He's got a roommate, too.

.

The other night I was watching TV when I fell asleep on the couch. (Nothing new, I do it often.)

It was a little after 2:00 AM when I woke up. Before I went upstairs to bed, I decided that I'd take a look outside. I opened the front door and immediately heard, "Hey, Paul what's up?"

The Younger Brother (TYB) and some girl were sitting on his front steps, each smoking a cigarette. "You want a cigarette?"

"No thanks, I don't smoke," I said as I walked over to see what was going on.

"Hey, thanks for the donuts. How about a beer?"

"No thanks, I think it's a little late for that." (I don't drink beer either, but I didn't tell him that.)

We all made small-talk for a few minutes, when I noticed another guy walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

"Ah, here comes my roommate," TYB said. "He's been out at the bars."

After the guy crossed the street, I stuck out my hand and said, "Hi. I'm Paul."

He didn't introduce himself, but said, "Are you the dude that lives next door?"

"Yep."

Then without a pause in his questions he said, "Do you ever eat at that restaurant across the street. What about those bars down the street, ever been to any of 'em? Have you ever talked to a guy in a bar about buying a new car? Maybe for some girl just out of college?"

My mind started racing. I remembered having that conversation. This guy must be "the other guy that ordered martinis for everyone in the group plus for four ladies sitting at the bar."

I glanced at TYB. He had a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

While -- one night a year ago -- I played pool and hung out with TYB probably for a few hours. I was only around "the other guy that ordered martinis for everyone in the group plus for four ladies sitting at the bar" (TOG) for about fifteen minutes at the most. There's no way I would have recognized him a year later, and I highly doubt that he'd recognize me if he ran into me on the street.

How did he remember me?

I figured that the only way that TOG would have recognized me and brought up our conversation from a year ago was if he and TYB had been talking about me.

Stunned, all I could say was, "Goodnight. You guys take care." Then I turned around and walked to my own front door.

.