"Thank you very much for the opportunity, sir,” I said extending my hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both,” he said as he shook my hand and then Aiden's in turn.
He returned to the hallway stopping to ask something of the receptionist, while Aiden and I stepped into the arriving elevator.
I hadn’t known how I would respond once Aiden and I were alone.
I had kind of hoped to get a head start while leaving as to avoid any awkward reunion , but here we were trapped in the small steel box carrying us both back to the first floor. He leaned against the railing of the elevator looking me over. I recognized the look on his face as reminiscent of the boy I had once known.
"Blair Michaels," he said with a huge grin lighting up his face and finally acknowledging what neither of us had said in the conference room. "I can hardly believe it. How the hell are you?"
"Aiden," I said with a calm smile, cautious to reveal too much emotion. "How have you been?"
God, he was cute.
"Good... great," he answered. "I wasn’t expecting to see you. Wow."
At that point the elevator door opened and I darted out as soon as I could fit through the door.
"It's great to see you Aiden," I blurted over my shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow."
I surged towards my car, but to no avail since he caught up with me in the parking lot placing a hand on my elbow as he stepped alongside me.
"Have lunch with me,” he said.
He never was one to take a hint.
I eyed him suspiciously, not sure what I was feeling. On the one hand I was glad to see an old friend, and we had been good friends after all. I had often regretted losing touch. Perhaps it would be nice to catch up again.
We had been children then and now we were adults, completely different circumstances.
I had a chance to get to know him within a whole new context.
On the other hand, I thought, he is now the enemy.
I came into this opportunity fully prepared to use every resource at my dispense to win this job, and he was my competition. I didn’t want to get too close, even on a casual level.
I would have to be careful.
"I don't know, Aiden,” I said. "It is good to see you. Really it is. But do you think we should be socializing? We are, after all competing for the same position."
"Blair," he said. "We haven't seen each other in ages. I have wondered about you off and on for years. I'd love to catch up. Wouldn't you? I mean we have to work together, you know. Who knows? Maybe we'll pick up where we left off."
What on earth did he mean by that?
"Okay, fine,” I reluctantly agreed, though I wasn’t sure where exactly we had left off.
I smiled as we walked across the street to the charming bistro. I tried to ignore the flutter I felt in my heart as he held the door open for me.
The sun gleamed off the metal window frames and illuminated the small diner.
Despite my misgivings I soon felt the familiar mood of friendship that we had shared so long ago. We ordered toasted sandwiches and kettle chips and took our food over to the table. He removed his jacket and laid it over the back of the chair, allowing me to see just how much he had really filled out in the torso and shoulders.
Surely he worked out, I thought.
He sat down and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt, exposing a Celtic tattoo on his left forearm. I had a hard time believing how much he had changed over the years. I remembered the somewhat timid boy who had once cringed at the idea of needles, and here he sat showing off his ink.
I didn’t know any lawyers with tattoos.
Maybe they were hiding under the nice suits they all wore.
"So what have you been up to for the past seven years?" he said once we were settled.
"I guess it has been that long hasn't it,” I realized. "Not since, when..."
"... just before we left for college,” he finished.
"I went on to Florida. Florida State University,” I said, picking at my chips.
"That's a good school,” he said.
"Then I completed law school there in the state. I only just moved here about a week ago."
"No kidding,” he said.
"Do you remember Kelsey Anderson?" I asked.
"Wasn't she in drama club?" he asked. "Cute red head, dated that football player for a little while?"
"Yeah," I nodded nibbling on my sandwich. "She's my roommate."
"No way!" he said in disbelief. "How the fuck did you guys get in touch?"
"Yeah," I said. "We kind of struck up a friendship over the years. After high school we stayed in touch online. Then one day she messaged me and asked if she could add me to her holiday mailing list. I said, sure. We stayed in touch and found that we had a lot of the same interests. We have a small apartment together in the city."