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At seven, I put on one of my favorite Brioni suits, one with a large, discreet pocket for a certain box, and got a haircut. I was going to see Riley and Paul for the first time tonight. I’d sent them invitations to some extravaganza or something that Rooftop was having.
It’d become the hottest club in the city overnight, for no apparent reason. Apparently the view of LA at night was good or some shit. I didn’t get why people paid exorbitant cover fees and paid a couple times that to get VIP bracelets, but the club was making money. A lot of money.
Riley’s paychecks hadn’t been much, but the club’s return on investment had been off the charts. We weren’t even talking about hockey stick growth here. It was more like meeting a steep cliff. She wouldn’t have to work for a year, maybe two if she was careful.
They could stay home tonight. I didn’t know if they’d show. But I bet that they would come to an extravaganza named after them.
When I got to the club, I saw Paul already inside, sitting at the bar. I winced when I saw the walking boot.
“Paul!”
“Hey, man.” He turned around and gave me a smile. “Good to see you.”
I felt something loosen between my shoulder blades. “Glad to see you here. What are you drinking?”
“It’s called the Dez…Guinness with Glenfiddich mixed in.” He lifted his glass to me and took a sip.
“Should you be drinking? Are you on any meds or anything?”
“Basically done. They want me in a walking boot for a little longer, but my arm has healed.” He shrugged. “I’ve been working from home a little bit. Riley’s been helping a lot.”
“How’s she been?”
“She’s…fine, I guess. She’s bummed about calling SoCal and telling them that she won’t come.”
“I need to talk to her about that.”
Paul shrugged again. “She already had a counseling appointment at ElCo so that she could register for her first semester’s classes. We checked with SoCal to make sure that they’d transfer. Come hell or high water, we’ll get there as soon as we can.”
“I’m glad that you’ve let her go.”
“Not all the way, but it’s the right thing to do. Over the past couple of weeks, she’s taken care of me. For the first time, I’ve realized that she isn’t a little kid anymore.”
“Good.”
“I know that I overreacted. After I got out of the military, nothing went right. And you stayed in…and you translated your work in the counterterrorism unit into actual skills and started writing deep learning shit to protect the nation. It was hard for me to tread water when I saw what I could’ve been.”
“I invited you in.”
“Yeah, but it was the w
rong time.” Paul drank a little more. “But my time will come. Cheers to that.”
I clapped him on the back and motioned to the bartender to bring me a Roy Rogers. He knew that I didn’t drink on the job.
I lifted my glass to Paul. “To your recovery and your business.” The clink of the glasses filled me with hope. I thought that I had my best friend back.
“I hate to say anything…”
“Yeah?” Paul drank a little more.
“But where’s Riley?”
“She’s somewhere around here. Maybe dancing.” He motioned to the bartender for another drink. “But I’ve had my eye on the blonde girl over there, so I haven’t paid too much attention. I think she’s into me.” He winked at a girl who was alone at the bar. She winked back.
“Later, man.”
I didn’t know if Paul cared that I took my drink and walked over to the dance floor. Riley was short, so it was hard to see her. Then I got an idea.
