The Past, Erased

   "So how did it go last night?"

   Corey Rogers looked up from his breakfast and gave his friend Allen a regret filled grin.

   "Once again, my brain decided to sabotage my evening. Just once I'd like to be able to edit anything I say or do before I actually say or do it, but I'm too impulsive - damn me all to hell."

   Allen laughed. He considered placating Rogers by saying something like "Stop being so hard on yourself," but he knew it was a pointless request. Instead, he asked, "What was it this time?"

   "We were at Grimaldi's, on the patio. Casual date, you know, nothing fancy. We were both in shorts, it being hot as all get out - she has great legs by the way - anywhatzit, we were talking about concerts we had attended, movies we liked, you know, trying to get a feel for one another, and because we were sitting out on the patio at one of those round outdoor tables that has a metal grid for a tabletop, I was kinda checking out her legs through the little squares."

   A waitress approached the table and Rogers stopped talking and he looked up at her as she spoke. "Did either of you want any more coffee?" She held the white kettle out in expectation. Allen nodded his head in assent, and she topped off his mug, while Corey put his hand over his mug and said "Naw, I'm good, thanks."

   Once the waitress had left, Allen quipped, "Don't tell me you got busted scoping out her legs while you were supposed to be engrossed in a conversation with her?"

   "Oh no, much worse than that Dude." Corey poked at his hash browns with his fork and hesitated a moment in order to eat a bite.

   "You know I'm a master of the casual glance Mr. Keller. What happened was, I noticed what I thought was a bruise on her calf, but after another casual glance I realized it was a slightly discolored area where she had a tattoo removed. I made like I wanted to give the menu a read through so I could get an idea of what the tattoo might have been, and I could make out that it had to have been a heart with an arrow through it."

   'So of course I quickly imagined that she had been involved with someone, probably the love of her life, and she had a tattoo with their initials in a pierced heart done on her calf, you know, like people carve into trees. Then they must of had an ugly break-up, and she had to have the tattoo removed with a laser."

   "Hold on, let me guess..." Allen gulped down a sip of coffee. "You blurted out, 'Did you actually have a tattoo with someone's name on your calf?' or some such stupidity?" 

   "Like I said Dude, much worse. What I said to her was, 'I noticed you had a tattoo removed from your calf and it looks like it was one of those hearts with an arrow through it that people carve into trees. Your legs may be a little big, but they are certainly not tree trunks.'"

   Allen spit out his coffee and, after grabbing a napkin, stared incredulously at his friend. "You...you actually told her that her legs may be a little big?"

   "Yep. Big ol' brain thought that would be a good thing to say to her on our first date."

   "First and only date, I imagine," Allen said.

    "You think?" Corey replied.