After Alex and Trudy walked into their dorm room, Alex went directly to her bedroom and changed into blue jeans, a nice shirt and the black pair of high-heeled boots. Alex put her purse over her shoulder before grabbing her book bag and leaving her dorm room.
Minutes later, as Alex was walking through the hall towards her classroom, she saw Doug and Cindy walking down the hall and she went to catch up to them.
Doug noticed Alex walking towards him while wearing high-heels. When Alex stepped up Doug stared at the boots while saying, “Nice shoes.”
Alex grinned while saying, “They’re actually boots, but thanks.”
“I didn’t say that to be nice,” Doug confessed. “I’m actually curious to know why you’re wearing high-heels when you don’t have to.”
“The Alex of this reality wore high-heels and Trudy suggested that for me to act like Alex of this reality, I should do the same.”
Cindy worriedly asked, “Your roommate knows about you?”
“Yes, she knows about each one of us and she’s cool with the whole situation.”
“Alex, why would you tell Trudy about us?” Doug demanded.
“It was either take a chance on telling her and Miles or be dragged to the doctor by them to have my memory checked,” Alex pointed out.
“Whoa, wait a minute!” Doug uttered. “Miles knows too?”
“They were together and they’re cool with it.”
“Doug, even if Trudy and Miles do know about us, who is going to believe them even if they say anything to anyone?” Cindy asked.
“That’s a good point,” Doug said.
“Alex, who’s Miles anyway?” Cindy asked.
“He’s Trudy’s brother,” Alex said.
Doug made a praying motion while saying, “Alex, please don’t say anything to anyone else.”
“I don’t see that as a problem,” Alex said. “With Trudy coaching me and telling me the stuff that Alex didn’t write in her diaries, I should be fine without anyone else getting overly curious about me. Anyway, I wanted to tell you two that I got the job. I start tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s good,” Cindy said. “I was checking the paper earlier and I saw a job that I’m qualified for. As soon as I get a ride there I’m going to apply for it.”
“Oh, speaking of rides; Doug, Trudy told me where your Jeep Liberty is parked,” Alex said just before she told Doug where he could find his vehicle. She then gestured down the hall and continued to say, “Well, I better get to class.”
“Before you go, what are you doing this evening?” Cindy asked.
“At seven o’clock, I’m going with Trudy to watch a soccer game. What do you have planned?”
“O’Shannon’s didn’t burn down in this reality and all of us were planning to go there tonight,” Cindy said. “Most likely we will be there until it closes, so after the soccer game you and Trudy should meet us there.”
“Okay, I’ll be there, and I will invite Trudy to join us,” Alex said before waving bye. “Well, I’ll see everyone later.”
Doug and Cindy just waved to Alex. As Alex was walking away Doug asked Cindy, “Since I know where my Jeep is, do you want me to give you a ride so you can apply for that job?”
“Sure,” Cindy answered. “I’m not going to turn down a ride.” She and Doug then walked towards an exit.
6:40 P.M. at the soccer field, the bleachers were more than half full and were filling up fast. A large number of people were walking in front of the bleachers. Alex and Trudy had stopped at the concession stand before they continued towards the bleachers. Alex bought nachos, a hotdog and a drink. Trudy bought a hotdog, a bag of chip and a drink.
A short time later, Alex and Trudy were making them-selves comfortable in a section of the bleachers that was six rolls from the field and next to an aisle that was closest to one of the goals. There was a large gap between Trudy and the next person sitting on the same bench.
Just after Alex took a bite of her hotdog, she spotted Kenny and Ben in the crowd who were walking around in front of the bleachers. Alex quickly swallowed the bite that she took before calling out, “Kenny! Ben! Up here!”
As Kenny and Ben turned to look, Trudy asked, “Are they the ones from your reality?”
Kenny and Ben saw Alex and as they were making their way towards her, Alex said, “Yeah.” Alex then pointed them out. “That one is Kenny and the other one is Benjamin; everyone calls him Ben though.”
“I’ve seen Kenny around campus, but I had never seen Ben before.”
“In my reality Ben won a scholarship to Harvard, but in this reality he didn’t win that scholarship.”
“Interesting,” Trudy said just before taking a bite of chip.
As Kenny and Ben were stepping up to Alex and Trudy, Kenny said, “Doug told us that you’d be here.”
