Free Unplugged (A Portrait of a Rock Star) by J. P. Grider Page A

coffee and turned on the news before setting out to study for the entire day.”
    Mara’s pause was longer this time, so I thought her story was finished.  I had no idea why she had just shared it with me, but I figured I should have sounded somewhat interested.  “Well, how’d you do on the test?”
    Mara stared right through me.  “Oh …I never did take that test.”
    Okay. “Why not?”
     “Do you know what day it was?”
    “Well, according to your story, I’d gathered it was a Tuesday.”  This was getting weird.
    “Yes.  It was a Tuesday.” Another sigh. “Actually, it was a beautiful Tuesday morning.  Cool and clear, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.”
    Oh, now I got it.  “So, you must have regretted switching days.  I bet it rained on Thursday, huh?”
    “Oh, I regretted it alright, but not because of the weather.” Mara kept taking her time with this.  I really didn’t understand where she was going with this.  “Do you know what Tuesday it was?”  I shook my head no, even though I realized it was probably a rhetorical question.  “It was Tuesday, September 11, 2001.  Do you know where my Bradley worked?”  Again, I shook my head, only this time a chill ran up my spine.  She nodded her head, “Yes …he worked on the seventy-third floor of the North Tower.  He died that day.
    Silence.  Deafening silence.

Chapter Eight
    So, Mara did know what it felt like to indirectly be the cause of someone else’s death.  Now I had understood why she was agreeing with my blaming Crystal’s death on my bad decision.  Oh, I know Mara was not breaking any ten commandments by committing adultery, but she did inadvertently make the wrong decision.  If she hadn’t panicked about her test, they would have been on their way to the Jersey Shore when the World Trade Center was attacked.  Instead, Mara had to live with the guilt of sending her husband to work …on the absolute worse day possible.
    “Mara …I’m so, so sorry.”  I was just staring at her.  Her mouth was pinched in a straight line and her chocolate eyes were melting.  “I’m so sorry …for Brad, for you …and I’m so sorry that I ever accused you of not comprehending the utter pain that I’ve been suffering.  You do know how much it hurts …intimately.”
    Mara swallowed; I could actually hear the lump in her throat.  “Thank you,” was all she could force out.  We stared at each other a while.  I had intended to tell her my secret today, but that would undermine her agony.  I would not do that to her.  I simply smiled at her.  “I’m glad I met you.”
    Mara smiled, through her tears, back at me.  “I’m glad I met you, too.”  We stared a while longer.  If we had been sitting closer to each other, I think I would have leaned in and kissed her.  But, the coffee table was between us and it would have been awkward to lean across the table to kiss her.  I probably would have spilled our coffee.  I could have walked around the table to kiss her, but that would have seemed premeditated instead of spontaneous.  It just didn’t seem like the time.  After what began to be an uncomfortable few minutes, Mara stood up and took our mugs.  “Would you like another cup of coffee?”
    “Sure.” I wasn’t ready to leave, so another cup of coffee would temporarily keep that from happening.  This time I followed Mara into the kitchen.  I leaned against the counter while she made my coffee. She had one of those single-serve Keurig coffee machines that my mom had at her house in Franklin Lakes.  I had always intended to get one of those.  “Mara …I’d like to ask you something.”
    “Sure, Tagg, what would you like to ask me?”
    Her eyes seemed so much brighter than they did a few minutes ago; I didn’t have the heart to bring her down again, so I just said, “Never mind.”
    Mara continued preparing our mugs of coffee, but she took a double-take of me and stopped pouring the milk.