“Okay,” Roy said. “Looks like she’s here. I’m off.”

In the darkness, Joe could make out just a hint of the woman who was behind the wheel, waiting. “Who is it?” Joe asked. “Your wife?”

Roy chuckled. “Nah. Just my side piece,” he said, unbelievably, as Joe stood there, stunned. From several late night conversations at the bar, Joe knew that Roy’s marriage wasn’t exactly thriving. But still, this was far beyond anything he’d thought Roy was capable of. It wasn’t so much that he was having an affair—which perhaps wasn’t so uncommon—it was how he spoke so casually of it. And he acted so brazenly, so openly.

“Who are you?” Joe asked.

Roy gave a dismissive laugh. “Joe, remember what I said. You don’t hide what you want anymore. You just take it. The sooner you embrace that, the better off you’ll be.”

Joe stepped a bit closer to the car, changing the angle to see who sat behind the wheel of the purring vehicle. Her long, perfectly straight hair glowed silver in the dim streetlight, and her eyes flashed across his with a shine in them equal to the gleam in her dangling earrings. Something about her made him feel assured that she was the kind of woman that just wanted to fuck all night—unbelievably that was the thought that swept through Joe, and it was so strong it derailed all else in his mind. He looked quickly away from her, as though to expunge it all and get his mind back on track.

Roy boomed out laughing, like he knew everything that was happening inside of Joe’s head. “Don’t worry, Joe,” he said.

“Why? Why wouldn’t I worry?”

Roy shrugged. “Because she’s not totally real either.”

He gave back one more of those vulture-like grins before swiftly opening the passenger door, sitting down in the car, and shutting the door behind him. In the dim streetlight the mystery woman smiled and then the sedan puttered off with another sharp crunch of gravel under the tires as Joe silently voiced the words what the fuck.

He watched as the sedan turned the corner and then was gone. With its absence, the night was perfectly quiet once more and Joe stood by his lonesome. Eventually, he shook his head in annoyance. He puffed on his cigarette, wishing he could just dismiss that whole encounter in a fresh cloud of smoke, yet he knew it would stick with him no matter what he did. Then he felt his phone buzzing again inside of his pocket, and his free hand shot in and fished it out.

It was another text from Danielle. He felt his heart give a sharp thump like a bass drum as he read her words.

hey joe :)

i noticed you didn’t make it into work today

Joe put out his cigarette in the dirty ashtray. Then he texted her back.

yeah no way that was happening

Her response came right away.

hehe old man… i wore you out :)

That made him take a deep breath as he replied in kind.

so fucking worth it :)

Again her response came swiftly, this time a flurry of them that left him speechless. He felt an acidic ache in his jaw while reading them.

mmm I’m ready for round 2

come by my place would you?

c’mon joe I neeeeeeeed it

It was seemingly a small detail, but it actually wasn’t, it was actually a huge detail, one that most girls wouldn’t be shrewd enough to know—the fact that she’d said it and not you. The acid flowed from his jaw and into the rest of his bones and he felt his entire body buzz enjoyably. “Fuck,” he whispered, trying to catch his breath.

He couldn’t wait to get to her, and to gratify her, with great spirit—and sweat—not just because he was dying to, but because it would also serve to quickly and firmly repudiate whatever the hell Roy had just been suggesting, which was something about some kind of turning point, if he were to lay with her again, this girl who wasn’t totally real. Fuck that. He scanned the streets, hoping to see a taxi coming around the corner. He didn’t, but no matter, he could get an Uber or a Lyft within seconds. His body remained quivering as he searched for the ride apps on his phone.

But then he stopped, and remembered he had to go back into the bar and pay his tab.

The music was a raging Soundgarden track and it grew quite loud as he entered the barroom and walked to his spot. He reached his hand out to flag down the bartender, but then he stopped, and took a seat instead.

Wait, Joe, he told himself. Just wait.

The music, booming. His head, woozy. The bar, spinning. He had to get under control. Before anything else, he had to do that. But of course, it was like he merely blinked and his phone had found its way back into his hand again.

He scrolled back through his text thread with Danielle. He took in her witty, sexy banter. Then he came across a photo she’d sent to him recently. He gazed upon her stunning black lingerie, the garter straps on her wide hips, and her long legs, delicately crossed. Her lips, pursed into a kiss, and her doe eyes, sparkling.

“My God,” Joe whispered, and he had no control over his body whatsoever as his arm reached out and flagged down Steve for another drink.

The Soundgarden still raged, so thick and powerful that Joe imagined it shook the entire building. A second later, he looked up at the drink that Steve placed on the bar before him, and saw distinct ripples on the surface, like everything actually was shaking.

Joe ignored it and went back to his phone.

Eventually he toggled away from her text messages and returned to the web browser. After hitting back a few times he landed once again on Jennifer’s profile, and specifically, to the selfie she had posted so many years ago. The blue tint on her sunglasses, the mirrored lenses, and the wide smile. Jennifer Carter…

The ripples in his drink were constant now, and through the blaring music he saw people looking around, wondering how and why the building shook. The glass orb—which he’d left on the bar this whole time—sat by the stacks of napkins and coasters, and it rattled on the wood surface.

Once again he idly toggled through the applications on his phone, and landed back on his text messages again. He reread his recent dialogue with Danielle deeply, as though drinking it in. The message history, and the photos, so racy and naughty, and he was desperate for the way it made him feel.

He noticed his phone switch into low battery mode, and this made Joe actually sigh in relief. A dead battery on his phone might be the absolute best thing for him. The best thing for his sanity. Still with some power remaining on the device, he toggled the screen back and forth from the web browser holding Jennifer’s smiling face, to his lewd message history with Danielle, unable to decide which one he wanted to remain on. He paused only to take a drink, and after a few of those it was down to just the ice. He felt the alcohol hit his system in dizzying waves. The sensation provided for a momentary relief, and indeed—the bar had stopped shaking. Joe took several calming, deep breaths, while the other bar patrons around him speculated wildly if that had been an earthquake, or if a bomb had gone off somewhere, or what. Joe ignored them.

In the background he heard the haunting sounds of the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” coming from the speakers. It started softly and then the song hit its stride and flowed sonically through the barroom. It was right around then that the blackout began, the one that Joe knew was imminent.