"What sound does a bluebird make?"
Rita Calista Wells laughed and waved her date away. "Now isn't the time for your animal sound games. Jonathan will be here any minute."
"Have a drink and relax," Anthony suggested.
Rita turned and leaned over to pick up the drink, inadvertently exposing her chest. Anthony could see the mole above her right breast. She stood up and Anthony Dover frowned. "Why are you waiting for Jonathan to come? I thought you were my date tonight?"
"Anthony, I told you...we're just friends," she was looking away from him, clearly uncomfortable. They were at a college party where everyone was dressed up in poodle skirts and black leather jackets. She stood up for a moment to look beyond the crowd.
Anthony sat quietly next to her, his heart breaking into a million pieces. "Calista, I-"
"Anthony, my name is Rita. Please don't call me Calista anymore. I don't want Jonathan to get the wrong idea." She flipped her blonde hair over her left shoulder, clearly aware that he was probably still staring at her.
"But that's your name."
"No, it's my middle name. Listen, you're a good friend but Jonathan was asking me what was going on between us."
We Belong Together by Ritchie Valens filled the air and Anthony found himself swallowing the uncomfortable feeling of rejections that was choking him.
"Why do you care what Jonathan thinks?" Anthony asked. He watched as her blue eyes widened and she quickly straightened her costume and smoothed down her hair.
"I think he's going to ask me to be his girlfriend tonight," she answered, her eyes watching as Jonathan entered the room. His friends were all patting him on the back while women's eyes followed him as he made his way towards the one woman Anthony Dover wanted.
"D-do you like Jonathan?" Anthony couldn't believe he was able to finish his question.
"Of course I like him. What's not to like?"
"But he's here on a scholarship," Anthony mumbled, earning him a disapproving look from Rita.
"So what if he's not rich guy like you, Anthony? He's sweet, and funny, and handsome. He'll make something of himself."
Anthony Dover felt his hands clench into fists. "You really like him?"
She giggled as Jonathan came closer. "Shhh...he's coming this way."
"Hey, Dover." Jonathan raised a hand to say hello. "You and your girl here having fun?"
Rita blushed. "I'm not his girl. We're just friends."
"Is that so?" Jonathan gave a pointed look at Anthony.
He wanted to shout that he loved Calista...no Rita. He wanted to marry her and have children with her. He wanted minature Calistas with big blue eyes running around him. He wanted to prove he was the better man. Calista's indigo eyes flashed in anger and Anthony's confidence suddenly disappeared. He gave a crooked smile and shook his head, his eyes on Rita. "No. She's just a friend."
Jonathan held his hand out to Rita. "In that case...may I have this dance?"
She pretended to look shy for a moment before placing her hand in his. And just like that, Anthony Dover saw the love of his life get stolen.
Decades later, Pop Pop sat in front of his photo album, perusing through old pictures. His nurse Janelle sat next to him, amazed that he was once young.
"I told you I was a handsome devil back in the day." Pop Pop grinned, wriggling his eyebrows.
"Of course you were. I bet all the women were fighting for you. You were rich and handsome," Janelle said, pointing at a picture of Pop Pop dressed in jeans and suspenders for a costume party. "I don't see any pictures of your wife in here."
Pop Pop took the photo album. "Is that so? I guess the spawn of Satan is like a vampire...doesn't photograph."
Janelle gasped. "Oh, she couldn't have been that bad. You two were married for years and had a son."
Pop Pop sighed. "What sound does a man make when he's at the altar next to a stranger his parents forced him to marry?"
Janelle felt the air around them thicken with sadness. Had Pop Pop been in an arranged marriage? Janelle thought stuff like that only happened in soap operas.
"I don't know," she said softly, keeping her tone even.
Pop Pop gave her a fleeting smile before answering, "I do."
"Pop Pop--"
"Don't worry. As you said, we had a son and he had Sebastian and adopted my little duckie. It all worked out for the best."
"Did you ever regret it?" Janelle couldn't help but ask. "Marrying someone you didn't love?"
The older man shrugged. "The woman I loved had already married. She had turned me down flat. It doesn't matter now. Once upon a time, I even thought I was over it. It's funny how anger likes to reappear like some kind of Jack in the Box. It just sits in you, stewing, winding itself up until finally it can't take anymore and it pops out."
"Do you still think about your first love?" Janelle asked.
"No, she's gone and thinking about that makes me feel old. Besides, we're even as far as I'm concerned. I have Sebastian and my duckie."
"Even?" Janelle repeated. "What do you mean by that?"
Pop Pop smiled. "Ask my smart phone."
She chuckled but Janelle couldn't help but wonder why Pop Pop's statement held a cryptic tone.