"Reunion of Sorts"
Chapter 4:
"Steve?" Beth choked out. She never really liked the name Steven, so she had always referred to him as Steve.
"In the flesh," he nodded, grinning devilishly. "Hello, BMW." Using her initials for a nickname was an old habit of his. He hadn't seen Beth for the past decade, and had missed her so much. He had wanted to come visit, but never got the nerve. Besides, he worried things wouldn't be the same between them. What was the point of him visiting his first love if she was already married to someone else and most likely had a child or two?!
"But I thought you weren't coming!" she said after reaching over and enveloping him in a hug.
"I wasn't, but a change in work schedule permitted me to come to Maine for a few days, so I figured I'd show up to the HHS reunion."
"It's so good to see you," Beth gushed.
"You too," he agreed. "You haven't changed."
"How so?" she inquired.
"Well you're still as beautiful for one."
She could feel her cheeks burning from all the blushing. Her hand reached over to straighten his tie, and the lack of a certain something from her left hand caused a new thought to cross his mind. One which he expressed verbally.
"I don't see a ring on your finger," Steven raised an eyebrow.
Beth scowled slightly. She hated this topic. It was already the third time that night she had to explain it, but with him, she knew he wasn't going to be polite and try to change the topic once she started it, the way the others had done. "No you don't," she replied.
"Care to clarify?"
Beth was getting annoyed. He wasn't going to make this easy, so neither would she. "Why don't you just assume? I'm sure it will be more satisfying that way."
"Aww, but Beth, if I were to assume it would make an ass out of you and me. And I know you don't want to be a butt!"
She glared at him for a good four seconds, before her sense of humor got the best of her and she burst out laughing. He always had the corniest jokes, but they always managed to produce a laugh out of her.
He laughed too, right along with her. When the joke died down, he prodded the question again. "No, but seriously, why aren't you and Luis married? You were talking of marriage senior year. Hell, you even had an engagement ring on your pretty little finger."
She cleared her throat, not answering his question. This conversation was over as far as she was concerned. "Excuse me," she said courteously, stepping away.
"Did I strike a nerve?" he asked, but this time his tone was that of sincerity. But for Beth it was too late to be honest and kind. Why was he inquiring about the saddest moment of her life, especially since he saw how much it was upsetting her?
"I don't want to go back down memory lane, ok Steve?" Beth muttered angrily over her shoulder.
His eyes narrowed in confusion. "Then why are you here?" he asked, shrugging.
Beth looked around. Why was she here? Was it hope to change whatever she could of the past? Maybe get Luis to fondly remember the moments they shared? To remember her?
"I don't know," she whispered, her tone melancholy. She looked confused, tears brimming her eyes.
But Steven Caulfield wasn't the kind of man who knew his limits or cared to stop when he knew he should. Ignoring her obvious tears, he continued, but now with more anger and resentment. "How can you still be in love with a man who you've known for forever when he dumps you for the first new girl who enters his life?"
"How do you know about that?" she demanded.
"I have ears, Beth. You and Luis are still the talk of this class. So tell me, how can you still love him?"
Unbeknowst to them, but Luis, who had finished dancing with an old classmate, was now intently eavesdropping on every word the two spoke. He never knew that Beth was so close to Steven Caulfield - the class clown. He tried to think of a time in the past ten years when Beth had spoken about Steven in his presence. He couldn't come up with a single time when his name had left her lips, not even in an innocent remark of some sort.
Luis narrowed his eyes, waiting to see how Beth would respond to that comment from Steven. The man seemed jealous. Could he be in love with Beth? Why else would he say such a thing?
"Luis is my life, ok? I love him. I always will. He can hurt me the world over but I will always want him."
The words stabbed at Steven's heart, but he wouldn't let Beth see his pain.
So he casually asked, "What did you do to make Luis fall out of love with you?" He was taunting her, but he didn't care.
"It wasn't an issue of that. His heart deceived him into thinking that this new love was the one he really truly wanted."
Nearby, Luis couldn't help but bite his tongue down to keep from laughing. Leave it to Beth to think that way of their breakup! But he had to hand it to her - she wasn't even bitter towards him. And even though he didn't show it, he was thankful that they still remained friends through their tough ordeal.
Steven laughed scornfully. "Is that what you tell yourself at night when you are all alone in bed?"
Her mouth dropped in shock. How dare he come back into her life after ten years and say all these nasty things in the span of less than half an hour?! Boy was she mad now. "Goodbye, Steve," she began to walk away, but his arm reached out to grab her wrist.
Using his force, he pulled her closer to him and in a second, he caressed his lips with hers. It was hard at first, but it grew into a gentle kiss.
After the kiss ended, he let go of his hold on her, looking into her eyes for some form of acknowledgment on their shared liplock, but he didn't get any. Instead, she turned on her stunned heel and walked back to her table, unsure of how the kiss made her feel, because she was still mad at him.
Luis watched their kiss take place before his very eyes, and couldn't help feel a tinge of jealousy and anger pass through him. Sure Beth wasn't his anymore, and he had dumped her, but he didn't want Beth to move on with anyone else. It boosted his ego to see her still pining after him, and he wanted things to remain that way always. But he wondered if his jealousy was stemmed from something other than that. Could it be possible that he still loved Beth?
"Birds of a feather, speak of the devil!" Steven muttered as he saw Luis right behind him. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough to hear your conversation with Bethy. Since when were you two close?" Luis asked suspiciously.
"Long before she got involved with you," Steven uttered in cocky satisfaction.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, that's so. What does it matter?"
"You stay away from her, you hear me?"
"I will not. She may have rejected me for your sorry ass back in 11th grade, but I won't let her do it again. Especially since you gave her up."
Luis was shocked. Beth had cast aside Steven for him! How come he never knew? Apparent shock aside, he argued with the American light brown haired, green eyed man. "I didn't give her up!"
"Call it what you will, man," Steven said in a bored tone of voice.
Luis stomped away from him in search of Beth. He had to find her. Their were some things that needed discussing.