Reunion Romance

by Jim Freund

© 2023

6 pm FRIDAY

HE:      So here I am, at my 35th high school reunion, having a few drinks with Jill Grant, the most attractive woman in the room. Jill was my steady girlfriend senior year, right up until we each moved on to separate colleges. Not only does she still look and sound great –she’s divorced like me, and seems also to be romantically unattached at present.

Bit by bit, and drink by drink, the warmth I used to feel toward her comes alive once more. She’s smart and funny and quietly sexy – in other words, everything that turned me on back then. Boy, am I glad I decided to attend this reunion!

SHE:    WOW! I never expected a high school reunion could be so gratifying. Here I am, enjoying drinks with Jack Morton, my boyfriend from that distant senior year. “Jack and Jill” – that’s what everyone called us, and we were inseparable.

He looks damn good for someone in his mid-50’s and seems to have retained the same terrific personality I fell for back then. We both got the subject of our divorces on the table early in the conversation . . . Hey this may be the start of something interesting . . . .

10 pm FRIDAY

HE:      This just keeps getting better and better. A few minutes ago we exchanged our first kiss in 35 years, and it was a beaut. I’m going to wait a decent interval and then propose that we continue the evening in my room at the reunion hotel . . . or perhaps her room . . . .

The reunion is taking place in Trenton, NJ, where the high school is located. She lives in New York City, while I live in Philadelphia, so we’re geographically favorable for future activities, courtesy of the New Jersey turnpike and frequent rail service.

Jill seems so great now – what puzzles me is why we ever split up after high school. What was it about her that turned me off once we departed Trenton for separate colleges? Sure, she had some little quirks that I found bothersome – eating her salad after the dessert, wearing boots on summer days, and her occasional cough that sounded like a sneeze, evoking a “God bless you” from me followed by her invariable reply, “It’s just a cough”. . . little stuff . . . .

Oh, wait, now I remember the real culprit. Jill got interested in psychology that year, and all of a sudden she began ascribing sinister motives to the innocent thoughts I expressed or actions I took. When I denied having those motives, she didn’t drop the analysis but pressed onward, which often led to nasty arguments.

I couldn’t handle such stuff back then. But thankfully, she seems to have gotten over that stage now – I haven’t heard a word of intrusive psychoanalysis this evening – and the coast appears to be clear . . . .

SHE:    Oh, this is moving ahead faster than I could have imagined. We just kissed – it was terrific – and I have the feeling he’s soon going to suggest a visit to one of our rooms – a proposal that, after all these drinks, I’m inclined to accept. And he keeps talking about how geographically favorable our home bases are, which points to a real future for this reunion romance.

Jack seems so top-notch that its hard for me to recall why I didn’t try harder 35 years ago to continue our relationship, even after we split for separate colleges. Oh, sure, he had some minor traits that used to bother me – like his too frequent resort to a toothpick, and the way he always clicked his ballpoint pen three times before writing something down, and his excessive attachment to tapioca pudding – nothing really of note . . . .

Oh, yes, now I do recall, there was one thing he did that sometimes  drove me crazy. So often when I was trying to make a point or tell a story, he would interrupt me – very rudely, I thought – with some unrelated chit-chat. Even though I frequently complained about this, it never seemed to get through to him . . . . That was probably what turned me off . . . .

But thankfully, he hasn’t done that once tonight. Maybe his first wife was able to get through to him on the subject, or maybe it just disappeared with the passage of time – but whatever, I’m glad it’s no longer in evidence . . . .  And now he looks just about ready to pop that let’s-go-upstairs invitation . . . .

10 am SATURDAY 

SHE:    I was right about that next step, and what a night it was – in my room, no less    . . . . Jack turned out to be a real gentleman through those joyful hours – no       flailing about, anxious to please – and resulting in something very fulfilling for both of us.

We awoke at eight and had doughnuts and coffee in the room before rejoining the reunion. I wonder if anyone missed us?

We’re already planning joint events in New York City and Philadelphia, and also talking about some more ambitious vacation jaunts we might take to attractive resorts. This is really terrific . . . .

HE:      Everything’s great! I popped the let’s-go-upstairs invite last night, and there  was no fuss at all. We ended up in her room, for a most delightful evening.

