Schuyler Square Day 116 Burt and Loni

Mary Austin looked like Loni Anderson.

Peter Van Husen was sweating through his blue policeman uniform. He could sense large pools of perspiration breaking out under his arms and forming psychedelic patterns on his back. Sitting at a table in the break room of the Schuyler Square police station, he remembered how much Mary Austin had looked like Loni Anderson to him--same cotton candy blonde hair, same dark eyes, same fantastic figure. No wonder he'd had such a crush on her way back when he was her newspaper delivery boy. But nothing had ever come of that crush. Mary was an adult woman and he was just a punk kid.

At least he didn't think that anything had ever come of his crush. Peter's memory over that entire block of time seemed to have dried up on him like a puddle under the hot August sun. No, that was ridiculous. Mary had a boyfriend, someone Peter had spied on a few occasions getting into his car very early in the morning. A middle-aged man who looked like Burt Reynolds.

Peter sat upright, the perspiration pumping down his back. Oh my gosh, was that it? Had he seen Mary's boyfriend kill her and kicked it out of his memory because he didn't want to remember, didn't want to be involved?

"What's wrong with you? You look like you just saw a ghost." Jim Waterston entered the break room and headed for the coffee pot. "You sick or something?"

"Something," Peter agreed. "Actually, I do feel a little under the weather."

"Why don't you go home?" Jim smirked. "Provided you remember which home you want to go back to."

Peter was in no mood for any kind of snide comments from Jim. He'd never liked the guy and given Peter's present state of mental health, there was a very good chance that he'd deck him before their conversation was over. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you have your address with your pregnant wife and you have your address with the lovely and loaded Mavis Schuyler. Which one are you going back to tonight?"

"I don't see that that's any of your business," Peter replied as he fought back a strong urge to deck Jim with his coffee mug. He narrowed his eyes suddenly. Funny, but he'd never noticed before what a strong resemblance to Burt Reynolds that Jim Waterston had.

"It isn't. I'm just curious along with everyone else in town. The smart money is on Chelsea--provided she'll take you back. There's no way Mavis Schuyler is going to keep you around much longer."

Peter got to his feet, his mind buzzing with fragments of memories that simply refuses to blossom inside his head. "See you later."

"Something I said?" Jim asked.

"I've got to be somewhere. I'm going to a party tonight."

Jim laughed. "Well, I hate to burst your bubble but you look like you'll be the death of any party you go to."