The Intrusion

Twenty-Four

[?]

I trip going up a step into the bar and stumble forward, nearly falling flat on my face.

I'm still not used to moving around in this body. I really empathize with that poor roach-alien-man in the Men in Black movie who had to walk around in that Edgar-suit all the time.

"Are you all right there?" a man standing by a small round table outside the door asks, reaching his hand out towards me as though to steady me.

A plume of smoke from the cigarette he's got in his hand rushes over my face. Oddly enough, it smells good, even though I've always hated the smell of cigarettes. I'm getting a nice feeling from it, something like nostalgia, but I can't place it. It's like my mind is attempting to make a connection or draw on a fond memory, but the link is broken and the file is gone, or maybe it's just been moved to a different location. It's like when you are taking a test at school and you get to a question you know you've learned the answer to. You can even see the exact spot in the textbook where it lives, but no matter what you do, you can't remember what it is. The information isn't there anymore.

Gone.

"Miss?" The man asks again, pulling me back to reality. It takes me another few seconds to realize he is talking to me. It feels weird to have someone call me "miss."

"Oh, I'm fine, but thank you," I finally reply.

"Okay, but just be careful," the man warns, a hint of concern evident in his voice.

He must be thinking I'm drunk. That's probably why he's concerned. I'm probably walking around like I'm wasted—stumbling over my own two feet, tripping on even the slightest gradient in the sidewalk, holding my hands out to my sides for balance. Even the desk attendant in the lobby of Jordan's building seemed concerned when he saw me leaving.

I smile at the man with the cigarette and nod, and then I head into the bar before he can say anything else.

When I get inside, I glance around the room. It's quiet, but that's no surprise considering it's Monday. I spot Jess almost immediately. She's sitting at the other end of the bar on a stool right in front of the wells and looking down at the counter in front of her. I make my way to the other side of the room and plop myself down in the empty seat next to her.

"Hey Jess," I say.

She abruptly turns to look at me. "Oh, hey! You snuck up on me there!"

"Sorry."

"No worries." She brushes it off with a wave of her hand. "I'm just glad you were able to make it out tonight. I think this is just what you need, Jordan."

Jordan.

That's going to be tough to get used to.

"Yeah, me too." I force a smile I hope looks cool, but I'm not sure I've 100% figured out how to work this face yet, so it more likely looks creepy.

She grins at me and takes a sip from her glass, finishing off the last of her beer. Guess my smile wasn't too bad after all.

"Let me buy you a drink." Jess flags the bartender down before I can give her a response.

The bartender nods when he sees her waving at him and makes his way over to the two of us.

"What can I get for you?" he asks us.

"Can I get another Molson Gold, please," Jess asks with a winning smile in an adorable, sing-song-y voice, "and my girlfriend here will have..." She turns her gaze to me for input.

"The same," I reply. "Molson Gold sounds great."

"Same tab," the bartender asks, but it sounds more like a statement than a question.

"Yup," Jess replies before I can get a word in.

As the bartender nods and walks away to get our drinks, Jess turns to me and with a wink and says, "I'm buying tonight, Jordan, so don't you dare even think about paying for anything!"

And then she giggles, and I laugh along with her but I don't know why we are laughing. I don't understand what about this is so funny, but maybe it has something to do with the conversation Jordan and Jess had the other night.

What did Jordan and this girl talk about at the bar after I left? I need to find out. I don't know why I do, but for whatever reason I know that I do. An inexplicable desire to know burns inside me, and I can't deny it. And, if there's anything I've learned from Jordan in the short time I've known her, it's this: alcohol is the best way to get a secret out of anyone.