Jill is some woman, and the years have been kind to her. It was all very smooth – even the sleeping part – to say nothing of the coffee and doughnuts this morning.

We’ve already discussed the future – not letting this melding get away from us, as we did 35 years ago when heading off to separate colleges. We live in close proximity to each other – just a short car or train ride apart – and I can also picture us in certain lovely vacation spots, sucking up the sunshine or eating sumptuous meals . . . .

5 pm SATURDAY

SHE:    Most of today has been taken up with reunion activities, so we haven’t had too    much time alone for ourselves. But I’ll be honest – there was one potential problem that I had to overcome.

We managed to get an hour alone together after lunch and went for a walk. I was telling him about one of the more meaningful projects I had encountered in my work. Just as I got to the heart of the matter, Jack broke in – rather rudely, I must say – interrupting me with a question about a totally irrelevant issue.

There it was – and the memory of how he used to do this so often, and how it bothered me, immediately popped into my head. I began to feel the old anger arise and was just about to express my displeasure when I stopped short – realizing in a flash of common sense that it really wasn’t such a big deal. After all, he didn’t need to hear all about the project I’d been discussing. Plus which, the interruptions weren’t happening continuously – in fact this was the first all weekend. Most of all, I didn’t want to throw cold water on the warmth that had developed between us in just 24 hours.

So I patiently answered his question, followed it up with a short discussion of what that subject was all about, and waited until the conversation next lagged to offer an abbreviated wind-up of the report on my project.

I’m actually feeling good now about this happening. I can see that the years have made me more patient, less judgmental – I have a strong sense of what’s really important and what’s not, and I won’t let something like this subvert the relationship.

HE:      Well, I have to confess that after our wonderful night together, there was a   little hiccup today at lunch during a short break in the reunion activities. Jill and I were discussing some of the things that happened in each of our lives over the past 35 years. Several times after I mentioned certain matters, she launched into a psychobabble explanation of why I’d done what I did, or didn’t do what I should have done – shades of the old days!

But here’s what’s interesting. Instead of flying off the handle and reacting adversely to each of her analyses – none of which appeared to be accurate, I might add – I had a silent dialogue with myself.

Look, jerk, I said – I always changed “Jack” to “Jerk”  when I needed me to listen to myself – sure, that stuff she does is annoying, but she means well, and it only comes up occasionally – in fact, this was the first time the whole weekend. Most important, this shouldn’t play a major role in the two of us being a couple, as I had let happen 35 years ago.

I was proud of myself for putting this in perspective – and I even told her once or twice how observant she had been. I think I’ve finally learned to concentrate on the important things in a relationship and not let myself get sidetracked by something so peripheral . . . .

10 A.M. SUNDAY

SHE:    Oh, what a great night! We abandoned the reunion, went out for a good meal at a local Italian restaurant, and then hurried back to my room for another wonderful night together. He couldn’t have been more attractive and gentlemanly. And we both have already started planning how and where we will continue this long-interrupted relationship after we head home from the reunion later today.

HE:      A terrific night, just the two of us – dining, drinking, copulating, loving it up – and already planning how to continue this after we depart Trenton for our home bases.

2 pm SUNDAY

SHE:    Well, we’re now at the Trenton train station – Jack to return to Philadelphia and me to New York in just a few minutes. We’re sad that the reunion weekend is ending, but we’re moving on to potentially bigger things.

Hey, with all this talk about getting together, we’ve actually neglected to take each other’s contact information. I mention this to Jack while we still have a few minutes before the first of our trains departs. I take out my phone to record his info . . .

HE:      What a weekend! Now we’re at the train station, about to part (only temporarily) in a few minutes. Jill reminds me that we haven’t exchanged contact info, so I take out my little pad to jot things down . . . .

SHE:    (Jill coughs loudly, resembling a sneeze to which he responds with, “God Bless You,” to which she replies, “It’s just a cough.”)

HE:      (Jack takes out his pen to record the info, clicking it three times before writing anything down . . . .)

2:15 pm SUNDAY

EACH: (Jack and Jill, simultaneously, in their respective trains: “Oh damn, I never did get to record her/his contact info . . . .”