A Tale of two Jackets

Andrew walked out of his meeting, completely exhausted. After three long days of negotiating, he had finally worked

out a deal that was sure to get him a promotion. Despite the fact that he had an early flight back to New York in the

morning, Andrew decided to have a few drinks at the pub across the street. He had been in London for three days and had

not seen any of the city. He could not leave without at least visiting a pub, he thought.

He quickly crossed the street and walked through the blue door of the pub. He noticed a coat rack next to the door and

carefully hanged his jacket from one of the hooks. Andrew did not really consider it to be his jacket though. It was his

father's jacket, but it was passed down to Andrew after his father died last year. Almost every memory Andrew had of his

dad involved him wearing the dark red coat.

Andrew walked to the bar and orders a drink. After he had finished, the bartender asked if he wanted another drink.

Andrew checked his watch and saw his plane was leaving in five hours and decided he needed to go. He regretted picking

a flight so early in the morning, but knew he would be able to sleep on the plane. He paid for his drink, grabbed his jacket,

and left.

It had gotten much colder outside since Andrew went into the pub, so he slipped his jacket on. At least, he tried to slip

it on. He stuck his arm in the sleeve, but the hole at the end was too small for his hand. He tried the other sleeve, but the

jacket was too small to stretch across his back. He took it off and looked at it.

It looked like a shrunken version of his jacket. He checked the pocket and found a wallet that was definitely not his. He

opened it up and saw an ID with a picture of a woman. Her name was Erin. She had dark brown hair and green eyes. A

cute girl, Andrew thought, but he did not have time to worry about that.

He returned to the bar and checked the coat rack. His coat was gone. There were three black coats and a brown one,

but not a single red. He walked around the bar thinking that maybe Erin got cold and put his jacket on, but there were no

women in the whole place. He stood still, trying to decide what to do. He could not leave his dad's jacket in London and

Erin probably needed her wallet.

He typed the address from her ID into his phone and saw that her house was only a few blocks away. He could stop by

her place, trade jackets, and still make it back to his hotel with a little bit of time to sleep.

He walked through the night. It was getting colder and his thin dress shirt did not keep him warm. He found the house

and knocked on the door. When the door finally opened, the woman standing behind it was definitely not Erin. This

woman was in her eighties with bright white hair.

"Does a woman named Erin live here?" Andrew asked her.

"No. No one lives here but me," she answered.

Andrew dag through the pocket of the jacket and handed the old woman Erin's ID. "Do you know her?" he asked.

"Oh yes, that's the girl who lived here before me. I saw her when she was moving out. She's a cute little

thing, isn't she?"

"Do you know how I can contact her? It's kind of urgent."

"Well I don't really know her. I could call the landlord. See if he knows anything."

"Well if it wouldn't be too much trouble," Andrew said.

 "No trouble at all." The woman invited him in and he sat on the couch. She went into the kitchen and he heard her

talking on the phone. He looked through the wallet, trying to find any clues about her, but all he found were a couple of

credit cards and a picture of her and some friends.

"She must be pretty special," the old woman said as she walked into the living room.

Andrew's head jerked up as he realized he was staring at the photo.

"Oh, no. I've never met her," Andrew said.

The woman looked suspicious but handed him a piece of paper. "The landlord said he doesn't know how to contact her

but he did give me the name of a club she likes to go to. I don't know if it'll help."

Andrew typed the address written on the paper into his phone and saw it was a ten minute walk away. And he saw that

his plane left in four hours. He thanked the old woman and walked as quickly as he could to the club.

Inside the club, he searched through the crowd but could not find Erin anywhere. Nobody looked anything like her.

He stepped outside the club and leaned against the wall. He did not even notice the woman leaning against the wall

next to him wearing a red jacket that was clearly too big for her. She noticed him though.

"That jacket would be warmer if you were wearing it," she said.

Andrew looked up to see Erin staring right at him.

"Wait, you're Erin," he said.

"I know," she said. "But that's weird that you know."

"I've been looking for you all night. You're wearing my jacket. We accidentally swapped jackets at the pub earlier."

"How did you find me?" She smiled as she said this. Her smile was a lot more beautiful in person, Andrew thought.

"It's a long story."

"Wait, I was at the pub like two hours ago. Have you really been chasing me around for that long?"

"Well I was chasing the jacket, really," Andrew said, starting to blush.

"I like a person that's committed to his jacket," Erin said as she slide off Andrew's jacket and handed it to him. He

slipped it over his shoulders and felt Erin's lingering warmth. "I like long stories. Want to get a cup of coffee and tell me

about your night?"

"Sure." Andrew smiled at her and knew he would miss his plane in a few hours, but he did not care.