Plasma Cat

Ch. 12: Breadcrumbs

"Bullshit," Syed scoffed.

Arlene finished her drink.

"It is not," she replied. It pissed her off that Syed wasn't drinking anything besides water, but at the same time she was glad that she was able to drink as much as she wanted. Not like it really mattered, however. They didn't have a car, so no need for a DD. But still, it was probably a good idea that at least one of them remained sober.

"In fact," Arlene said as she stood up from the bar, "let me show you."

She wandered around the bar, looking for a target. Finally, she found one; a middle-aged man sitting alone in a corner.

"Hey," she said as she sat next to him.

"Hello," the man replied in a subdued tone. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be left alone please."

"So," Arlene continued, "how long have you been cheating on your wife?"

The man glared at her. "Who the hell are you? I've never cheated on my wife! I've never even thought about it! What the hell is wrong with you?"

The man huffily stood up and then marched out of the bar.

"See?" Arlene remarked as she sat back down next to Syed.

"Why did you do that?" Syed asked. "That was just rude. Plus, he didn't pay his tab."

"He was telling the truth," Arlene replied. "I saw the tan line on his finger where a ring used to be. I guess they're just divorced or she's just dead."

Syed shook his head. "That proves nothing."

"OK, how about this? You pick someone. Anyone."

Syed couldn't help himself. "That guy."

"What, that guy with the large group?" Arlene asked.

"Yeah, the one talking to the blond," Syed confirmed.

Arlene immediately stood up and sauntered over to the large group.

"Hey," she greeted them.

"Um... hey?" one of the girls replied. "Do... uh, we know you?"

Arlene ignored her and turned to face the guy Syed had pointed to.

"So, how long have you known you were gay?"

The man immediately turned red and took a step backwards.

"What... what the hell are you talking about?" he stammered.

"You know, when you "delete" your search history," Arlene continued as she took a step forward, "it doesn't actually go away. It's not even that hard to find."

The man tried to laugh, but then he simply turned around and ran out of the bar.

Before any of the shocked members of the group could say anything, Arlene simply wandered back over to Syed.

"See?" she said triumphally, "guilty."

"How did you know?" Syed asked, with a slight bit of genuine curiosity in his voice.

"Oh, I just guess usually," Arlene admitted. "I could kinda tell that chick was hitting on him and he was totally not into it. But like I said, it was just a guess. Like with Iris. Even if I'm wrong, still learn something. Like for example, she didn't know about the will."