“Honestly Kaitlyn, the sign on the door said this band is debuting tonight and besides, who do you know that lives at the beach?” Tori asked.
“No one, I guess,” I sighed.
But, there was something about the voice that I recognized. I felt sure I had heard it before.
The mysterious voice began to sing and my thoughts drowned out the conversation around me. I dug deep into my memory grasping for any recollection I could muster.
Nothing sprang to my mind. But, that soothing melodic voice, crept up the back of my spine, tingling and sensuous, radiating through my chest. I just could not conjure up the face connected to the voice. The timbre resonated familiarity, but the perplexity remained.
“Seriously, Kaitlyn, what’s gotten into you?” Tori looked at me wide-eyed. “You don’t look so good.”
I didn’t realize it until she said it, but my face felt flush and my palms felt sweaty.
“I don’t know, guys. I just can’t explain it. I think I know the lead singer of this band. What was the band’s name again?”
“Big Five, or something cheesy like that. Why?” Lisa piped up.
“I don’t know. I just can’t place it…”
The voice on the stage mesmerized me. The face connected to the voice remained a mystery as the conversation swirled around me. I sat there and considered just getting up and walking toward the front of the stage to get a good look and quickly solve the mystery. But, to avoid looking like some desperate middle-aged groupie heading to the stage for attention, I stayed seated and half-heartedly listened to Tori drone on about her workout routine and her ‘clean eating’ diet.
Suddenly, the voice was behind me.
“Kaitlyn?”
The girls at my table froze. Their eyes looked up at the mystery man standing behind me. I whirled around to see who caused my friends’ jaws to drop in awe. My breath caught in my throat while my heart immediately began pounding in my chest. A face from a long forgotten past stood in front of me.
His name immediately sprang from my lips, “Chris!”
“Wow, Kaitlyn. I can’t believe it’s really you.”
“Chris,” I said again almost breathlessly, “how long has it been?”
“Eight years and five months, almost to the day,” Chris blurted without even taking time to think about it, as if he had been etching hash marks on his wall for each passing day.
“Unbelievable,” I said with a hint of nostalgia as my mind tried to drift back to a time I had tried earnestly to erase from my memory. But, immediately I snapped myself back into reality.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I live here. I write music by day, and play music by night. Our band is working on its first album….what…are you doing here?” Chris looked around the table. The girls stared up at him. I could not tell if they were ogling him because he was stunningly gorgeous, or if they were just shocked by the fact that another man, besides my husband, so obviously took my breath away. Deep down, I hoped they didn’t even notice my breathless anguish.
“Oh wow, where are my manners?” I said, embarrassed. “These are my friends… Lisa, Shannon, and Tori. We’re here for a ladies’ weekend retreat.”
The girls continued to look up in awe. Chris looked as handsome as ever. His breathtaking physique defined itself beneath his tight black T-shirt. They sputtered and stammered their hellos, and he politely smiled. But, his eyes quickly diverted and caught my gaze. Those same dark eyes that melted my heart more than eight years ago were searching mine. I hoped my friends were not aware of the pounding in my chest. The awkward, yet intimate moment stirred emotions I had not felt in many years.
“Well, I guess I better get back to the stage. The boys are ready to play again,” Chris smiled amiably at my friends. His eyes searched mine and he beamed, that same wide grin that once made my heart turn flips in my chest.