Steve and Veronica

Feeling a bit sorry for myself, I sat at the bar drowning my sorrows. The breakup with Caryn was hurting me more than I thought it would.

“Hey, Mac!” I pointed to the glass in front of me. All it held was two melting ice cubes at the bottom. The bartender took the glass away and set a fresh bourbon in front of me. I tapped the twenty in front of me. As Mac turned to the register, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked in the mirror behind the bar. She was beautiful. She was classy. And man was she was drunk.

“Is this seat taken?” she slurred.

It took a bit but I found my voice, “No, help yourself.” I snapped my mouth shut.

“I know you,” she said. “Where do I know you from? I remember, it was high school.”

“I don’t think so. Let me buy you a drink.”

I introduced myself as Steve; she told me she was Veronica. For the next couple hours we talked as if we really had known each other for years. I told her about Caryn. She told me about her last relationship. The more we drank, the more she talked. And talked, and talked. I didn’t mind, she was stunning.

She was also convinced we had known each other in high school. If we did, I’d have remembered. You don’t forget a girl like Veronica. She told me she had a crush on me back then. By this time I let her believe we did know each other. Christ, I was beginning to believe we were in high school together.

Before I knew it, we put coins in the jukebox and we danced. She felt good in my arms. She was soft and smelled like summer.

Mac yelled, “Last call!”

I held her close, I whispered in her ear, “Tell me the truth, would you like to see me again?”

She laughed softly and whispered back in my ear, “I’ll tell you the truth, I was Daniel and on the wrestling team with you.”

I felt the blood rush to my head, now I remembered.