Part IX: Make A Wish
"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Christopher, happy birthday to you" As Gillian, David, Michael, Sarah and William had stopped singing, the waitress brought a cake with birthday candles to the table. Chris was very happy that they all had shown up but slightly embarrassed by all the attention he had suddenly gained at the bar, but now there was no way out. The only thing he could do, was to blow out the candles.
"Did you make a wish?" Gillian sat next to him.
"You bet I did." Chris leaned in to give her a long kiss not paying any attention to the others.
"Ok, ok, that's enough you two. Save some for later." David lifted his glass, "Christopher, I wish you all the very best for your birthday. You are a wonderful boss and more important a great friend. May all your wishes come true and may you not forget about the raise you promised me." They all laughed and lifted their glasses towards Chris.
"I don't know if you still deserve one after this. Why on earth did you have to tell the waitress that today's my birthday?"
"Oh Christopher, relax. I thought it was a good idea and I wanted to get you a cake. Doesn't it look absolutely delicious?! May I?" He picked up a knife from the table and pointed at the cake.
"Sure, be my guest. How about you?" He turned to Gillian.
"I don't think so. Do you know how many calories this stuff has? I'd have to work out for a week to get it off my hips."
Chris shook his head and cut a piece for himself. He didn't even know they baked such excellent cake at Oniel's. It had been David's idea to come here for his birthday. Actually Chris didn't want to celebrate at all, but since Michael and Sarah were in town again, it seemed like a good idea to meet here. He hadn't been to Oniel's since him and Gillian met that night.
"Oh my god. I can't believe it." All of a sudden Gillian jumped up from her chair. "My roommate's back. She just walked towards the bar. I've got to say hello to her. Would you excuse me?"
"Sure, go ahead. Bring her over, so I can finally meet her." Chris turned around but couldn't see anyone.
"I will. She'll be so thrilled to meet you." She giggled and ran around the corner to the bar.
"Rachel! I can't believe it! I didn't know you were coming back today, didn't you want to stay until next week?" Rachel turned around and saw Gillian walking towards her with waving arms. She smiled and gave her a hug.
"Hello Gillian. It's so good to see you. Yes, I did, but I decided to go home a little earlier. I missed my city."
"I'm so excited. How was it? Did you have fun?"
"Yes. It was great. I will tell you all about it when we're at home. Actually I just came in to check the work schedule. What are you doing here?"
"Oh Rachel, this is so exciting. We are here to celebrate Chris' birthday. You gotta come with me and meet him."
'Oh no!' Rachel thought. This was the last thing she wanted to do. She had just gathered enough energy to deal with this whole situation but she certainly was not prepared to meet him here and now. "Gillian, I don't know...", before Rachel could even reply more, Gillian grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
"Come on, no reason to be shy, he's really nice. I'm sure you'll like him." Without listening Gillian dragged Rachel across the bar to their table.
"No, Gillian. I really don't want to, I need to…", but it was too late, they had already arrived. Chris and Michael were totally caught up in a conversation and didn't even notice them at first.
Gillian cleared her throat to get some attention "Excuse me guys. May I introduce you to my lovely roommate Rachel."
When Chris heard that name he automatically turned around and looked straight into two very familiar dark eyes.
"Chris, this is my roommate Rachel. Rachel, this is Christopher." At that moment Rachel wished their would be a hole where she could crawl into, but there wasn't. She extended her hand out to Chris and forced a smile.
"Hello and Happy Birthday. It's very nice to meet you."
Chris stood up from his chair and shook her hand. He couldn't believe his eyes, how could this be? 'This must be a dream' he thought, 'I'm having a vision again and this isn't happening. It must be a dream there is no other explanation', yet as they touched it felt absolutely real. She wasn't a phantom, she was real. Her hand felt warm and soft. He could smell her perfume mixed with the sent of new washed clothes. He could see her dark eyes that looked straight into his – into his soul it almost seemed.
How was it possible? He stared at her without saying a word. So many times he had thought about what would happen if he ever saw her again. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, but now he just stood there like frozen.
"Chris!" Gillian hit him on the arm. "Do you just want to stand there, or can you actually speak?"
"What?" Chris looked confused at Gillian. He quickly shook his head and snapped out of his rigidity. "I'm…. I'm sorry." He was still holding Rachel's hand.
"Hi." That was all he could mumble. Rachel let go of his hand and greeted the rest at the table. Chris didn't take his eyes of her for a second. How could he, she was simply beautiful.
"Why don't you sit down and have some cake?" Gillian was so excited that Rachel had finally met everyone, she didn't even realize how awkward Chris was behaving.
