Ride to Reunion

John was reluctant to go, but he knew he had to face his past to get on with his future. His ten-year high school reunion was going to be awkward, at best. He knew no matter who he ran into at the function, they would judge him only on what they had heard on the news and the rumors from school.

The last time the class saw Tina was at his high school graduation. Ironically, that was also the day she got arrested in front of the entire graduating class. John still remembered the look on her face as the police put handcuffs on her and placed her in the police cruiser in front of everyone. Tina, or back then, Ms. Wilson, was being arrested for having sex with a minor. That minor was John.

John and Ms. Wilson had been secretly dating ever since summer break and continued the affair all school year. He had thought they were able to keep their relationship secret. Somehow, someone found out about them dating and made it public. When that happened, it was only a matter of time before Tina would lose her job and get arrested. John did not want any of that to happen, but it did.

Now, ten years later, he is putting on his nicest suit and getting ready for his reunion. “Tina!” John yells. “Are you about ready?”

Tina had been ready for the last ten years. But thanks to the judicial system, she had just been released from prison six months ago. When John gave her the idea of going to the high school reunion, she was hesitant at first. As time went on, and the more she thought about it, she agreed to go. “I’ve been ready for a while,” she said from the couch downstairs.

“Oh,” John said, “I didn’t realize you were already down here.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “You seem to be the nervous one. Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” John took a step back and looked Tina over. “My God. You are absolutely gorgeous.”

She smiles. “Thank you. And you are the most handsome man there is.” She moves closer and gives John a long embrace and a kiss.

“Come on,” she said. “We’re going to be late.”

“That’s fine,” John said. “We can make an entrance.” He held Tina’s hand as they walked out the front door to the waiting limousine. “Michael!” John yelled. “We are ready to go.”

Michael was not only John’s limo driver, but he was also his personal assistant, or butler, if you will. He was like a brother to John and would do anything for him. In fact, it was his idea for John and Tina to go to the high school reunion in the first place. He thought John needed to face his past and the critics from years ago to move forward in his life.

John on the other hand, just wanted to brag about two things: His wife Tina, and his multi-million-dollar business that allowed him and Tina to live a life of luxury.

Michael opened the door for the two of them. They sat in the back and John reached for the bottle of scotch and a glass. “Starting a little early, aren’t you?” Tina said.

“Just one to calm the nerves a bit,” John said. “Would you like a drink?”

“That actually sounds good,” Tina said. John reached for the bottle of gin and poured her a gin on the rocks with a lemon. “Thank you,” she said as he handed her the drink.

John lifts his glass. “A toast. To the most beautiful woman in the world and to spending a lovely evening with her. Cheers.” They each take a sip.

“I didn’t know she was going to be at the reunion?” Tina said sarcastically. She knew John was talking about her.

John giggled. “Beauty with a sense of humor. How did I get so lucky?” John took a moment to look at the dress that Tina was wearing. “You know, there are going to be a lot of guys looking at you tonight and they are going to see exactly why I fell in love with you.”

Tina smiled. “Why did you think I wore I this dress? I picked it out just for tonight to make everyone jealous.”

“Well,” John said, “if they aren’t jealous, they will definitely be envious.”

“You’re so sweet,” Tina said. She leaned over and kissed John.

He looked at her again. “Something is missing,” John said. “It’s not quite right.”

Tina starts to look at herself. “What do you mean? What’s missing?”

John reaches in his jacket pocket and reveals a jewelry box. He opens it to reveal a diamond and sapphire necklace. “This is missing.”

“Oh my!” Tina’s smile was almost as big as the diamond. She reached for the necklace and placed it around her neck. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you, John.”

John looked her over again. “Nope… something is still missing.”

This surprised Tina and she knew John had something else to give her.

John reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out another jewelry box and opened it to reveal a matching bracelet.

“Oh my god!” Tina was ecstatic. “John, you didn’t have to do this.”

“No, I didn’t,” John said. “But I wanted to.”

Tina placed the bracelet on her wrist and gave John another hug and kiss. “I think someone is going to get lucky tonight.”

“Really?” John said. “That is one lucky man. I wish it were me.”

Tina looks at John and smiles. “Yeah, me too.” They both laugh as they kiss each other one more time. “So,” Tina said, “do I look okay to you now, or is something still missing?”

John leans back and looks Tina over. “Well, I guess it’ll do for now. Later though, I’m going to want you to remove that dress.”

Tina smiles. She leans closer to John and whispers, “I can do that now, if you’d like.”

John picks up the phone to talk to Michael up front. “Michael. We want to make a grand entrance. Can you just drive around for about fifteen minutes?”

Tina looks at John as if he had made a mistake.

“Sorry, Michael… thirty minutes.”

“Will do,” Michael said as he hung up the phone. He knew what John and Tina were going to be doing in the back of the limo. “Looks like I’m going to have some cleaning up to do in the morning,” he said to himself.

John pressed the button to raise the partition to hide Michael from view.

Thirty-minutes later Michael is still driving the limo around the block of the convention center where the reunion was being held. He continued to drive until he received the okay from John to proceed to the reunion. “John must be having fun,” Michael thought to himself. “Thirty-minutes and he’s still going.”

A few minutes later the partition dropped. “Michael!” John yelled from the back. “Pull over, now! We have a problem.”

Michael found an empty parking lot to pull into and stopped the limo. He got out and ran to the back door. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Well,” John said. “Let’s just say Tina’s new bracelet fits around other things besides her wrist.”

Michael looked inside and saw Tina on her knees franticly trying to remove her new diamond and sapphire bracelet from John’s manhood. “Michael,” Tina said, “the latch is stuck on his…,” she did not want to finish the sentence. “stuck on his pubic hair.”

Michael was trying not to laugh. “I think I have some scissors in the front.” He went to the front of the limo and found a small pocketknife in the glovebox. He went in the back to assist Tina. “This is all I had.”

“A knife?” she said.

“KNIFE!?” John yelled. He did not like the sound of that. “Placing an open blade that close to my boys is not something I want.”

“Don’t worry, John,” Michael said. “It’s a small knife.” He smiled at John and gave him a wink.

Tina took the knife and carefully cut the hair that was caught on the latch of the bracelet and pulled the bracelet off John. “There.” She handed the knife back to Michael. “Thank you, Michael. You’re a life saver.”

Michael looked at the knife. “Why don’t you just go ahead and keep that,” he said with a smile. He looked at John. “Should we continue to the reunion?”

John looked at Tina. “What do you think?”

“Might as well,” Tina said. “We’re all dressed up. And if anyone asks why we are late, we will have a nice story to tell.” She smiled at John.

“We are NOT telling anyone about this,” John said. “Right Michael?”

Michael looked at John. “Hmm. This looks like a nice time to ask for a raise or a bonus.”

Everyone laughed. “Let’s go. I’m getting hungry,” John said.

“Typical man,” Tina said. “Either a nap or a sandwich right after sex.”

Michael laughs and returns to the driver seat of the limo and proceeds to the reunion. A few minutes later, they pull into the driveway and he opens the door for John and Tina.

John exits first and he assists Tina out of the limo. “Thank you, Michael,” John said.

John and Tina only got a couple of steps away when Michael yelled out, “Hey, John!” John stopped and looked at Michael. “Your fly’s open.”

John looked down and saw his zipper was not pulled up. He laughed as he secured his package and waved a thank you to Michael.

John and Tina walk into the reunion and had the time of their lives.

The end.