“Yep, I’m here,” Alex said before gesturing towards Trudy. “This is my roommate Trudy.”
“Hi,” Trudy, Kenny and Ben said.
“So are you two here to watch the game?” Alex asked the two new arrivals.
“Yeah, when Doug mentioned this was where you were, we thought we’d come here and join you… as long as it’s okay with you and Trudy,” Ben said.
“There’s plenty of room beside me,” Trudy said.
“Have a seat,” Alex added.
Kenny and Ben squeezed passed Alex and Trudy. Ben sat next to Trudy as Kenny sat next to Ben.
Just after Kenny and Ben sat down, everyone’s attention was drawn to the field as the players were taking the field.
Kenny then turned towards Alex and asked, “Hey, Alex, why are you and Trudy so close to one of the goals? The better seats are around midfield.”
“Trudy’s brother Miles is the goalie and he’ll be on this end of the field when the game starts,” Alex said.
“When the teams swap sides after the first half ends, Alex and I were going to move to the other end,” Trudy added.
“Trudy, I’m glad I’m not in your brother’s shoes,” Kenny said.
“Why do you say that?” Trudy asked.
“Harvard is the underdog by three goals,” Kenny pointed out.
“This is Miles’ first game as a goalie, so maybe he can prevent those three goals,” Trudy said.
“Actually, I hope Miles does prevent those goals,” Kenny said. “I bet someone twenty bucks that Harvard will win before I found out that Harvard was the underdog.”
Before anything else was said, an announcement came over the speaker, “Please rise for our national anthem.” Everyone who was sitting stood up and faced the flag. The people who were walking stopped and faced the flag. Except for a few people clearing their throats, everyone was quiet as one of the students sang the national anthem.
A few miles away, Doug, Brandy and Cindy walked into the O’Shannon’s Pub. The counter bar was near the entrance with eight customers sitting at the bar, randomly spaced. Three rows of four tables were arranged orderly just a few feet from the barstools. Two groups of three people were sitting at two of the tables. A room with three pool tables and two dartboards was sectioned off only by a wide entranceway. A few tables with chairs were setting against the wall not far from the pool tables. One of the pool tables was being used by two pool-shooters. A second table was being used by four pool-shooters. Three dart players were playing on one of the dartboards.
When Doug, Brandy and Cindy walked up to the bar, the bartender asked to see their ID. Once the bartender was satisfied of their age, he took their drink order. When they got their drinks they carried them to a table next to the pool table that wasn’t being used. After setting their drinks down, they walked up to where the pool sticks were kept and browsed through them. Doug and Cindy each found a stick that they felt comfortable with and went back to the pool table.
When Brandy picked up a pool stick and was testing its weight, a man in his late twenties stepped up and said, “Brandy, hey.” Brandy turned to look at the man while holding the pool stick. “You walked in here without saying ‘hi’ to me.”
At first she didn’t recognize him, but then it dawned on her of who he was. She then spoke as if she was scared to say anything, “Devin; you… you’re here. Hi.”
Devin gave Brandy a confused look before saying, “I’m always hanging out here. You know that.”
“Yes, of course,” Brandy nervously said. “How are you?”
Devin continued to give Brandy a confuse look before saying, “I’m good. I’m here shooting pool with my brother Scott. Maxine will be here in a few minutes…”
“Maxine?” Brandy quickly uttered. “Your wife Maxine? She’s coming here?”
The confused expression across Devin’s face had deepened as he said, “She is.”
“So how is Maxine?”
“She’s fine,” Devin answered. “Are you okay though?”
“Don’t I seem okay?” Brandy quickly asked.
“Truthfully, you seem to be a bit nervous to be around me.”
Brandy timidly echoed, “Me nervous? Me not nervous… I mean, I’m not nervous.”
“Brandy, I drank too much last Saturday and I don’t remember all what I did, so did I offend you last week in someway?”
“No; not at all,” Brandy nervously said before she slightly held up the pool stick. “Well, I got my pool stick and I better get back to my friends.”
Before Brandy had a chance to leave, Devin said, “When Maxine gets here perhaps we can join you three.”
“Err, sure,” Brandy politely said with a matching tone and grin. “That would be good, I guess… but there are supposed to be four or more who will be joining us in about two hours or so.” Brandy then gestured towards Doug and Cindy. “Well, I’ll be over there.”
