Chapter 26

I knocked on Lori’s door the following evening, since she had earlier reserved us for Saturday.

"Danny!" Lori exclaimed happily as we arrived at her door. She quickly gave him a hug before inviting us in.

"Bastard," I jokingly whispered to him when Lori was out of earshot. Dan merely gave a happily confused little shrug as he walked in the door.

"I’m sorry I missed your arrival last night," Lori called from the kitchen; she was grabbing us a couple of drinks. "What did you two end up doing?"

"In a manner of speaking, we hung out at a couple clubs," I told her as we stood just inside the doorway.

"Why ‘in a manner of speaking?’" Lori asked us.

"Well we were at some clubs," I began explaining.

"And we hung around the clubs," Dan added.

"We just didn’t hang around inside them."

"I’m not sure what the proprietors were looking for from their preferred clientele, but we do know that they were looking for something that could be described as ‘not us’," Dan concluded.

"I can’t believe you didn’t get in anywhere," Lori told us. "I’ve never had much trouble."

I realized that it would not be difficult for a very attractive woman to get in the door, as several were shepherded inside while we pointlessly waited. However, I informed her, "Considering the way a couple of the bouncers looked at us, I can’t say as I’m too surprised."

"How was that?" she asked us.

"‘Appalled’ would be the best way to describe it," Dan told her. "I guess we need to go tie shopping, I don’t think the ones we were wearing were expensive enough."

"But, we did learn a valuable lesson out of it," I observed aloud, "that’s that we’re just not designed for hanging out and looking cool."

"That’s okay, I like both of you just the way you are," Lori reassured.

"I’m glad to hear it," Dan told her, "because we have a consistent habit of being just that."

Lori responded with a laugh that went on for just a bit longer than I would normally expect. "Interesting," I thought to myself.

"So Danny, how are things with that illustrating job you had?" Lori asked him.

"Tom here didn’t tell you?"

"No, he didn’t. Tom, have you been keeping information from me?"

"I didn’t want to take away Dan’s opportunity to tell you himself."

"Well, what’s the big news?" Lori asked Dan.

"The author may be picked up by a national publisher."

"That’s wonderful! Would you continue illustrating for her?"

"She told me she wants to keep me, so it looks like I’ll be able to do that, yes."

"So everything is working out for you?"

"So far," Dan told her modestly.

"If you gets picked up by a national publisher, would you need to relocate at all, or would you be able to work from Kansas City?" Lori asked him.

"I don’t really see any reason to leave KC, especially since it’s a lot easier to work with somebody when you’re sitting in the same room."

"What about when you need to deliver the book? Or submit illustrations? Wouldn’t you need to visit the publisher then?"

"Beats me. I’ve never done this on that sort of scale before. I’d have to imagine that it’s possible, yes."

"So you may be coming back to New York?" Lori asked hopefully.

"It’s possible. She’s talking to a couple publishers here and another in Atlanta, so I suppose I may be visiting again, yes."

"Well you’ll have to stop by when you do," Lori offered perkily.

"I’d love to."

"Since Tom here is leaving me for San Diego…" Lori said with her usual, endearing whimper.

"Well, Tom had to go to San Diego," Dan replied in a way that indicated he had a punchline to that statement.

"Why’s that?" Lori asked.

"Because I haven’t been there yet. Don’t you know that the only reason for Tom to get jobs is to provide me with new places to go on vacation?"

Lori did not laugh, but she stared amusedly at Dan for, once again, just a little overlong before she answered, "Obviously, I had not received that memo. Anyway, are you gentlemen ready to go?"

"Absolutely."

#

I was not until Monday that I finally asked Dan, "What’s going on between you two?"

Dan looked quizzically back at me. I got the feeling he was not sure what I meant, mostly because he answered me with, "I’m not sure what you mean."

"I mean between you and Lori. Since last night, you two have been acting almost like a couple." We had spent our Sunday with Lori on one of her typical tours of New York and she had been talking to him almost to the point of ignoring me.

"Jealous?"

"Yes," I replied honestly. There is little sense in denying obvious truths.

Dan replied with a laugh and an amiable, "Don’t worry, I’ll be gone in a couple days."

"No, it’s not like I’m angry at either of you," I reassured him, "I mean in your case, who wouldn’t want to have her undivided attention? But it just strikes me as odd that she’d be practically adoring you like she is."

"Thanks a lot."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I’m someone she hardly knows and she’s almost hanging on me."

"Yeah, it was like the last time you were here, when we went to the Guggenheim."

Dan shrugged. "I don’t get it either. It’s almost like she’s attracted to me somehow."

"Do you think she is?" I asked him. I was not sure about that and I thought that Dan might have a better angle on that question.

"I really don’t know."

"Would you like to think she’s attracted to you?"

"Absolutely. But knowing how much you like her, I can’t say I’d be comfortable with the idea of dating her."

"Would you do it anyway?" I asked him more pointedly than I had intended.

"I don’t think we’ll really need to worry about that."

"No really, I’d like to know if you’d do it anyway. I’m not testing your friendship or anything like that, I just want to know if you would date her if you had the chance."

"Tom, I really don’t know. I’d have to think about that a while before I could come up with an answer and I really see no reason to put much brainpower toward such hypothetical concerns. However, my answer right now is, ‘No’."

"Really?"

"Tom, do you remember the whole Gina fiasco?"

"Of course," I said, recalling his ex-non-fiancée.

"Do you remember what I was like after she broke things off with me?"

"You were miserable."

"Yes. But more so, I was intolerable. I was depressed, I was angry and I know I sometimes lashed out at you and everybody else I knew."

"We understood. And we dealt with it."

"Exactly. You guys stuck with me through that whole experience. When I came out of the other side of it, I came to the conclusion that women come and go, but good friends last a lifetime. So I’d rather miss out on a girl than make a friend uncomfortable."

"Even Lori?" I asked.

"Especially Lori. Because that would put you in the very sticky situation of wanting a friend’s girlfriend. I have no problem with anybody dating a woman I may also find intriguing, but I don’t want to be the guy who puts his friend in that situation."

"Thanks. You’re a good man Tom."

"I try, but ideals often fall in the face of practice. But neither of us really need to worry about that because, like I said, I’m going to be gone soon."