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Pam - a Love Story Ch. 01.
Of course, this is a work of fiction, as are the characters. Everyone is over 18.
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It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon in October, and my best friend, Mike, and I were at my house getting ready to spend our evening streaming "Breaking Bad," picking up where we'd left off yesterday. But, before we started, we needed food! Real food; not snacks. Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I fucking LOVE snacks! However, we decided to go pick up some TexMex at Rosario's Mexican Cafe Y Cantina, over on San Pedro Ave, here in San Antonio. Well, it was decided that *I* would go pick up the food.
We'd spent a lot of time together since March 2020, thanks to COVID-19.
Neither one of us works, though not by choice, and neither one of us is dating, though not by choice.
Well, to be fair, COVID-19 can only take the blame for our joblessness. Neither of us was dating right before this nightmare started. I don't know what it is, but for the past 4 years, we seemed to start and end relationships at about the same time. It's weird. We'd given it a lot of thought about that since we saw a pattern, but hadn't found any answers. Oh, well; another mystery of the universe.
We don't go out to dine-in restaurants or bars. We order groceries online, using Instacart or Amazon, and practice good infection control from the time the groceries are left at our respective doorsteps. When we're around anyone else in public, an N95 mask and eye protection are the rules. No 'long-haulers' will we be, thank you very much. Additionally, we both got Moderna back in Feb/Mar of 2021, and we both just finished our 2nd dose of Pfizer on September 5. In 3 weeks, we'll get our first J&J vaccine, then in November get our Moderna boosters, then 3 weeks later, our 2nd J&J, then around March 2022, our Pfizer booster. COVID can SUCK IT!
We perused Rosario's menu online and placed our order.
We got Chorizo Quesadillas as an appetizer. They're a combination of potatoes and Mexican sausage sandwiched between grilled flour tortillas and served with guacamole and pico de gallo. A steal at $7.95.
I got a plate of two chicken enchiladas topped with a sweet, white wine cream sauce, crema fresca & white cheese, with sides of Poblano rice, beans, and tortillas, for a measly $12.25.
Mike got Griselda's Tacos Callejeros. That's three corn tortillas grilled on the comal, filled with refried beans and beef fajita. They come topped with cabbage lime slaw, diced avocado, and queso fresco. A bargain at $13.95.
We foreswore any dessert; quarantine weight gain was something that we were always fighting off.
I went to pick up our order and - wow! The parking lot was packed! You wouldn't know that there was a raging pandemic in the U.S., nor would you know that Texas was having a resurgence of cases. If only we had a state government as functional as South Korea or New Zealand. (Sigh)
I should've ordered curbside instead of indoor pickup. Oh, well. I strapped my N95 mask in place, put the obligatory black cloth mask over it (can't be too careful), put on my shop glasses, and went inside.
The tables were 'socially distanced,' but no one except the staff had a mask on. I could almost feel the virus particles trying to claw their way past my protection. Nevertheless, I proceeded to the take-out line and got behind a nicely dressed woman. Ah! It seemed that she was taking the threat seriously as she wore adequate protection, also.
The line was almost out of the front door, and as I walked toward the line, a rude woman barged past me to get into line. The orders were still being prepared for the first people in line and we were told that orders would be processed in the order that we'd arrived. One of the staff came over and I gave him my name and he matched it up with my order and said that they'd do their best to speed things up.
I called Mike and apprised him of the situation and we decided that I should stay.
I was minding my own business (as I couldn't see anyone else whose business I should be minding,) and I was thinking about an Amazon order that I'd forgotten to complete when I heard the rude woman in front of me start talking to the couple in front of her.
You could've knocked me over with a sharp right cross. I knew that voice! A blast from the past. Or so it seemed. I waited until she'd finished talking with the couple (asking them what they'd ordered and why) and as she stood back a bit, I leaned over to peek at the side of her head. I wasn't wrong! It was Pam! My heart skipped about 50 beats. Pam! Fuck me!
The line kept moving up, but no one joined her. It'd been 10 years since a job offer had lured her to San Francisco. I didn't think she'd leave, but she said that she could retire in 5 years - and would I please come with her?
I had family in San Antonio and Houston that needed me, so I couldn't go. She said that if I was available when she got back, she'd love to get back together. We wrote for a while but that eventually faded, and after the intervening years, I figured that she'd found someone else.
Yet, here she was in front of me - apparently alone.
I moved up close behind her. I hesitated, but then I tapped her on the shoulder and waited for her to turn around.
Pam swung around, looked at me, then looked closer at me. Suddenly, she locked onto my blue eyes and distinctive eyebrows and she did a double-take of my face. It was almost a single movement when her mouth dropped open, her eyes went wide, and she started to fall. I grabbed her arm and kept her from falling into the counter.
"Pam? Is that you? Imagine that!"
She looked at me and her face reflected emotions much like a Humboldt squid reflects emotions when startled. The emotions rocked back and forth across her face; the muscles going sort of wonkers. Her mouth stayed open and I could hear her brain beginning to fry; I could almost imagine the sound of Rice Krispies when you pour the milk on. She started to say something then closed her mouth. Then, it dropped open again.
"Frank!! Oh. My. God!" she exclaimed. I saw her quickly glance behind me to see the gentleman standing there. No female. She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me; no kissing through masks. After about 10 seconds, she relented and let me go, but those 10 seconds told me everything I needed to know.
"I'm so sorry, Frank! You just took me by surprise and I apologize for my behavior. I didn't even consider whether you had a girlfriend or a wife here. That was very thoughtless of me."
Yeah, sure.
She glanced down at her feet, and I could imagine a look of contrition on her face behind her masks (an N95, covered by a black, cloth mask), but her heavy breathing belied what she had said.
"Pam, no need to worry. I figured there was a good chance of just that reaction when I tapped on your shoulder. Then again, the other chance was that you would stare at me and then dress me down with your eyes before turning around without saying a word, and freezing me out. I guess you don't have anyone here?"
"No, there's no one. So...."
She looked at me for a split second and then grabbed me again and hugged me with a full-body hug. I could feel her body almost vibrating as she pressed against me. This was a complete surprise, and yes, my toes started to curl.
I was amazed that I'd found myself standing in back of her, finding that she still had positive feelings about me, and finding that she was (apparently) single and alone was just improbable, to say the least. She was a very good-looking woman with a fine body and a very pleasant personality. I had never met anyone who disliked her.
Immediately, my mind jumped to what we'd done for 10 years, off and on, before she left, but every day while we were on. As much as I wanted to see if something still worked, I pushed the immediate reward away in lieu of a longer-term, albeit a greater reward, I hoped.
"Pam, you're up at the checkout. Will you wait for me beside your car so we can chat a bit?"
"Frank, as if you even have to ask!"