Old Roommates

Last Sunday I heard one random line from the "Selected Shorts" program on the radio. The reader said "One must keep a nodding acquaintance with one's previous selves because they will come knocking one night at 4am". And that made me think back to some of my previous selves and that I hadn't seen my old college roommate Robert in a decade. Then yesterday he facebook-messaged and asked if I'd be interested in coming out to see a line-up of three Brazilian bands at the One-2-One club. I agreed and invited Jim, my Austin world music expert. I cooked dinner for Jo and the kids. Jo said "Kiss daddy goodnight - he's ditching us" - which they did, and then I left for the evening.

At the club Robert met me warmly and introduced me to his girlfriend. She was pretty and seemed a bit distracted. I stuck out my hand. She said "Paula". I said "Hello Paula. Arun". And I instantly forgot her name and returned to my conversation with Jim. Through the evening Robert and I spoke often. I noticed that the club was getting crowded. Some people wore t-shirts which said "Paula Maya". Then the second band finished playing their set and the mc said "And very soon we'll have Austin's own Paula Maya and her band on stage". And Robert's girlfriend got on stage and played amazing keyboards and sang like a nightingale for the next two hours. When she finished I went up to the stage and complimented her on singing beautifully and hoped that it made up for my seeming rudeness for not having made the connection earlier.