The Do-Over(24)

The only man I’d ever stayed up with until dawn talking the night away was going to be sitting across a board room table from me in two weeks.

Wes. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Or stop the overtime beating of my heart. Wes. I never got to say goodbye to him and now I was going to get to say hello again.

Wes. Will you even remember me? Or have you had a million talk until dawn chats with women since our night together?

What if he doesn’t remember me? It was a long time ago. But if I closed my eyes, I could see it like yesterday. I could smell the sea air. I could feel my heart soar. I could feel what he made me feel. But what if he doesn’t remember?

Picking up my cell, I dialed Laynie’s number.

“Have you slit your wrists yet?” was the way she answered her phone.

I had to think for a moment to process what she was talking about. Oh, Matthew. Fuck. That already seemed like a million years ago. Matthew who?

“No wrist slitting here. We have to buy me an outfit I don’t own yet,” I informed her.

“I’m intrigued. Go on.”

“You are absolutely not going to believe this. I can’t believe this. What if he doesn’t remember me?”

“What are you talking about, Tara?” Laynie sounded annoyed and confused.

“Have you heard of C-Kicker?”

“Of course I have. They make the cutest workout clothes. My friend Fawn loves them because she can wear them with or without prosthetics.”

“Well in two weeks we are pitching them for a series of projects.”

“That’s great news.”

“That’s not the news.”

“Well then, what’s the news?” Patience had never been Laynie’s strong suit.

“Do you remember a gazillion years ago, before I met Frank, I went on a Windjammer Cruise?”

“Of course I remember, I lent you the jade outfit for that trip. I loved that outfit. It was a size two,” she reminisced.

“Aww, the jade outfit.” I was right there with her. “That was so gorgeous, with the cropped jacket and pants.”

“It was my only size two ever,” Laynie lamented.

“It was the only night in my entire life that I ever fit into a size two,” I confessed, remembering Wes’ face when I walked out in that outfit. It was stunning and although he never said anything to me, his face and eyes had said it all.

“So, do you remember I told you about a guy that I met that I had stayed up all night talking to and I really liked him?”

“The Marine?” she asked.

“No, not the Marine. I slept with the Marine, but I never slept with this guy.”

“The guy with the actress girlfriend?” Laynie had an amazing memory.

“Yes! Him!” I was so excited she remembered. “I really liked him. Well, you are not going to believe this.”

“What?”

“He is the CEO of C-Kicker. And I’m seeing him in two weeks. Oh my God, Laynie, I was just so taken with this man. I don’t know that he’ll even remember me.”

“Of course he’ll remember you, Tara. His memory might need a little nudge to place you, but then he’ll remember. And you’re right, you do need a brand new outfit, because we are going to make sure that he never forgets.”



Not even an hour had passed when Laynie called me back.

“Okay, so I’ve been stalking him on social media. It is so wild. So many of my friends are friends with his friends. This guy is like right there. Like if you reach out, he’s there and he doesn’t seem to be married.”

I immediately logged onto Facebook to take a look. Pulling up his page, the profile picture was a shot of him taken at the U.S. Open event, but it was a different image than what had appeared in the NY Post. This picture was both clear and in color. Wes was smiling. That smile. The smile that made my heart feel like a pinball careening off the walls of my chest.

“Mmm,” it just came out of me.

“Did you mewl? Did I really hear that?”

Laughing, “I know, don’t get sick. It was gross. But just look at those lips and that hair.”

“He’s really attractive,” Laynie agreed. “You can see even in a picture that the guy is really charismatic.”

I sat nodding at her words as I scrolled through his Friends’ list.

“Holy shit, Layn, did you see who he is friends with? He’s friends with your crazy friend Fawn.”

We had been at a mutual friend’s wedding and Fawn ended up sitting next to me. For nearly two hours I said “Uh-huh” and nodded at appropriate intervals as Fawn went on and on and on about all kinds of crazy shit. Spying Laynie across the room I mouthed, “Save me.” Very goodhearted, Fawn would give you the shirt off her back, but then you’d be forced to listen to a lengthy dissertation on her latest get rich scheme.

“I’m texting Fawn now to find out if she really knows him or if he’s just someone on her Facebook page, because as we well know, she collects people.”

As I waited for Fawn to answer Laynie’s text, I stared at his full lower lip. It still had the same effect on me – all these years later. Closing my eyes, I could feel that dark, star-filled night wrapped all around me. It felt like yesterday. And I was listening to Wes’ melodic voice.