As our paths cross once again.
I.
June 23rd 2004
We were walking down the promenade when Bailey pulled my hand. "Mommy, mommy, look!" Her little blue eyes sparkled, like every time she got excited. "What is it, sweetie?" She led me by the hand, close to some man. "Mommy, this is the man from the picture on Times Square." I smiled at her. She's probably confused the man with someone. And there were so many pictures on Times Square that it was impossible to know which one she was talking about. Before I could stop her, she pulled the man's sleeve and he turned around. I began to apologize. "Excuse me, sir, my daughter thought…"
Then I noticed the man's face. The flashback lasted a couple of seconds. I blinked a few times to see if my memory wasn't deceiving. I was so surprised I couldn't say much. "Billie Joe?" He stared at me with green eyes I could swear I knew. He was obviously surprised. "Woah. Ann? Annie?" I wasn't wrong. It's been 14 years now. Wow. I slid one hand around his neck, which lead to a weird hug. The usual ceremony of meeting old friends, I guess. When I recognized the weirdness, I stepped away again. "Oh my God. Wow. I'm pretty much speechless right now." Bailey was getting nervous beside me. "Mom?" Billie Joe now stared at me with his mouth open. I noticed and smiled at him. "It's a long story." He nodded. "Hey, um, you wanna get a cup of coffee or something?" Oh yeah, part of the old-friend-ceremony. A drink, catching up and so on. "Okay, sure. I just need to drop Bailey off at her dad's." He was surprised once again. "I'll explain later. That little café across the street, in an hour or so?"
"Sure. See 'ya." I waved to him, then Bailey and I walked out of the centre. "Mommy, was that your friend?" I guess that's one way to say it. "Yes, honey. That was Billie Joe. We went to high school together. I haven't seen him in a very long time." The little girl smiled brightly. "Billie Joe? That's a nice name. He has pretty eyes, too." That was true. His eyes haven't changed one bit, even if he's a whole different person now. "Yes, he does, doesn't he?" We got a cab and drove down to Wright Street 124. New York was way too big for me. I rang the bell at the house, Bailey was jumping up and down – she was always excited when she came to her dad's. The door opened. "Hey, princess." Bailey jumped around Ben's neck. "Daddy!" He was happy, almost relieved to see her. "Hi, Annie. Coming in?" I shook my head. "Nah, not today. I have somewhere to go. I ran into someone from high school today." He smiled. "Wow. How's Katie been?" He thought I met Katelyn. "Um, no, actually I'm meeting…" Bailey jumped up in Ben's arms. "His name is Billie Joe, daddy! His eyes are really green!" The smile on Ben's face disappeared in less than a second. "Him?" You're going to see Armstrong?" His voice was full of anger that he tried to hide. "That was high school, Ben. Things're more than just different now. And besides, we're not married anymore, remember?" Bad joke. Now he was in his sorry mood again. I quickly finished the conversation. "Anyways, it doesn't matter. Bailey needs to be in bed by eight thirty, like always. Have fun." Bailey made grabby hands at me. "Bye, mommy!" I waved at her and got back in the taxi. I drove off to the little café next to the shopping centre. Billie Joe was already there, sitting by the table in the corner. He stood up when I came over. "So, should I shake your hand or something?" I smiled, because I was wondering the same. "I guess that's what everyone else does." He paused for a second. "But we never were 'everyone else,' were we?" He stepped behind me and moved my chair, so I could sit. I was honestly surprised.
We sat down and ordered a drink. "So, you probably have more experience with this than I do – what do people do at these… Meetings?" I smiled at the awkwardness of the situation. "I don't know, catch up, I guess?" He shrugged. "Okay then, let's catch up. What've you been up to for the last… Fourteen years?" I laughed again. This was entertaining. "Um, well, after high school I went to Berkeley, but never finished there. Got a few little jobs, got married, had a kid and got divorced. That's all the important stuff, I guess." He was staring at me. What I told him obviously caught him off guard. "I doubt I could beat your exciting one-sentence biography, but here it goes. The band, the band and the band. Six albums, the 7th's on the way. No big deal, but we still love doing it. Between that I still managed to get married and divorced. No kids or anything. That'd be it." Green Day – right now they were doing better than ever. From Saturday night gigs at Rod's to Grammys and millions of albums sold. "It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right…" He blushed. I guess he thought I didn't know any of their music. "You like the song?" It seemed like he didn't believe it. "I'd call it one of my many favorites." The red on his cheeks stood out more and more. "Armstrong, since when do you blush?" He grinned, looking me in the eyes. I almost missed him doing that. "It's weird – people hearing our music on the radio and liking it. I never thought that would happen." He was as happy as I remember when he talked about the band. "I admire you, y'know." He coughed, almost chocked and stared at me. "You admire me? Sorry, but – What the fuck?" I had to laugh at his honest shock. "I do. I mean, you're so sure about your future. You know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life and you're already doing it. It seems like you've got it all."
"See, that's where you're wrong. I have no kids, I'm divorced and I'm 32. I'm not even close to having everything." I noticed sadness in his voice. "There's plenty of time to fix that, Beej." When I thought about what I said, I noticed using the nickname I used to like, all those years ago. He must have noticed too. A spark lid up in his eyes.