Hannah's Story

Chapter 44 - The Guys

I feel like I should add more, but don't really know what.  There's not much action, but I hope you like it anyway.

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ETHAN

When I'd gotten home from vacation, I'd called Nadia and set up dinner plans. I'd thought a lot about her since our short conversation the night I'd given up on Hannah. I didn't want Nadia to be my second choice, she was the one I should have stayed with all along. I only hoped she'd take me back.

The night my little brother was going to achieve a milestone in his life, I was meeting Nadia in hopes of reconciling with her. I realized that the reason things had seemed so plain with Nadia at times was simply because we'd come to know each other so well. It wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

We'd had our fun times, too, where we'd spontaneously make love in random parts of our apartment. We'd plan spur of the moment outings, too, like a concert in the park, a trip to the nearby lake, a drive where we'd get lost and refuse to use the GPS. We'd had fun, and I missed it.

As I sat at the small table in the dimly lit restaurant, I waited anxiously for my date to show. She hadn't wanted me to pick her up. I didn't know if that was a bad sign, but I was hoping there was another reason behind it. I looked up to see my beauty of an ex-girlfriend walking toward me. She looked good, with a fresh tan and brown streaks in her otherwise black hair. She was wearing a cute sundress that covered her chest but showed off her shapely legs. She was still as hot as ever, but her smile when she saw me was what melted my heart. How would I survive if this didn't go well?

"Hey there, Cutie," she said as I stood up to pull out her chair.

"Hi," I replied, as we exchanged a quick kiss on the cheek.

I returned to my seat and placed my napkin back on my leg. 

"You look good," I told her. 

She looked up at me, as if trying to convey that things weren't that simple. 

"I do?" she asked, sounding as if she didn't really believe me.

"Yes, definitely," I answered.  "You look better than the last time I saw you, and you looked pretty good then."

"I'm glad you said that, because I am just starting to feel like myself again," she said. 

"Why?" I questioned.  "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"It's a long story that I am definitely going to tell you, but let's talk about it after dinner.  It's not a great conversation for a restaurant," she said.  "But know that I'm on the upswing."

I wondered what could possibly have happened, but I wanted to go along with her wishes. 

"That's good enough for me, considering the circumstances.  Just please tell me later," I pleaded. 

"I will.  Promise," she said, placing her hand over my hand that was resting on the table.

Her touch was familiar, yet exciting. I didn't realize how lonely I'd been without feeling her skin on my skin. A slight tremor ran through my body.

"You okay?" she asked me, looking concerned.

"Yeah," I replied. "I just have missed you so much."

Her hand squeezed mine. "I've missed you, too. "

We had a nice but quiet dinner as we caught up with the little things. We discussed what our family members had been doing lately. I told her all about Jesse going to the prom and how excited I was for him that he'd no longer be a virgin when I next saw him.