This is a story I wrote a long time ago when I unexpectedly found the name of my first love on a Google search. She was not a little school girl when I last saw her, in fact she was naked and writhing under my own body as we finally consummated a love that had seen us as recklessly and hopelessly in love as we matured into adults. She went her way and I went mine as her ambitions and, unfortunately, her faithlessness ended up with us on opposite sides of the world.
We got together for a reunion of couples. I even went to her wedding and spoke on behalf of her deceased father, killed in a mining accident. She was still as flirty, outrageous and loving as she had been when we were nineteen.
Enjoy.
I was so nervous as I sat on the bus heading into the suburbs that my palms began to sweat and I knew that if I lifted my suit jacket I would have big wet patches under my arms and quite likely down my back. I loosened my tie and I could almost feel the steam from my body drifting up my neck. I sniffed. At least I didn't smell.
I consulted the GPS on the phone and saw that the blue dot that was me was only several hundred metres from her. I pressed the bell for the next stop before the pleasant voice in my ear told me to. I got off at stop 57.
Now walk 300 metres North on Burnley Avenue and then you will have reached your destination.
I heard but my feet wouldn't move. I stood there, frozen and in fear. I couldn't do it!
"Are you alright, love?" an older woman asked me from where she was sitting in the shade of the large bus shelter and was staring at me with a very concerned look on her face. I shook my head. My throat was stuck and I just couldn't seem to speak. I was surprised when she got up and came over to me. For a split second I saw long blond pony tails with pink ribbons, deep blue and big eyes staring innocently at me. Her short blue school uniform skirt and the checked blouse was so familiar. I blinked and the vision was gone.
Gently she took my elbow and guided me back to sit on the hard bench seat before she sat down beside me.
The shade, her warm smile as she patted my knee and asked if I wanted some water made me lose a little of the tension I was feeling. She dug in her big handbag or I guess it was bigger than a handbag, one of those big carryall things that people have that seem to be bottomless. I think I have seen people pull out kitchen sinks from their deep dark interiors. She held up a bottle of water and I could see the condensation on the side rapidly appear as if it had been taken out of the fridge she had in her bag.
I nodded in thanks and opened the top before glugging down half of the bottle before taking it from my lips. I put the lid on and handed it back. She nodded wisely as she took it and placed it back inside. "Nice, thank you," I managed to murmur.
"You don't come from around here, love do you?" she asked politely.
"No. I have come out to see someone. Someone I haven't seen for a long time. Not since school," I told her haltingly. I was so out of sync. I am not normally like this. I am confident, smart and normally cool. Today I was a total mess and sounded like a fourth grader. Which was how long it had been since I had seen this woman.
"Old flame is she?" my helpful companion asked and I saw that she was quite interested and not simply making conversation.
"No, no, nothing like that. I knew her in fourth grade at school but..." I stopped this woman didn't need to know everything, "she and her mother left town. Recently I happened upon her name and I rang her to see if she remembered me. We were very good friends as kids," I told her.
"And did she?" she asked but had to ask me again as my mind flew back to those days when her long pony tails, short blue skirt and checked blouse were the only thing I seemed to notice at school. That and her smiling blue eyes and pretty face. I cried when she was taken from the classroom and her mother told her the news outside on the veranda. I did not know what news it had been but my little friend had screamed and bawled as her mother held her tight. Our teacher, Miss Woods was also rubbing her face when she came back inside and told us to read quietly for a while. Later I found out her Daddy had been killed in an accident at the mine. I never saw her again.
"Yes. She did. I was very surprised because it has been nearly 15 years," I said softly.
"So what does she do? Is she married with kids or are you hoping to rekindle the love you had for her as a youngster?" she giggled a little and I think she wanted me to say the latter to give my journey a romantic twist.
"Oh, yeah, she's married. Apparently for nearly 5 years. She found a man straight out of high school and fell in love. She's a vet. That's her surgery just up there," I pointed to the big sign just outside the shopping centre where the bus stop was. VET was about halfway down the list of store names.
"You want me to walk with you?" the lady asked and got to her feet to encourage me to do so. I nodded and stood with her. I faced her and for the first time I looked at her properly and noted that she wasn't really quite as old as I thought she was. Certainly she was older than me by at least twenty years. Her face was still smooth and her big blue eyes twinkled in that very charming way that ladies can get when they are feeling good about themselves and are happy with their lot in life.
I offered to carry her big bag but she told me she was fine. Her hand slipping inside the gap between my ribs and elbow was a surprise but when she gently held my wrist I suddenly found her grip to be calming and I didn't feel anywhere as nervous as I had felt before I got off the bus. I bent my arm up so that her hand rested naturally on my arm and I patted her hand and told her thanks. She smiled at me and I found myself enchanted.
We walked slowly. Not because it seemed she was frail and needed to walk slowly but because I think she wanted me to slow down and simply relax even more. She asked me what I did for a living and I told her that I wrote computer programs. I was surprised when she asked me what sort. I generally just say that and people nod wisely as if they understand that I am a nerd and they don't need to hear me say anything more about.
I told her I built systems for big corporations to assist in their customer services but that I also wrote little applications for phones and the like.
"Anything I might have on my phone?" she asked quite interestedly.