Discovering Some Truth
Kris looked up when he opened the door and tapped her lips with her index finger. “That was not ten minutes.”
She watched curiously when Gary went very still. He didn’t move for a few seconds, his eyes not leaving her face then before she could ask him what was wrong, he smiled and handed her a can of fruit juice as he closed the door.
“Well,” he said easily, “the situation was beyond my control. The lady in front of me was trying to buy the store in change… but if you want to follow a long-honored tradition, I’m game.”
Watching her carefully, Gary leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips.
Kris was not expecting to be kissed. Nor had she ever thought that his mouth could be so soft but firm and... perfect.
As his lips lingered, Kris swore she tasted mint, which meant, of course, that she kissed him back.
She hadn’t really meant to, but it felt quite natural. And nice.
Then he ended it.
Gary sat back in his seat as he heard Chas and Seth’s easy chatter outside. He laughed when they rapped on the window as they passed his vehicle. He didn’t say anything as he started the engine.
So Kris asked, “What was that about?”
“You used to do the time thing and if I wasn’t back within the timeframe, you would demand compensation.”
Sounds like something I would do, but to get kisses from him, Kris thought, would mean that he and I were quite familiar.
“So, did I always demand it in the form of kisses?”
Yes. “Mostly.” And you would always tap the part of me you wanted me to kiss. “But,” he said aloud, “I wasn’t often wrong.”
“Oh.” Then she went quiet.
“Hey, don’t worry. I’m not that much of an active kisser, anyway.”
Ha! The way she felt after that light and brief encounter told her that she probably would have melted under further sensuous attention. But she didn’t tell him that his inactivity was pretty potent all the same. Instead she asked, “Who were the guys at the window?”
“Chas and Seth.”
“Seth’ll be there,” she said, relieved.
“Yeah.”
For a moment when he’d seen her tapping her mouth, he had thought she remembered. Now, he put the action down to subconscious habit, almost like reflex. He’d taken a chance with the kiss and he decided then, in the car, not to push his luck. At all. His blood was thrumming through his veins and he didn’t think he would take rejection very well if Kris didn’t intend to indulge him with kisses or anything more.
****
The day after their departure from campus, Carrie called Kristina.
“How’s it going up there?”
“It’s great. How’s home?”
“Who’s at home?” Carrie scoffed gaily. “I’m at Louisa and Gavin’s place, which means I am with Ronda and Greg because them peeps are all inseparable. And you know Ronda wouldn’t leave her twin Sandra behind, so we’re all one big family.”
Kris laughed. “You forgot to mention the fact that without Sandy, you’d be sick to your stomach with all the PDA broadcasts.”
“I didn’t forget,” came the rejoinder, “just figured that your quick brain would piece that part in and allow me to pretend that I’m not gagging at the recollection.”
Kris laughed harder and then asked, “So, what’s up?”
“Nothing, just calling to check up on you and Gary.”
“Well, I’m fine and having fun. Gary’s fine and he looks like he is having fun too.”
“Are you hanging out with him?”
“No, I’m not hanging out with him. He has fan club, though, so I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Kris mocked lightly.
“Kris! Why do you think he invited you if he didn’t want to be with you?”
“To get me back on the social circuit. It’s no big deal- meeting new people is healthy, right?”
“But he’s not getting freaky with anyone is he?” her voice had an edge.
Kris frowned and glanced at where he was sitting with a group of girls from another university. “No. Not that I can see. He’s just sitting with some other girls. Carrie, what’s your worry?”
“You!” she blurted out.
“Me?” Kris’s frown deepened. “Why?”
Pause. She could’ve kicked herself, but Carrie had to fix what she’d done. “Well, you’re still recovering. What if he’s making moves on some babe and something happens to you while they’re at it?”
Kris frowned momentarily at the idea, but wondered why Carrie would say something like that.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” she said. “Besides, Seth’s here and some other guys I know so I have plenty of company. Relax, Mother.”
“Easy for you to joke, it’s not your phone that rings when people are checking on you,” Carnerie muttered.
