Memory

(Chapter Extract)

.. I happened to glance up and noticed two girls of a similar age, early twenties, walking towards me. The girls were smiling at me and I remember one of them was particularly joyful-looking as they continued on their small journey from the front door. I briefly continued fiddling with cables and looking up again, they were still walking towards me. With every step closer, however, the smiles on the young, pretty faces started to disappear. God only knows what my expression was, but it must have been obvious that I had no idea who they were. After what seemed like a slow-motion walk from a movie scene they reached me, the smiles now completely wiped. I remember that there were no polite exchanges from the off. “Hello” or, “How are you?” definitely didn’t feature. The previously joyful-looking girl got straight to the point and remarked, ‘You don’t remember me do you?’ Before I had the chance to respond, I was met with faces of fury and a barrage of verbal abuse that consisted of every swear word under the sun and at a volume so loud that everyone turned to look at us. Even the dog in the corner of the bar stopped playing the piano. A sharp turn on the spot and a far quicker walk the other way towards the door followed. …