Devin glanced in Scott’s direction before saying, “I think it’s my turn to shoot anyway. You and Cindy don’t be strangers.”
“We won’t,” Brandy said before walking away from Devin.
As Brandy was stepping up to Doug and Cindy, Cindy asked Brandy barely loud enough for Doug to hear, “Hey, who’s that?”
Doug stepped closer to hear as Brandy said, “Think back to our first month at Harvard. Who did we hang out with a lot in this place for that month?”
Cindy thought for a moment before asking, “Is that Devin?”
“That is Devin,” Brandy confirmed.
“Who’s Devin?” Doug asked.
“He’s a local and a frequent customer to this bar,” Brandy said.
“In our reality, Brandy and I hung out with Devin and Devin’s wife Maxine for three… maybe four weekends; I’m not sure which,” Cindy began. “Anyway the Monday following the last weekend we spent with them, Brandy and I saw an article in the paper that Devin was arrested for killing Maxine and Maxine’s lover when Devin caught them together. He was convicted and sentenced to twenty years in prison.”
“In this reality Maxine is still alive,” Brandy added. “Devin just told me that Maxine will be here in a few minutes.”
“I wonder if Maxine didn’t cheat in this reality or just didn’t get caught,” Doug wondered aloud.
“Brandy, wasn’t the man’s name who Maxine had cheated with printed in the paper?” Cindy asked.
Brandy slightly shrugged before saying, “It might have been, but I can’t remember what it was though.”
“I believe it was Douglas something,” Cindy said before gesturing towards Doug. “I think that because I met Doug a few days later and I remember thinking that Doug had the same name as Maxine’s lover.”
“It wasn’t Douglas Shultz by any chance, was it?” Doug asked.
“That’s exactly who it was,” Brandy said. “You must have read the article.”
“I didn’t read the article,” Doug said. “Douglas Shultz was my and Alex’s trigonometry instructor at the beginning of our first semester at Harvard. After the fourth week into the semester all of the students of Mr. Shultz were reassigned to different classes. I went to Mrs. Wyse’s class.”
“Doug, that was when you and I met,” Cindy said. “You joined my study group that same week.”
“So Maxine’s and Mr. Shultz’s deaths were the reason Cindy and I know you and Alex,” Brandy commented. “I find it interesting that if one event was different, it changes several other events.”
“That is interesting,” Doug agreed. “Anyway, are you two ready to play?”
“I’m ready,” Cindy said. “Rack ’em up.”
As Doug walked up to the pool table he pulled quarters from his pocket.
At the soccer field, Harvard was trailing by one goal. As the Harvard’s team was maneuvering the ball towards the goal for the tying point, Harvard’s spectators were on their feet and cheering in anticipation of a goal. When the Harvard’s players kicked for a goal, the spectators’ anticipation for the tying point was crushed when the goalie stopped the ball. Everyone sat down. As the opposing players were maneuvering the ball towards Miles, Alex watched with a fixed focus on Miles as he was preparing himself to stop the goal. As the opposing team kicked for a goal, Miles was right there to prevent it. Trudy noticed that Alex was the loudest one cheering.
Trudy tapped Alex’s arm and when Alex looked, Trudy said, “Wow, you’re really getting into the game.”
Alex grinned before saying with some enthusiasm, “I have gone to soccer games before, but for some reason I’m really getting into this one. Miles is a great goalie.”
Trudy wasn’t sure what to think when she saw Alex looking at Miles for a few seconds before she turned to look at the Harvard’s team as the team was maneuvering the ball back towards the other goal. Trudy shook it off and when she turned to watch the players, she looked in time to see Harvard tie the game. The Harvard’s spectators stood up and cheered.
As the spectators were taking their seats again, Trudy again noticed Alex looking at Miles before focusing on the players in the field; however, she didn’t say anything about it.
At O’Shannon’s Pub, Doug was taking his shot on the pool table as Maxine escorted her blind sister Mary into the pub. Maxine saw Brandy, Cindy and Doug at one of the pool tables and after Mary sat down, Maxine told Mary, “I’ll be back in a second. Brandy and Cindy are playing pool with Doug and I’m going to say ‘hi’ to them.”
Before Maxine was able to walk away, Mary told her, “Tell them to come over and say ‘hi’ to me.”
