For The Old Times

FlashNano 2019, Day 16

Anton wasn’t really sure if it was real.

“Stay here for ten minutes more until the anesthesia wears off,” his dentist said.

Anton nodded, and shook his head slowly. He checked his phone again. There it was.

A text.

Hello. Remember me?

Syb. Of course he remembered her. He had had a crush on her at the uni. Hell, half his class had: she was that kind of girl. Of woman. So beautiful, so perfect, so intelligent, that all the people attracted to women lusted for her. And so above them all. Or at least, Anton had considered himself so below her, that they’ve barely exchanged a few words while at the uni.

But he grew out of her, of course. He had remembered those days, fondly now after all these years, and had laughed at his younger self and his shyness. Then five years later, when he had moved cities, the day he started at a new company, there she was. Both were married now, and happily married at that, as they discovered during the coffee breaks. Anton also found out Syb wasn’t so distant, or so perfect. She was, however, still beautiful and intelligent. In fact, she was smart enough to move out again before their company filed for bankruptcy. She went to Paris, no less.

Syb had warned Anton, but Anton had to weather the storm and find another job. Another thing he hadn’t known so far was that Syb was far more adventurous than him: she had gone quickly decided to move abroad pursuing her career, he had decided to stay, not wanting to even move cities again so fast.

And that was it.

Until today.

“How do you feel?” his dentist asked.

“What? Oh, eh, erm… I think I’m… quite OK. A bit dizzy?” Anton hadn’t realized she was back.

“You can stay a bit longer if you need it. Just don’t rush it. Did you drive here?”

“No… I used the tube.”

“Well done.”

Of course! How are you?

Wait.

Fine! You?

Dentist’s.

Ouch!

Yeah.

Hey, I’m gonna be over next week. Business. Can you make it for dinner sometime?

*****

“Wanna know what happened at the dentist’s today?”

Anton’s wife answered from the kitchen.

“Sure.”

“Got a message from an old colleague, wants to know if we can meet for dinner next week. I was thinking Thursday? I might be back late.”

“Thursday? Okay.”

Why didn’t I mention it was Syb? Anton wondered.

*****

Anton surprised Syb by taking her to her favourite restaurant. She had laughed when the cab stopped there. It was still open, yet fifteen years older.

As were they. But Anton could have sworn Syb looked as if she was no more than twenty-five. Okay, thirty, tops.

They ate, they laughed. They drank wine with their Italian food, and remembered the old times. They talked about the old company, about the people there. The girl who used to bring her own tea from home. The delivery boy who always made mistakes. The boss that lasted three weeks.

Syb got serious over coffee. She had divorced two years after moving to Paris. Her husband had at first been supportive of her, yet their relationship had suffered. It had slowly worn off until they realized it had died. They remained on good terms.

Anton offered to walk her back to her hotel as they kept talking.

Anton was content with his marriage. Content, he said. He noticed he had used that word. Two kids, grown-ups now. Had stayed in the city and never looked back.

“What was wrong with me at the Uni?” Syb said.

Where did that come from?

“What?”

“Everybody treated me strange. You included. We talked, what, five times? And we were in the same classes.”

“I… I think we were all in awe of you.”

“Why?”

“Are you kidding me? You were always top of the class, and you were so beautiful nobody could compare. Men wanted to date you but didn’t dare, and women envied you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You mean you didn’t know?”

“No. I didn’t know the Uni was like high school. I worked my ass off to be the best because… I don’t know otherwise.”

“I know now. I’ve worked with you, I know you always strive for perfection.”

“The part where I was beautiful is kinda nice, however.”

“You still are.”

“Thanks. It hurt, you know? Being… shunned. Ignored. I thought for a long time I was doing something wrong. In the end I grew out of it.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay… You couldn’t have known. And I shouldn’t dump all this on you. I’m a bit tipsy!”

“Yeah, you did enjoy the wine. You downed that second bottle alone!”

“Liar!”

“A bit.”

She stopped.

“My hotel.”

“Yes.”

They looked at each other.

“Wanna come up?”

“…Yes.”

*****

It was really late when the cab left Anton at home.

He sat on the edge of the bed. His wife stirred.

“Hmmm… Had a good time?” she muttered.

“Yes. Get back to…” But she was already asleep.

This is my flash for Day 16 of FlashNano 2019, (idea by Nancy Stohlman). The prompt for today was “Write a story that includes a dentist.” And there it is. I know I cheated: the dentist is there, but it could easily have been… a hairdresser, or a mechanic. But hey, this is a flash a day!