Bad Ideas (First & Forever 4)

“I’m totally fine. I’m just a bit overheated.”

Lark tugged my sleeve, and when I turned to look at him, he said, “I saved you some rolls and made sure they didn’t take away your salad.” He slid two plates in front of me and added, “I also made them promise to bring back your dinner when you got back. They’re keeping it warm in the kitchen.”

I thanked him and picked up one of the rolls. He’d taken a bite out of it, which made me chuckle. I ate everything he’d saved for me. Then a waiter brought out my dinner under a silver cloche, just as little individual cheesecakes were served for dessert. I ate all of that, too, and could easily have polished off three or four more entrees. Who knew hate sex made you absolutely ravenous?

Once the dishes were cleared away, a couple of VIPs from the hospital made speeches and heaped us with praise. Great. Whatever. Then it was time for the raffle with its legendary prizes. I found my tickets and handed one each to Kel and Lark.

The raffle was handled efficiently, but it still took forever. Call the number, wait, call it again. Some of the winning numbers would end up belonging to staff who weren’t here. They didn’t want to exclude those who were actually running the hospital and caring for patients while the rest of us partied. It always took a while before the announcers finally decided that was the case with an unclaimed prize and moved on.

Darice won one of the first prizes, dinner for two at a nice local restaurant. A few minutes later, one of my numbers was called, and Lark let out a piercing shriek. He jumped up on his chair and did a dance before running up to the front with flailing Kermit arms. The crowd loved that, and there were a lot of whistles and applause.

He returned a minute later with a huge gift basket wrapped in cellophane and topped with a giant red bow, and he exclaimed, “You won the spa prize, Casey!”

“No, you won the spa prize,” I told him. “That’s why I gave you my ticket, so you’d have a chance to win. And look, your good juju rubbed off on the numbers.”

His doe eyes were the size of saucers as he whispered, “I can’t accept this. Look how nice it is.”

From what I glimpsed through the cellophane, the basket was full of face masks and creams and lotions, which he’d enjoy a hell of a lot more than I ever would. “You were clearly meant to have that,” I said.

Lark put it on the table and stared at it in awe. Then an idea occurred to him, and he exclaimed, “Sometime soon when all of us are home at the same time, we’ll have a spa day—the whole pink Victorian crew! Including Eliot, even though he’s shy and likes to hide.” When I smiled at him and said that was a great idea, he looked so happy.

Near the end of the raffle, Yolanda won one of the grand prizes—two nights at a bed and breakfast in Napa Valley, complete with a wine package and a meal at a famous restaurant, all for two. JoJo clapped her hands with delight while all of us cheered, and Yolanda gave her girlfriend a big kiss before sauntering up to collect her winnings. There was only one prize that was bigger than that, a week in Hawaii. No one claimed it, which meant it must have gone to one of the people who’d had to work that night.

The party began to break up as soon as the raffle ended. We called a cab and said good night to Darice and her husband, who left quickly to beat the crowd. Then we moved to the hotel lobby to wait for our ride.

When I took a seat on one of the gold velvet sofas, Yolanda sat down on my left, and JoJo sat on my right and said, “Spill. Who’d you sleep with, Casey?”

Yolanda scrutinized me closely as she asked, “Was it Simon, the respiratory therapist? It was, wasn’t it? Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”

“Simon’s not gay,” I said. “And who says I slept with anyone?”

From the other side of the wide coffee table, our housemates perked up. Lark leaned over, so he could see me around the huge gift basket on his lap, and Kel called, “Did you say Casey got lucky at the party? Is that what he was doing when he disappeared for over half an hour, boning someone?”

A group of coworkers were walking past us on the way to the main exit, and when a couple of people glanced our way, I answered loudly, “No! I just went for a walk.” Then I turned to Yolanda and asked, “Can I see your prize package? It sounds amazing.”