“Okay,” Maxine said before she walked towards Brandy and Cindy.
Once she stepped up to Brandy and Cindy, she started a casual conversation.
Doug shot in four balls, one after the other, to win the game. When he stepped up to Brandy, Cindy and Maxine, Maxine looked at him before asking, “So where are Richard, Carl and Toby?”
Doug thought for a moment before saying, “I’m not sure, but I think they’ll be here at some point.”
“It’s strange,” Maxine began. “I didn’t know that you three were friends. Of course I knew that you, Brandy, were friends with Cindy and vice versa, but as to how often that I see you three in here, I didn’t think that you two were friends with Doug.”
“We’re friends now,” Brandy said.
Maxine grinned before saying, “That’s good. Well, I’m going back over and sit with Mary. You three should join us.”
“Sure, we’d love to,” Brandy said.
Doug gave Brandy a curious look just before telling Maxine, “We will be there in a second.”
“All right,” Maxine said before turning and walking away.
Doug noticed Devin and Scott joining Mary at the table and when Maxine stepped out of earshot, Doug said, “Brandy, I don’t know those four people.”
“Well, Maxine knows the Doug from this reality,” Brandy said.
“And I think Alex has the right idea too,” Cindy added. “We need to do what the us of this reality would do, and the us of this reality would most likely join them.”
“Okay; fine,” Doug said in a defeated tone. “We’ll join them.”
Doug, Brandy and Cindy put their pool sticks up, and after picking up their drinks from the table they walked towards Maxine’s table. As they stepped up, Maxine said, “Mary; Brandy, Cindy and Doug are joining us.”
While staring forward with a pleasant grin on her face, Mary said, “Doug, it’s been a while since I came in here while you were here.”
As Brandy, Cindy and Doug were taking their seats, Doug said, “Yeah, I guess it has been a while.”
Everyone at the table noticed that Mary’s facial expression had changed from a pleasant one to a perplex one just before Mary asked, “So how have you been?”
“I’ve been good,” Doug said. “How have you been?”
“I’m good, but you’re not as good as you are claiming,” Mary said.
As everyone gave Mary a confused look Doug asked, “Why do you think that?”
“Something about you is different,” Mary said. “I can sense it when you speak. Did something dramatic happen to you recently?”
“No; my life is the same as it has been,” Doug said.
“Now I sense in your voice that you are lying to me,” Mary said. “I thought you learned when we first met that you can’t lie to me.”
“Okay, you’re right,” Doug confessed. “Something has happened to me recently, but it’s not anything that I’m willing to discuss.”
“Fair enough, but whatever you went through, you came out of it as a different person,” Mary said. “So, Brandy; Cindy, how have you two been?”
Brandy and Cindy were slightly scared to even answer and after a slight hesitation, Brandy was the first one to say, “I’m doing okay. My life is basically the same as it has always been.”
Mary showed a curious expression on her face before asking, “Cindy, how are you doing?”
“I’m doing good,” Cindy answered. “Oh and you look good.”
“Something is different about you too, Cindy,” Mary said. “In fact, I sense something different about all three of you, but with varying degrees.”
“Cindy and I along with four others had also gone through the same experience that Doug had gone through, and like Doug said, what we went through is not anything we want to discuss,” Brandy said.
“Again that’s fair,” Mary said. “Out of curiosity, do I know the other four?”
“You might know two of them,” Doug said. “My sister, Alex and a friend of ours named Kenny.”
“Mary doesn’t know Alex and I had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting her once,” Maxine said.
Doug gave Maxine a concerned look just before asking, “Can you refresh my memory of what Alex did when you two met?”
Mary showed a curious expression on her face over Doug’s request as Maxine answered, “As I said, I only met Alex once, but the impression I got of her was that she was very opinionated, critical and a bit of a snob.”
“What did Alex do for you to think all of that?” Cindy asked.
“I remember her complaining about the décor of the bar, along with telling me her opinion about people working minimum wage jobs. When I told her that I had a minimum wage job, her response was something like, ‘Oh, I’m sure you’re doing the best you can with what you have. So you shouldn’t feel bad about yourself.’ When she said that, I completely lost my cool.”
“How long ago did you meet Alex?” Brandy asked.
“It was just before Christmas about two years ago,” Maxine said. “I met Doug and Alex at the same time.”
