The Watch Between Us

I was elated that he reached out to me on Linked-in.

Chrissy was one of my best friends in high school, sharing so many adventures together.

Playing in a band.

Skateboarding.

Drama club.

Shooting pool.

We hung out all the time and he was the guy I wanted to be.

When college came around we slowly drifted apart despite both going to schools in the city. 

Life kind of got busy as I got wrapped up in the dojo, he had his art and marrying his high-school sweetheart. 

How many years had gone by and he wanted to meet up again and reconnect. Start hanging out again, shoot some pool and stuff like that. 

Was meeting at a local Starbucks good later in the week?

Yes!

You think I was going out on a date given the anticipation and excitement I had all week. 

I knew what shirt I was going to wear despite changing it half a dozen times, and I knew what shoes I was going to match it with.

The afternoon of the meetup I got to the Starbucks early and parked my car two blocks away. 

Honestly?

I was ashamed at driving an almost twenty year car. 

It worked, still looked good for its age, but at this point and time out from college maybe I should have been driving something a bit different. 

I looked at the shirt in the back of my car and decided to go with what I had.

I made the right call on the car, as I saw him get out of a brand new Jeep which was parked out front. 

He looked the same.

Same hairstyle, earing, style, and swagger.

Was he a bit shorter then I remembered? 

I called out.

My man.

Roppo!

It took a moment for him to register me, and from the tracking of his eyes I don’t think he expected me to be so tall, and dressed so differently.

The long hair definitely stood out. 

Just like that we were back in high school.

Talking about all the games, the venues we played, classes and teachers. 

Whatever happened to that guy questions and suff like that.

When he asked about my relationship situation I answered briefly and changed the subject as I knew things didn’t quite work out with his high school sweetheart. 

He was still doing his art, and was even designing custom skateboards.

Was I still doing that karate thing?

I wasn’t quite sure why I didn’t correct him, I just said yes. 

It was strange to hear him refer to it like that as he was the one who got me started on it when we both joined the dojo together. 

Surprised I was still doing it, he wondered where he would be if he had stuck with it.

We shared pictures on our phones, finally revealed what secrets we knew from high school and made plans to shoot pool next Friday once he checked his schedule on Monday.

A few hours flew by in what felt like minutes. 

It was getting late, he had to pick up his daughter. 

Absolutely. 

One last thing before we left.

Did I remember his dad’s watch?

His watch?

The one he would sometimes wear when we went out to clubs. Somewhere along the way it got lost and he was wondering if I might have remembered what happened to it, if he had lent it to me to wear at the club.

Asking about the watch I knew this wasn’t about a reunion or even catching up.

I told him I didn’t remember anything about it.

I lied.

I absolutely remembered it. 

An Omega speed master with a black dial and stainless-steel link band. He sold it to another kid at school for a few hundred dollars to take his girlfriend out to dinner. 

It was a long walk back to my car and our reunion didn’t quite go as I had expected. 

I knew we would not be shooting pool next week, and that I wasn’t going to be hearing from my friend again.