“Who the hell are you?” The hazy memories of last night drained away, taking the smile on her face with them. She pulled the sheet up closer, covering her breasts, feeling suddenly too vulnerable, too exposed, too much the sort of girl she’d promised herself she’d never be.

“Melissa. Jesus, how do you not know that?” Indignant, showing anger and insult; she was damned if she was going to give her real name, in the moment forgetting that in the slim, imperceptible space where this actually would work out, she’d have a hard time correcting the fib. She pulled the sheet tighter around her and swung out of the bed, confronting him. She wasn’t about to let him know, either, that she had little more recall than he did. Seeing the look of regret on his face, she softened a little and even smiled at him. “I’m a little hurt that you forgot. I mean, it was…” trailing off, enjoying the sheepish grin that was forming on his face. Her eyes swept over him, then quickly surveyed what she could see of the room without turning away. He was tall, in his early thirties, handsome but not too handsome, a pleasant and anonymous face on the subway. His right hand was combing through his dirty blond hair, the kind of tic she figured he didn’t even know he had, while he tried to work out what to say and what to do.

“Look, um, Melinda —“

“Melissa.” Firm, reminding herself as much as him.

“Melissa. Right. Um, look, I’m sorry, I guess it’s obvious that I must have invited you back here. I mean, you’re here. And, um, well, we, uh, had a pretty good time last night.” He tried to make it a statement, but she knew it was a question. Had they? She thought they had. She glanced around at the clothing strewn across the floor, more or less a line from the doorway to the bed, a map of their eagerness for anyone who cared to read it.

“I’ll say,” she said, memory coming back to her now. Not everything, but more than enough sensory recollection to tell her, repeat this experiment. Sober, this time. She saw her misgivings through the window. “How about you jump in the shower and wake up a little while I make us some coffee, huh? You’ve got coffee, right? Kitchen through there?” She nodded in the direction, knowing already exactly where everything was.

The sheepish grin turned boyish and buoyant. “Great. Thanks. I’ll, uh, make it quick so you can, um, freshen up too.” Realizing that he’d like to repeat the experiment, making a note to himself to maybe find her a clean toothbrush.