The Other Side

Paul rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. It was nearly noon on a Saturday afternoon and he was enjoying sleeping late on his day off. But the alarm clock was not the reason he had awakened.

The phone, hooked up only a week ago, was ringing. Paul considered not answering it. But the annoying appliance didn't stop making noise, so he assumed it must be important. With a sigh and a slight groan he dragged himself out of bed and across the room.

"Hello?"

"Paulie, hi!" he heard Tony's voice say cheerfully.

"Hi Tony, what's up?" he asked, trying to sound cheerful.

"Listen, I know it's short notice, but my wife and I were wondering if you'd join us for dinner tonight," Tony told him.

"Dinner?"

"Yeah, you know, just a simple affair. You, me, the missus," Tony replied.

"Just us?"

"Well, and our niece. Marianne's niece is coming to visit, and we didn't want the dinner to be uneven, so.." Tony trailed off.

"Uh-huh."

"Listen, she's a real nice girl. You don't have to dress up or nothing. It's just a simple dinner. Marianne's making roast beef."

Paul heaved a sigh, pretending to think the matter over. "Okay," he replied. "What's her name?"

"Her name?" Tony asked. "Who's name?"

"Your niece!" Paul replied. "What's her name?"

"Oh, that!" Tony realized. "Her name's Michelle."

"Okay, okay," Paul replied. "I'll be there. Seven?"

"Six thirty. You know where we are. Nice and casual, ya know?"

"Right. Ya want me to bring something?"

"Nah, don't bother. Just show up."

"Okay, Tony. See you then."

Paul had been living in town for three weeks now and realized that he hadn't had much of an opportunity to see the town, other than the inside of a few department stores. Since the dinner at his landlord's was in a few hours, he decided to spend the time until then looking for a new shirt to wear.

Paul headed out to town in search of a bargain. He went to the center of town and searched the main street for a bargain.

Main Street was a modest affair in shopping, but Paul was in no hurry. He strode down the street, looking in each and every window.

His original plan was to simply buy a plain blue shirt or perhaps a green one. But he happened to be passing the front of a store and spotted a wild multi-colored shirt in the window.

Paul stopped in his tracks and stared at the shirt. It was a swirl of bright blue, purple, and green colors, with a bit of yellow and orange splashed into it. Paul was aware that he probably looked like a complete idiot, but he stood there and stared at the shirt.

"Wow," he whispered to himself. "I gotta buy that." Paul entered the store, and, ten minutes later, exited the store with three shirts in just that style, a very happy customer.

"This is cool," he mumbled to himself as he strode down the street, swinging the bag as he walked. Suddenly, two boys ran down the street past him. One was chasing the other.

"Mick! Gimme back my ball!" one shouted.

"No way," the other called back. "You gotta catch me first!"

"That's no fair, man!" the boy yelled. He brushed past Peter, nearly bumping into him as he rushed down the street.

Paul suddenly was hit by deja vu.

Two men. Arguing, as if like children.

"Boys, stop running!" he heard a woman yell. She sighed and shook her head. "Trouble makers. Will they ever grow up?" Paul heard her mumble to herself.

"Micky, man, come on. You two are acting like kids!"

Paul shook his head. "What was that?" he mumbled to himself. He shook it off and continued down the street, whistling to himself.

Paul knocked on Tony and Marianne's door at six thirty precisely. He was wearing a clean pair of pants and his new, bright colored-blue/green/yellow shirt. Marianne answered the door.

"Paul!" she greeted. Then she saw the shirt. "Nice shirt," she commented. Paul grinned.

"Thanks," he replied, oblivious to her sarcasm. "I found it on sale today. Would you believe only ten dollars at Tyler's downtown?"

"Sounds like a steal," she commented polietly. "Do come in. Let me take your jacket."

Paul entered the house and greeted Tony, who was sitting on the couch watching a football game. "Hey Paul," Tony replied.

"Hey Tony, whatcha watching?" he asked.

