On a Night Like This by Ellen Sussman
Remember the movie The Breakfast Club?  We all cheered when the popular, athletic boy fell for the weird, outcast girl.  But what if that didn’t happen until 25 years later, when they unexpectedly meet again?  On a Night Like This is reminiscent of a grownup Breakfast Club with all the complications of adulthood mixed in.

Luke was the high school golden boy who grew up to be a successful screenwriter and marry a beautiful, insecure woman.  Blair was the mysterious, hippy chick who became a young single mom and found her life’s work as a restaurant chef.   Their 25 year high school reunion is on the horizon, and Luke is charged with finding the classes’ lost souls.  He finds Blair, and there are sparks.  But grownups have grownup problems, and each is dealing with a different kind of heartbreak.  It’s not a good time to fall in love – or is it?

Luke has spent the past few months hiding from the world in his cabin in the woods.  Nothing seems to take away the pain of his wife disappearing from his life.  Blair has even bigger problems.  She’s just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has no idea how to tell her 16 year old daughter, Amanda.  Luke has always been intrigued by Blair and meeting her again has given him new hope.  Blair, equally smitten but far too independent to let someone into her life right now, resists his attempts to win her over.  But with the help of his loveable dog, Sweetpea, Luke manages to edge his way into Blair and Amanda’s lives.  Things go well until Luke’s wife returns with a big surprise.  Then life gets extremely complicated – illness, broken marriage, second chances, true love.  Will Luke prove strong enough to be Blair’s man?

This story is sweet and sad and makes you think about your own “what ifs”.  We all have someone from high school we fantasize about now and then – whether it’s the brooding, loner boy or the football team's quarterback.  Maybe you should go to that next high school reunion.  You never know what could happen.

About the author:  Ellen Sussman has won short-story contests run by Redbook and Paris Transcontinental, as well as a Writers at Work Fellowship.  She has published many shorts stories in literary and commercial magazines and has taught at Rutgers University, UCLA, and John Hopkins University.

On a Night Like This