North headed down the driveway to see if the mail had arrived. Opening the flap on the mailbox she was glad to see that it had. glaancing through the pile she noticed that one had a familiar name on the return address. It was someone that she hadn't heard from in a few years and she was curious.
Heading back inside the house, she put the rest of the mail down on the table and opened the envelope.
Your friend,
Kathleen
North put the letter down. She'd gotten all the invitions to the previous one over the years but never felt like attending any of them. She tried to avoid going back to Toronto unless she absolutely had to. She had been born and raised there and now that she lived in the North country she loved it. She did miss her friends though at times but here, in her opinion, was the better place to raise kids.
Just then her 'kids' came bounding in the door off the school bus. Well she really couldn't call them kids anymore. At least not small ones. Her oldest was now 19 and her youngest was 16. Where did the time go.
"Hey mom," they chorused, "what's to eat?"
North laughed as she put the letter down and out of her mind temporarily as she began to make dinner. It seemed all she did these days was cook , clean and do dishes. At least now that the boys were back in school after summer vacation, her days weren't quite so hectic.
Halfway through making dinner her husband called. He worked out of town and called at least once a day. "Hi Hon," North answered. They spoke for a few minutes about the boys and just as they were about to hang up, she remembered the letter. "Oh yeah, I got another Class Reunion invite in the mail today."
"Well, are you going to go to this one?" he asked.
"I'm not sure... although it would be nice to see the old gang again and especially Kathleen. She's the one who sent me the invite. She also offered to put me up for the weekend."
"Then what's the problem? and when is it?"
North picked up the letter to check the date again. "Uh.... third weekend in November."
"Well that will work out good. I'll be back from hunting by then." he stated. "I think you should go. It's been a while since you had a weekend just for you."
"Well I'll think about it and let you know what I decide when you call tomorrow."
"Fine. Talk to you then. Love you. Bye." and with that he hung up.
After dinner, while the boys were helping to do the dishes, North asked them what they thought she should do. They all voted in favor of her going.
"Yeah mom, I think you should go. Maybe then you'll remember what it's like to be young and wild," her oldest commented. "And then you'll get to listen to that loud rock and roll and maybe, just maybe you won't complain so much when I play mine so loud."
North shook her head. Such lip coming from one of her own. But he did have a point. Maybe going would make her remember the 'good old days' and make her more tolerant of her boys. With that she went and got some paper and wrote Kathleen back to let her know that she would have a house guest for that weekend.
************
"Holy crap mom!!!, you sure you're taking enough stuff with you?" her youngest son asked as he sat on the bed and watched her pack her bag. Her husband was trying to find her travel case in the closet where he finally found it hidden in a back corner.
"I found it!!" he cried in victory. "By the way did you finally figure out what you're going to wear?" he asked as he came out of the bowels of the closet.
"Yup."
"Well??? What did you decide on?"
"Yeah mom, which one?"
"Well believe it or not, I was cleaning out the spare bedroom closet and came across a very old dress of mine."
"And??"
North rose and walked towards the closet and grabbed a clothing bag that was hanging on the door. Zipping it open and taking the bag off she put it up against herself and turned around.
"Isn't that..??" her husband smiled.
"Yup."
"I thought you got rid of that a long time ago." he stood there shaking his head. Seeing the dress she had chosen brought back a lot of memories for him.
"How could I ever get rid of this dress. It's the very one I wore on our first date." North reminisced.
"I remember." her husband Mike stated. "You looked absolutely stunning that night. I can remember our first dance to "Behind Closed Doors" by Charlie Rich and then later when "Lady in Red" by Chris Deburgh came out it became "our" song. . And there you were then, MY lady in red. Red velvet."
"I must have made a good impression if you can remember that far back. " North laughed. "That was over 25 years ago!!"
"You'd be surprised what I remember dear." he said. "Now we had better get you packed and off."
A short while later North was in her car heading south. She had found a lot of her old cassette tapes and had brought them along to listen to on the 3 hour trip. They brought back a lot of old memories with her old friends and then later her husband. The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Bobby Vinton and then the Beatles of course and definitely Elvis!! It was their love for Elvis that had gotten her together with Mike. They even went to see him their first New Years together. This weekend would definitely be a time of remembering and not just school times.
Stopping for gas on the way down to Toronto was the only stop she made until she arrived at Kathleen's place. It was great seeing her friend again.
"Rose!!!" Kathleen cried as she ran out the door."I am so glad you decided to come. Let's get you inside and settled in and then we can have a good old fashioned gabfest. Then I'll fill you in on what's going on tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me. I hope you have the popcorn and hot chocolate ready!!" North laughed. "Man, can you remember how much popcorn we used to go through??"
"Boy do I ever!! But hey it was cheap and filling and not too fattening. At least if we didn't put butter on it by the gob!!" Kathleen agreed. "I've got a fire going too so we can sit in front of it and keep warm. I was thinking we should just grab some sleeping bags and settle in for the night."
"Great idea Kat!!" The girls talked until well into the night and then some. It was almost noon the next day when they got up and then had to rush to get to the school to finish up the last minute details. Kathleen still had'n't told all about the dance tonight and North was surprised to hear a band warming up that she thought sounded very familiar.
"Who's that?" she asked.
"Oh, that's Depeche Mode. They're an indy group that everyone has been raving about lately. They've done some TV stuff too." Kathleen explained. "They're just one of the bands that we have for tonight.