"Only the greatest football game in history," Tony replied, as he began describing the game to Paul. Tony was a big football fan, as Paul was about to realize.

"Are you two gonna sit there and watch football all day or are you gonna eat?" Marianne asked a few moments later, sticking her head in the living room to rescue Paul.

"Yum, smells delicious," Paul complimented as he seated himself at the table.

"Marianne makes the best roast beef," Tony commented as he poured himself and Paul a drink. "She stole the recipe from her Great Aunt Mildred."

"Tony!" Marianne scolded, swatting him with a towel. "I didn't steal it. I only borrowed."

"Yeah, well, you didn't give it back!" Tony replied.

"I can't now," Marianne replied. "Aunt Mildred's been dead thirty years."

Paul laughed, and Tony chuckled as well.

"What's the joke?" A female voice asked from the doorway. Paul turned to see who had spoken.

The girl who had spoken was most obviously Michelle. She couldn't have been much more than nineteen years old, with dark hair and eyes. She wasn't very tall, but she was skinny, and she wore a short blue skirt that showed off her thin legs and made her appear taller. She wore a red and white shirt that was cut just low enough to be fashionable but not low enough to be tasteless.

"Ah, you're here!" Tony greeted. "Michelle, meet Paul. Paulie boy, this is my sister-in-law's kid, Michelle."

"Uncle Tony, I'm not a kid any more!" Michelle replied indignantly. Tony just laughed.

"Nice to meet you," Paul replied, remembering his manners. He stood up and shook hands with Michelle.

"Pleasure's all mine," Michelle replied with a smile. She sat down, and Marianne began to serve the roast beef.

"Michelle is studying in college right now," Marianne boasted as she sat down. "She's going to be a nurse."

Michelle blushed slightly and pretended to be invisible.

Paul was impressed. "Oh yeah?" he asked. "Sounds like a lot of hard work."

"It is," Michelle agreed as she ate her food. "But it's cool to be helping people that are sick, ya know?"

Paul nodded. "Good to feel useful," he replied.

"Pain, Peter, I'm in so much pain," the woman was whining

Paul shook his head to clear the fuzz.

"Uncle Tony says you're a janitor," Michelle commented conversationally. "Sounds like glamorous work."

Paul laughed, not insulted. "Not really," he replied. "It's just a side job till I figure out who I am."

"Identity quest?" she asked.

"Something like that," he replied. "Considering that I don't know who I am."

"Paulie's been suffering from amnesia," Tony explained casually as he passed Marianne the salt.

Now Michelle was impressed. "Really?" she asked. "For how long?"

Paul shrugged. "'Bout a month," he replied. "Woke up in an alley and couldn't remember who I was."

"So he came here and I gave him an apartment. He found a job the next day and I lent him some cash for a few weeks 'till he got paid," Tony explained.

"You don't remember anything?" Michelle asked. Paul shook his head.

"Nope. Don't know where I come from or who I knew or anything. Last thing I remember was an explosion."

A building exploding. A black face.

"That's it?" Marianne asked. "Nothing more in the past three weeks?"

Paul shook his head. "Not really," he replied. "Bits and pieces of things, but nothing concrete."

"That's a shame," Michelle commented sympathetically.

"Yeah," he replied, shrugging. "It'll come back eventually, I know. I just gotta wait a while."

"The dinner was delicious Marianne, thanks for having me," Paul said as he put his coat on.

"Oh, it was my pleasure," Marianne replied. "It was great to have you."

"You sure ya don't wanna stay and watch the game?" Tony asked. Paul grinned and shook his head.

"Thanks, Tony, but I got things to do," Paul replied. "Nice meetin' you, Michelle." He smiled and slipped out the door.

Paul strolled up to his apartment and hung up his coat. He looked around the room.

"I keep feelin' something's missing," he mumbled to himself. "Or someone. But I don't know who."

He sighed and went to bed, shutting the light off as he did so.

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