E Writing 4: Lesson Learned

Lesson Learned

Mom used to say,” What ever don’t kill you makes you stronger.” I thought about that statement as I stood on the balcony of my 5^th floor apartment. It was a beautiful sunny autumn day in Karlstad, yet my inner mood had been twisted to reveal a dark and gloomy day. She said to me,” You are just like all the others. I don’t want you anymore.” That she was Shelia, my ex-girlfriend of five years, who just made my mother’s statement come into my present consciousness. Isn’t it strange how a song or statement can come into your mind that reveals just how you are feeling at that present time?

With that statement still in my head, I walked from the balcony, through the living room, and finally arrived at the kitchen where an ice-cold beer awaited my company.” This should take the edge off” I thought. I hoped that that beer would put me in a time machine and let me transport back to last Friday. I wish I could redo last Friday.

I opened the refrigerator door and found my old-faithful friend Mr. Budweiser smiling at me from the side door. I removed the ice-cold can and laid down on the sofa. A few minutes after I began drinking the beer, something strange occurred; I slowly went into another state of consciousness. I have never felt anything like this in my entire life. Maybe I should have taken a soda instead? My vision became a bit blurred and my hearing was transformed to sound as though I had water remaining in my ears after a long day of fun at the pool. My body began to tingle and the sensation was so intense that I spilled the beer all over my shirt and dropped the can on the floor. Then, the blurred vision turned into darkness and I felt as though my body had suddenly begun to float over the sofa!

After what seemed to be an eternity, the dark vision returned to my normal 20/20 vision plus I could feel that I was lying on a sofa; but it wasn’t my sofa. ”Where am I!?” I thought as I slowly looked around. But as I examined my surroundings more I knew exactly where I was. I went back in time! I was in Cozy’s bar in Karlstad but it was last Friday and last Friday is when the unthinkable raised it’s ugly head!

Shelia and I decided to meet for drinks after work and Cozy’s is our favorite hang-out. I work for Ernst-Young real-estate brokerage and it is a 3 minute walk from the main exit of the building to Cozy’s front door. Shelia was unemployed at that time, but just came from an interview that she felt went really well. We thought that we would meet in the lobby of my work building and walk from there. Four-thirty sharp, I left my cubicle and accelerated to the elevator, and six floors later I was I the ground floor ready to meet my Shelia.

There she was, as beautiful as ever, and with a smile that could light up a Karlstad winter night.” Hey honey.” she said to me. I loved when she called me honey. Shelia has lived in America for 5 years but comes from Spain, so she has the sexiest accent when she speaks English.” Hey beautiful! Ready to start the weekend right?” I said. She gave me that look that meant “let’s go!”

We arrived at Cozy’s in no time so we entered the bar’s salon-like doors and immediately I became transformed from Mr. White-Collar to Party Man. It just happened. I enjoy Cozy’s environment so much because it feels like an old-western cowboy salon which helps me to bring out my John Wayne swagger. As we approached the bar naturally we saw our friends Alexa and Lisa sitting in their favorite spot at the far left-side of the bar.

“Hey you two. We already got started” said Alexa. Alexa works as a clerk at Safeway grocery store which is within 10 minutes walking distance from Cozy’s. “Just in time for some tequila shots!” shouted Lisa. Lisa is a waitress at Cozy’s and Friday was her day off. It seems as though they had already downed a few before we arrived because it was a little difficult to understand Lisa because of the slurring. “Sure. Wouldn’t want to be a party-pooper” said I. Shelia looked at me with approval. So the bartender poured out four shots of sin juice and the four of us took it down-the-hatch.

Four shots later and no food in the stomach, I was feeling awfully drunk. Too drunk for Shelia’s taste and she let me know about it.” You know, you need to slow down and eat some food from the buffet before they close it” said Shelia. At that moment, I felt like she was trying to be my mommy and I vowed that when I moved out of my parents house no one could tell me what to do. “Aw Shelia. Relax. It just two shots. Plus I am a big boy. I can handle myself” said I.

She responded,” It is actually four shots of tequila and two Budweiser, but who’s counting?”

Now in hind-sight I was a pure idiot, but at that time my drunkenness overtook my normally sober reasoning and I did something stupid. I got up from my bar stool and walked over to a stool next to Alexa and sat down. After I sat down, I immediately looked over at Shelia, smiled and ordered another drink. That was my childish way of protest against Shelia that I performed often with my mother when I still lived at home. But that’s not it. I also…Why did I do it? I also kissed Alexa on the cheek. That caused a huge problem.

“What are you doing!? You’re drunk” exclaimed Alexa. I said,” You know you wanted me to do that. I saw how you were looking at me.” Right after that statement Shelia ran out the front door. At first I thought I was watching a movie, but it just so happened that it was reality and I was the scoundrel that made the mistake of a lifetime. There I sat in my favorite bar with my favorite girl gone because I was a drunken fool. Suddenly, something happened!

It was the exact same feeling I had before I was transported back in time to Cozy’s. My vision was blurred, my hearing was muffled, plus I felt like my entire body was hovering. After the entire experience subsided, I realized I was back on my sofa and had a can on the coffee table. Not a drop of beer on my shirt and no beer on the ground. When I looked at the can, it was still closed and when I examined it closer I realized that it was a can of Coke. Then the phone rang and it was Shelia. “Hey honey. You wanna go to Cozy’s?” asked Shelia. I paused and said,” Beautiful, why don’t we stay home today drink Coke and watch a movie?” “I think I need a break from Cozy’s.”