"Hi, we have a reservation for four under Tanner," McKenzie said cheerfully. She seemed to be oblivious to the stares. "They may be here already, but I'm not sure."
“Uh, yeah, no," the hostess said as she looked McKenzie up and down with a less-than-friendly appraisal. She was fully made up, and although clearly younger than McKenzie and me, the hostess was apparently bothered that the attention shift and needed to exert a bit of power. "No one is here yet, and we need yourwholeparty present to seat you, so you'll need to let me know when that happens."
A man in a suit walked over just as McKenzie said, "Oh, I was hoping to sit down and order a drink while we waited for them to get here."
“Yeah, unfortunately—” But her words were cut off by whoever this new guy was.
"Of course, we can go ahead and seat you," he smiled. "Jessica, can you please take the lovely ladies to table eighteen?"
The hostess—Jessica—seemed annoyed, but apparently couldn't fight back against this guy, so she took the menus and led the way. Giving one final irritated look at McKenzie, she placed our menus on a private table and stalked off.
“Well, she was bitchy for no reason,” McKenzie said as she picked up the menu and started perusing the cocktail choices.
I wasn’t surprised by the whole scene. McKenzie tended to have that effect on other beautiful women without even realizing it. I didn’t know why, but it seemed that there was always some secret competition going on that average girls like me were never privy to, and the beautiful girls didn’t want to participate in, even though they were the ones doing the judging. I’d never understand it. To be honest, I’m not sure I would’ve understood even if Iwereprivy to it. I hated the way some women made everything in life a competition.You can still rise while lifting others up, ladies.
"What time was the reservation for?" I asked, glancing at my watch.
"Seven o’clock, I think," she said. "Why? What time is it?"
"7:08." It wasn’t an terrible amount of time for someone to be late, but all I could think about was the paper I needed to finish writing before I went to bed, the next round of reading on the MCAT study guide, and the fact that I had other things I needed to be doing. I just wanted to leave, but I promised McKenzie that I would go through with this.
"Hey, look," McKenzie said as the hostess guided a tall guy with short brown hair toward our table. His baby face made him look younger than he probably was, but he was attractive in spite of it.
When he reached our table, he smiled. "Um, hi, I'm Tanner. Are either of you McKenzie?"
"That would be me," McKenzie replied and gave a little wave. "Are you alone?" she asked, as she glanced behind him and then at the door.
"Yes. I mean, no. Nathan is on his way, he just got held up. He’ll be here in just a few minutes, though.” He finally looked at me and extended his hand. “Sorry. And you are?”
"Elizabeth," I said and shook his outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Nathan and I have both been looking forward to this. I'm just glad we could all get our schedules to work out; it's a stressful time with exams," he said as he slid into the booth next to McKenzie.
"Tell me about it. This is the toughest time of the semester," she said, and I wondered where that came from. McKenzie was definitely not the die-hard student she was making herself out to be. But Tanner bought into her line, and they dove straight into small talk about school while I sat back and tried to get comfortable. There was definitely immediate chemistry between them. It was something I’d always envied about Kenzie. She effortlessly bonded with people—men and women—but I loved seeing her happy, This guy had already brought out her true laugh—not the giggle that she used to placate guys, but the genuine one that told me they’d connected.
I didn’t want to interrupt them getting to know each other, but I wasn’t exactly caught up in the décor, either. Any other time, Kenzie and I would have found a way to entertain each other, making up stories about the people around us and what they were doing here. But as my mind wanted to turn this into a mafia-fiction saga starring two thugs at table seven across the way, the couple in front of me kept throwing that dynamic off. The dark green walls were accented with thick red curtains covering the top portion of each window. The tables were dressed with white linens and topped with candles that were emitting most of the light in the room. It was quite romantic and the perfect place for young love to blossom, and thus the tale of two Sopranos morphed into new adult romance, staring my best friend and her date across the table.
I wasn’t interested in anything remotely close to love or a relationship, but I didn’t mind casting Kenzie and Tanner in leading roles to entertain myself for the time being. I had plans, and achieving them required an intense focus most people didn’t possess. Though, clearly, I didn’t possess it right now, either, since I was writing Kenzie’s wedding vows and scripting her love-at-first-sight plot.
School had always been my first love anyhow—the daydreaming was just a pastime I had cooked up with McKenzie to elicit giggles in the quad or wherever else we found ourselves bored and people watching. My mind volleyed between the couple before me and my ever-growing to-do list back home. Maybe I could mix up my studying locations one of these days and come here for pasta and light MCAT prep? That reminded me, I had a paper on molecular biology that I needed to finish and had spent the day studying the MCAT instead of writing, a decision I was now regretting horribly. Great. More work.
As I tried not to stare at Kenzie and Tanner or look too out of place, clearly a third wheel on a romantic date, I silently prayed this other guy wouldn’t show. If he were MIA, then I could excuse myself from the rest of the date and get back to the dorm early. That would leave McKenzie and Tanner to get to know each other better without me tagging along and let me get back to work. They seemed to be getting cozy, and at any minute, the waitress was going to come by and ask for our order. It would remind them that they weren’t alone or worse, I’d sneeze or cough, interrupting their non-stop banter. My casual dismissal would be a win-win for everyone. I glanced at my phone. Okay, fifteen more minutes then I could bail. That was more than enough time to seem patient without looking like I was a flakey friend or becoming the trike to their bike.
"What do you think, Elizabeth?" McKenzie asked.
"I'm sorry, what?" I said, bringing my thoughts back to the conversation.
"What do you think about athletes?" she asked. "Have you dated any in the past?"
"Oh, uh… no, not really. I'm not against it or anything, I just haven't really had the opportunity." I chose my words carefully. I didn't want to let on that I hadn't really dated many athletic guys in the past because I hadn't reallydatedat all. Dating took a backseat to my education, and when you were trying to get into med school, everything took a backseat to the MCATs. I'd hung out with a few guys, sure, but nothing ever became serious or official.
"Oh well, Nathan was fairly athletic in high school but has been trying to focus more on academics lately. We’re both pre-law, so we're studying a lot and have a hard time getting out to meet people," Tanner said, gazing at McKenzie like he wanted to enjoy her for dinner instead of an entrée. "He’s a great guy and a great friend. If he could just get here…" he trailed off as he stared toward the entrance.
As if on cue, the door opened, and in walked a tall, handsome man with blond hair styled into a faux-hawk that was painfully familiar. As he strode closer, the athletic build, high cheekbones, and full lips came into focus and the horrible picture became more clear. God, I wished it were anyone but the man I'd nearly forgotten—or better yet,prayedI’d never remember.
"Hey, man. Sorry I'm late," he looked over his shoulder at the hostess who ogled him as she walked back to the front.
The world faded away as a wave of memories came flooding back in an instant. I knew him all too well.
