The Wonderful World of Words

Two: The Other Dinner Table

Genre: Romance

I love coming back home for a visit from time to time. Our sleepy town doesn't change much, but it's still always nice to be back. We usually don't bother to go out much, but this time, Dominic was insistent that we go out to dinner. He said that I needed a night out, and besides, we hadn't been out on a date in a long time.

Dominic knows as well as I that there are many reasons that we don't go on dates. He wouldn't admit that. Still, he knows that our marriage is not what it used to be. He knows that there is no use bothering with dates these days. Sometimes, I can't remember why we're still married.

Regardless of how it happened, I find myself sitting in this town's only really nice restaurant. Dominic is saying something about wanting to promote a new vice president to his company, but I am not listening as closely as I should be. My attention is centered mostly on the people who just sat down at the table beside us. They seem to be arguing rather heatedly about something. The woman is an average looking blond, nothing special about her. It was the man that caught my attention.

He looks so incredibly familiar. It's like I should have been able to place him in my memories right away.

"Alexandra," Dominic snapped, pulling me away from my deep thought. The waiter already left, and I didn't even notice. My husband leans across the table. "You are so embarrassing. Can't you stop staring at them?" he whispers harshly. I would hate to tell them that when he leans over the table like that, he attracts more attention than the fighting couple.

I shake my head. "Sorry... I thought that I knew her..."

He mumbles something under his breath. For a moment, I want to ask him to speak up. But, then I realize that I really don't care what he said.

For the entire meal, all I think about is the man at the next table. He shouldn't be this familiar if I can't place him.

Before I can take another bite of this bland chicken, it clicks. "Tobias," I whisper. It's one of those moments where you don't think about what you say, you just say it.

"What?" Dominic asks, completely engrossed it whatever he was thinking about.

"Just... I was just thinking." I return. I glance at the man again. He seems to have given up whatever argument the woman was engaging in with him. He is Tobias. I should have known it sooner. At least I know it now.

The restaurant around me seems to dissolve. Everything is in front of my eyes, but I don't see it. I find myself launched backwards into a time before my wedding, before the company, before moving to New York, before Princeton, before everything that led me to this moment. Instead, I can perfectly see the library of our old high school, the library that has since been replaced. I worked behind the desk during his lunch break. I was the person that everyone came to when they couldn't find something on the shelves. It just happened that that day, he was the one who couldn't find something.

He didn't know my name, but I knew his. He was one of those people that everyone knows, even if they don't know him personally. As to what he was looking for, I can't remember it now. Somehow, I found myself looking through the shelves with him following me, pestering me. "You're too tall." He said. "Isn't being short in style right now?"

"Tobias, you are so annoying." I returned, put out with him. Everyone always said that he was funny. I was beginning to think that he was kind of a jerk.

"I'm sorry." This time, I thought that he was sincere. "I'll stop now, Alex."

I stopped shuffling books and at him. "How do you know my name?"