. She said thanks, with a heart. And nothing since, not even on my birthday. I wonder if she's even still single.
I'm pretty sure she is. I've kept in touch with Laura really well, and as far as she knows, Ally still hasn't dated anyone. She must still be waiting for "the one." I've been on dates, but nothing serious, and to be honest, nothing sexual. It's just not really my thing, I just never really felt a real connection with anyone to make me really want that with them. I began to wonder if I'd feel that way with Ally... I wondered if I would have gone all the way with her on that sweet afternoon ten years ago...
Her chat window was still open in front of me. Do I message her? I have nothing to say. It says she's online, wow. I wonder what she's doing now. I wonder where she lives. I thought to myself, maybe I'll send a pie emoji! That would be hilarious. I wonder if she'll remember. I typed it in, jokingly. I was about to hit backspace, when I thought... should I? Should I do it? My heart was racing. This was so silly.
I didn't send it. But I left it there, in the text field. If she opens our message conversation, she'd see I'm typing, and maybe that's the connection we need to start talking. I decided to make myself some breakfast instead. Just some cereal. My cat would love that, she always comes running when I open the cereal box, I usually give her a couple because she's just too funny.
I poured myself some cereal, but my cat didn't come running. That was weird. I went back to my computer, and lo and behold, the cat was waiting for me on the keyboard of my laptop. Whenever I'm trying to work the cat loves to walk across the keyboard and mess with whatever document I'm typing.
Oh my god.
I bolted to the computer and spilled half my cereal on the ground. Cat loved that.
The pie emoji was sent. My eyes darted to the top of the screen. Alexandra is currently online. My eyes darted to the bottom of the screen. She hadn't seen the message yet.
I hesitated. Just for a moment. Then I unsent the message. I took a deep breath and looked at my cat. She was so proud of herself.
Then Ally sent me a message.
"I saw that!"
My heart stopped. My mind raced. Ten seconds was like ten minutes. She was typing again. Then she stopped typing. Typing again. Stopped.
I could do nothing but stare at the screen while my cat finished her second breakfast and left the room.
I don't know how much time passed. I wondered what was going on in her head, wherever she is. Typing. Not typing. Typing. What was she doing?
Then a message appeared. It had been ten agonizing minutes of her figuring out what to say.
"Free to hang out tonight at 8? It's been a while!"
"My place? 69 Plough Cr"
I thought about what to say. What were her intentions? Was that seriously her address? Just the thought of spending time with her for an evening of chatting made my heart race. Then another message appeared:
"We could bake something :P"
And then she sent the pie emoji. Oh my god. I couldn't believe this was happening. Maybe she really meant we could bake something. Maybe she doesn't even remember. But how could she not?
Without thinking too much more, I said, "Sure, that sounds awesome! I'll be there!"
And then I sent a pie emoji.
* * *
I parked a couple houses down the street. It was 7:45. I only lived 15 minutes away, but I wasn't going to take any chances I would be late. I sat in my car for what felt like ages, just willing my rock-hard boner to go away. I can't go in there like this!
At 7:59 I managed to convince it to dissipate by listening to music as a distraction. I hoped Ally didn't know I was sitting there in my car for a quarter of an hour. That thought plagued me as I walked up to her door. I rang the doorbell and heard it ring throughout her house.
A few moments later she opened the door. She had a huge, infectious smile on and it was impossible not to beam a huge smile right back at her. I took a moment to take her in, her long blonde hair was just as it used to be, she was wearing a gorgeous cable-knit blouse that was way more revealing than I ever remembered her wearing, with a deep cleavage. I couldn't help but realize that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. These five years have landed on her wonderfully.