5 Year Reunion : Chapter Two

Jared laid on his couch, wondering why he wasn't doing more. He probably should have run after Sarah, but what would he have said? Instead he'd waited a couple of minutes, standing frozen in that same spot while Roxie asked him what all that was about. After a few minutes he had simply walked out the door and began walking home. It was a long walk, but it had gone by quickly and he had soon found himself standing outside the townhouse he shared with two friends. Burt's car had been gone, he was probably staying with his girlfriend again, and Jared had known Ryan was in Vegas for the weekend for his buddy's bachelor party. Jared had stood outside the front door for a few minutes trying to decide what to do next. Finally he had gone inside and laid down on the couch. He had thought about calling Sarah, but he had been pretty sure she wouldn't answer. He had thought about calling Burt and asking him what he thought Jared should do, but he had decided not to bug him and opted instead to just lay on the couch and try to think things through. He hadn't left the couch since. He laid there and went over things again and again in his mind.

He knew what Sarah thought had happened. Well sort of. But why didn't she let him explain? I guess it had looked bad, but it's not like he was caught kissing Roxie or sleeping with her. He hadn't really done anything wrong and he'd never been one to cheat, so why would Sarah jump to that conclusion so fast? He wondered if she would call him once she was less emotional to ask him what had happened. He finally decided to just give her some time and wait for her to call. After all, a year long relationship couldn't really end this suddenly over something so dumb.

----------

Mark leaned back in his leather chair at his desk while he thumbed through the messages his secretary had just given him. Most of them were from different departments or clients. One was from Cynthia. He thought of simply throwing it out without reading it, but his curiosity got the best of him. He couldn't help but wonder what she could possibly have to say to him now. His eyes scanned the few short lines and he laughed in amazement "Mark, I've decided to give you another chance. Call me and we'll set something up for tonight. I'm thinking 8 at Burleen." What did this girl not get about "go to hell"? And Burleen? Was she even listening when told her he was sick of those overly posh restaurants. He balled up the message and tossed it behind him as his office door opened.

"Whoa, what'd I do," Colin joked as he grabbed the paper wad off the floor. Mark turned his chair to face his friend as he watched him unfurl the message and read it.
"Amazing man. You tell her to go to hell and she begs you for another date," Colin said as he stuck the note in his pocket and sat down on the couch beside Mark's desk.
"I wouldn't call it begging," mused Mark, "But she does sound a bit desperate, doesn't she?"
"Hey, I have a proposition for you," began Colin, "There's this new girl in marketing who'd be perfect for you. She's real down to earth, but pretty. I got you her number. Do me a favor and just take her out tonight."
Mark laughed and asked, "Do you think I'm desperate now? Setting up dates for me with random girls that work here?"
"Of course not," grinned Colin, "But I'm starting to question your sanity. Please, just take her out once. You'll love her."
"Fine, whatever," Mark caved, "My only options tonight seem to be her or Cynthia so I might as well."
"Great, you've got reservations for 7 at Rio's and Kiley's meeting you there," said Colin as he rose to his feet and headed for the door.
"What if I'd said no," asked Mark in amazement.
With a grin Colin responded, "I'd have gone out with her myself. I told she she was pretty."

