“Well, not really … sort of. It is, well, I came to see an old friend, and hopefully a woman. I didn’t know about the other two. That doesn’t make sense, does it?”
“Not to me, but maybe to you,” Fausto said, his head turned to one side.
“Well, my life doesn’t make sense to me, either, so you’re not alone,” Grant said.
“I suppose.”
“Me too, for what that’s worth. Thanks for the tour, nice to meet you. Maybe I will see you around.”
“Thank you, Señor Grant, and watch out for the making the women loco-mad.”
“You want to tell me about your pals down at the other end of the bar?” Rex asked Isobelle, his gaze on the women a short distance away.
Annie and Kat glanced at each other.
“Are you sure he is with you?” Isobelle said, looking at Annie and Kat.
“I wouldn’t even begin to know how to answer that,” Annie said.
“I do,” Kat said.
“No Kat, it’s not necessary.”
“I have time,” Isobelle said.
“Annie, here, used to go with the man, Grant, who left. This one here, big mouth, is Grant’s friend. Apparently, they are a package deal, and no matter how much Grant might disappoint you, this one can make you absolutely furious. Great combination, huh?”
Rex looked back to the group.
“Kat. That short for … what, Katrina?”
“Yes,” Kat answered
“That’s Greek. You’re blonde.”
“Yes. My name is Katrina Ballas, but everyone calls me Kat. There are blonde people of Greek descent.”
“I’m just messing with you about the hair, but you should have said something sooner, Katrina Ballas, I would have ordered Metaxa. I would love to get a good Metaxa buzz going,” Rex said, looking back and forth, between Kat, and the women at the other end.
“What does Metaxa taste like?” Annie asked.
“Can’t remember, I was drunk,” Rex smiled.
Annie, Kat, and Isobelle chuckled at Rex’s comment.
“See what I mean?” Kat squinted.
“What’s funny?” Rex held his arms up.
“You, but in a different way than you probably think,” Kat patted him.
“Ok, so are you going with the good looking, quiet one now?” Isobelle asked.
“No,” Annie said.
“She’s seeing someone else, these two don’t know about that,” Kat whispered.
“I … you don’t….” Annie blushed.
“You should have a drink, Annie. I mean if we are going to spend all our time with this one, it might help.” Kat said.
“Yes, can I get you something?” Isobelle asked.
“No, thank you, I’m fine.”
“He’ll be back in a minute, so don’t worry,” Rex said, suddenly engaging with the group again. “Don’t base your decision to drink or not on whether or not Grant is coming back. Me, I’m on vacation. I’m going to drink regardless. I am glad to see you, Annie, even though I know you never liked me much. Grant is glad to see you, too. Oh, and I like your friend here.”
“I never said that I didn’t—” Annie started to say, but Rex cut her off.
“Look, even though I am not as smart as your doctor comrade here—tell me what do doctors do again?—I am smart enough to know you just sort of, I don’t know, maybe toler—”
“Stop it, Rex. It was all a long time ago, and the main thing is we are where we are now. Back then was … it was….”
“Was a lot of fun, and you know it,” Rex said, looking straight at Annie, challenging her to disagree.
“Well, it was….”
“It was fun, don’t deny it. It was a helluva lot of fun.”
“It was….”
“It was fun,” Rex said determinedly, emphasizing every syllable.
Annie turned back towards the entrance to the bar, where Grant was re-entering.
“Yes, it was fun,” Annie said quietly.
“I knew it!” Rex said, slamming his hand down on the top of the bar.
Grant had quietly returned to the bar, but jerked back as Rex’s hand hit the bar, clearly startled. He tilted his head as he approached the table, easing back into the chair.
“You starting things here in the bar?” Grant sat back in his chair.
“They started it, they are picking on me! Can you imagine that?” Rex said.
“Somehow I can imagine them doing something, but ‘picking on you’ probably isn’t the phrasing I would use,” Grant said.
“The friend, she’s pretty sharp. And not that Annie’s not sharp, we all know that she is smarter than us. By us, I mean me and Grant. Well, Grant for sure,” Rex said.
“No explanation needed,” Kat responded.
“Agreed,” Isobelle said.
The group all turned to look at her.
“But what do I know?” Isobelle said, suddenly embarrassed that she had been listening in to their conversation. Trying to save face, she sputtered, “She seems very smart to me.”
Annie laughed quietly to herself, seeming more relieved than before. “Everything all right, Grant? Rex told me you were in an accident,” Annie said, touching him on the arm.
“Yep, could have done without that. What did I miss here?” Grant asked, trying to change the subject.
“Are you sure you are all right?” Annie looked worried.
“A little bunged up, but I’m upright.”
“Well, your friend here was just charming us while you were away,” Kat said.
“Really? I wasn’t gone long enough for Rex to become charming. We’re only here for the weekend, and that would take several millenniums.”
CHAPTER 7
“Well, I suppose that in certain circumstances he could be charming, but I have yet to encounter any of those circumstances. Then again, I’ve only been around him a short time,” Kat said.
“He is amazing. We know that,” Isobelle said.
“You know that because he told you that he was amazing,” Grant put his hands together.
“Exactly!” Kat did the same.
“He has that capability,” Grant wiggled his fingers.
“To be amazing?” Kat trying to sound startled.
“No, to tell you he is amazing,” Grant retorted.
“Well, he did.”
“Ah.”
“So now let’s hear about you,” Kat opened her hands in Grant’s direction.
“About me?” Grant asked.
“Yes, about you. It sounds like you’ve had an eventful day.”
“Well, yes. Having somebody run a red light and plow into