“Making friends wherever I go.”
When the waiter returned with the flutes, Ro turned to her patrons and nodded, holding up the crystal container of colored 7 Up. Then she hid her face with a menu. “How’ve you been?”
“All right.” An awkward pause. “I know you didn’t want jewelry for your birthday but someone gave you a nice set of ear candy.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want jewelry. What I said is I wanted your forgiveness more than jewelry. To have both is fine with me. I’m surprised you noticed.”
“Hard not to.”
“A gift from my grandparents. Someone still loves me.”
“Everyone loves you. What did your parents buy you? The necklace?”
“Yep. Cartier. Mom has excellent taste.”
“Did JD get you anything?”
“But of course: a Tiffany silver heart pendant.”
“Where’s a Tiffany around here?”
“There’s this new invention called online shopping.”
“Ah.”
“I am blinged out to the max.” The suits were walking her way. She gave them a demure smile. “Thank you very much.”
The man who spoke was in his forties. He was graying, slightly stooped, and slightly pudgy. “A mere token for brightening our week, Miss Gretchen.” He kissed her hand then looked at Vicks. “And who is the lucky fellow?”
“This is my boyfriend, Ben,” she told him. Vicks shook his hand.
The man said, “Ah, to be your age again.” He turned back to Ro. “We’re leaving tomorrow morning—early. You shall be missed.”
“Thank you for the champagne and your generosity. Have a good trip back to Springfield.”
The suit knew he was being dismissed. “Thank you.” They all said their good-byes. She turned to Vicks. “Sorry about calling you my boyfriend. I had to discourage any sort of hope.”
“Gretchen?”
She turned bright red. “You have to be nineteen in New Mexico to work in a cocktail lounge.”
“Your sister’s ID?”
“Correct.”
“I hope it’s worth it.”
“Twenty-buck tip for a twelve ninety-nine cocktail, yeah, it’s worth it.” Her grin was the real thing. “We are no longer an item, so really, it’s none of your business. Besides, I occasionally do the desk. Even then I get a lot of leering, but it’s nice having a barrier between me and them.”
“Why are you doing this? It’s not like you need the money.”
“It’s an honest living. Stop being a snob.”
“I’m not a snob. It just seems like . . . a poor fit.” He shrugged. “Why would you want to work in a place where sleazy guys are checking out your ass?”
“It’s a nice ass.”
“It’s a terrific ass but that’s not the point.”
“Let’s move on, Vicks. We can talk about other things. What are you thinking about ordering?”
“If you’re trying to be contrite, you have an odd way of showing it.” Actually, he liked her better for it. Perusing the menu, he said, “Chicken sounds good.”
“You don’t have to get the cheapest entrée on the menu. How about we start with some caviar?”
“Caviar, Ro? Really?”
“I’m having some. If you don’t like it, start with whatever you do like.”
“Are you paying for this or is this going on your dad’s credit card?”
“I’ll disregard the dis. I am paying. I’m a working girl.”
“I’m working too. Let’s split it.”
“How much do you get paid for your part-time internship? Like a thousand a year?”
“Twenty-five hundred.”
“Friday night I made a little under two hundred in tips and that’s after splitting it with the bartender. I am definitely taking you out. Sure you don’t want caviar?”
“I’ve never had it.”
“It’s fishy, but really good. We’ll order a half ounce. You want a salad? I’m having one . . . golden beets, arugula, and artisan goat cheese. How about if you take the sliders and we’ll split?”
“Whatever you want.”
“That’s what I want. What are you having for your entrée?”
“Chicken.”
“Ugh. Get the sirloin.”
“I don’t want steak. Is that okay with you?”
She grinned. “I’m sorry. If you really want chicken, get chicken.”
“Actually, I like salmon.”
“Then get salmon. I’m getting sirloin.” She put down the menu. “How’s that for a switch? The guy eating fish and the girl eating meat. How’s UNM, college boy?”
“I wound up taking three upper-division math courses and a physics course.”
“And Circuitchip?”
“A little lightweight but I’m learning stuff.” A pause. “Heard from any colleges?”
“Most of the acceptances won’t come out until April. I did get into St. John’s. Rolling admissions.”
“Oh . . . I didn’t know you applied to St. John’s.”
“At one point, I thought about staying here.” She looked pointedly at him. “That’s changed. I take it you got into St. John’s as well?”
“Yep.”
“So if I don’t get in anywhere else, we’ll be classmates.”
“You’ll get into a ton of places.”
“Could be. I raised my math score thanks to some help.” Yves came back. She batted long, mascaraed lashes. She suspected he was gay, but even gay guys like attention from pretty girls. “We’ll start with the half ounce of Osetrova caviar. I’ll have the beet, goat cheese, and arugula salad and the sirloin . . . you know, make it the T-bone. Medium rare.” She handed him the menu.
He looked at Ben, who said, “Angus sliders and the salmon.”
“And how would you like the salmon prepared? The chef recommends medium rare.”
“Medium rare?” Ben said. “For fish?”
Ro said, “Do medium.”
Yves nodded somewhat less than approvingly. When he left, Ben said, “What is medium rare for fish?”
“It’s slightly raw on the inside.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“If the fish is good quality, it’s actually delicious. You’ve never had sushi?”
“Not hot sushi. But I’ll take your word for it, Miss Sophisticate. How’s my sister doing? You probably see her more than I do.”
“She seems fine. She and Lilly and Ezra and Griff have reunited. They are once again a tight little quadrangle.”
Ben was quiet. Then he said, “How’s JD?”
“Saw him last night at the party. First time in a long time we actually spent more than a minute talking. That’s when he gave me the Tiffany necklace.”
“He likes you a lot.”
“He loves me, actually.” She looked straight into his eyes. “First time he told me was right before we did it. Didn’t think too much of it because I knew he was sweet-talking me. I was also pretty plastered, so maybe I didn’t hear right. But I did make him wear a condom both times. I guess I wasn’t totally blitzed.” He was clearly uncomfortable. “I’m really, really sorry, for what it’s worth. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”
“I’m okay. And even if I’m not, like you said, let’s move on.”
“At least it taught me something.” She studied her red-lacquered nails. “I mean, JD certainly didn’t force himself on me, but he did take advantage of me. Boys and alcohol don’t mix. Good lesson to learn before college. I should have listened to my mother.”