“Coffee?” Alex finally asked with the detachment he’d grant any customer at the end of an exhausting day. It was barely noon.
“Will you join me?”
“I’m working.”
“Alex, please?”
“No. Jago, please just order something or leave. I’m not doing this.”
“Doing what? Can’t we even discuss last night?”
“I wouldn’t know how to start.”
“Then let me.” They looked up as the door at the back of the kitchen swung open and Victoria returned from her cigarette break. “But not here.”
“And not now. You seriously have to bother me at work?”
“Last time, you thought it was sweet. Besides, this is not the work you’re serious about.”
Alex caught a glance from Victoria as she unwrapped a tray of pig’s ears, a dish he’d never developed a taste for. “I’m serious enough to not want to get fired.”
“You’re making excuses. You know she won’t fire you, just as you know I’m the only person who’ll believe what you saw last night. The only person who can assure you you’re not crazy.”
Alex brushed the warm wooden counter with his fingers, hoping another customer would pull him away. But none came, and the one busy table’s occupants were lost in their own private conversation. “I didn’t see anything because none of it was real.”
“Bullshit. We both know what we saw.”
“Fine. Drinking with Vis and Joanna in the park? Going back to your apartment? Yes, all of that happened. Then I left. I don’t know what you gave me to drink, but—”
“You’re saying Idruggedyou?” Jago began to ball his fists, shoulders near quivering. “I’m sorry, Alex, but if you must lie to yourself, I’ll not go along with it.”
“You can believe what you like. Just leave me alone.” He gathered up a half-dozen menus that didn’t need refreshing, straightening, or cleaning and stalked off to the end of the counter.
Jago followed. “Is Joanna okay?”
Alex turned an indignant glare on him. “Yes. So is Vicente, or did you forget about what happened to him?”
“Then you know what we saw to be true as well as I do. I’m pleased to hear they’re both—”
“Stop it, will you? Whateverwesaw, they didn’t experience any of it. I called them this morning. Vicente was pissed off, but he’s fine, and so is Joanna. As for…whatyou are…”
Jago tilted his head patiently. “Go on.”
“I don’t care. That’s your business. Religious freedom, blah, blah. I appreciate what you’ve done for us, Jago but I can’t do this. I can’t.”
“I’ve not asked you to do anything. Simply accompany me last night, which you did.”
“So? There’s nothing more to discuss. Now order something or leave.”
“Coffee, please. Now, what I’m trying to tell you—”
“Coffee does not come with my conversation in this establishment.”
“Damn it, Alex. How often do you think I share an experience like that with someone else, even a man I fancy?”
Alex looked up in time to see the snootier two of the director’s friends avert their eyes.
“I can make them leave,” Jago said.