“Alex is not the same person who she was two years ago,” Brandy said. “In fact, she’ll be here in an hour or so, and you’ll see for yourself that Alex is not the same person.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Maxine said.
“I remember Alex saying just before she left the bar that she was never coming back in here again,” Devin said. “So that alone is a change right there.”
“I hate to be like this, but let’s talk about something other than Alex,” Maxine requested.
“So have anyone seen any good movies lately?” Cindy asked. She then as an afterthought looked at Mary and cringed for asking what she did.
At the soccer game, Harvard’s spectators were disappointed when their team lost by a goal after going into overtime. As the players were leaving the field Alex, Trudy, Kenny and Ben walked up to Miles.
Miles saw them and as they stepped up he said, “Hey, I’ll meet you guys at O’Shannon’s as soon as I can. Right now my teammates and I get the joy of listening to the coach telling us what we did wrong.”
“I thought you guys played good,” Alex said. “The other team was just better.”
Miles sarcastically said, “Thanks, Alex. That was just what I wanted to hear.”
“Sorry,” Alex timidly said. “That actually came out wrong.”
Miles gestured in the direction of his teammates while saying, “Well, I better go or the coach will chew my head off for not going in with the others.”
“See you at O’Shannon’s,” Alex said.
“Bye,” Miles said.
“Bye,” Trudy, Kenny and Ben said.
As Miles was walking away, Trudy continued to say, “Well, I want to change clothes before I go anywhere.”
“I actually want to do the same,” Alex said. “Kenny; Ben, we’ll meet you two at O’Shannon’s.”
“All right; let’s go, Ben,” Kenny said. Ben nodded before he and Kenny walked away.
When Alex and Trudy walked into their dorm room, they both changed into nice clothes. Alex again put on her black high-heeled boots.
Fifteen minutes later, Alex and Trudy were walking into the slightly crowded O’Shannon’s behind two couples and another woman. Alex stopped near the entrance and looked over the room. Almost instantly Alex noticed that a person was setting up a karaoke machine in the back corner.
Trudy saw Doug and the others, and as she pointed towards them she said, “Alex, everyone is over there.”
Alex turned to look before saying, “I see them.” She and Trudy then walked towards them.
When Alex and Trudy stepped up to their group, Alex noticed Devin, Scott, Maxine and Mary sitting among her friends. Alex then noticed that Maxine was giving her a harsh stare. She ignored the look and said, “Hi… everyone. Brandy; Cindy and others who don’t know my roommate, this is Trudy.”
“Hi, everyone,” Trudy said.
Doug was standing up as Maxine said, “Trudy, since I doubt Alex remembers me, I’ll introduce myself and the ones I’m with.” Alex gave Maxine a perplexed look. “My name is Maxine…”
As Maxine was pointing out the others who were in her group, Doug grabbed Alex’s arm before whispering, “We need to talk.”
“Okay, but what’s that woman’s problem?” Alex demanded.
“That’s what I want to talk to you about so come with me,” Doug whispered.
“Fine,” Alex said.
Once Doug and Alex were out of hearing distance from the group Doug said, “Apparently the Alex of this reality had only been to O’Shannon’s once in her life, and that was about two years ago.”
“I know that part. Trudy had already told me that I… or she would frequent a place called Diamonds. Apparently Becky, Trudy and the Alex of this reality were the first three customers through the doorway when Diamonds made its grand opening about two years ago.”
“Well, here’s the part that you might not know. The only time that Alex of this reality was here, she left a bad and lasting impression on Maxine. Maxine was the lady with the problem.”
“Okay, what did Alex do?”
“According to Maxine, she was opinionated, critical and a bit of a snob.”
“Great,” Alex sarcastically said. “So what was Alex opinionated about?”
“Apparently minimum wage jobs are degrading to Alex, and at the time when Alex met Maxine, Maxine worked for minimum wage. Alex made a patronizing comment about it.”
“Well, the comment that Stephen said at Little Bucks makes better sense to me now. Well, we better join the others.”
Before Alex had a chance to walk away, Doug said, “Do me a favor and don’t bring any of this up.”
Alex grinned while saying, “Okay, I won’t. I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, and since you pulled me away while Maxine was introducing everyone I don’t know who’s who.”
Doug told Alex who was who before walking back towards the table. As Alex and Doug were returning to the table, the waitress was just walking away.
