Kiss Me

I was driving down Jia Street in my truck around nine-thirty that Friday night, on my way home from work. I knew Chris, my best buddy and roommate, would be home by now, hopefully with some kind of take-out. I was starving.

My windows were open and I had to go kind of slow anyway; there was a lot of bike traffic that night. So it was no surprise that I saw her: Adria Rodburg. The last time I'd seen her was four years ago, when she'd graduated from high school. I was a year behind her in school, and we'd had a lot of the same friends. But over the last few years, we'd sort of lost touch with each other.

Adria left the ice-cream shop in a company polo and locked the door behind her. Right as she turned around, two tall guys stepped out of the shadows and loomed over her.

Slightly cursing my inability to ignore someone who needed help, and cursing Adria's luck at the same time, I pulled over, threw the passenger-side door open, and slid out of the truck. "HEY!" I bellowed at the top of my voice as I closed the few yards' distance between us. The guys saw me and lit out quick, but not before Adria had been roughed up a bit. Damn, these guys were fast. They got away, but I didn't care.

Adria was shaking slightly. A bruise was forming on her jaw, and her usually bright eyes held only fear. Her purse was still in her hands.

"Adria Rodburg?"

At the sound of her name, she looked up at me. "Do I know you?" I stepped into the halo of a street lamp as a response. She gasped. "Cory Hollister! Is it you?" I grinned and nodded, then stepped forward to receive her grateful hug. "It's been so long," she said as she pulled out of my hug. "You look great. And you're a lot stronger," she added.

"It's good to see you too. Do you want to report those guys?" I asked her.

She shook her head slightly. "Nothing really happened, technically."

"Can I offer to buy you a coffee or something?" I offered. There was a Starbucks drive-thru around the corner.

"Sounds good! We can catch up a little, too." We climbed into my truck and headed off.

Let me explain something here: I've always had a weird memory when it came to Adria. I didn't need to ask her what she wanted. I remembered her favorite coffee order from high school: medium (or whatever the hell they call it at Starbucks) caramel frappuccino with whipped cream. I only ever heard her order it once, but I will never forget it. I remember crazy stuff like that about her, even though I don't mean to. I had to order four times for Chris before I could even remember what size he liked and whether he preferred whipped cream or not. I remember everything about Adria, even though I don't mean to. In high school, I didn't even have to try to find her if I wanted to talk to her; I just kinda knew where to find her.

So anyway, I ordered for us and paid, and we pulled over in the parking lot and hunkered down with our drinks in the warmth of the truck. For about ten minutes we talked about college and classes and crap like that. The light was on, and I noticed she wasn't as happy as she was letting on. Like I said, I've always been weird when it came to Adria. I found myself studying her face, and quickly realized she was waiting for me to respond to something. "Sorry--what was that? I was listening, I swear," I amended quickly, "I just didn't quite catch the tail end of your question." Her dark eyes darted away from mine. "What's wrong?"

And then it happened. Whenever one of my two ex-girlfriends cried, back when we were dating, I was never quite sure what to do. This was no exception. Sometimes women want a guy to hold her; sometimes if you even breathe in their general direction they get pissed beyond belief. So I just kinda sat there awkwardly for about ten seconds before I remembered the tissues in the glove compartment. I reached across, got one, and handed it to her. She seemed somewhat receptive, so I laid a hand on her back and rubbed it back and forth across her shoulder blades until she was just about done.