Chapter 25

"We have a reservation. Name's Cain," Kid told the restaurant receptionist. They had finally managed to find the right time to meet Buck, so tonight the two couples would have the chance to enjoy each other's company over dinner in a nice restaurant.

"Oh yes, Mr. Cain," the woman replied after finding Kid's name in her book.

"A table for four, right?" Kid nodded, and the receptionist added, "Please let me accompany you to your table."

Kid and Lou followed her, and settled at a table in the middle of the ample room. "We're waiting for some friends, and we will order when they arrive," Kid informed.

"Very well, sir. Would you like an appetizer in the meantime?"

Kid sent Lou a questioning look, and she said, "I'll have a glass of white wine."

"The same for me."

"Very well. In a minute," the waitress replied, and left.

Louise looked around with a smile. This was the same restaurant they had come on their first pseudo-date after all those lost years. It had been the beginning of what they had today, and as the memories sprang up to her mind, she felt cheerful and lighthearted. "Remember when we first came here?"

"How can I forget that day? I was so nervous," Kid replied with a smile.

"So was I," Louise admitted.

"I can't believe only half a year has gone by. It feels much longer."

Louise frowned unhappily at his comment. "Are you saying that being with me feels torturously long?"

"No, of course not," he replied, reaching across the table to take her hand. "It's just that we now share so much and are so good together that it feels as if more time had actually gone."

Lou smiled. "I know what you mean. Meeting you again has been the best present I could get."

"I think I got the better deal," he whispered, stroking her hand softly.

A few minutes later they were sipping their wine. Kid had a good view of the restaurant entrance, and at some point he caught sight of a familiar face in the small reception area. "Lou, look who's there. Your friend Mabel."

Louise turned round on her seat, and he was right. Mabel was talking to the same waitress who had welcomed them to the restaurant. When Mabel noticed Lou, she waved at her with great enthusiasm, and after clearly dismissing the waitress, she marched towards where Kid and Lou were. The couple politely rose to their feet to greet Lou's former roommate. Mabel surprised Lou by giving her a tight hug, and when she pulled away, Louise exclaimed, "Mabel, what a nice surprise to see you here!"

The blonde woman let out a loud peal of laughter, throwing her head backwards exaggeratedly. "Oh Louise, you crack me up!" she exclaimed. "Kid, you sure can't get bored with this woman and her wit. She's unique." And to both Kid and Lou's surprise, Mabel sat down on one of the empty chair at their table.

Kid and Lou shared a knowing look, and she said awkwardly, "Uh… Mabel, we're having dinner with some friends here tonight."

"You don't say," Mabel replied among giggles, and after a brief pause, she added, "Come on, sit down, guys. Buck's coming in a minute. He's parking the car." After Mabel's words, one did not need to be a genius to understand what that meant. Lou and Kid took their seats again, and Mabel added, "Didn't I tell you? Here he comes!"

Lou sent Kid a meaningful look, and he simply shrugged his shoulders to her silent question. When Buck reached the table, he greeted his friends. Louise was completely stunned on discovering that the woman Buck was dating was Mabel, and not Jenny. She could not understand how she had misunderstood the situation. Bringing her mind back to the conversations with Buck, she realized that neither he nor she had ever mentioned Jenny's name. She had just jumped to the wrong conclusion after his vague comments. And now she also realized that her own imagination had made her see Jenny that day in the school yard. The woman she had thought was Jenny had been at quite a long distance for Lou to see her clearly, and it was true that Jenny and Mabel shared some common features. They were both slim, tall, and had long, blonde hair. In comparison, they did not look alike, and nobody could mistake them. The shade of their blonde hair was not the same, their faces were as different as cheese and chalk, and the shapes of their body also differed greatly. But of course, Lou had been predisposed to see what she had believed.

Lou told herself that anybody in her position would have also made a similar mistake. Who would have thought Buck would end up dating Mabel when Lou had tried to set him up with Jenny? She still remembered the coy looks Buck had sent Jenny that night, but apparently, that had meant nothing. Now what worried Lou was that this morning she had texted Jenny with a short 'I'm so glad for you and Buck. Looking forward to seeing you tonight.' Now she understood why she had not gotten a reply. Louise feared that Jenny might think she was laughing at her or worse. Jenny was the only girl she was still in contact with from high school, and Lou was afraid that because of her clumsiness, she might have spoiled their friendship. She would call her and explain that everything had been a mistake, and hopefully, she would be able to clear the air.

Dinner progressed smoothly. Unsurprisingly, Mabel hogged the conversation with her usual loquacity, and they all had a good laugh at her remarks. Despite the initial surprise, Lou found herself enjoying the night. Even though she would never have thought of Mabel as a possible love interest for Buck, it was true that they made a nice couple. Their differences were obvious, but those very differences seemed to have brought them together, and the contrast in their personalities made them fit like two pieces of a puzzle.

After dinner, the two couples decided to have a walk in the warm night. Kid and Buck led the way, and the girls followed. For once Mabel was quiet and Lou used this truce from her part to satisfy her curiosity. "So you and Buck, huh?"

"Yes, me and Buck," Mabel replied with a smile.

"And what happened with Paul?"

"Paul?" Mabel echoed, apparently clueless about what Lou was talking about.

"The guy you brought along at the dinner party Kid and I threw… the one you told me you were in love with," Lou said pointedly.

