Darren: And you didn’t say anything?
Me: You looked busy
Darren: That’s how you’re going to play it, then
I frowned at that. I don’t know what you mean
Darren: You know what? I’m done playing games now
And then the messages started coming faster, not giving me a chance to respond.
Here’s what you’re going to do
You’re going to get up from the table you’re sitting at ten feet away
You’re going to excuse yourself
Say you need to use the restroom
You’re going to walk toward the back
There is a door that leads to the alley by the kitchen
Use it
Do it now
And don’t make me tell you twice
“Meep,” I said.
“What did he say?” Agnes asked.
“Nothing,” I said, coughing roughly. “Oh no! I have to use the little girl’s room.”
“Are you okay?” Slim Trim asked. “You look flushed all of a sudden.”
“It’s just hot in here,” I said, going for calm and missing by a mile.
“We’re sitting right under a ceiling fan and an air conditioning vent,” Esteban said.
“How about that?” I said. “Be right back.”
And without another word, I rose from the table, the chair scraping loudly on the tile floor. I couldn’t bring myself to look in Darren’
s direction, not sure I wanted to see the expression on his face. I didn’t know if he was pissed off that we’d been spying on his date (and since when was someone able to see through my amazing disguises?) or if it was something else.
I hoped it was something else.
The kitchen was loud and bustling off to the right, and I saw the door Darren had referred to. It had a flickering Exit sign above it. I glanced around quickly to make sure that no one was watching before I pushed my way out the door and into the cool fall sun.
I was in an alleyway that ran behind all the businesses on 4th Avenue. If I looked to the left hard enough, I could just make out the rear of Jack It, where Mike’s office sat. There was no one else out here and I shivered at the thought.
The door banged open.
“How did you know?” I demanded as soon as Darren walked out into the alley. “I am a queen for fuck’s sake, you shouldn’t be able to—”
He kissed me.