Balance (50 page)

The driver opens the door
for the occupants
.

Michael exi
t
s
first, followed immediately by
Waters
.  Both survey the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary
.

Waters
leans
in
to the car,
help
ing
Meg.  They
quickly
move
to the doorway
just in ca
se a threat arises, providing
two options for cover, the building or the
limo
.

Michael
repeats the gesture, assisting Rena
, following the same
relocation
protocol
.

The driver remains
, waiting
until
all are safely inside.  A
lready given directions, he pulls away
,
looping a
two-block
radius around
the building
, scanning for
anything
peculiar,
parking
one block
up the street
.

The
establishment
encompasses
three floors, a
ground level dance
club
, with a
bar
on the second
and an elegant restaurant
residing on
the third
.  Mich
ael suspects
the layout
was intended to
direct
people toward the street as they
consume alcohol
.

U
pon
entering,
Meg and Rena r
emov
e
their coats
,
creat
ing
the intended
effect
.  S
everal male and a few female
patrons
crane their necks to
study
the two beautiful women
.  Michael looks at
Waters
,
also
observing
their dates
’
effect on the
crowd
, shaking his head slowly.

The party
proceeds
up past the already full bar to the restaurant.
  At each level, the two young
women
create a stir.
 
Waters
approaches
at
Michael
’s
side
,
“We
might
need to call in some backup.  T
his is already
shaping-
up to be a
n
interesting
night.
”

“Most definitely moving in that direction.” Michael concurs
.

Rena
provides
the maître d' a false name
Immersion
set up
that
morning
.
An attendant
appears immediately, looking nervous, and guides
them to a table
straightaway, angering several waiting patrons
.  The
table
, situated in a secluded corner, one of their finest, normally reserved for
their most important clients.
 
Rena and Meg sit
together
in the corner while Michael and
Waters
sit opposite each other at the sides
,
next to
their
respective
date
s
, leaving the front half of the
round
table unoccupied
and open
.
  The
ir
orientation
puts the men in position to respond quickly to any threats, whi
le still protecting their charges
.

Michael
notices several
patrons
, men and women
alike,
staring
at them
with interest
,
upsetting
a
few
female companions. 
He
turns to
the
two
breathtaking
creatures at his table
,
“You
two
are
the
most beautiful women in the entire
establishment
.  You’re
creating quiet the
distraction.
”
T
urning to
Waters
for endorsement,
“S
o, can you do me a favor
,
and
at least
let us
enjoy
our
meals
before the festivities commence?”

Rena
half smiles and
nods her consent
, turning to
Meg, “So
let’s review what you saw coming in.
”

Both men turn their attention on the young woman, causing her to blush nervously.  “Okay.  Nothing like being put on the spot.” 
Meg
closes her eyes, recalling their walk through the
building.

Michael asks first, “Where are the exits?”

Opening her eyes, she confidently meets
Michael’s scrutinizing
gaze,
“Ground floor,
W
est-
c
entral, the way we came
in,
and
East
side, rear entran
ce.
S
econd floor, fire escape, S
outh side, saw it drivin
g up.
T
hird, rear,
East
side, fi
re escape wraps to the second floor fire escape.”

“Notice anything odd about the stairwell?” Rena asks
.

Meg
closes her eyes again, recalling their walk up the stairs, “The first floor staircase was enclosed,
and the
second was
not.  A basement access
,
so there might
be
an egress exit.”

“Excellent.
Starting on the first floor, any concerns?”
Rena questions
.

Meg reflects
for
a second, “
The
backroom to North
would not have
an exit
.
A guarded entrance
,
Northeast
corner
,
looked like a private room
,
not likely to have any direct exit
either
.  The wrap around booths could be an issue.”

“Second floor?”
Rena continues
.

“The emergency exit
,
behind the stairwell
, presents
a bottleneck
, two more doors le
ading to rooms without exit on
the North wall and
Northeast
corner
; another door behind the bar and a potential
bottle neck to the main stairwell.”

Waters
listening to the conversation
comments
, “Impressive.  You’ve taught her well Rena.”

“We’ll see
.
”
S
he
replies
, “
T
his floor?”

“Same bottle neck to the stairwell, as well as the maître d'
station
. 
T
ables block
the
direct path
to the emergency exit
at the back
.
T
he k
itchen
has
a pair of one-way
doors into the dining area, but not out of the building
.
Indicating t
here might be a service elevator on the
N
orth wall to get food stuff to the third floor, which means there might be a
loading dock on the
N
orth
side
, ground floor.”

“Excellent.  I didn’t think you’d deduce the service elevator.” Rena commends
.

The waiter
approaches
the t
ab
le, offering a bottle of wine.

Michael
requests a moment.
T
he waiter leaves
only to return immediately with two glasses of champagne,
“
C
ompliments of a gentleman from the bar.
”

Rena asks for
the man’s
description, handing the waiter compensation for his being discrete
.

The waiter complies, offering his best recollection.

Smiling graciously, she p
our
s
the champagne into two water glasses
and
hand
s
them
back
to the waiter to dispose of.
 
Meg and
Waters
look at
her
, confused.
  Rena
enlightens
, “Never drink anything
you are
not absolutely
sure of it
s
origin, especially from an admirer you do no
t know.  Th
ese
came from the bar.
As we w
alk
ed past the
second floor
,
I noticed the man described.  He was by himself, sitting at the bar talking to the bartender.  He had two drinks in front of him, meaning they’re chummy.  My guess
,
they work together. 
He
’s
a party popper
,
dropping
Ketamine
,
Rohypnol
, GHB
,
Amphetamine
s
or other mind altering drugs
into drinks
in order to loosen inhibitions …
or worse.
  Some establishments, as I would expect this one, employ party poppers.”

“But you just gave the drinks back to the waiter, won’t they know what you did?” asks
Waters
.

“
Uh huh
.
W
e just moved up the fo
od chain.  Now they realize we’
re not
E
lite p
osers.  Day players
,
non-Elite
dressing up fo
r a night out
,
would
not have
known better.  Now they realize we belong.  That should give us some breathing room.  I would expect
you two
will
start
receiving advances
from
your own admi
rers shortly.” Rena gestur
es
at
Waters
and Michael
.

“Why?”
Meg asks.

Michael answers her question, “Because, we just got tagged as sugar-daddies.  Two guys
,
in
a place like this, with
dates like you two, otherworldly beautiful.
You’
re
either
high-class
pros or trophies.  Either way
you
’
r
e
with us because of money
… and yes
,
Rena is an excellent teacher.”

Leaning
over
,
Rena
kisses Michael on the lips.
 
She pulls away and
gaze
s at him, their eyes fixed,
looking completely in love
.
After a moment, she
glances
impishly
at Meg and
Waters
,
both
look
ing
very uncomfortable.  “
I
just laid claim to
Michael
,
implying
I am
not
‘
pay for play
’
. 
Meg, you might want to move closer to Waters
,
try to look like you’r
e
very attracted to each other
.”