The New Manager (Pentatonix)

27.

Michelle and Esther both burst out laughing. An empty bottle of chardonnay lay between them both, along with another half full one.

One of them was non alcoholic, but Michelle didn't notice. She was positively smashed on her three cups of full alcohol chardonnay.

"I mean, he's just so stupid! It was the birth of Pentatonix! That video is going down un history!" Esther fake-slurred, talking to the amnesiac tenor.

Michelle snorted. "Nooooooooooooo! Let it die!" She mimicked the bass.

"God, I can barely remember that!" Esther said, pretending to die of laughter.

Michelle suddenly got serious. "I can barely remember anything anymore to be honest. But I'm smashed. You have be be pretty much on the floor by now, you did the whole bottle! Even I can't do that!" She laughed.

"Like, the last two or three months are all a blur." Esther said, offhandedly.

Michelle gasped, holding her chest. "Same here!"

They both giggled.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something important though... can you try to remind me what's happened?" Esther put the question out, hoping that the comanager would take the bait.

And she did, eagerly.

"Sure! Umm... okay! You picked me up from my job at that stupid retro restaurant, and told me that you had a need job for me. I was so anxious to get out of that shithole, that I agreed without even seeing what the job was. We went out to a female department store, and got a bunch of business attire, before you dragged me back to your place for us to talk about the job. You told me that I was going to be a manager... wait. Did you? I can't remember anything past that. Why can't I remember anything?"

Esther stood up from her loveseat, and went to sit beside Michelle. She hugged her loosely.

"Oh, honey. It's okay. You... you chose not to remember. I gave you a new name and a new history. We made you into a new person. You were hurting too much to be anything other than the new person. So, you forgot yourself."

She nodded. "That makes sense. All I remember was this aching in my chest. I think I was going to kill myself or something drastic. It was only pain."

They were both silent for a few minutes, before Michelle piped up again.

"Esth... you're not hammered, are you?"

Esther laughed. "Nope. Non-alcoholic, baby. We needed to talk though. I couldn't talk to you with you sober."

Michelle shrugged. "Was this all to see if he was still in here?"

"No... not all of it. Most of it, yah. But even if I can't have my Mitchy back, I can still have Michelle. It's good enough for me. I miss him though- we all do."

Michelle was silent for a minute. Eventually, he spoke up.

"I know that you guys miss me. But I just... I can't... it hurts too much. During the day, I block it out, so I can function. But at night... I'm back. And I hate it. The two... well, me's pretty much battle it out. I like being Michelle. Others might not, but I really and truly do. It's a break from reality. When I get into her mindset, I forget all the panic. I forget the desperation that crushes me. I'm a blank slate of sorts. It's just a nice break. I hate that it hurts people, but being the real me hurts me. Someone's always going to be hurt."

Esther bit her lip. She pulled Mitch into a hug, crying.

"I miss you, Mitchy. I really do." She whispered.