"Okay that explains it then!!! I watch Nikita and they've played a few songs on that show."
"Hey you watch Nikita??? Oh my gawd!! That's fantastic." Kathleen almost screamed out. "I never miss an episode myself. You'll never guess who we have as a guest speaker here tonight!!"
************
"Who??" North asked in anticipation. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"I didn't know you watched!! I spend a lot of time online chatting with others about the show, plus I am on some mailing lists."
North interupted her. "For crying out loud Kat would you please tell me who is going to be here?"
"Sheesh girl, settle down and mellow out."
"Kat!!!! If you don't answer me now and I mean now you could be put in abeyance or even worse cancelled!!!"
"Girl, you do have it bad!! But if you really want to know who our guest speaker is...." North grabbed her by the throat and non too gently. "OK OK!! It's Eugene Glazer."
North thought she had died and gone to heaven. Gene was one of her favorites and she let Kat know this. She hugged Kathleen and told her how glad she was to actually have come this time.
Kat just smiled indulgently and gave her friend a sidelong glance. She had another suprise planned for her but she was going to keep her mouth shut.
*****
A few hours later the girls headed back to Kat's house to get ready for the dance. They talked about their online friends and when North heard Kat's Code name she realized that she had even chatted with her in one of the many chat rooms she frequented. They did each other's hair and nails and did up buttons and zippers. It took them a few hours but they were ready on time!! As they were heading out the door Kat stopped for a minute. "You go get in the car, I'll be right there."
"Sure, but hurry."
Kat had to make sure she unlocked the back door. It all had to do with the other surprise she had in store for her friend. That done she went out, got in the car and they were on their way to the dance.
*****
It was a great beginning to the evening. Couples were already dancing when they got there even though the dance hadn't officially started. North was glad to see that she recognized so many of her old friends. They in turn were surprised to see her there.
Soon the lights dimmed even more and the evening was officially underway. The first group up was one that had started out when they were all going to school here. They hadn't made it big but they did alright with local clubs through the years. The band members re-introduced themselves and gave a bit of their history for those that hadn't attended school at the same time as them. That done, the lead singer, came center stage to make an announcement.
"Well ladies and gentlemen. I have the pleasure of doing a special favor for a very dear and close friend of mine. Yup, she was the one that got away from me. But, we have remained very close friends and this song is just for her."
All of a sudden the band started playing a familiar song.
A spotlight came on and was focused on the main entrance to the gymnasium. The last person North expected to see was the man in the doorway. Her husband.
He walked over and extended his hand to her. "May I have the pleasure of this dance?" he asked.
North with tears glistening in her eyes could only nod her head.
The two of them danced in the center of the room and it was like it was only the two of them there. North knew who had been responsible for this and she would thank her properly later.
As the last line was sung the lights all turned out and candles were lit throughout the room. Then everyone applauded as the song came to an end. The band started up a more lively tune and everyone else joined in the dancing.
North walked up to Kathleen and gave her a big hug. "I don't know how or why you planned this but THANK YOU!!"
"Well I got talking to the boys of the band and we came up with some different ideas for tonight and we got reminiscing about old girlfriends and boyfriends.... and well this was what we ended up with. I'll tell you though, your husband is a hard guy to get a hold of. I finally got one of your kids to give him a message for me to get in touch."
"I still can't believe he's here. It was perfect though and it was made even more so cause this dress I'm wearing?? It's the one I wore on our first date."
************
"Excuse me?" a voice politely said behind the group. They all turned to see who it was.
Mike turned to North to see her blushing. "Well dear. Your hero of LFN!!!" he chuckled much to her dismay.
"Ahh, a fan I see." Gene said trying to make her feel more at ease. "That was so romantic watching the two of you dance to that song."
Mike, being the only one with manners, introduced them all to Gene. "Actually that was the first song that my wife and I danced to on our first date so it had special meaning."
"Have you been married for long?" Gene asked
North finally finding her manners answered. "It was 20 years this past March that we got married but it will be 26 years this coming Christmas that we will have been together."
"That's a long time." He looked to Mike and with a smile asked his permission for the next dance with his wife.
Mike looked to North and then back at Gene and nodded his head. "I think she would love that." he teased. With that the two of them headed out on the dance floor.
They chatted while they danced and they each found out about each other's interests. After the dance, Gene brought his wife around to their table and introduced her to everyone. Kat asked her what it was like when she had the guest spot on her husband's show and she just laughed. "It was a treat that's for sure. The whole cast made me feel so welcome."
Other questions were asked and answered by Gene and then with an apology he excused himself for a minute. The others continued to chat with his wife. A few minutes later, the lead singer of the band came center stage again.
"It seems we started something tonight and we have another special request for our special couple of the night and our special guest. Mike and Rosie, yeah I know you prefer North but to me you'll always be Rosie so hush!! This song is dedicated to you by Eugene and his wife."
Soon the familiar tune of "Lady in Red" sprang forth.
The two of them headed out to the dance floor joined by Gene and his wife. Tonight was a night that North would never forget in more ways than one. She had her husband in her arms and dancing to a song that she would always cherish. She had also met a man who she admired for his acting and actually danced with him. As much as she wanted this evening to never end, she couldn't wait to get online and tell her friends about this unbelievable reunion. In more ways than one, her dreams had come true.
The End
LADY IN RED - Music & Lyrics : Chris de Burgh
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS - Music & Lyrics by Kenny O'Dell
This story ©copyright Northstar, 1999
with the exception of the lyrics