As Matt kissed her goodbye, Angela had an overwhelming sense of trepidation. The reunion was tomorrow night and she had decided to travel to Three Rivers ahead of Rickie, Tino and Rayanne so she could spend some quality time with her parents.
"See you in two weeks Angela, I'll find you something cool to bring back for you" Matt smiled.
He was so kind and thoughtful. He didn't say a lot but when he did it came from his heart, exactly how Jordan used to be with her.
"Have a safe journey Matt, and ring me at my mom's when you arrive" She hugged him tightly, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"Laters beautiful" he smiled.
As Angela closed the door, she couldn't help but feel that she was closing the door on her relationship with Matt. She questioned her motives on marrying him ever since Rayanne stated the obvious to her the day before. Matt deserved more than she could give him, more than she was willing to give him. He had her body but he never did have her heart. She felt cruel to be decieving not only him but also herself.
She headed slowly up her stairs, and entered their bedroom. Looking through her wardrobe, she started to take out clothing for the weekend.
It was then that she found it. In front of her at the back of the wardrobe was a crumpled T-shirt. It was an old band shirt that Jordan had lent her years ago.
She picked it up and held it to her face, taking in the smell. It had his smell, Jordan's unique smell. A mixture of smoke, after shave and must from the years it spent in the back of her wardrobe.
She gently folded it and placed in in her suitcase, god knows why she packed it but she felt as though somehow Jordan would be going with her.
After packing, she picked up the phone and dialled her parents number.
"Hey Mom, it's Angela. I'm leaving in about five minutes, I should be at yours within the next couple of hours" she said.
"Angela!" came the voice of Patty " Dad's looking forward to seeing you honey, he wants to show you what he's done to the restaurant, we can't wait to see you, Danielle's excited too"
"Ok, I will check it out when I arrive Mom, I'll see you soon" She smiled, her dad was always renovating the restaurant every couple of years or so. She had managed to get her parents to always visit her, so she wouldn't need to set foot in Three Rivers again, so understandably her parent were excited about Angela's rare visit to them.
"Love you honey and drive safely" said Patty.
"I love you too Mom, see you soon" She hung up and looked at herself in the mirror. She hadn't really changed all that much, she had a figure now, and her hair was brown, other than some slight laughter lines at her eyes she didn't really look any older and could easily pass for being 21 instead of 27. She smiled to herself and brushed her hair.
Back in Three Rivers, Jordan was working underneath a beaten up old Red Plymouth. His old friend Shane was sitting on the counter talking away to him..
"So I was like, man..What's you're fuckin problem? I mean, I got him the loan right and the dude still wasn't happy" Shane moaned.
"Dude, I can't believe you like , wear a suit now..I mean, you're mr fuckin bank clerk..Shane Jones a fuckin banker, ahaha" Jordan was laughing from underneath the car.
"Catalano, I got a job man, a good job..look at you , still working for you're uncle and still trying to get that hunk of junk working, it's been years man, she's never going to run smoothly..Give it up already and get a new car"
Jordan slid out from underneath Red. He scowled at Shane. "You know what this car means to me man.." he grumbled.
Jordan hadn't really changed either, his hair was darker and slightly shorter, but his face still remained as beautiful as it always was and his eyes were as blue and piercing as they had ever been.
He wiped his brow smearing oil across his forehead and Shane burst out laughing at him."Grease monkey"
Jordan frowned and re-wiped his brow in an attempt to clean off the oil, this only made it worse and now Jordan was covered in oil.
Shane stopped laughing and took a deep breath, he didn't really want to tell Jordan about the reunion as he knew that Jordan would be all weird about it, but he couldn't help it from coming out of his mouth.
"Liberty High is having a Ten year reunion tomorrow man" he said quickly.
Jordan looked up, not quite hearing what Shane had just told him. "Huh?" he frowned.
"There's like a reunion, you know, at our old high school. Thought it may be fun to like go.."
Jordan looked thoughtful and nodded slowly. "Sure, it could be fun...who do you think will be there?" he asked, not daring to meet Shane's eyes.
Shane shook his head "Look man,, I have no idea, I doubt she'll be there Jordan, she hasn't like been in this town for Seven years man..." he trailed off, seeing the disappointment on Jordan's face.
"Shane, I've really fuckin tried man, but I can't get her out of my head. She like lost our baby and then just dumped me and took off..She totally fucked with my head man" he said sadly.
Shane jumped off of the counter and slapped Jordan on the back " Look man, you're safe..I doubt she'll be there. Let's just go, have a few beers and see old faces..See if any of the geeks have turned into hotties"
Jordan grimaced and laughed "yea, that Delia chick may be like a supermodel now" he laughed.
They both looked at each other and shook their heads "nah" they both laughed.
Driving into Three Rivers Angela took in the sights around her. Nothing had changed , not one bit. It was like going into a time warp. She passed Sharon's house and saw the building of Liberty High, as she rounded the corner she saw the coffee shop and Big Guy Burger. She smiled, it was all the same.
It was then she saw Red, parked inside a small garage. She gasped in recognition and pulled up to the other side of the road, opposite the garage.
It was Jordan's car no doubt. My god, he still lived here!! She craned her neck to see if she could spot him. All she saw was a guy wearing a suit, it definitely wasn't Jordan. She looked closer and recognised the suited man. It was Shane Jones, Jordan's best friend.
Before she could look away she saw a hand rise up beneath Red and shake Shane's hand. Shane went to walk away until he looked up and saw her.
Angela looked towards the floor of her car, hoping that Shane hadn't recognised her. She looked up and he was nowhere to be seen, she sighed and started her engine.
Just then she heard a loud rapping on her window, she looked up to see Shane's face glaring at her.
"You!" He said visibly shocked. Angela rolled down her window and gave him a worried smile.
"Hey Shane..." she muttered.
"What the hell are you doing back here Chase?" he glared, knowing the answer already.
"I wanted to go to the reunion Shane, that's all. Um..how have you been?" She wanted the ground to swallow her there and then, she could tell that Shane didn't want her around.
"Look Angela, I know you're folks are here , but I need you to stay away from Catalano. You fucked his head up leaving like you did, I'm just looking out for him. It's taken him years to get over you and I'm not about to watch him fall apart all over again..got it?" he was glaring at her, he couldn't believe the audacity of her to show up like she had.
Angela bit her lip and controlled her anger. "Shane the last thing I want to do is hurt Jordan again okay. We're not kids anymore and it has to be Jordan's decision to see me not yours, I'm going to this reunion and you can't or wont stop me"
Shane just scowled more and slammed his hand on the roof of her car. Angela started her engine, wanting to get away from him, the car spluttered and choked. It wouldn't start.
Both Angela and Shane just stared at each other in silence, both had a slight look of fear in their eyes.
Jordan walked over to them " hey man, you having trouble with your car?" he asked, wanting to help.
Shane started towards Jordan and tried to get him to back away " It's okay man, she'll deal with it"
Jordan looked at Shane in confusion and gently pushed him out of the way.
At the sound of his voice, butterflies started fluttering wildly in the pit of her stomach, she turned her head away from him so he wouldn't recognise her..
"Having trouble with your car maam? " He asked "I'm a mechanic, i can fix it for you real cheap"
Without looking at him she stuttered "It-it's ok..I-I' I'm fine t-thanks.."
Jordan walked right up to her car window and peered in. She turned to look at him and their eyes met.
Jordan's eyes widened in recognition and surprise. She looked stunning and he felt like he'd just been winded.
"Angela?" he asked softly.
Angela's heart was racing, her mouth was dry and she felt as though she were drowning in his eyes all over again.
"Hi Jordan" she whispered.