Catching Caitlin (2 page)

“Good, I’ll be right
back.” The waitress disappeared.

“Ugh, one of those?”
Aaron said, shriveling his nose. “You know they’re premixed here. Besides,” he
leaned back in his chair. “I like something a little harder.”

I shrugged. “I haven’t
had one in a long time! I think I’m allowed that much.” I slouched a little,
trying to relax. “How have you been anyway? I was surprised when you told me
you were moving back to Bangor.”

He nodded. “I didn’t have
a choice. My student debt kind of forced my hand. I’m almost jealous that you
aren’t done yet. My waiting period was up last year, and now I gotta pay the
big bucks.”

“Don’t be. I wasn’t
studying for anything great anyway — Theater. You were doing something
science-related weren’t you...? Biology?” The waitress came back, pausing our
conversation to hand out our drinks. Aaron paid with cash.

After the waitress
thanked him for the tip, he looked at me. “Environmental Science. That was what
I cared about,” he corrected me. I picked up my drink and took a sip, savoring
the salt. Aaron chuckled.

I swallowed after
thinking for a moment. “I actually took one an entry level environmental
science class right before I left... I liked it.”

Aaron nodded. “It’s
interesting stuff. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why you were majoring in
Theater though. It doesn’t seem like it fits you very well. Anyway,” he pushed
away from the table, interrupting the conversation. “I’ll be right back.”

He was good at that, just
disappearing in the middle of a conversation. When we first met, it took me a
while to get used to that particular habit of his.

I scanned the crowd,
having tuned out the roar of the club. The flashing lights were dancing over
the ceilings, passing over the tight clothes of the other party goers. Most
everyone looked pretty plain. I thought about my impromptu call to Aaron. What
was he thinking when I called him out of the blue like that? It had been a
while since we talked, and maybe something could blossom from that?

No one interesting was
dancing, so I looked to the bar, taking big sips of my margarita. When I saw
something that made my heart stop in my throat.

Hugh Evans.

The liquid in my mouth
threatened to choke me. I couldn’t believe I recognized him so quickly. But
that pang I felt in my chest was sincere, and as real as it got. My eyes
widened, and I felt my palm started to sweat as my heart raced. I forgot
myself.

Had it really been five
years? Even from that across the room, he didn’t look like he had aged at all
since we were teenagers. Of course, he had always been older than me, that was
part of his charm. He spotted me between the passing people around us and
approached me. I looked around for Aaron. Still gone. How convenient for him.
Maybe it was better this way.

I slammed my drink,
trying to act like I didn’t see him. He didn’t seem to fall for it. The whole
room felt like it went silent.

“Cat,” Hugh whispered. “I
wasn’t sure if that was you.”

I nodded, swallowing my
drink. I was wrong too, he had aged, but
gracefully.
And not just
physically either, I could already see the subtle changes in his demeanor, the
slight lines on his face developing.

“It’s good to see you,
Hugh,” I stood like a plank on end, barely staying upright. He must’ve noticed,
moving forward and embracing me. Oh god that felt good.

I crumpled his shirt
under my hands, holding him against me. He smelled like nostalgia, that faint
and fleeting sensation. And briefly, I forgot why we broke up in the first
place.

He pulled away and
smiled, his eyes crinkling ever-so-slightly, that wiseness creeping in.

I glanced down at his
hands, scanning for obstacles, something. This man couldn’t possibly be single.

A gold band hugged his
ring finger. I knew it.

“Oh! You’re married?” I
glanced back down into my glass.

He held up his finger,
and his face went blank for a moment. I felt inappropriate.

“No, I’m not married
anymore. It’s kind of a long story, but I guess you could say I keep it for
sentimental reasons.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure how
to reply. While we had been together for a while when we were younger, it had
been too long to act as if five years hadn’t vanished before our eyes. I picked
up my glass, lifting it to my mouth. Empty. I’d forgotten.

“Hey, we should catch up
sometime though, I didn’t even know you were back in the area,” he said.

I set my glass down, and
turned to him. “Yeah, I’m back from school for a little bit, while I get my
feet back on the ground.”

“‘Back on’? What
happened?”

“That is also kind of a
long story,” I said. I twirled my glass in my hand, hoping I could make a drink
appear. Where was that waitress?

