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“Friends of yours? We are almost done here. Go say hi.”
“No, not friends.” Diego says.
I raise the light bank over my head and flip it on. Swirling shapes slide over the floor like the greasy reflections on a pool of oily swimming pool water.
“Friends? Who? The girl? Girls? You know them?”
“Yeah, I know the girls,” Diego replies vaguely, his concentration obviously directed elsewhere. “You know what? Let’s go take a look.”
“Seriously?” I ask, but I am already following him.
“Yeah, just… that guy. Keep an eye on that guy,” he mutters, and by the serious tone in his voice, I am ready to go.
“Hey, what are we doing?” Trevor asks, appearing next to me.
“Apparently, keeping an eye on that guy,” I fill him in as we cross the room, automatically arranging ourselves into a defensive formation.
“Okay,” Trevor nods.
Diego reaches the table first, just as the woman slides out of the booth, her legs crossing underneath her like a baby deer trying to stand up. She practically hits the floor but Diego scoops her back up.
She smiles at him with her eyes half-closed, her fluffy, curly hair sticking out in a bunch of directions. She’s pretty, but obviously drunk. It’s amazing she’s standing up. Actually, I don’t think that shewouldbe standing up if Diego wasn’t holding her under her elbows.
At the back of the table, a flash goes off. Then three more. Another girl giggles, but her voice doesn’t seem sympathetic. Almost mechanical, like her giggle is reproduced through machinery.
The curly-haired girl just keeps staring at Diego with unmitigated admiration in her eyes.
“Hey, I have seen you naked…” she slurs charmingly.
Trevor and I glance at each other. I wonder how often Diego gets to hear that from a pretty girl?
She doesn’t look like she drinks very often. But definitely this time she made a critical calculation error. She mumbles something about going to the ladies’ room and stumbles backward, right into Trevor’s pillar-like frame. Eyes wide with surprise, she twists to see what the obstacle is, and practically hits the floor again.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Trevor and I scoop her up and head toward the back hallway. Diego shoots me a look of concern and gratitude, silently letting me know that he plans on blocking the other people at the table from following her. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.
“Here you go,” Trevor says politely, pushing the ladies’ room door open for our small companion.
She smooths her hair with her palms, but that doesn’t seem to do anything. It springs right back into shape. I like it. I like hair that has a mind of its own, I guess.
“We will wait here for you,” I shrug.
Murmuring something, she slides into the ladies’ room and is gone for quite a while. Trevor and I take up defensive positions on either side of the door. After a while, I start to get concerned.
“Should we check on her?” Trevor shrugs.
“Probably not?” I answer. “Let’s give her a few more minutes. Looks like she had a little bit too much to drink. I’m sure she is just collecting herself.”
Spencer appears at the end of the hallway as the music starts to get louder. He raises his hands in question.
“Hey, can you get Frankie for me?” I call out.
“What’s going on?” he asks, but then disappears.
Frankie appears a moment later, and I’m grateful that Spencer just did what I asked him to do without question.
“You guys waiting for the ladies’ room?” Frankie smirks.
“Oh hey, can we borrow your van?”
