Should auld acquaintance be forgot?

My day started earlier than I wanted it to on New Years Eve - I woke up around 8. I stayed in bed for a while thinking about the past couple weeks and the day I had ahead of me. I wasn’t expecting anything special to happen today, most of my New Years are the same; I work, I go to my brother’s where I end up spending the night, then the next day I do absolutely nothing. I can’t think of a better way to start a new year than relaxing the day away.

Knowing that I wasn’t going to be falling back to sleep anymore, I reluctantly pulled myself out of bed and headed for the bathroom as quietly as I could so I wouldn’t wake Jordan. In the bathroom I splashed some water on my face and brushed my hair then put it back in a ponytail. Making my way down the hall towards the kitchen I heard the TV going in the living room so I went to check it out. It turned out that my moving around quietly wasn’t necessary because Jordan was lying on the couch with a blanket watching TV.

He glanced up at me as I stopped by the entrance. “Hey Babe.” Turing onto his side, he motioned for me to join him by patting the couch in front of him, which I did. “You’re up early.” He commented and reached for the edge of the blanket to cover me up, his arm staying around me once he had the blanket in place. “What are you doing up so early? You don’t work, do you?”

Shrugging, I pulled the blanket tighter around me. “I couldn’t sleep any longer. And yeah, I work but not until 12. Then I’m going to Zach’s after work. Were you coming for dinner? Or just showing up later?”

“As much as I’d like to be there for dinner, I have to go to my parents tonight.” I turned around and faced him. Jordan never has missed New Years Eve dinner at my brother’s since the moment they started doing it, something had to be up. “Don’t look at me like that,” he laughed. “Mom called me last night and told me to come for dinner tonight.” I raised an eyebrow; his mom only cooks when there is a special occasion. He sighed, “It’s not a big deal, she just wanted to something this year.”

“Jordy…” I knew he wasn’t telling me something, I can always tell. He doesn’t know it but he can’t look anyone in the eye when he’s not telling the truth, and he tends to tap his fingers as well. And at this moment, those fingers were tapping lightly on my arm.

“Fine.” He look at me, “Mike is coming home today, he’s gonna be here for only a couple days and you know it’s been a long time since he’s been home. Mom wants everything to be perfect when he gets here because she thinks he’ll want to stay.” It was my turn to look away. Mike is Jordan’s older brother and my ex. It has been almost four years since he’s been home. “Babe?” Jordan cupped my chin and turned my face to his.

“Why didn’t you want to tell me?”

Jordan sighed, “Because I wasn’t sure how’d you react to it.”

“It was a long time ago Jordy, I’m over it. I think it’s great Mike’s in town. I just don’t think it’s fair I don’t get to see him.” Jordan considered this for a moment, and then smiled. He suggested that he’d bring Mike by Zach’s sometime after dinner. I liked that idea, I missed Mike. Long before he was my boyfriend, he was a friend and a good one at that. New beginnings for a new year, what else could you ask for?

Jordan and I lounged around the house until I had to get ready for work. Work wasn’t all that exciting, customers came and went but the day seemed to drag on. I thought a lot about Mike while I was working, to tell you the truth, I didn’t really know how it would go when I saw him again. I was excited but nervous too. Mike is four years older than me and he’s known me all my life. I grew up worshipping the ground he walked on; I thought that he could do no wrong. He was a star athletic when he was in school, everyone loved him, but he didn’t have that great of luck when it came to relationships; he would change girlfriends as often as he changed socks but he wasn’t a player. Not one of his former girlfriends ever had anything bad to say about him, he was sweet, kind and such a goof.

I’m not really sure how we ended up dating, it was a weird time period for me, I had been back in town for 10 months and I was sticking to the house more and more. The odd time I did go out, it was only to hang out with Jordan or Nicky at their house. I think the only reason Mike even asked me out was because one of them begged him too because he never once showed me any interest before, he treated me like a sister. Going out with Mike is what I’d imagine going out with Jordan would be, except less weird because I actually thought of Mike in a sexual way. We went out for a couple months but I knew it wouldn’t last; he didn’t seem all that interested in me as anything more than a friend. It came as no surprise to me when he called me one day and asked me to meet him at Sam’s, a restaurant here in town; he said we needed to talk. Everyone knows what those words mean when you are in a relationship that doesn’t seem to be going that great, so I did what every woman does (or should do) when they know they are going to be dumped, I made myself look sexy.

After we had finished dinner, he took me hand and looked at me. I could see he was struggling with something, I didn’t know how big a deal it was though. “Anna,” He started but his attention wasn’t on me. He was looking over my shoulder, he was checking someone out! I couldn’t believe it. I snatched my hand back and stood up. He grabbed hold of my arm to stop me. I went to say some really nasty when the waiter stopped by our table and asked if we needed anything else. When the waiter walked away, Mike’s attention went with him. I stood there staring at him; my jaw would’ve been on the floor if my mouth could open that wide. Suddenly little flashes of moments over the past few years went through my mind, signs that were staring everyone right in the face and no one even noticed. Sensing I was staring at him, he turned back to me and he knew I knew. He opened his mouth to say something but I shook my head. His hand slipped off my arm, I turned and walked away.

I didn’t see Mike after that, he ended up telling his family and it didn’t go over that well. He left town not long after. And now he’s back. And I couldn’t wait to see him.