“Well, maybe we could
swap long stories over lunch, catch up again. I’m only going to be in town for
the rest of the week, so when are you free?” He took a quick sip of his drink.
I could tell what it was just by looking at it: scotch on the rocks. It was the
only thing he ever drank. He said it ‘sounded manly,’ and he was right. It was
manly. Even when he was just a senior in high school, and I was his sophomore
crush.

“I guess I could go for a
lunch.” I didn’t want to seem too desperate.

He didn’t seem to
acknowledge my answer. Maybe he already decided I agreed. “I’m surprised to see
you drinking,” he ran his hand over the lip of my glass, taking a bit of salt
and licking it. I frowned.

“Oh yeah? I’ll have you
know I took the ‘drinking’ plunge freshman year.” I felt my cheeks grow hot,
feeling a sense of confusion overwhelm me. Was I angry? Or just embarrassed?

He didn’t answer. He took
a swig of his drink, the sound of the ice cubes clinking against the glass. He
clenched his jaw, and his eyes met mine. He brought the glass down, and
swallowed hard. I forgot that we were in a club, the roar completely gone. The
music and flashing lights absent.

“You know it’s my
favorite,” he raised his glass. “Do you still have the same cell— what was it?
345-2845?”

My lips parted in
astonishment. “Yes. You remembered.”

“I do my best. I’ll give
you a call tomorrow, for now I have to wander back and find my associates.” He
winked at me and moved back into the crowd.

I continued to watch him
for a short while, still trying to wrestle my emotions down. I picked up my
glass and gazed into its empty bottom, and let out a ragged sigh. Only a small
drop left. I took a bit of salt off the edge and licked it off my finger.

Aaron came back to the
table, looking a little pleased with himself.

I fed him. “What are you
smiling about?” I felt a little light headed.

He sat back down in his
seat and rolled his eyes. He leaned close as if we were sharing a secret.“I saw
you were taking to Hugh.”

I shot him an agitated
look. “Yeah, what of it?” Was he jealous?

“You two looked thirsty,
and I don’t mean for some drinks,” Aaron said. I couldn’t read his tone, but I
decided it didn’t matter. I sighed.

I stared over his
shoulder, watching Hugh with his friends. “Well... he had a wedding band on. So
I think he’s married.”

“That’s not surprising.”
He turned in his seat and looked at Hugh who had rejoined his two friends...
associates he called them. “What’s he doing in here anyway? Do you know why
he’s in town?”

“What? You do? Did he
lose a scholarship? Is he in the poor house?”

He chuckled, humoring my
bad mood. “I thought maybe you two talked about it. You seemed to be getting
pretty intimate.”

“We didn’t really get a
chance.”

“What happened?”

“Aaron, I don’t know if I
want to get into it. I just feel a little mixed up is all.”

He raised an eyebrow at
me, then frowned. “‘Cause of his wedding ring?”

“He said he wasn’t
married anymore, but he hesitated.”

Aaron straightened his
back and took a drink. He licked his lips loudly, mostly to annoy me more than
anything. He shrugged. “What if he is?”

“I don’t want to get
involved with him if he is... but he did invite me to lunch.”

I tore my eyes off Hugh
and looked at Aaron again. As soon as I did, I managed to pick out Hugh’s
familiar laugh from across the room. Aaron grinned at me. “You agreed right?”

“Yes.”

He finished his drink and
slammed it on the table. “Well, you’ll find out then won’t you? Don’t worry
about it so much.” He lifted my glass, as if he were testing it. “Looks like
you need another drink. I’ll get that sad-lookin’ waitress. We’ll have fun
tonight, okay?”

I forced a smile, feeling
a little better. “Thanks Aaron. You’re a good friend.”

He nodded to me, raising
his glass.

***

A
fter a couple of hours
at the bar, it was definitely time for me to go home. Aaron drove me back to my
house, only hesitating to ask if I needed company.

“Are you going to be
alright?”

I nodded, fighting the
gentle spin of the world. “You got me way too drunk.”

Aaron shook his head.
“That isn’t my fault. Are you going to be okay?” he repeated.