----------

Sarah woke up to a pounding headache. She opened her eyes and quickly closed them again. Someone had pulled aside all the curtains and her whole apartment was flooded with blinding light. Sarah rolled onto her side, away from the harsh daylight, and curled into a ball with a groan. She heard the creak of a door opening, the crinkling sound of plastic, the click of heels against hardwood and decided to force her eyes open slowly.
"Good, you're up," stated Lily cheerfully as she opened and shut cabinet doors, "We have a lot of work to do. The reunion is in 7 days and I went by his office to get more information only to find out his most recent girlfriend was Cynthia Shepherd."
Sarah responded with a confused grunt. Lily clicked her heels across the wood floor and stood beside Sarah with a glass of water and a tylenol.
"You should drink some water and take this," Lily advised, "We went through a lot of alcohol last night."
Sarah forced herself into a sitting position and opened her mouth expectantly.
"Ok, I'm not feeding you," Lily insisted, setting glass on Sarah's bedside table and forcing the tylenol into Sarah's hand. Sarah sighed and popped the tylenol in her mouth, reaching for the water glass with her other hand. The water felt cool and soothing to her dry throat. She turned and watched as Lily rifled through the plastic bags now on her table.
"What is all that," she asked, confused.
"Clothes and makeup mainly," Lily replied as she began to set little bottles and compacts out on the table,"Some of it new, some of it mine."
"For what now?" asked Sarah, feeling completely lost.
"Your makeover," responded Lily matter-of-factly without looking up.
"My what?" asked Sarah as she racked her brain for a possible explanation of what was going on.
Lily held up a dress and then set it across a chair, turning to face Sarah.
"How drunk did you get?" she asked with a laugh, "We're starting your makeover today so that you'll be ready next week to win Mark over and set me up with his friend. Now come over here so I can start with your makeup."
"Wait, this is about Mark?" Sarah replied with surprise, pausing a moment to think before continuing, "And he dated Cynthia Shepherd?"
"Yeah, so like I said, we have a lot of work to do," Lily reiterated as she matched up and laid outfits out on the chairs.
"I can't believe Mark dated Cynthia Shepherd. She's like the most famous PR rep in the city. And she's gorgeous. She was the cover girl for L.A. Life last month," Sarah pointed out while asking with disbelief, "And we're giving me a makeover to try to compete with her?"
"Ok, Sarah, they're over though and now he's single. So no, you're not competing with her," clarified Lily, "But when I'm through with you, you could if you wanted to. So come over here and let's start."
Sarah climbed out of bed grudgingly and stood in front of Lily with a scowl on her face. Lily pointed to a chair and nodded. Sarah sat down and Lily grabbed one of the bottles off the table and went to work.

----------

Cynthia sat up in the comfy leather chair for the 10th time in 20 minutes. She dug in her purse and checked her cell phone. Still no call from Mark. What was going on here? Cynthia huffed and chucked her phone back in her purse as she leaned back into the chair. She couldn't believe he wasn't begging her to take him back yet. Cynthia was used to getting what she wanted and not used to hearing "no". She sulked as her irritation built up. Finally she couldn't take it anymore.
"Ouch! What the hell do you think you're doing? Have you never done a pedicure before you moron," Cynthia shouted at the poor girl working hard on her feet. The girl flinched and shrank back in fear.
"Redo that foot. You got it all wrong. And try not to take my toe off this time." Cynthia commanded with an angry frown. Suddenly she felt a vibration and grabbed for her phone as the tone began to sound. With a knowing grin on her face she thrust the phone up to ear.
"I knew you'd call," Cynthia purred into the mouthpiece.
"Well that's an odd thing to say," Allison Hunter responded from the other end,
"Oh," Cynthia replied with obvious disappointment, "It's you."
"Yes, me. Try not to sound so excited," Allison quipped, "I'm calling because Gina Morgan's having a dinner and I need Mark's address so I can send him his own invitation."
Cynthia froze and tried to decide what to say next. She couldn't tell her friend that Mark wasn't returning her calls after all the bragging she had done about dating the CEO of Welshman Financial. But if she let Allison invite Mark and he didn't come with her, they would know everything. She needed to buy more time.
"Well then, send it to my address," Cynthia said with a forced smile, "He's been staying with me a lot lately."
"Oh has he now." Allison said, her interest clearly piqued, "Should we be expecting invitations to an engagement party in the near future?"
Cynthia bit her lip and spoke, "Could be. The best proposals come as a surprise you know." She immediately regretted her insinuation. Right now Mark wasn't even speaking to her it seemed. It was going to be tough to get him from ignoring her to crazy about her so fast. And she hadn't even asked when the dinner party was yet.
"Just out of curiosity," she began as her nervousness began to build, "When is Gina's dinner?"
"Oh, in two weeks," Allison answered matter of factly, "But I'm sure we can fit in a shopping trip before then for our dresses. I really want something off the shoulder and lacy this time. The antique look is coming back in you know."
"Gotta run Al, but I'll give you a call to setup up that shop date in the next day or two," said Cynthia quickly, trying to hide her building panic as she clicked closed her mobile. Shit. What was she going to do now? Mark better call her back soon or she was dead.

