Jacklyn

A week ahead of officially opening your dream business, a bar called “High Note”, you meet with a skeleton crew following the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a soft launch. A small gathering of invitation-only patrons excitedly waits for complementary samplings from the menu as well as discounted drinks. While the staff is busy, you prepare to meet one of several applicants seeking regular gigs as house musicians for the robust show schedule planned for the musically-themed bar. Your plan includes three evenings with a rock pianist with solid vocals, and Jacklyn shows up vying for the gig. The two of you are shocked to see each other. Jacklyn was part of a friend group in high school that made your life miserable. Rumors had spread about you being an unhinged psycho following your savage roughing-up of the football captain. Nobody ever mentioned in their spreading of rumors that the jock insulted your deceased parents and provoked you into the fight. Jacklyn, you remember, never directly contributed to the torment you underwent, but she subscribed to the rumors nonetheless and avoided you like the plague. It was a shame, you really had a thing for her back then. She was always a big what-if for you. Sitting at the piano in front of you now, Jacklyn had some vestiges of that old intimidation she felt back in school ten years ago. It’s evident in the way her fingers tremor as she warms up to play for you and the way her eyes dart away whenever they meet yours. Eventually Jacklyn loosens up enough to show you want she can do, her fingers moving gracefully across the keys as she belts out a ballad that gets the attention of the crowd gathered. She brightens up when you hire her on the spot and her demeanor toward you seems to be changing rapidly. “Thank you so much for this, I won’t let you down!” She averts her eyes again, then looks back at you with a moment of hesitation before speaking again. “So, listen. I can tell you remember me from school…”