"No, I should get going but thanks for asking. I need to run some errands and do laundry. Maybe next time." Rachel just wanted to get away as fast as possible. "I will see you later, Gillian alright?"
"Yes. Well, actually no, because I'm going to stay at Chris' tonight, but definitely tomorrow."
"Sure, than 'til tomorrow. Bye." Rachel left without looking back again. She felt Chris' eyes on her as she exited. The moment she had dreaded for so long had finally come. There was no turning back now.
"Christopher, wasn't that the woman from the museum you bumped into a couple of months ago. You know the one you kept…" David wasn't able to finish this sentence because Chris quickly cut him off.
"No David, certainly not.", Chris gestured him to shut up but David didn't notice.
"But wasn't her name Rachel as well? Are you sure this wasn't her? She looked just like her."
"Yes David. I'm absolutely positive. You know how many Rachel's come to the museum? Why don't you have another piece of cake?", in the hope David would finally watch his tongue, Chris handed him the plate.
"You met my roommate at the museum, Chris? You know she visits the MET often, but she never told me that you guys met and neither have you." Gillian had listened to the conversation between Chris and David and had become curious.
"I didn't meet her, Gillian. I knocked this woman over when I was on my way to the cafeteria in the museum. This happened months before we met and I never saw her again. Probably just a tourist. Coincidently her name was Rachel as well and she was also African American, but it certainly wasn't your roommate. Don't you think I would have told you?", hopefully she would buy this, Chris thought. Obviously Rachel hadn't told Gillian about there little encounter at the museum that day. She probably had already forgotten about it. For some reason, he didn't want Gillian to know. Although nothing had happen between them, he felt… guilty. All this time he was hoping to see this woman again and she was practically right in front of him. Was life pulling some terrible joke on him?
Gillian seemed to be satisfied with this answer, she sat down and started a conversation with Sarah. Chris was still looking at the exit. 'How pretty she was', he had to smile at that thought. 'Damn, I gotta stop this right now. It won't do any good, after all she's my girlfriends roommate – not a good constellation.'
Who knows what Rachel was thinking of him, anyway. It's not like he was a master of tongues when he saw her and she seemed to be in a great hurry to get away. 'Who could blame her? I was acting like an idiot again.', with a sigh he turned around to the table and tried to enjoy the rest of the evening.
'I wish that my life could be simple'
To be continued.
"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Christopher, happy birthday to you" As Gillian, David, Michael, Sarah and William had stopped singing, the waitress brought a cake with birthday candles to the table. Chris was very happy that they all had shown up but slightly embarrassed by all the attention he had suddenly gained at the bar, but now there was no way out. The only thing he could do, was to blow out the candles.
"Did you make a wish?" Gillian sat next to him.
"You bet I did." Chris leaned in to give her a long kiss not paying any attention to the others.
"Ok, ok, that's enough you two. Save some for later." David lifted his glass, "Christopher, I wish you all the very best for your birthday. You are a wonderful boss and more important a great friend. May all your wishes come true and may you not forget about the raise you promised me." They all laughed and lifted their glasses towards Chris.
"I don't know if you still deserve one after this. Why on earth did you have to tell the waitress that today's my birthday?"
"Oh Christopher, relax. I thought it was a good idea and I wanted to get you a cake. Doesn't it look absolutely delicious?! May I?" He picked up a knife from the table and pointed at the cake.
"Sure, be my guest. How about you?" He turned to Gillian.
"I don't think so. Do you know how many calories this stuff has? I'd have to work out for a week to get it off my hips."
Chris shook his head and cut a piece for himself. He didn't even know they baked such excellent cake at Oniel's. It had been David's idea to come here for his birthday. Actually Chris didn't want to celebrate at all, but since Michael and Sarah were in town again, it seemed like a good idea to meet here. He hadn't been to Oniel's since him and Gillian met that night.
"Oh my god. I can't believe it." All of a sudden Gillian jumped up from her chair. "My roommate's back. She just walked towards the bar. I've got to say hello to her. Would you excuse me?"
"Sure, go ahead. Bring her over, so I can finally meet her." Chris turned around but couldn't see anyone.
"I will. She'll be so thrilled to meet you." She giggled and ran around the corner to the bar.
"Rachel! I can't believe it! I didn't know you were coming back today, didn't you want to stay until next week?" Rachel turned around and saw Gillian walking towards her with waving arms. She smiled and gave her a hug.
"Hello Gillian. It's so good to see you. Yes, I did, but I decided to go home a little earlier. I missed my city."
"I'm so excited. How was it? Did you have fun?"
"Yes. It was great. I will tell you all about it when we're at home. Actually I just came in to check the work schedule. What are you doing here?"
