Euclid Avenue was once known as Millionaire’s Row, full of beautiful brick mansions constructed by families with last names like Wade, Hays, and Rockefeller. Yet over time families moved, great houses were subdivided into apartments, and the construction of a freeway cut the once majestic neighborhood off from the city its former residents had built. Eventually, the institutions they’d supported with donations and bequests in the early 1900’s grew to take over the area by the end of that century. The ornate gables, elegant stonework, and sprawling porches of the mansions made way for the classroom buildings and medical offices the modern community demanded. Students, patients, and workers walked from their cars to their destinations thinking it was so nice to live somewhere with resources like this, never remembering that they’d displaced the homes of the very people who made those resources possible.

Or so thought Phil, as he stumbled up the steps of the Mather Mansion. Inside his desk was cluttered with spare computer parts and stained coffee mugs, but he liked the familiarity of this place he’d been working in since he was a student himself. His boss stopped by to chat about a software upgrade coming later that week, then Phil got down to work prioritizing the help requests that had been submitted. He took care of the first two remotely, calling the faculty members who needed assistance and fixing their problems while sitting at his own desk. The third issue was vagus on the details, so Phil called the user in question to get more information.

“Hey Phil,” Marilyn chirped into her phone, “thanks for taking care of Dr. Klein’s email issue earlier.”

“No problem. I’m calling about your ticket though. Could you tell me more about the problem you’re having?”

“It’s probably best if you come look at it in person. I mean, I did the best I could in the help request. If you don’t understand it, imagine how much less I understand it” Marilyn giggled and then breathed a short sigh into the phone.

“Okay. Do you have time now?”

“I have time if you do.”

With that, Phil hung up, grabbed his brown coat and made the chilly walk across campus. Marilyn worked in one of the newer academic buildings, down a long hallway full of florescent lights and inoffensive low-pile carpet. Phil waved an awkward hello to the receptionist in Marilyn’s office suite, then made his way back to her office. Marilyn did some sort of work overseeing student employment on campus. Her office walls were covered with large posters full of small type explaining various policies and procedures.

“Hey”, Phil ducked inside Marilyn’s door, “You ready for me?”

“I most certainly am,” Marilyn  said while sliding out of her chair.

She continues, “So, the thing is, sometimes when I’m working I just need to put my head down and focus, you know? And when it helps to just shut out the world. I can close my door, but I’ve found that it really helps me to listen to music,to really put distance between me and all the distractions.”

The two of them stand there silently for a beat, then Phil asks, “Are you having trouble getting your computer to play music?”

“Oh, yeah” Marilyn flips her long, brown hair over her shoulder, “I like to listen with my headphones,” she gestures to a purple set of a headphones with a rhinestone “M” on the side. But ever since I got in this morning my computer will only play music through my speakers, much to the dismay of the guy who works next door. ”

The framed poster hanging on the wall to Phil’s left vibrates a little as Marilyn’s neighbor pounds the wall in agreement .

“Okay, well, let’s take a look,” Phil says as he walks to around behind Marilyn’s desk. “I know this sounds silly, but the first place to start is the most obvious. Are you headphones plugged in?”

He reaches down to grab the cord and pulls it up to show it dangling freely. He plugs it in to Marilyn’s computer as she blushes.

“This is so embarrassing” Marilyn says while stepping aside so Phil can leave her office.

“No worries,” Phil says while typing away at her computer. I just want to make sure it all works now that it’s plugged in. He hands the headphones to Marilyn and pulls up a video of the school’s a capella singing group. Marilyn nods and pulls off the headphones after a few seconds.

“It works. Thanks.”

“Anytime. And don’t feel silly. I have handled tickets much more embarrassing than this.” Phil says in an attempt to comfort Marilyn as he walks out the door.

A guy wearing an outfit that included cufflinks, a tie tack with an ivy league logo joined him the doorway. “You ready, boss?”

Marilyn sighed, “Yep. Thanks for the help, Phil.” She waved goodbye as her employee closed the door behind him.

Phil made his way out of the office suite feeling like he’d just narrowly avoided something.

“I thought this would be one of those places where we would stand,” Phil said, “You know, like you see in movies. Though I guess it’s nice to sit.”

“And we can order food,” Maeve said while waving to the black-clad server heading to the bar. The young woman gestured to indicate she was grabbing some drinks and would see them next.

With a whoosh of cold air,the front door opened and the sound Phil’s name reverberated across the room. Phil whipped around and saw Harry, Nick, and Mitchell stomping the snow off their shoes and heading toward his table. He looked to see if seats were available for them nearby and didn’t see anything, but then Nick stopped to talk to two good-looking girls at the table next to them and pointed to a table a few feet away with open seats. The girls moved over and the trio made themselves at home next to Maeve and Phil.

“You must be Maeve,” Harry said with an appraising eye while Mitchell conspired with the server to send drinks over to the women who’d swapped tables for them.

Phil introduced Maeve to his three childhood friends as the waitress returned to deliver their drinks and bowls of peanuts and pretzels. He worried for a moment that one of his friends might say something to spook Maeve, but the conversation was friendly and the band came on stage just a few minutes after they were scheduled to and then there was nothing for them to do but listen to the music, sip their drinks, and bob their heads to the beat. Phil had seen the band a few times before, but just because his other friends were pals with the lead singer. He thought their music was good enough and he was proud when one of their songs was used as part of an advertisement for the baseball team last year, but it wasn’t something he would listen to given his choice. But still, it felt good to support a local band that seemed on the verge of making it big.

After the show they hung around a bit talking about the band and catching each other up on their lives. Nick had just started a new job and regaled the group with the story of his boss introducing him to the company’s president while they were all in the restroom. Later, the band came out to mingle with the crowd and Charlie, the lead singer, came over to their tables.

“Mitchell, thanks for coming,’ he said as he put his left hand on Mitch’s shoulder and shook his hand with his right.

This is when Phil started tofeel uneasy.. See, he’d met Charlie on several occasions, but he and Charlie weren’t friends. They hadn’t seen each other in years. Most likely, Charlie was not going to remember his name.

“Nick, it means a lot that you’re here.” Charlie mumbled into Nick’s shoulder as he brought him in for a friendly hug.

He was going through the group and saying people’s names every time. He was the lead singer of a band! Phil might not love their music, but this guy was obviously cooler than him. And this guy was not going to remember his name. He was going to not remember his name in front of his friends, in front of Maeve.

“Harry, good to see you. Thanks for coming out in the snow.”

Panic set in for poor Phil. His mind raced trying to think of a way to avoid what was coming. Charlie turned toward him and reached over to shake his hand.

“Yooou” the musician said for much too long, “So glad you came!” It could’ve been worse. Phil prayed no one noticed.

Charlie moved on to Maeve who introduced herself and complimented the band’s performance that evening. Charlie excused himself to greet some other fans and Phil and his friends lingered for a bit, finishing their drinks and enjoying the warmth of the room. Phil glanced at his watch and saw it was late. He thanked his friends for letting him know about the show and there were friendly goodbyes all around. As he and Maeve walked out in the cold to get to his car, Maeve patted his back affectionately and quietly said, “Yooou.”