Forget to Remember

anything with Carol. There had been that time in high school when Adam had stolen a girl from him. At least that’s the way Rigo remembered it. He wished Adam weren’t sitting quite so close to Carol. Rigo strained to hear what Adam was saying to her over the noise of the crowd.
    “I walked here from the office.” Adam looked at Carol, as if expecting her approval.
    “That’s a start. Now maybe you’ll consider a regular exercise program.”
    Carol was keeping a psychological distance from him. Good.
    “I play tennis.”
    “Once a week with Rigo. That’s not enough.”
    “Old Rigo doesn’t have a regular program.” Adam winked at Rigo.
    “He washes dishes six days a week. That involves a lot of physical movement, including running around, clearing tables. Restaurant workers get tons of exercise.” Carol turned to Rigo. “If you go to work for your folks, you will have to do more to keep in shape.”
    ***
    At halftime the band came out on the field and played fight songs. Two majorettes in fancy costumes twirled their batons. They threw them high in the air and caught them. Rigo noticed Carol was watching them intently. He had an idea. “Would you like to meet the coach for the majorettes? She was in high school when we were.”
    They made their way down to the field while Adam went off to buy a hotdog. Rigo had had a crush on Jennifer in high school and still saw her once in a while. She was married to an aerospace engineer. It wouldn’t hurt for her to see him with another beautiful woman. He went up to her and gave her a hug.
    “Rigo. So good to see you. How are you?” She gave him her patented smile that had dazzled him as a teenager.
    “Great. I’d like you to meet Carol Golden. Carol is staying with my parents for a while. Carol, this is Jennifer Smith.”
    They shook hands and said hello. Jennifer’s long blond hair and light complexion contrasted with Carol’s short dark hair and darker complexion.
    “Where are you from, Carol?”
    Rigo saw Carol didn’t know how to answer that question. He jumped in before the situation became awkward. “She’s from the East Coast. She’s out here to decide whether she wants to live in California, or whether she’d rather live where there’s no danger of falling into the ocean.”
    Carol had recovered. “Your girls are really good. You’ve trained them well.”
    “Were you a majorette?”
    Carol hesitated and then smiled. She picked up a baton lying at Jennifer’s feet. She did a few exploratory twirls in slow motion and then went through a short routine, including passing the baton behind her back. She stopped and balanced it on one finger. “It’s been a long time.”
    Rigo was impressed. He suspected Carol was as good as Jennifer, if not better. They chatted for a few minutes. Carol asked Jennifer if they twirled blindfolded or with fire batons. Jennifer admitted they didn’t and invited Carol to come to one of their practice sessions. They agreed they would try to meet sometime soon .
    ***
    Carol sensed Rigo didn’t want her walking to Adam’s office with him, but she did it anyway. She had declined Rigo’s invitation to drive her home after the game. He had gone to the restaurant. She had to get out of the box in which fate had placed her. The more contacts she had, the more people she knew, the more likely she would discover her former life.
    It was a short walk to Adam’s office. Adam wasn’t straining himself by doing it. He had made more out of it than it deserved. She felt like telling him how she’d walked home from Manhattan Beach in the wee hours of the morning, but she refrained. Adam didn’t know she’d gone out with Jake Beard. It was none of his business.
    While they were walking, Adam regaled her with tales of his financial successes and his growing client base. She suspected anything Adam said should be taken with a generous allowance for overstatement. Not that he wasn’t good at what he did. Tina and Ernie had an account with him, and they were no slouches at matters financial.
    Adam’s building was close to the library, which she was already familiar with, having used it to look up information related to her identity not readily available on the Internet. They took the elevator up to the fourth floor. This was the only four-story building in sight.
    The whole fourth floor was deserted. Financial dealings on the West Coast started around 6:30 in the morning when the stock market opened. That was 9:30 in New