Alex hung her purse on an empty seat next to Trudy and as she was sitting down, Trudy whispered, “Alex, according to Ben and Kenny you drink beer so I ordered you that.”
“Thanks,” Alex whispered back. “That was what I wanted. What did Alex drink though?”
“She did drink beer at times, but her common drink is actually wine coolers,” Trudy whispered.
“So people won’t think that I’m out of character if I drink beer?” Alex questioned.
“Not at all; however, I don’t know how you normally drink your drink, but Alex drinks hers from a glass.”
Before Alex was able to respond Mary said, “Alex, I met everyone at the table, but for you. Tell me a little bit about yourself.”
Alex thought for a second before saying, “I’m Doug’s sister. I’m in pre-med at Harvard, and there’s not really too much more to tell.”
“Perhaps you can tell us what brings you back to O’Shannon’s,” Maxine prompted.
“I’m just meeting my brother and friends here to have a good time,” Alex said.
“The décor of the bar doesn’t bother you?” Maxine asked.
Alex gave Maxine a curious look before asking, “Should it?”
“The last time that I saw you in here, you didn’t like the décor,” Maxine pointed out. “I’m just wondering if you still feel that way.”
Alex looked around for a moment before saying, “O’Shannon’s pub is much like other neighborhood bars, so the décor is okay.”
“So you decided that the décor of this place is okay after visiting other bars,” Maxine said.
Before Alex was able to respond Devin asked, “Maxine, what are you doing?”
“I’m just curious to know if Alex still has the same opinions about things as she did two years ago,” Maxine answered.
“Maxine, I see nothing wrong with the décor of this place,” Alex said.
Mary took hold of Maxine’s arm before saying, “Maxine, you’re purposely trying to bait Alex, and Alex just came here to be with her friends and have fun. Alex doesn’t even remember the talk that you and she had two years ago.”
Alex gave Mary a perplexed look as Maxine asked, “Is that true? You don’t remember the discussion about it?”
“To be honest; no, I don’t remember it,” Alex said.
“I bet you don’t even remember meeting me,” Maxine said.
“I have met a lot of people in my life, and I’ll admit that I can’t remember all of them,” Alex began. “Please forgive me, but you are one of those people who I had met and don’t remember.”
Mary showed a perplex expression on her face as Maxine said, “That’s typical of a snob.”
“Maxine, I’m not going to take offense to that or defend myself,” Alex said.
“That’s because you know it’s true,” Maxine said.
“Maxine, it’s time for us to leave,” Devin said.
“It’s okay,” Alex said. “Maxine is entitled to her opinions, and it’s obvious that Maxine had these strong opinions of me with only meeting me once…”
Mary interrupted Alex by saying, “Alex, I’m not sure what’s going on, but I do know that you have never met Maxine before today. That is also true with Doug.”
“Mary, what are you talking about?” Maxine quickly asked.
“Maxine, you have never met Alex or Doug before,” Mary said.
Alex, Doug, Trudy, Kenny, Brandy, Cindy and Ben looked at Mary as if she was about to tell their secret. Devin, Scott and Maxine looked at Mary as if she had lost her mind just before Maxine said, “Mary, I have never known of you being wrong about anything, but you are wrong about this. I’ve known Doug for a while now.”
“I can’t explain it, but I know what I’m saying is true,” Mary said.
“Are you saying that Doug and Alex are imposters?” Scott asked jokingly.
Marry thought for a second before saying, “No, they’re not imposters, but I also know that Alex and Doug have never met me, Maxine, Devin or Scott before today. That was why I felt Doug as being different to me earlier. I mistook the feeling as a change in his life.”
The waitress was returning with Trudy’s and Alex’s drinks as Devin said, “Mary, what you are saying doesn’t even make sense.”
“I know it doesn’t, but I also know I’m right,” Mary said.
“Mary, I think it’s time for me to take you home,” Maxine said.
“I think it’s time for the four of us to go,” Devin added.
Devin, Maxine and Scott were standing up as the waitress stepped up to the table. Maxine was helping Mary up as the waitress was giving Trudy and Alex their drinks along with an empty glass for each of them.
Before anyone could step away from the table, the waitress asked Devin, “Are you four leaving?”
“We are,” Devin confirmed.
“Well, drive safely,” the waitress said.