“I wish people would stop doing that,” came the irritated response.
There was an audible sigh on the other end of the phone. “It’s only because we care about you. We all love you Kris.”
“And I love you too. Don’t worry, I’m okay. Really,” she insisted
“Good. I’ll talk to you later then.”
“Alright. Good bye.”
Kris hung up, laughing at her best friend’s parting line.
“Who was that?”
She whirled around to face Gary wearing an unreadable expression on his handsome face.
“That was your sister.”
He barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “What did she want?”
She chuckled, “To check up on me- and you.”
“Really? And you satisfied her curiosity?”
“Imagine so,” she smiled winsomely. “She told me to tell you though…”
“What?” he asked, intrigued.
“She said, ‘Tell him I said don’t get freaky with anyone but you.’”
Gary’s eyes narrowed but he was still smiling ever so slightly. “She said that?”
“I sure as hell didn’t think that one up,” she said honestly.
His smile faded. “No. You wouldn’t.” Not anymore, anyhow, he thought testily.
Kris noticed a change in his demeanour and was slightly confused. Him agreeing with her was the right thing to do but she felt suddenly as if she’d done something wrong.
Before she could say anything at all, Gary spoke. “I came to call you down to chat with me and the other ladies.”
Kris hesitated for only a second. “Sure, lead the way.”
She passed the hours sharing horror stories about everything from mid-semester exams and weekly quizzes to wedding mishaps and family reunions. All the girls were fun to hang out with and she found them amusing. A couple of them, as it became clear when the other seven ladies and eight men joined them, were attracted to Gary and flirted with him when they had his attention. Apart from being friendly and sharing jokes, he showed no personal interest in any one of the ladies. Herself included, although she’d made no efforts to monopolize his conversation or his magnetic smile.
“We’re getting ready for the bonfire, so ladies bring your skimpiest clothing down to the lakeside or it’ll all be in vain,” Chas said.
“There are fifteen of us and like ten of you,” Kris said, “so I opt for bringing a jacket anyway.”
“Me too,” a couple others said.
“Ah ah ah,” Chas protested. “You’ve got Gary, Kristina. No argument is acceptable.”
Kris glanced at Gary, who flexed his muscles and rubbed his hands together. Then she noticed one girl looking at her. Anna was her name.
“Are you and Gary an item?” Anna asked a moment later as everyone dispersed to get their stuff for the bonfire.
“No,” the two of them said. This was at the same time as Chas’s ‘yes’ and Seth’s ‘not really’.
Anna laughed. “I’ll take it from the two of them. At least they’re in agreement.”
Kris looked at Gary again, but this time he was looking at Chas , whose expression was baffled. She couldn’t see Gary’s face anymore, but whatever he said or did made Chas turn away with a slight nod.
So that was it.
The realization sunk in like a rock settling in her stomach. She and Gary had been an item, most probably at the time of the accident.
That was the truth in black in white. Probably what everyone hadn’t been telling her. What he hadn’t told her.
But she shouldn’t have needed to be told if he was that important... when she had asked Gary about them dating what had he said? ‘Doesn’t everyone in varsity?’
They did, Kris conceded to herself, but could he have just said that to throw her off? Had their relationship been a little more than a couple lunches together?
How could she forget something like that?
She stood staring at his broad back as he loaded a crate full of supplies but Gary didn’t look at her again. He went with the other guys to load things into Chas’s truck.
Anna’s friend, Karen walked up to her a few minutes later and said, “Seth told me about your accident. I’m sorry you went through such an ordeal.”
Kris managed to smile brightly. “I’m recovering.”
This attracted the attention of some of the others and the story was retold quickly. She told them what she knew and ended with, “I still can’t remember everything though.”
When sympathetic noises went through the patio, Kris shook her head with a frustrated laugh. “I hate when people do that. I’m fine now, but thanks.”
Somehow that moment had brought the ladies closer to understanding the student from another campus. She was the victim of a bad incident who was trying to get her life back and inadvertently that raised Gary’s rating as a hero for inviting her out with him.