"Oh Rachel, this is so exciting. We are here to celebrate Chris' birthday. You gotta come with me and meet him."
'Oh no!' Rachel thought. This was the last thing she wanted to do. She had just gathered enough energy to deal with this whole situation but she certainly was not prepared to meet him here and now. "Gillian, I don't know...", before Rachel could even reply more, Gillian grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
"Come on, no reason to be shy, he's really nice. I'm sure you'll like him." Without listening Gillian dragged Rachel across the bar to their table.
"No, Gillian. I really don't want to, I need to…", but it was too late, they had already arrived. Chris and Michael were totally caught up in a conversation and didn't even notice them at first.
Gillian cleared her throat to get some attention "Excuse me guys. May I introduce you to my lovely roommate Rachel."
When Chris heard that name he automatically turned around and looked straight into two very familiar dark eyes.
"Chris, this is my roommate Rachel. Rachel, this is Christopher." At that moment Rachel wished their would be a hole where she could crawl into, but there wasn't. She extended her hand out to Chris and forced a smile.
"Hello and Happy Birthday. It's very nice to meet you."
Chris stood up from his chair and shook her hand. He couldn't believe his eyes, how could this be? 'This must be a dream' he thought, 'I'm having a vision again and this isn't happening. It must be a dream there is no other explanation', yet as they touched it felt absolutely real. She wasn't a phantom, she was real. Her hand felt warm and soft. He could smell her perfume mixed with the sent of new washed clothes. He could see her dark eyes that looked straight into his – into his soul it almost seemed.
How was it possible? He stared at her without saying a word. So many times he had thought about what would happen if he ever saw her again. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, but now he just stood there like frozen.
"Chris!" Gillian hit him on the arm. "Do you just want to stand there, or can you actually speak?"
"What?" Chris looked confused at Gillian. He quickly shook his head and snapped out of his rigidity. "I'm…. I'm sorry." He was still holding Rachel's hand.
"Hi." That was all he could mumble. Rachel let go of his hand and greeted the rest at the table. Chris didn't take his eyes of her for a second. How could he, she was simply beautiful.
"Why don't you sit down and have some cake?" Gillian was so excited that Rachel had finally met everyone, she didn't even realize how awkward Chris was behaving.
"No, I should get going but thanks for asking. I need to run some errands and do laundry. Maybe next time." Rachel just wanted to get away as fast as possible. "I will see you later, Gillian alright?"
"Yes. Well, actually no, because I'm going to stay at Chris' tonight, but definitely tomorrow."
"Sure, than 'til tomorrow. Bye." Rachel left without looking back again. She felt Chris' eyes on her as she exited. The moment she had dreaded for so long had finally come. There was no turning back now.
"Christopher, wasn't that the woman from the museum you bumped into a couple of months ago. You know the one you kept…" David wasn't able to finish this sentence because Chris quickly cut him off.
"No David, certainly not.", Chris gestured him to shut up but David didn't notice.
"But wasn't her name Rachel as well? Are you sure this wasn't her? She looked just like her."
"Yes David. I'm absolutely positive. You know how many Rachel's come to the museum? Why don't you have another piece of cake?", in the hope David would finally watch his tongue, Chris handed him the plate.
"You met my roommate at the museum, Chris? You know she visits the MET often, but she never told me that you guys met and neither have you." Gillian had listened to the conversation between Chris and David and had become curious.
"I didn't meet her, Gillian. I knocked this woman over when I was on my way to the cafeteria in the museum. This happened months before we met and I never saw her again. Probably just a tourist. Coincidently her name was Rachel as well and she was also African American, but it certainly wasn't your roommate. Don't you think I would have told you?", hopefully she would buy this, Chris thought. Obviously Rachel hadn't told Gillian about there little encounter at the museum that day. She probably had already forgotten about it. For some reason, he didn't want Gillian to know. Although nothing had happen between them, he felt… guilty. All this time he was hoping to see this woman again and she was practically right in front of him. Was life pulling some terrible joke on him?
Gillian seemed to be satisfied with this answer, she sat down and started a conversation with Sarah. Chris was still looking at the exit. 'How pretty she was', he had to smile at that thought. 'Damn, I gotta stop this right now. It won't do any good, after all she's my girlfriends roommate – not a good constellation.'
Who knows what Rachel was thinking of him, anyway. It's not like he was a master of tongues when he saw her and she seemed to be in a great hurry to get away. 'Who could blame her? I was acting like an idiot again.', with a sigh he turned around to the table and tried to enjoy the rest of the evening.
'I wish that my life could be simple'
To be continued.