Willie broke the silence.
“Lee owes me big time for this.”
I didn’t know if he was talking about the mall or the grunge invasion of his Pathfinder.
Likely both.
* * * * *
If I had known I was going to go to Lee’s offices that day, I would have chosen my outfit more carefully.
Dawn was again wearing designer.
I was wearing my cutoff jeans shorts, an Air Force blue t-shirt with “USAFA” in white on the front (even though the man I loved was honorably discharged from the Army, I was an equal opportunity military supporter) and blue flip flops. After three orgasms and a fight with Lee that ended up with me admitting I loved him, I was spent. Creating an Indy Outfit was beyond my capabilities. I hadn’t even bothered with a belt.
Willie, Ally, Rosie, The Kevster and I invaded Dawn’s pristine reception space and she looked at us in horror. Rosie still had the ice cream “O” around his mouth and remnants of the drip on his hand, too rocked by recent events to attend the basics. At the best of times, Rosie and The Kevster weren’t overly bothered with personal hygiene and these were far from the best of times.
“What now?” Dawn asked.
At Dawn’s greeting, I wondered, briefly, if Lee knew what the word “cordial” meant.
“We need to talk to Lee,” Willie said to Dawn.
She looked at Willie and her face changed. Willie was hot and Dawn was in heat, so she tucked away the attitude and gave him a brilliant smile.
“I’m sorry. He’s in a meeting.”
“Tell him we’re here,” Willie went on.
“I’m sorry, but when he’s in a meeting, Lee says –”
“Tell him… we’re… here,” Willie repeated in a tone that made Dawn’s eyes go wide. She put her hands to the arms of her chair (manicured fingers pointed straight out, the better to be on display), pushed herself up, rounded the desk and disappeared behind the door to the Inner Sanctuary.
“I’ve never been here,” Ally whispered to me.
“Really?” I whispered back, not knowing why we were whispering.
“This place is the shit,” Ally said.
She was right, it was. I felt a strange sense of pride, even though it had nothing to do with me.
I smiled at Ally. She smiled back.
“Are we, like, in trouble?” The Kevster asked, breaking into our moment.
Ally trained her eyes on Kevin. “You’re, like, morons.”
“Dudette!” The Kevster was aghast at Ally’s insult.
“You better clue in before someone helps you check out,” Ally told him. “People are getting shot at, stun-gunned, kidnapped and cars are exploding. Wake, the f**k, up.”
Well, there it was. Couldn’t get any more honest than that.
Rosie and The Kevster stared at Ally, whether what she said penetrated was anyone’s guess.
While all this was going on, Willie was making a call and after Ally’s announcement, he flipped his phone shut.
“Got someone checking,” Willie said, “odds are Wilcox bonded these two idiots.”