I sat there, staring into my beer, beginning to hate every minute of this, my wife's twenty-fifth high school reunion. The whole thing seemed like a waste. We had met and married after we met in collage—I didn't know any of these folks—and for that matter, she hadn't seen or talked to any of these folks since then (save for a few close friends she had retained—but weren't at the reunion). Worse, in spite of her claiming not to recognize many of the people there, several of the guys had swarmed on her and had monopolized her time for the bulk of the evening. And it was as if I didn't exist... Not one introduction was made.
So I sat there alone watching her laughing and talking with her former high school friends. Initially, I really didn't mind all that much, though the scene in front of me was somewhat at odds with my memories of when we first met—and with what she had told me about her life prior to that.
When we met, she was very shy and innocent. I was the first person she'd dated, though she confessed to a crush on a boy by the name of Michael Elder. She had told me she was a virgin—and from our first awkward efforts at sex after we married, I believed her. It was months before we made love in anything other than near complete darkness and nearly a year before we engaged in oral sex. Even so, we eventually developed a rather enthusiastic—and, considering, adventurous sex life. Role-playing and toys became part of our adventures—and sex in the dark had long given way to nearly any time and any place.
As I watched the animated conversation, there was no evidence in my wife's behavior of whatever shyness and awkwardness around boys that had affected her in high school—she seemed perfectly at ease and reveling in their attention. From the snippets of conversation I could hear, these were some of the boys she and her friends had played Dungeons and Dragons with. And some of them were from the drama club, for which she had run the light board. It also seemed that none of them were the infamous Michael Elder...
From what she had said about him, he was the classic high school bad boy. He'd gotten drunk on the one over-night Extemp trip; was a constant flirt; and purportedly had screwed at least a couple of the girls in the drama club. GA had confessed that had he tried a little harder, she might have succumbed to his charms in the vain hope that she could have reformed him, though when pressed, she denied it—claiming only to like the attention he showed her. Shortly before she graduated, he had moved away and no one had heard from him since...
In any case, it seemed that the party was reaching that terminal pause that these things have a habit of reaching just before everyone makes excuses and excuses themselves. I looked at my watch and it read nearly 10:00pm. When I looked up, someone new had entered the mix. The guys were shaking hands with and greeting a fairly short, thin, dark hared, not unattractive, man. What was striking, though, was GA's response. All of the calm and poise she had exhibited throughout the evening was gone. She'd suddenly transformed back into the shy, awkward, high school girl she had been twenty-five years ago...
This was Michael Elder... it had to be from her response. Suddenly, I wasn't bored anymore. My heart was beating a little faster, my palms a bit sweaty—in the years of our marriage; I had never had any cause to doubt her. But watching her there filled me with dread. She had a very "deer in the headlights" look about her. And it was clear that Michael was aware of it... Even while he was sitting and talking with the other guys, he'd keep looking at GA; she'd blush and look away—but only after she looked him in the eyes for the briefest of moments.
After some time, she excused herself, claiming to be heading for the lady's. I expected her to at least stop by the table where I was sitting on her way, but she looked right through me and continued on her way. I sat there stunned and a little hurt... A few minutes later Michael excused himself and followed—I couldn't help but note a small smirk on his face as he looked at me on his way past and winked. It was all I could do not to rush right out and make a scene, but I sat there and as calmly as I could and finished my beer as if nothing was bothering me...
Quietly, I got up and followed. I really did have to relieve myself, so I went into the men's and did so. There was no one there... When I'd finished, I went out and stood next to the lady's and listened intently—it was as quiet as a tomb. After several minutes of no one leaving or making a sound, I summoned my courage and cracked the door... It was empty as well.
I stood in the hall and pondered the situation, not sure what to do or where to look. And then I noticed the door to the auditorium was cracked open. As quietly as I could, I made my way to the door and listened. Sure enough, I heard voices. One was a male voice that I didn't recognize, but the other was GA's. Whatever they were discussing had charged her voice with emotion... It was all I could do not to fling the door open and barge in. Suddenly, I remembered GA telling me about running the light board and telling me about the small room from which she had done so. It took me a few minutes, but I found it and quietly made my way up the stairs and into the control room.
