FATED REUNIONS [NATHANIEL]

As she stood there contemplating the various meanings of life, a man with a head of black hair passed her by. Piper slowly lifted her head, ripping her gaze from the small crack in the sidewalk to the man with the head of black hair. Funny, because it was an incredibly familiar head of black hair.

Piper studied him, and soon after, it hit her – no way, that cannot be Nate. Nathaniel Brandt? The boy who she loved for a very long time, only to slip away from her grasp? The dumb, extremely obtuse boy who never realized her feelings, nor even tried (maybe he did) to interpret her oh-so-subtle attempts to bring their friendly relationship even further?

Was it that Nate?

Looking at him, she grew more confident in her deductions. Yes, that was most definitely Nate. He’d matured. His posture was more manly, more dignified, his facial features more handsome, but still managing to retain his dense (dense to Piper) demeanor. A slight, lopsided smile allowed itself to decorate her visage, her countenance brightening.

Oh man, he’s looking at me. Damn, I don’t have any good clothes to show him. Oh well, I never really cared about those, anyway—wait, where are you going?

Piper watched, her expression becoming more and more crestfallen, as the man, presumably Nate, turned around and walked away. He even looked like he was speeding up, as if he were trying to get away from her. What? What happened?

Perhaps… he didn’t recognize me?

She was becoming more self-conscious, her conclusions slowly falling apart. Did she merely jump to conclusions? She’d been dreaming of the day that she met Nate again, so perhaps that clouded her judgment. Piper watched in vain hope as the man continued to walk away, his back turned. It hurt. But, no, looking at him, he was definitely the Nate that she liked so long ago.

Suddenly, her girly demeanor was replaced by a look of anger. Fueled by extreme irritation, her hands balled up into fists as she made her way towards Nate. Her fedora nearly flew off her head. It would’ve been a pity to get it dirty, so a very, very, very miniscule part of her breathed a sigh of relief. But that wasn’t the important thing to be worried about. Piper was worried, oh yes. The man that she loved (and probably still did, only she didn’t realize it yet), was about to get away from her once more. Fate had graced her with a lovely opportunity; it would be such a shame to let it pass. She walked until she was right behind him, and then, gathering power from all the places of her body, she moved in for the kill.

Whack!

A mighty, womanly backhand connected successfully with the back of Nate’s head. He whirled around and yelled, “What the hell was that for!?” More temporary anger.

“That was for you, stupid nut! What, you didn’t even have the common courtesy to say a simple ‘hello?’” she retorted, raising her voice to make a point. But that wasn’t the finishing blow.

“Wait…” Piper narrowed her eyes suspiciously, tilting her head to the side just a tiny bit, adding to the generally intimidating effect that she was trying to portray. “Are you actually going to tell me that you forgot?” She was very tempted to follow the statement with another slap, but she waited. She forced herself to wait, but she wasn’t going to be for long. If Nate didn’t remember, she’d…

Of course, all of her vexation was strictly temporary; she’d get over it soon. Well, Nate better hope it did.

What was this monstrosity? Did he really forget about her, Piper McQueen, his best childhood friend? Did he perhaps go through some sort of brainwashing ritual? Because that was how it seemed to Piper at the moment.

She brought her hand up and made a dramatic “face-palming” motion, letting the dense boy know that she obviously knew what she was doing at that he was the one at fault. As she leaned on one leg, she thought about what she could do to him before actually letting him know about her apparently secret identity. A small part of her was afraid that she actually had gotten the wrong person…

… but of course, that was all cleared up when the man called himself Nate Brandt. Um, hello? I know that already. Let’s move on. Like, how about the part where I smack you in your sorry head once more to let you know that I actually have a right to? You know, because… you kind of forgot who I am? On what planet is that not rude? Of course, this entire useless monologue that resided inside her head wasn’t going to help him recover his memories, so the woman decided to do it for him: Piper style.

“Crash course for the amnesiac,” she started, twirling her hair with her finger, as she began to walk around Nate in a slow circle, like a predator locked onto its prey. “Let’s go back in time. All the way back. To a time where, hmm… let’s see, how about that time in high school? Actually, no, scratch that, let’s go all the way back to middle school. Ah, those were the days,” she sighed, shaking her head. “It’s too bad you don’t remember them, huh, Nate Brandt?” Piper made sure to emphasize his name. Piper’s anger was quelled – now she just wanted to see how the big goof reacted when he realized that he was talking to the Piper McQueen.

