Balance (51 page)

Nodding subtly,
Meg sidles
up next
to Waters
,
entwin
ing
her arm in his
, resting the side if her head on
her date’s
shoulder
.

Gazing
a
t
Michael,
Rena continues in hushed tones for only their ears
, “
Now that w
e’ve established the terms of our relationship
s
, from this point forward, any advances
,
to any of us
,
should be regarded with care.
”

“
Why is
that
?
”
Waters
asks,
blushing slightly,
speaking just above a whisper
.

She
explains,
“
We’re all attractive, so m
ost average men and women would be intimidated, human nature, too shy to approach.  The ones with confidence and moral
s will stay away out of respect.
T
hat leaves the players and psychos, both pose dangers to any
one
of us. 
Only the
morally destitute
will atte
mpt to win any of our attentions,
the
most dangerous
.”

The waiter returns.  Michael orders a bottle of champagne
,
opened at the table.  Rena places an order for some light appetizers, something for the men
.

After
the waiter leaves, Rena leans over to Michael
and whispers
in his ear.  H
e stands, moving his chair to let her past.  Turning her back to the restaurant, she
bends over provocatively and
kisses him on the cheek
, acting the tease
.

Meg, understanding the
inference
, follows Rena’s example.  The two
attractive
women
walk out
,
Meg holding Rena’s elbow.

Michael
sits
and
expounds
,
“Our
dates just went on a reconnaissance mission.
”

“Is that wise, going alone?”
Waters
asks, expressing
concern
for the two young women
.

“T
hey should
be
fine
.  At this point of the night, c
onfidence levels of would be threats w
ill be at their lowest
, but as the night goes on and more alcohol
is
consumed, that dynamic changes. 
Also remember, t
he girls can get away with retaliation to affronts
we
could not.
 
Don’t worry …
Rena knows what she’s doing.
”  Michael
assures
.

The waite
r returns with their bottle of c
hampagne, opening it
and
pour
ing
four glasses.  The appetizers arrive shortly after
.

T
en-minutes
later
,
Rena and Meg return
, giggling like schoolgirls with a secret.

“So
,
what damage did you cause?” Michael asks, not
sure,
he wants to know the answer.

“Oh nothing …
just yet.
”
Rena replies,
the
same
half smile
that tends to make Michael nervous
, lighting her face
.
“
We were j
ust getting the lay of the land.
  I did promise you a meal
.”
  Bending down, she
kisses him again on the
lips
.

Michael now
questions
what
Rena
has
up her sle
eve,
not
normally
one for public displays of affection, especially this public. 
He
’s
not
going to complain
, but
he
recognizes
s
he’s manipulating something,
just
not
sure what at this point
.

Dinner and dessert go off without a
problem
, so m
uch so Michael inquires for a heads-
up on their plans.

Finally relenting
,
Rena
explains
, “There are
a
couple of predator
s at the bar
in
need
of
a lesson,
a
married man in t
he table next to
us
is
spending
way
too much money on his
mistress,
and
an all-
girls
-party
in the dance club
needs a pick-me-
up.
” The last
implication generating a smirk from Meg, trying not to look at Waters
.

D
inner
concluded
, the party moves down to the second floor bar
.

After a brief scan of the venue and
its occupants,
Rena addresses Meg,
“
T
ell me what you see?  A
ny potential threats?”

Meg quickly rescans the
room
, just to make sure,
“T
wo
guys
a
t the
bar
buying drinks for several women, the ‘poppers’ you mentioned.  The woman at the end of the bar, in
front
of the restrooms.  She’s
paying far too
much attention to a married man
and his
mistress
, same two that sat next to us upstairs.
Could be
the wi
fe, another lover or a hired tail
.
”  Looking over her shoulder, Meg nods toward the entrance, “
Based on the
glass of
completely melted ice, t
he lady sitting alone at the table by the
entry
seems more interested in the crowd then her drink
.
M
y guess
,
a pickpocket.
”

“Excellent, but
be open to the possibility
of
foreign agents
on
location.
  Be ever vigilant,
especiall
y in an establishment like this.
Y
ou never know if you’ve entered someone else’s immersion or you’ve been compromised.”
Rena
warns
.

Michael and Waters grab a
table
along the wall
, n
ext to
the
entry
,
behind the lone woman scanning
the crowd.

Intending to test Meg, Rena lead
s
her to
the bar
,
approaching
on
e of
the
predators,
their mark,
immediately capturing his attention
.

Rena
complains,
loud enough for the predator to hear
.
“He’s a complete jack ass.”

“Let me
try to talk to him
.”
Meg offers
and walks away
.

After considering
the
bartender
,
waiting
far too patiently
to take
her ord
er, Rena
l
ook
s
around the bar
,
then
decides,
“I’ll have whatever he’s drinking.” motioning to
the
gentleman
sitting next to her
.

The predator mot
ions for two
,
providing him an opening to
initiat
e
an introduction
.

Rena and the man
engage in an animated conversation,
laugh
ing and flirting with each other.  P
eriodically
, she
glanc
es
back at
an irritated
Michael.
  A
fter a short exchange
,
Rena
offers to
give him her number
.

W
ith his
cell
in hand
,
Rena
step
s
away from the bar
turn
ing
her back
to the
crowd
, making
sure to give
the popper
en
oug
h time to spike her drink. 
R
eturn
ing
after a minute, she smiles seductively
and hands him
the
cell
.

Meg
,
see
ing
the
signal
,
slides
up to the bar next to the
mark
on the other side.
  Drawing h
is attention
, as well as the bartender,
she
giv
es
Rena
an opportunity to
switch
the
ir glasses
.

“
W
hat do you want?”
Rena
snaps
,
than takes
a long
pull
from her
drink
.

“
Q
uit being such a bitch
.
  He wants to apologize.  You sitting over her
e
flirting with this jerk is only making matters worse.
”
Meg chides.

“
S
crew you
!”
Rena
retorts, storming
off to the stairwell
in tears
.

“Bitches?”
Meg
snickers, winks
at the bartender then
leaves to console her
friend
.

L
aughing,
t
he pre
dator
tells
the bartender
her boyfriend will be thanking him late
r.  H
e slams his drink and orders
another, p
ushing Rena’s
glass
to the rail.

H
and-in-
hand
,
Meg
and
Rena
walk back to
their date’s
table
. K
iss
ing
Michael
in apparent apology
,
Rena
whisper
s
in
his ear, “T
his should be fun.
”
T
hen turns to
Meg.
“I believe the next round is on you.”

Grinning impishly, Meg slips her fingers behind the adornment
below her navel
and
remov
es
the predator
’
s wallet
hidden
inside her dress
.

B
reaking
from
his
normally
stoic demeanor,
Waters laughs,
“Now that …
is sexy!”
I
nitiating
a round of rousing
laugh
ter
. 
“Don’t you think he’ll notice his missing wallet?”
He
inquires.