Life is eternal, and love is immortal,
And death is only a horizon.
Carly Simon
Shamelessby Billy Joel
“Excuse me. Aren’t you Leo Taylor?”
I gritted my teeth and just barely kept from rolling my eyes. I wanted to turn to the blonde standing just behind my bar stool and tell her to leave me the fuck alone, but I knew that wouldn’t fly with the PR suits at the Richmond Rebels, the team that had drafted me with their number three pick back in April.
So instead, I stretched my lips into a parody of a smile and nodded, shifting a little so I could face the chick who was checking me out.
“Yes, I am.” I stuck out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
She laughed and shook her head, ignoring my hand. “You don’t remember me. Well, it’s been a long time. I’m Dana Jenkins. Sarah’s little sister?”
It took me a minute before I placed her. The mischievous brown eyes, the pert, upturned nose—she’d been the annoying little kid who’d tried to spy on Sarah and me when we’d dated in junior high and then again in high school.
“Holy shit.” I stood up and wrapped her in a hug. “I haven’t seen you in—well, I guess since I graduated from high school. Before that.” I held her at arm’s length. “You’ve grown up.”
Dana smiled, twin dimples popping up in her cheeks. “Yes, I have. Well, you know ... it happens to the best of us.” She pointed to the bar and then out to the wide corridor, where travelers were trudging past. “So what’re you doing these days? Are you heading out of town for work, or do you live somewhere else?”
I couldn’t tell at first if she was busting my chops by pretending she didn’t know what my life was now or if she genuinely was clueless. The least douchy response seemed to be assuming the latter.
“Ah, well, I’m kind of playing football, down in Richmond. I’m in the middle of moving there and getting settled, but I had, uh, something up here this weekend and had to come back, so now I’m heading home. Or to Richmond. Which is home now, I guess.”
“That’s cool. Did you know Sarah’s living in D.C.?”
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t. We kind of lost track of each other during college. What’s she doing there?”
Dana shifted her weight to one leg and hiked her backpack further onto her shoulder. “Well, she went to school in Washington, and then she worked there during the summers, as an intern for Representative Daly. She was hired before graduation to work for a political action coalition.”
“Nice.” I nodded. I could totally see Sarah doing that; she’d always been one of the smartest people I knew, even though she didn’t play up her intelligence, and despite the fact that most people assumed she was just a flighty cheerleader. “Tell her I said hey, okay?”
“Oh, I will. She’ll be totally jealous I got to see you.” Dana leaned one hand against the bar, bracing herself. “She’s supposed to be in Jersey later this summer, if you’re ever around.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. So what’re you up to these days?”
“Just finished my freshman year at Rutgers. I’m flying to California, spending the summer being a nanny for my cousin.” She shrugged. “It’s nothing glamorous, but it’ll keep me in cash for the next school year, anyway.”
“We do what we gotta do.” I took the last swig of my drink.
“Yep. So were you up here visiting your family?” Curiosity tinged her eyes.
“Uh ...” I paused. “Yeah, that and to see some friends graduate from Birch. And then they got married, so I hung around for, um, the wedding.”
Dana’s eyebrows shot up. “Married? No way. They’re your age? I’m not anywhere near ready for that kind of deal yet. I can’t imagine it.” She laughed. “I haven’t even been able to keep the same boyfriend for more than a month, let alone a husband.”
I swallowed hard. I myself had no problem imagining being married. The issue was that whenever I pictured it, my bride was the woman who’d just yesterday said I do to my other best friend.
Dana’s phone buzzed, and she checked the screen. “Shit, I’ve got to run. My flight’s boarding in ten minutes, and it’s still a long way down the terminal.”
I hugged her one more time. “It was terrific to see you, Dana. Enjoy California.”
“Oh, believe me, I will.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed my cheek. “And you enjoy Virginia. Good luck with the football thing. I’m totally going to find you on social media and harass you now.”
“Uh ...” I began to speak and then stopped. There wasn’t time to explain to Dana that after my brush with small-time celebrity in college, I stayed as far away as I could from posts and tweets these days. She’d figure it out for herself once she looked me up, I figured.
