I pushed the play button on my answering machine. It was Jeff, a guy I knew growing up. Now it was 1993, and we were both in our early twenties. I hadn’t talked to him in years, as we had gone to different high schools and lost touch with each other. But when he heard I lived in Chicago he tracked me down and gave me a call. So I called him back.
“Hey man, I’m in Chicago for a few days of training,” Jeff said, “But I’m free Friday night. Maybe we could get together.”
“Yeah, that sounds great,” I replied, “it’d be fun to catch up.”
“Can I crash at your place Friday night?”
“Sure, no problem. I’ve got a pullout couch.”
We agreed to meet at a pizza place, chatted a little longer, and hung up.
On Friday night I went to the pizza place with Sylvia, my girlfriend at the time, and we met up with Jeff. He brought along a woman named Cassie. They had met at the training program a few days earlier.