Chapter 67: My Second Dinner With Andrea, Part 4

A hand landed on my shoulder. “Drew?”

       I turned. Betty Rollins leaned it. “I just knew it was you. And Andrea? Andrea Lieberman.  I knew you both. Didn’t even have to cheat and look at your name tags. Now, c’mon. You knew it was me, right? No name tags needed, right?”

            Andrea shot me a familiar smile. It was her Oh my god, this just can’t be happening, can it? smile, followed by, “Oh Betty, of course not. No name tag needed. Of course.”

            Betty hovered above us, eyeing the empty seats at our table.

            With no recourse, I nodded, “Won’t you join us? We’re heading out in a few minutes, but have coffee with us?”

            And then, a funny thing happened.

            “Actually, I can’t stay. I just wanted to say hi. My husband—I’m Betty Rafferty now, Morrison was a disaster—anyway, Rich, my husband says I need to reel it in a bit. ‘Reel it in, Betty. Give ‘em a break. You talk too much.’ Yep, me! Imagine. ‘Talk too much.’ Anyway, I just wanted to say hello. I remember you two as being so kind to me. Really. Just great.” And, pausing for breath she added over her shoulder as she left, “I didn’t know you two were together. You make such a cute couple.” And she was off.

            “What just happened?”

            “I think it was a classic ‘Betty Drive-By.”

            I burst into laughter. Andrea followed suit.

            “Sorry. Sorry. I know that’s really awful,” I began. “I actually ducked out on her earlier today. And I caught myself wondering if I was being totally unfair, based on an experiences from another universe. I mean, people can change, can’t they?”

            Andrea sat up a little straighter, dabbed her eyes with her napkin and said, with no small amount of doubt in her voice, “Sure. Why not? Or?”

            “Or, like Betty, they can marry the world’s most honest man.”

            “Absolutely. That could happen too.”

            “Do you think she knows?

            I sipped my coffee. “Knows what?”

            “That she’s given us the best reunion story. Ever.”

            “I hope not. She’s trying. And she was at our table what? Less than two minutes?”

            “It’s a record.”

            I smiled and softened. “Yep. It is. And good for her.”

            Andrea raised her coffee. “Here’s to Betty.”

            “To Betty.”

            “Walk me to my car?”

            We enjoyed a few minutes of silence on the way to the Emmett Street parking garage. Our path there took us under an overhang of maples and then oaks which finally gave way to a long walkway of towering sycamores. The street lights sent flickers through their canopy, making shadows dance across the herringbone brick walkways.

            Andrea spoke first. “I wonder how many times I made this walk from the dorms to the cafeteria to Cabell Hall and back? Not to mention late-night treks back from Rugby Road on weekends.” We walked a little more. “You know, I don’t think I ever told Burt about my time here.”

            “Why not?”

            “You know, I don’t think it ever came up.”

            “He never asked?”           

“No. I don’t think he ever did. I think that, along with a thousand other unanswered questions, is what did us in. You know, as a couple. There’s so much we—each of us—failed to ask. So much we don’t really know about each other. After 30 years of marriage. Amazing, isn’t it?”

            “So you think it’s over? This isn’t a trial separation?”

            Andrea thought for a minute. “I wish I had an answer. All I know is, one morning, after breakfast, while Burt was upstairs getting ready for our daily walk, I began to feel like I couldn’t breathe. So I grabbed my purse, my keys and a parka. I felt if I waited even long enough to compose a note that I’d suffocate and die on the kitchen floor. So I left.”

            “Sounds pretty scary.”

            “My therapist said I had a panic attack.”

            “Sounds like it.”

            “You’d like my therapist.”

            “How so?”

            “Oh, he’s just smart and kind. And he calls me on my stuff. Like you always did.”

            “Well, then, he must be brilliant. I’m glad you’ve got someone to help see you through this. It’s not easy. I know.”

            “You’ve been through this? A breakup?”

            “Decades ago. My first serious gay relationship. My only one, before John.”

            “And now?”           

“I was thinking, before we ran into each other, how much I wish John could be here this weekend. You can’t believe the day I’ve had. I’ve run into so many people from my time here. Significant people. Like you.”

            Andrea smiled. “This is me.” She beeped open her Chrysler 300 rental. “It really is a pimp-mobile, isn’t it? I asked for something sleek with decent mileage and I get a car that should come with a matching leopard-skin coat and hat.”

            “I can picture that.” The glare of energy-efficient fluorescents threw an eerie, retro horror movie cast over us. Cicadas sang their hymn to a southern summer.

            “Well. I guess I should head back. Thanks, Drew. I enjoyed having dinner with you.”

            “Me, too. Much better than the first one. With your parents. And Joel.”

            “You remember my nerdy little brother? Get this: he grew out of his geeky looks, found out he had a knack for acting and he’s starring in a what they’re calling a ‘drama-com’. ‘Temptation.’ That’s the name of it. He plays the hunky patriarch—as well as his character’s evil twin.”

            My incredulous look must have given me away.

            “I’m serious. As my son, Aaron says, you just can’t make this shit up.”

            “Well, move over, Betty Rollins.”

            “Huh?’

            “You—not Betty—have now given me the best reunion story.”

            “Glad to oblige.”

            Andrea leaned in, kissed me on the cheek and then slid into the driver’s seat.

            “Keep me posted?”

            “You mean at the next reunion? We’ll be over 90 by then.”

            “My contact information’s on the Alumni Reunion page. Let me know how you’re doing.”

            “Give John a hug for me. And tell him, for me, he got one of the good ones.”

            I watched as Andrea pulled away, made a left-turn signal, paused to wave and then accelerated slowly, and then with a roar, away from our lovely time together.