“Anyway, middle school. There was a girl from your middle school days, someone that I think you cherished quite a bit. A best friend is what I would call it. Only now, I think it’s more accurate to say childhood friend,” she stated, tilting her head thoughtfully, successfully pulling an ingenious coy façade. “Is it coming back yet? Has the ‘ah, sou ka!’ moment come yet? Would you like for me to be straight with you?” The woman sighed, folding her arms across her chest and shaking her head. A tight smile pulled at the corners of her lips, although whether it was from pity, remorse or sadness, one couldn’t tell. Perhaps it was all three.

“Well, that was a pretty bad start, wouldn’t you agree? Let’s start off on the right foot, or whatever the saying is. The name’s Piper McQueen. Yoroshiku.”

The moment Piper heard Nate speak his girlfriend’s name in such an adoring fashion, she knew without a doubt that the old fool was in love. I should tell him that he’s practically drooling, but I’ll let him fantasize about all the naughty things that he’s bound to be thinking about right now, she thought haughtily, allowing a snarky, all-knowing smile spread across her face. The young woman, being assertive, allowed herself to lead Nate into the cute, homely little café. She pushed the door open, cuing the sound of a bell. Almost instinctively, she took a curt sniff, just to get a taste of the atmosphere. The smell of fresh coffee signified that it was indeed a very good café, and one worth noting. She took great care to file the words Java Café into her little archive inside her mind. Sometimes, it was all about the atmosphere that a café set that would gauge the level of enjoyment for a certain morning customer, and welcoming effluvia was always a plus.Piper hadn’t been able to whip her head around to witness the man’s various facial expressions, a pity, though the shock in his voice allowed her to fully visualize it in her head. A chuckle escaped her lips as she busily scoured the room for a comfortable-looking table. Spotting an adorable table for two, right beside the windows, she once again set off on a journey to this magnificent dining board.

Once the two of them had taken a seat, Piper was able to fully comprehend Nate’s ever so interesting visage. As she neatly planted her elbow on the cold, wooden surface and rested her cheek on her hand, she watched as Nate decided to laugh it all off, as if it were a big joke. If they were still in their middle school days, Piper might’ve been compelled to punch him, but the fruits of her maturity shown as she laughed along with him. She swung a leg over the other and said, “Actually, I don’t have anybody I’m seeing at the moment. Jeez, for some people, it’s all about your outward appearance; never truly wanting to actually get to know you. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve never really been one to reciprocate other people’s ‘feelings’ for me, because, let’s face it, they have none.” She offered a sheepish smile. “Of course, when I actually had somebody I liked, that certain someone was too dense to put the puzzle pieces together.”

Piper pursed her lips, twirling stray strands of brown hair as she pondered what she’d like to order. “I don’t know. Perhaps just a coffee? I’m smelling it from over here.” Another coy, sideways glance in his general direction. “I can pay, you know – just in case you don’t have anything in those pockets of yours. Catching up with a nice cup of coffee sounds awfully nice, don’t you think?”

Piper seemed to notice with uncanny perception that she was successful at making Nate flushed. Mission accomplished, she thought with (sadistic) glee. She leaned in a bit more, twirling her finger around the rim of her coffee cup, taking a whiff. She took the cup with her hand and brought it to her lips, taking a “genteel” sip before setting it down with her pinky extended. It was probably her manner of speaking – even she would admit it, she can be a bit flirty at times. But for this, she wasn’t trying to be a terrible flirt with Nate. Yes, she wanted her fun, but she wasn’t trying to force herself onto him.

Of course, that was most likely how Nate was interpreting it, and it was becoming pretty damn hilarious. Hey, a girl has to indulge sometimes.

Still, Piper knew that Nate was a hopeless romantic – otherwise, he would probably never try to cheat on his girlfriend. Piper knew that much. As such, she attempted to direct her attention elsewhere, to have a nice, friendly conversation with her ex-crush. Sigh, sometimes, for some people, their first loves would never be answered. That was how it was for Piper.

“Thanks for the coffee, Nate,” she thanked him graciously, taking another well-deserved sip. Ah, pure bliss. She really, really needed her morning coffee – if she didn’t get it, it would ruin her mood for the rest of the day. Unless, of course, she was exposed to certain stimuli. In this case, the stimulant was sitting right in front of her.

