Then and Now

Chapter 5

Kia thought she was in some sort of loop. For a few moments, she just looked at him.

Leo.

She wasn't even sure if it was seconds or minutes or nanoseconds or any alternative unit. She simply watched him. The bizarre part, she believed, was that Leo too was in such a loop, because his eyes were fixated on her.

However, he was the first one to break their eye contact, as he beamed widely at (apparently) Caleen. That also brought Kia out of the entwined loop.

"He changed before coming here." Devon uttered to Kia, and she turned to give her full attention to the group. Her mind was still not entirely co-operative, because she couldn't tell Devon to "try it occasionally" even though she considered it.

By that time, Leo stood in front of them. Prepared with an unfailing smile, he looked at Caleen who got up from her spot to give him a side hug, and a "Hi Leo." He returned both the verbal and physical greetings, courteously.

Next, he introduced himself to Darren and shook his hand. Seemingly, now that he had already met Devon and Kia, they required nothing more than a smile.

He sat between Devon and Darren, and immediately struck up a conversation with Caleen. He always had that expertise to strike up a conversation, Kia recalled. The only time when he floundered in front of her was at their annual event. That again satisfied Kia, in an oddly perverse manner.

Soon, however, the conversation was on in full swing as the topic strayed to school days. Everyone had something to enrich this conversation. The food, it seemed, was getting finished sooner than usual, as it aided the unbroken conversation.

Kia started enjoying their talk, and Darren, who was the only variance in their group, was content with asking a lot of questions, especially pertaining to Caleen.

Despite not drinking much, Kia felt her nerves go away as she chatted merrily with her friends and Leo. She still wasn't prepared to call him a friend, though she knew it would evolve if they would meet a couple more times. Also, he fit right into the group and didn't feel like an anomaly. He had won over everyone again. That included even her this time, Kia admitted.

They were presently talking about how Myra, a girl Devon liked, was only hanging out with him because she had a crush on Caleen. This led to another round of laughter on their table, as Devon's face went red in embarrassment. Darren, who hadn't heard this story before, was laughing the hardest.

"Speaking of the girls and Devon, do you know anything about Lucia, Leo?" Caleen asked, as she was the first one to recover from the laughter.

Before Leo could utter anything, Devon interjected, "You didn't have to say anything Cal, he doesn't know about it." He looked miffed at that digression by Caleen.

"Believe me, I do." Leo affirmed. "Anyone who looks at you both for over ten seconds would know, right Kia?"

Kia didn't anticipate such an express and direct question, and just nodded her head. She loathed that habit. Maybe if she looked above, they would assume that she was ruminating over the issue.

She then said, "They both give off the vibe." She thought that would satisfy everyone, especially Devon, for not being extensive.

Leo peered at her peculiarly and spoke, "You mean chemistry?"

"Oh, I'm not much for connection and stuff, but Caleen is a firm believer. Ask her." She was contented with her response, but Caleen was not.

"You stated that Darren and I were meant to be from the first moment you saw us together." She said, and Darren gave Kia a pleased smile.