“I’ll be fine. Thanks for
the night, and the ride.” I fumbled through my purse at the door. After finding
my keys, I barely managed to slid it in and unlock the door. Before I stumbled
inside, I waved goodbye to Aaron.

Only when his car was
backing out of the driveway did I regret my decision. Some comfort might have
been nice. What was I even thinking agreeing to meet with Hugh? We had a brief
relationship in high school, but shouldn’t high school sweethearts stay in the
past? The lights were on in the house, but I didn’t really want to see my
parents.

I let myself in and found
my dad watching TV in the living room. He was sprawled out on the couch, a foot
perched up on the coffee table. Instead of his usual beer I was used to seeing,
he had a tall glass of iced tea.

“Hey there, kiddo, what
were you up to?” He leaned forward, taking his eyes off the TV. It was weird to
not hear his characteristic drunken drawl.

“I just went out with
Aaron to try and catch up a little.”

“How’d it go?”

“It was alright.” I
steadied myself against the kitchen counter, feeling the effects of having a
little too much. I doubt Aaron should have driven, but maybe he was fine.

“Do you want to watch
this movie with me?” He pointed at the TV. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was on,
Jim Carrey was fooling his landlord into thinking he didn’t have any pets. “I
love this guy, he’s just ridiculous. Kind of reminds me of myself when I was
younger.” He scratched his stubble.

“That’s ridiculous.
You’ve never been funny,” I said.

He brought up his fists
and mock jabbed the air. “Whoa, low blow on this old man huh? Just because I
don’t go to comedy clubs anymore doesn’t mean I’m not funny.” He leaned forward
from the couch. “Remember what I used to tell you when you were younger?”

I thought for a moment,
having no clue. “Vaguely.”

“One day when we were
shopping for school clothes for you, you asked why the mannequins don’t have
heads — ,”

“Oh!” I chuckled, “You
told me they were shopping for new heads, and that they would nab mine right
off my neck if I didn’t stop wandering off.” I frowned. “It wasn’t funny! I was
scared of mannequins for years after that.” He laughed. He always had a big
belly laugh, and now that he didn’t really have the belly, it made him seem
larger than life.

“It was hilarious,” he
said, catching his breath. “Your eyes went all wide and you asked, ‘Really?’”

It was kind of a funny
image, terrifying a little girl about mannequins in the store. I sat down on
the couch, trying to talk away him so he wouldn’t smell the alcohol on me. “You
went to comedy clubs?”

He thought for a moment,
scratching his face. “I used to go to this one place called ‘The Fiesta,” which
was downtown. It’s gone now of course, but I had some good times. I made good
cash too.”

“Why’d you stop?”

“I got fired one night. I
had been drinking to try and get my courage up, and the manager of the place
had done his best to ignore it for a while, but I was really bad that night. He
pulled me off the stage and told me to go home.” He was silent for a moment.

He glanced at the clock,
watching it as he continued. “I want you to know, Cat, that I’m glad you’re
home. I meant it yesterday.” He looked at me. “I don’t know what happened, and
I won’t ask, because you have always been a little private.”

I wrung my hands in my
lap, squeezing them until they turned white. I know my cheeks turned red too. I
don’t know if it was the alcohol, or my shame.

“I never really felt like
I could talk to you before, dad, you were always...”

“I know, I know. I’m
sorry. I don’t know if it means very much coming from me now, but it’s all I
can say. I hope I can prove to you that things have changed around here.” I
looked away for a moment, watching Jim Carrey make a fool of himself in front
of a bunch of reporters.

After a moment, I
interrupted the movie, “I noticed the roof had been changed. Did you do that?”
I didn’t feel as dizzy, maybe I was sobering up.

“Yeah, I did that last
summer, it was a doozy. Your mother still won’t let me make any changes inside
the house. Says she needs it to stay comfortable.”

“I see that.” I looked
toward my parent’s bedroom, knowing that she was probably passed out again.

“I worry about her, you
know?” my dad said, startling me. His voice lost its jolliness, as if he was
talking about someone he used to know a long time ago. “It’s been really hard.
When I started going to AA meetings, I invited her along.”

“Did she ever go?”

He shook his head. “I
gave up on asking her, I just pray that she’ll eventually want to take that
step. But I do worry about her. She can’t keep this up forever. No one can.”