“Hmm… past five years, huh?” Piper pondered that for a moment. Well, if you excluded the parts about her sister, her life has been pretty much peachy; on track. Oh, yes, there was that model job that she’d gotten recently. But no, other than those, her life has been pretty dang normal. Which was perfectly fine – she wouldn’t have wanted otherwise. Would she tell Nate about her modeling job? She didn’t really like to boast about it (she never really referred to it as boasting, anyway. More like informing the ignorant about her career. No, not career. How about… her method for earning money?).

Yes. She tells.

She hesitated for a slight moment, allowing a curt pause to fill the silence, before saying, “I got myself a modeling job.” She searched Nate’s face for reactions, before continuing, “I only do it for the money, though. Since I was scouted, I thought, ‘Why not?’ It would’ve been terrible to let the opportunity pass, and I was really desperate at the time…” She allowed her voice to trail off, turning her head to one side. She gazed out the window, suddenly seeming like she were pondering the reason of life. Suddenly, it looked like she was the awkward one.

Another sheepish smile in Nate’s general direction. “Sorry, I don’t know. Sure, it’s great money, but… I don’t know, maybe I don’t have enough energy for it? It’s kind of awkward.” She pursed her lips, constructing her next words. “In case you were wondering… I go under the name Lola. Maybe you’ve seen me. Actually, wait; maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” Wow, Piper. Smooth. She smoothed out her hair, looking a bit flushed. “Well, if you were ever looking through magazines, you’d probably…” Her eyes lit up, and suddenly, the sweet, flushed girl demeanor was gone again.

“Ha! I was about to say ‘You’d probably recognize me’ or something along those lines, but no.” She smiled, suddenly waddling in self-confidence and affection. “What about you? How’s it going on your end? We didn’t keep in touch.” She was tempted to say something along the lines of: Other than your girlfriend, of course. But she bit her lip, adamant. She was not going to reunion what was becoming a sweet reunion. She’s save the snarky comments for later.

That was nice to know, Nate getting his bachelor’s degree in the arts. She fondly regarded past memories of his fanatic behavior towards photography. Piper remembered loathing photography (and she still does, though her pent-up hatred had toned down considerably). She still wonders how she manages to go on with her job, seeing as she has no love for it whatsoever. She had no particular talents, not many things going for her, and a considerable amount of weaknesses. It was a miracle, so to speak. Piper was, obviously, oblivious to her natural talent as a model. Maybe it was her looks – she couldn’t tell anymore.

“Wow, that’s nice. I suppose it is a difficult industry to get in, but quite frankly, I wouldn’t know much about it,” she blindly agreed with Nate, suddenly unaware of their subject of conversation. If they kept it up, she’d end up making herself look stupid in front of her ex-crush and their affectionate (as she would put it) reunion would be, in her opinion, utterly ruined. Her face displayed a slight look of confusion, with one eyebrow perked up and her nose wrinkled slightly. However, it immediately disappeared the moment Nate mentioned his photography job at Disneyland. She promised to herself that she wouldn’t laugh and make him look like a fool. The corner of her lip twitched.

Well, not too hard.

She let out a chuckle, somewhat dignified yet somehow casual (like, 20% formal and 80% wow-that’s-amazing-but-not-really). She, in no way, meant for it to seem hurtful. Well, it was how she usually acted around Nate (or, used to), so she figured that she’d be fine. However, she made a mental note to not push her luck. “Ha-ha. You’re as bad as me.”

Consider the luck pushed.

Instantly her face contorted from the guilt. This was perfectly visible on her face. She attempted to fix it, saying, “Well, I mean, as long as it gets the bills paid. It’s… not like my job is bad or anything. Gets the bills paid. Right.” Her fingers were secretly crossed, and she prayed to any deity that would listen to keep his emotions under control. Under any other normal circumstances, Piper would've realized that she was overreacting and proceeded to relax. However, these were not normal circumstances. At least, not to Piper. She awkwardly fumbled for her coffee cup, taking a sip. Please don’t take that the wrong way. Onegai! Imagine her relief when the subject was changed.

“Of course,” she immediately agreed, practically wiping the sweat away from her brow (inside her mind, of course). “It’d be my pleasure, Nate…” Piper hesitated, wondering if there was anything else for her to say. Details, perhaps? Wow, look at this situation becoming all professional.

“So…?” Piper looked up at Nate expectantly, waiting for him to continue with what he’d planned.