“Thank you,” Devin said.
Before Mary was led away, she said, “It was nice meeting everyone.”
“It was interesting in meeting you,” Trudy said.
As Maxine, Mary, Devin and Scott were walking away, the waitress turned towards Doug and his friends before asking, “Does anyone want anything else?”
“We’re good,” everyone responded.
The waitress collected the empty beer bottles and glasses that were left behind and walked away.
When the waitress was out of earshot, Trudy said, “You guys almost got discovered by a blind psychic.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t good,” Brandy said.
“Doug, why didn’t you call and warn me about Mary?” Alex practically demanded to know.
“Since Mary never met the Alex of this reality before, I didn’t think she would get a feeling of you like she did,” Doug said.
“Well, she did, and it was lucky that Maxine distrusted Mary’s psychic feeling,” Alex said.
“If I run into another psychic I’ll warn you about him or her first,” Doug said.
As Alex was pouring her beer into the glass she said, “Well, hopefully we won’t run into anymore psychics.” Once Alex’s glass was filled a second later, she put the bottle down and took a drink from the glass.
As Alex was putting her glass back down the karaoke DJ announced over the microphone, “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I’m Dominic and I’m your karaoke DJ for tonight. There are fifteen songbooks around the room on various tables so pick out the songs you want to sing and bring them to me. Until then I will sing a few songs that I have selected. Oh and I’m not a good singer so the faster you guys and gals bring me your song selections the faster you won’t have to listen to me sing.” Dominic then began his first song.
Trudy tapped Alex on the arm before saying, “You actually have a good singing voice so you should get up and sing.”
Before Alex responded she saw Doug grinning. She instantly gave Doug an inquisitive look before asking, “What?”
Doug smiled before saying, “I’m just thinking about Trudy’s suggestion. I would love to hear you sing. It will be interesting to hear.”
“I will sing,” Alex said with a smirk. She then stood up and looked around for a book. Within seconds she spotted one on an empty table. She walked over to it, picked it up and carried it back to her table. After sitting down, she slowly flipped through the pages for a song.
After searching through a few pages, Alex found a song that she liked and as she was writing it down Miles walked up behind her to peek at what she was writing.
Miles was looking over Alex’s shoulder for a few seconds when Alex looked up and saw who it was. She then grinned before saying, “Oh hi. I see you made it.”
“I’m just glad I made it in time to hear you sing,” Miles said. “Oh and you picked a nice song too.”
“Thanks.” As Alex was picking up the slip of paper with her selected song, she continued to say, “Well, I guess I’ll take it up to the DJ.”
Before Alex was able to stand up, Miles said, “I’ll take it up for you.”
Alex held out the slip of paper for Miles to take while saying, “Okay, thanks.”
As Miles took the paper he said, “No problem.” Miles then turned and walked towards the DJ.
Doug reached out his hand towards Alex while saying, “Alex, let me have the book. Tonight I think I’ll give singing a shot too.” Alex gave Doug a grin before handing him the book.
As the evening progressed several topics were brought up and discussed in a lengthy conversation. Everyone at Alex’s table got to sing two, three or four songs along with several other people in the bar. A few times during the night Trudy and then later Brandy noticed when an attractive man would walk by the table, Alex would stare at him as if she was attracted to him. Neither Brandy nor Trudy said anything to Alex about it. Also during the night, Trudy had warned Alex about drinking too much, but Alex failed to take it seriously.
Everyone stayed until the bar closed. Miles was pacing himself and was relatively sober compared to anyone else in the bar.
Once the bar was about to close and the bright lights were turned on, the workers shouted out, “Let’s go people! It’s time to go!”
As Alex and her group were standing up Miles asked, “Who all drove here?”
Alex, Doug and Ben said, “I drove here.”
“I don’t believe you three are in any shape to drive,” Miles said. “I drive a van and it will fit all of us. I’ll bring you three back tomorrow to get your vehicles after everyone has sobered up.”
Alex motioned for Miles to go and said in her completely drunken speech, “Lead the way.”
Trudy saw Alex’s purse hanging on the chair and before Alex had a chance to walk away from the table, Trudy gestured towards the purse while saying, “Alex, don’t forget your purse.”
“I can’t forget that,” Alex agreed before picking up the purse and putting it over her shoulder. Everyone then left the bar.