“Love, huh? That’s a strong word for a woman you’ve never named,” Lyle fished. A name
wouldn’t ruin the magic of the story. No,
it’d finally give him a name card to the face
he drew in his mind. Ben had gone through
the top quarter of his fresh beer. He leaned
back in his chair and smacked his tongue
against his lip. The look he gave Lyle was
one that could turn people to pillars of salt.
“I really got you hook, line, and sinker, huh,
kid?“
Ben sat up straight and fixed his coat to sit
straight. He looked at himself in the mirror
behind the bar, scratched the underside of
his chin, then smirked.
“Tell you what, if you can guess her name,
I’ll tell you if you’re right.“ He grabbed a
coaster and pulled a pen out of his pocket.
He scribbled on the non-printed side of the
beer soak. He put his hand on it and slid his
hand away from himself. “One chance, kid.
What’s the lady with the beguiling smile’s
name?“
“One guess?! That’s hardly fair. There’s a lot
of names out there!“
“Those are the terms, kid. Take ‘em or leave
‘em,“ replied Ben with a smile that could
be described as “shit eating.” Lyle leaned
against the back rack, but jumped from a
blast of cold air the A/C sputtered out. His
face contorted from the cold and his inability to come up with a name.
“Millie,” Lyle finally ventured. Ben frowned
while shaking his head up and down.
“Well, let’s see,“ said Ben, removing his hand
from the coaster. Lyle’s heart began beating
fast. He surprised himself in how excited he
was for all this. The words “TURN AROUND”
were written in very immaculate script. All
INSIGHT
at once his excitement was gone. His shoulders slumped as he stared at Ben, who had
taken on a poker face.
“Something wrong?“
“Yeah. That isn’t a name. Come on man, if
you’re going to yank my chain, at least warn
me first.”
“Or instead of pouting you could, you know,
turn around,“ said Ben in a even tone. Lyle
cocked an eyebrow.
“You want me to turn around and look at
the mirror behind me?“ To that, Ben replied
with a nod. “Ok, I’ll turn around and look at
my own reflection so you can get a good
laugh.“ Ben simply nodded again.
Lyle turned to face the mirror. Instead of his
reflection, a woman with a most beguiling
smile was staring back at him. She blew on
the glass of the mirror from her side and
wrote the name “MARA” into the condensation. The color from Lyle’s face drained. He
turned back to the rest of the room. Everyone was still there, save for Ben. Another
coaster was sitting on the bar.
Lyle checked over his shoulder, only to see
his reflection again.