The Stranger
Welcome to the Twilight Zone... (cue appropriate music)
I'm meeting Mom after she's done teaching at Beth Shalom. Mom needs to make a meeting after class, so Ari and I go ahead to Taste of Class and order for Mom.
At Taste is a bridal shower. It takes up most of the restaurant, but there are a few tables in the back that aren't taken, and the staff says they're open, so I take a seat. Ari and I order, and we wait and talk.
I'm facing the party; Ari is facing me. It's a party with plenty of Orthodox Jewish girls about the right age, so I'm looking around. I see someone, cute, and somehow vaguely familiar-looking. I can't place her.
They start opening presents, and among the towels and dustbusters there was a present from Alissa Z. The girl turns and waves to everyone. Alissa Z is her name. That name's rather familiar.
I let it stew for a while. Mom came, and we started eating. But this was bugging me. Where had I heard the name before? Where had I seen her before? I flipped open my Newton, opened Names, and scrolled down to Z. There, the last entry in there. There it was. Her name, a street address (no city), and two home phone numbers. I vaguely remember having directions to the house at one time, but I wasn't sure if I'd ever been there. Is that where I knew her from?
I couldn't hold it in, and I told this to Mom and Ari. They were both facing me, and they turned to look. I tried to describe Alissa, and they saw her. Not familiar to them. I started to remember where that entry came from. I think it was a tutoring job that fell through. I still don't remember if I went to the house or not.
Mom insists that she saw Alissa looking at me. Repeatedly. I didn't see her look my way once.
But where did I see her before? The Newton says that the entry was last modified 11/24/98. It's certainly been less that two years, but I can't place it anywhere...
doo doo doo doo... doo doo doo doo...