Amnesia | Brian Quinn

Chapter Eight

"Brian, I'm not letting this drop." Sal sighed. Brian was blanking him, as he searched through all of his clothes and accessories. It was only to waste time of course. Brian knew that once Sal had left, he'd make his way to the bar and look around for his hat there, in case it had fallen off during the fight. "Brian..."

"Have you seen my hat?" Brian quizzed, causing Sal to roll his eyes. Brian started to rummage through every drawer, emptying all of its contents out onto the floor.

"Brian, would you fucking stop ignoring me please and talk to me?" Sal was beginning to get agitated, at the end of the day, he was only trying to help his friend.

"Could have sworn I put it in this drawer..." Brian played dumb, which only angered Sal more.

"For fuck's sake! You moan when I'm not there for you, you moan when I am there for you, what more do you want me to do, Brian?!" Sal bellowed, as he went to storm out of the door. Brian gripped onto his arm, refraining him from leaving.

"Okay, okay...I'm sorry. You really want to know what happened last night?" Sal nodded his head, as the pair of them took a seat on the bed. "Okay, so when you left yesterday, I couldn't help myself...I started to cut-."

"Brian, no!" Sal cried out.

"Let me finish..." Brian spoke firmly. "Yes, I cut...I know that I was clean for eight months, but I needed to punish myself." Brian explained, as he pulled up his sleeves, displaying to Sal the several scratches along his skin. Sal took ahold of Brian's wrist, shaking his head in sadness. "I needed to feel free, and that's why I went out...to drink my troubles away...I was so drunk that I tripped over a table, knocking all of their drinks over. They pounced on me, which is why I have a black eye and split lip."

"Oh, Brian..." Sal sighed. He pulled his best friend into a hug, comforting him soothingly.

"Long story short, I got kicked out of the bar, and so I'm not welcome back in there. I spewed my guts onto the concrete, which is when Maya...the, erm, the girl you saw me with, came over to me. We sat and talked well into the night, I think I passed out at one point... we even became close enough that she had to listen to me pee." Brian chuckled, as Sal grimaced.

"Too much information...that poor girl." Sal groaned.

"Anyway...I was too drunk to get home, so she offered me a place to stay at hers. She walked me round the corner, and her house was right there. I don't remember much after that, but I remember waking up next to her." Brian continued, as Sal's face began to form into a smirk. "Before you assume, no...we didn't sleep together. Apparently I passed out as soon as I sat on the bed."

Sal wrapped an arm around Brian's shoulder, he smiled hard, which only worried Brian more about what his response may be. Ever since they'd known each other, the idea that one of them had missed out on a piece of action always became a running joke between them, but seeing how fragile Brian had become accustomed to, Sal didn't believe that it was the right response to take.

"I'm glad that you were able to stay the night somewhere safe, Brian." Sal supported, which seemed to ease Brian's tension. The two smiled at each other, before Brian took a deep breath.

"Would you be able to take me to the bar? I could have left my hat there." Brian asked. Sal nodded his head, as he stood up from the bed. He fished his hand into his pocket, retrieving his car keys, before the duo made their way out to his blue beauty. Brian buckled his seatbelt, as Sal started up the engine. It roared, as his foot slowly pushed down on the pedal, as the car began to reverse out of the driveway. Within minutes, Sal was pulling into the parking lot of the bar, parking in the nearest space possible to the building. He put the car in park, turning to face Brian in the passenger's seat.

"What kind of hat was it? Your flat cap, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, the grey one." Brian replied, as Sal exited the car. Brian let his door swing open, letting a small breeze into the car, as he remained in the passenger's seat.

Meanwhile, Sal walked into the bar. He walked up to the counter, being met by a young bartender. She greeted him with a smile, as he took a seat on one of the barstools. She placed the tea towel in her hand down onto the countertop and went to grab a glass, before Sal stopped her.

"Oh...no, I'm not staying. I was wondering if anyone has handed in a grey flat cap. It was my friend's and he lost it last night. He would have come in to get it himself but he was banned for other people beating him up. Sounds fair, am I right?" He chuckled. The girl looked at him curiously.

"Well, no one has handed anything in since I've been on shift. Let me go and ask my manager." The girl strolled into the back room, soon returning with a smile on her face. She walked behind the counter, reaching the corner. She picked up a mound of grey, before turning back to face Sal. He thanked her, as he made his way back out to Brian. Sal shuffled along, waving the hat about in his hands. A small piece of paper flew out, landing onto the floor below. Sal bent down, picking it up and reading the contents.

"Ooh la la, it's her number, Dude!" Sal teased. Brian jumped out of the car, grasping onto the paper in Sal's hands.

"No way!" He exclaimed.

"You've got to call her, like right now!" Sal suggested. Brian took a step back, his eyes widening. He tried to answer, but became stumbled over his words.

"I-I...well, no, no, no...I c-can't." He stammered. Sal placed a hand to his back, calming him down.

"Bud, she clearly wants to see you again, I mean why else would she leave her name and number for a fucking hat. If you don't do it, I will." Sal urged. Brian let out a sigh, as he went to sit back down in Sal's car, leaving the door open, as Sal leant against the frame of his Dodge Charger. Brian studied the digits on the paper, as he slowly tapped Maya's number into his phone. He held the device up to his ear, as the dial tone rang.