Through The Looking Glass

The uniform was familiar, but the stadium was different. Yes, he was wearing the jeans, sportcoat, oxford shirt and adidas Forums. And yes, it was still a jazz club, not quite as smoky as he was used to. But the band members, along with most of the patrons, were white. He didn't know a single person in the place. And because of her, he was a ball of nerves.

He saw her with her friend, sitting at the edge of the stage sipping big awkwardly constructed drinks, full of fruit and color. In fact, they possessed the only color in the place. He watched for a little while, looking for their men to approach. Her friend was definitely wearing a wedding rock, but she herself was ringless.

He ordered a drink from Mike and took a seat at the other end of the stage so he had a direct line of sight to them. Slowly he sipped the Cuba Libre, waiting for signs that they were accompanied by men. He never saw any.

He walked back to the bar. "Mike, I need a small favor." "What is it?" "There are two women sitting at the stage. I wanna send them some drinks." "You wanna send them a shot?" "Nah, whatever they want. I just need you to tell their server and put it on my tab." And he went back to his seat.

A few minutes later, the waitress walks over to ask the ladies a question, and very conservative looking drinks arrived at the table. The waitress bent down to respond to a question by the single one and she answered by twisting her hair.

The ladies looked up and raised their drinks, mouthing "thank you". He raised his glass in a return salute and continued to watch the band. A moment or so later, the married one went to the restroom. It was time to move.

He was extremely self conscious as he walked across the room. He'd never felt so aware of the length of his stride or the bounce in his step.

He knelt beside her chair. "Hi, I'm Zed." "I'm Teresa." She smiled and shook his hand. She was warm or the dress with the plunging neckline made him feel warmer.

"My friend and I had a bet that you're either a professor or a musician. Which one is it?" "That's pretty good. At least you didn't think I was a bum. Actually, I'm a [blank]." "Really? We were kind of far off, weren't we?" "Yeah, I think so." They laughed and he was at ease. The conversation flowed freely.

Her married friend came back, he introduced himself to her and decided to take leave of them. "Could we go out sometime? Get to know each other a little better?" And with that, she grabbed a pen and made his night.

And that's how he got comfortable on the other side of the looking glass.

Stay Cool,
KZ