----------

Mark sat at a table at Rio's and forced a smile as the pretty young brunette across from him grinned back.
"So, Riley, how do you like working at Welshman," he asked politely as he unfolded his menu and began to glance at it.
"It's super!" she exclaimed cheerfully as he raised his eyebrows and held back a laugh.
"Everyone is, like, soooooo super friendly to me and I love my job, like seriously LOVE it! Work is soooooo much better than college and I really thought I'd miss college more because, like, the parties were so super fun and I had all these awesome friends, but everyone I work with is super and nice and I really love my job, seriously!" Riley babbled bouncing her head and gesturing wildly as Mark forced him self to look down at the menu, sure that if he made eye contact he may burst into laughter. Why had he let Colin set him up? He really did know better. So, yeah, Riley was pretty and nice and down to earth, but come on. It felt like being on a date with a middle schooler and he couldn't wait for it to end already. The waiter approached and asked for their drink orders. Riley ordered some type of fruity umbrella drink with extra vodka and Mark ordered a double scotch that he knew he'd need very soon. He was terrified of what a drunk Riley hopped up on sugary alcohol would be like and he racked his brain for a way to leave before he had to see that.

Shortly after their drinks arrived, his phone rang and he jumped at a chance for a distraction.
"Excuse me one moment while I take this Riley," he interrupted quickly, "It might be work related. You understand."
Mark raised his phone to his ear as Riley nodded wide-eyed.
"Mark speaking," he said confidently into the phone, hoping for a reason to leave.
"Mark!" Cynthia greeted enthusiastically into the ear piece.
"Cynthia," he responded in surprise. Wow, this girl just won't give up.
"I miss you," she purred into the phone, "Where are you?"
"On a date actually," he responded with obvious confusion.
"Well I need to talk to you," she insisted, "So tell me where you are and I'll meet you."
"You can't come to Rio's right now, Cynthia," Mark explained slowly, "I'm on a date."
What was with Cynthia lately? She had never been needy when they were together before.
"Hey Mark, I better get going," Riley interrupted with an irritated look on her face as she grabbed her purse and stormed away.
"I'll call you," he called after her as she left. He grinned with relief at his saved night.
"Don't bother, I'm on my way," Cynthia said happily as she hung up the phone.
Mark's jaw dropped in shock at his awful luck. Now what was he supposed to do?

----------

Jared was laying on the couch when Burt got home.
“Are you still moping?” Burt asked with obvious annoyance, “Seriously dude, either call her or go meet someone else. This here, is just pitiful.”
“She’s gonna call,” Jared insisted pathetically, “Trust me, she will.”
“She’s not gonna call, Jared,” Burt said calmly, “Look, I feel for ya man, I really do, but this whole feeling sorry for yourself and waiting for her to take you back isn’t working. You should go out with me and Nina tonight. It could be a double date. I’m sure Nina has at least one cute friend who’s single.”
“No,” Jared moaned, “I don’t wanna date someone else yet. It’s too soon. And she will call. I know she’ll call.”
“She thinks you were cheating on her man,” Burt explained, “She’s not gonna call you. She’s probably trying to work up the nerve to date someone else right now. If you want any chance of getting back with her, you need to call and explain what happened. You can’t just sit around waiting for the situation to fix itself.”
“But what am I supposed to say,” Jared whined, “I don’t even know what happened. This girl was hitting on me, but I didn’t do anything and she just walked in and said no and then walked out. It’s not fair!”
“Fine then,” Burt relented, “Spend all your time lying on the couch, wishing she was still around, feeling sorry for yourself and saying how unfair all this is. It won’t change anything though.”
Brian got up and walked to his room, shutting the door behind him. Music began to filter through the walls and Jared began to wonder if Burt was right.