"Oh him," Mabel replied, flapping her hand in the air dismissively. "He was such a wimp! My interest in him lasted less that candy in a room full of children!"

"And when did this thing with Buck start?"

"Just a couple of months ago," Mabel explained. "He walked into my bank… well, not really my bank, you know, the bank I work in… so he walked in and I asked myself, 'Where on earth have I seen this hunky guy before?' You know me. My head is like a sieve." Lou nodded, but Mabel did not even stop to acknowledge her. "Then it came back to me. He was in the bank for some boring, financial matter of one of his clients, and guess who assisted him. Yeah, me! Lucky me! Of course, unlike my poor memory, he did remember me straight away. I don't remember we talked a lot in your apartment during your dinner, but at the bank we kind of hit it off, and despite the boring stuff we had to see to, we laughed together, and before he left, he asked me out and I said yes."

"And the rest is history."

"That's right," Mabel replied, beaming happily.

"I gather things are good between you two," Lou continued her questioning.

"Oh yes, Louise. He's a dream. I think I'm in love for the first time, really in love. And this time I mean it… totally," Mabel exclaimed.

"You said that before," Lou reminded her.

"Yes, but it's different with Buck. Believe me, Lou. I've never been with a guy for so long," Mabel replied. "And you know what? My Mom adores him."

Lou stared at her friend with a surprised expression. "Has he met your parents already?" she asked in astonishment. She had been with Kid much longer, and to date she had been able to get out of seeing his parents. That was something she did not look forward to even though she knew that sooner or later she would have to go through. But she wanted to put off the whole thing as much as possible.

"Well, that was because it was my Mom's birthday," Mabel replied. "Now that I'm going steady with someone, I thought I could bring her a cause for happiness. You know how my parents have always been with that matter. So I took him with me to Mom's birthday party. I never thought they would like him so much, but they do. Anyway, that doesn't mean anything. Buck and I want to go slowly. You know, we need to know what we are doing because of his son."

Lou smiled. "Mabel, it seems you're growing up."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. Can you believe it? I've always boasted of my independence, and now I'm becoming a… a… a mommy, well, at least some kind of step-mommy. And this is not the worst… the worst is that I like it. I love Lucas."

Louise had to laugh at Mabel's comical expression. "That's great. And I'm glad for you, Mabel… for both of you."

A bit later Kid and Lou bid goodbye to her friends and got ready to go home. They were already in the car, and after a few minutes in silence, Louise blurted out, "Ok, Kid, you can say it."

Kid looked at her sideways from behind the steering wheel, not understanding what she was talking about. "Say what?"

"That you already told me not to meddle."

"Well, Lou, no harm has been done," Kid replied. "These things happen. It wasn't your fault. Buck seems happy with Mabel."

"And what about Jenny? I filled her head with all this romantic nonsense about Buck."

"She's a big girl, honey. I imagine she could tell Buck wasn't interested in her… she's not stupid."

"But because of me, she got another disappointment. She could have been saved from this if I hadn't had the brilliant idea of playing matchmaker! You were right."

"Please Lou, don't beat yourself so hard."

"And on top of it all, I even texted Jenny this morning, telling her how glad I was for her and Buck. She must think I'm an insensitive cretin."

"Lou, you thought he was dating her. It was a mistake. That's all." Louise did not reply, and out of the corner of his eye, Kid saw her rummaging in her purse and finally taking her cell phone out. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm going to call Jenny. I owe her an explanation."

"Now?"

"Yeah… it's not too late. I need to do something. I feel horrible right now."

Kid knew that nothing he could say would make Lou give in on her intentions. In his opinion she should let the matter rest. It wasn't such a big deal, but if Lou wanted to stir things even more, nothing he could say would change her mind.

Lou found Jenny's number in her phone directory, and then pressed the call button. After a couple of dialing tones, she heard Jenny's voice at the other end of the line. "Hello, Lou. How are you?"

"Hi, Jen. You must be wondering why I'm calling you at this time of the day," Lou paused, and then added, "First of all, I want to say how sorry I am about the text I sent you this morning."

"I thought you'd just made a mistake."

"You could say that," Lou replied ironically. "And I want to apologize about all the matter with Buck."

"I see."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything to you," Lou said.

"Louise, you tried, but I'm afraid time really changed us," Jennifer replied.

Jenny's words confused Lou. "What do you mean?"

"My feelings are not what they used to be. I know you were rooting for us…for me and Buck. We even met a couple of times after that thing in your apartment. But then I realized I was immune to whatever he had that drove me crazy when I was a teenager. On one of those dates he even kissed me, but the magic was gone. I didn't feel a thing… nothing."

"Oh," Lou let out awkwardly.

"I know he's with that friend of yours, the one that used to be your roommate. I saw them together a couple of weeks ago. They make a nice couple."

"Yes, I guess they do," Lou replied unenthusiastically.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out for us. Thanks anyway."

"Uh… okay," Lou uttered, unsure of what to say anymore. They exchanged a few more comments and then hung up.

"What happened?" Kid asked.

Lou sighed, and just said, "Apparently, in all this matter your dear girlfriend was the only one to get disappointed." Kid sent her a questioning look, not understanding what she was talking about. Lou did not elaborate and just added, "And Kid, if I ever try to meddle in someone else's business again, you have my permission to kill me." Kid chuckled at the comment, but did not insist. When Lou felt like it, she would tell him by her own accord. All he knew was that they would remember this matter for a long time.