Where do I know you from?

Jeannie loved going out. Even before she married Major Nelson, she loved taking walks, taking the car for a spin (when she learned properly how to drive), even taking the bus. Especially when her master was with her.

She had taken a liking to shopping and the credit fiasco didn't detain her. On the contrary, now that she had a better idea of what it was, she considered herself an excellent shopper. Whatever that was.

She wanted to buy her husband a new pair of shoes (because they would look very becoming on him) but she could not resist and went into the shoe store to buy herself a pair. She was trying on a cute light blue pair when she suddenly heard:

"Excuse me, do you have those in 5?"

Jeannie looked at the woman. She carried herself in a very prissy manner. The woman gasped and looked at Jeannie's shoes.

"Oh, my God, these are divine! Do you have them in a size 5?"

"Sorry, ma'am, these are the last pair." said the salesman, referring to Jeannie's shoes.

"Sorry!", she said.

"Oh... that's fine, you saw them first! You keep them! They look great on you!"

'That was nice of the woman', Jeannie thought. She paid for her shoes and left the woman there, trying on the pair she had asked for originally.

She then went to a boutique. Her master would not mind if she bought a new dress to go with the shoes.

She took her time in the store, looking at every single outfit they had there. She was browsing through the racks when she found a wonderful turquoise dress. 'Oh, that is perfect!', she thought. She had just grabbed the dress when she felt someone else tugging at it from the other side of the rack.

"Hey!"

"This dress is mine!"

It was the same woman from the shoe store.

"Oh!"

"You!"

"Heh. What a coincidence!"

"Yes, isn't it?!"

"You can have it. After all, you let me keep the shoes..."

"Oh, thank you very much."

"There is no problem at all!"

"Now all I need is a good perfume. Have you heard of that new fragrance called Azuree?"

"I have been dying to try that one!"

"Oh! We can go together to the perfume store and then we can have a cup of coffee! What do you say?"

"Oh, I would love to!"

Jeannie found a dress that was just as wonderful as the other one in her opinion. She paid for the dress and left the store with her new found friend. Friend? Perhaps. The woman looked familiar. Maybe they had met before.

They went to the perfume store and tried on the new fragrance. It was indeed delicious! They each bought a bottle and went to a café nearby.

They ordered and started talking about trivialities, like the weather and food and... the reason why the woman was there. Huh.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure!"

"I haven't been here in a while. I used to live here until I moved to Europe, some years ago."

"Europe? Really?"

"Yes... it was all fine and dandy until the divorce."

The woman was divorced! Huh, no wonder she was carrying "hundreds" of bags! She seemed to be spending money carelessly. Someone else's.

"I am sorry!"

"Oh, don't be... it was for the best. It wasn't meant to be, from the start."

"So you... came back... home?"

"Sort of. I actually came back to see an old friend."

"Ohhh... and who is he?"

"Oh, did I mention it was a "he"?"

"No!..."

"Oh, you're very perceptive!"

"Heh. Thanks. From the things you bought, you seem to want to make quite an impression!"

"Well... Call me crazy and a fool, but... he's an old flame..."

"Ohhh... are you hoping to rekindle it?"

"Haha! Well, you never know... in fact..."

"Yes?"

"He was more than just a flame."

"Oh?"

It was a funny situation. This woman, who didn't know Jeannie from Adam, was going on and on about her personal life. Maybe she just had a "trusting" face. And the woman looked familiar to her...

"He was... uh... my fiancé."

"Oh, Heavens! Really? What happened?"

"Well... He... I think there was another woman."

"Oh... sorry..."

Jeannie felt genuinely sorry for her. She couldn't imagine another woman coming into her husband's life and - Allah forbid - destroy her marriage.

"He just wasn't the man I got engaged to. He was weird, so neurotic all the time... and that's when my husband – well, my ex-husband now – came into my life..."

Hmm. Where had Jeannie heard that story before?

"My former husband and I grew up together... we were more like... siblings, not a couple. There wasn't too much passion... with my former fiancé... there was much passion, but he began acting weird..."

Jeannie was sure she had heard that story before.

"Do you think he has changed? I mean, your... *friend*."

"I hope so! God, I miss him. He's witty, charming, handsome..."

"Hehe, sounds like my husband!"

"Oh, you're married!"

"I am! To a wonderful military man!"

She didn't know what made her say that, she just blurted it out. Somehow she didn't want the woman's friend to be better than her Anthony.

"Oh! My friend's a military man too!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Navy?"

"Air Force!"

"Oh! My husband is in the Air Force too!"

"What a coincidence! Maybe they know each other!"

"Maybe!"

"Maybe YOU know him!"

"Of course! What does he look like?"

"Oh, he's handsome, tall, light brown hair..."

"Just like my husband!"

"... sea green eyes, delicious plushy lips... and a very sensual, deep voice..."

"That is my husband to a tee! What is your friend's name?"

The woman had a dreamy look on her face, as if she was reminiscing about great times. She answered Jeannie's question in an equally dreamy voice:

"Tony..."

Jeannie opened her eyes wide. It all came back to her in a flash. She could NEVER be friends with this woman. She remembered her posh pose, her pompous accent and... her dark hair. Oh, no! Heavens, no!

"Oh... uh... what did you say your name was again?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't tell you my name! It's Melissa. Melissa Stone."

Yes, it was her! The woman who would be on her place had she never met her master. The woman who haunted her dreams for a terrible month after she met him. The woman who still haunted her dreams sometimes. The woman who had come back... to steal her master from her. But little did she know Anthony Nelson had moved on... and was happily married to the woman in front of her.

Jeannie's old jealousy came back. She couldn't help it. Her husband was... well, hers and she would let no woman get even near him!

"Nice... to meet you."

"And you? You didn't tell me your name."

Jeannie smiled a cynical smile. Her sister would be proud. Two little words and she would ruin the woman's day. Maybe her life. The woman had been nice to her, but... sorry, she was the enemy. And all's fair in love and war.

She took a sip of her ice tea and said, in a sweet voice:

"Jeannie Nelson."

The woman got pale, with a stoic look on her face. Then she fainted.

Jeannie smiled to herself again and took another sip of her ice tea.

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