The man’s eyes finally focus on me. “Who are you, love?”
“Just a friend of his, but I know he wouldn’t appreciate you showing up without his permission.”
“You’re sure I don’t have his permission?” Sean gives me a little smile. He is caught somewhere between trying to be charming and confrontational, and neither quite lands.
“Doyou have his permission?”
“I’m just here to talk to him.” He puts up his hands in an innocent gesture, and I’m tempted to leave so I don’t make a scene, but there’s a tension in his shoulders that I recognize from my bartending days. I know he is here to start something. The question is whether I can steer him away from doing it in public.
I hear the music starting. Hopefully nobody has noticed Sean and I whispering.
“Just come outside and talk to him afterwards,” I say. “He’ll be done in ten minutes, and you can speak to him then and have a proper conversation. Okay?”
Sean gives me a hard look, then pushes off the wall and follows me outside the doors and into the main lobby. I feel a wave of relief as he follows. When the doors shut, I lean against the lobby wall and look at him. For a moment, I consider going back in. This is none of my business. But I still care enough about Ollie to want his brother not to make a public scene, and that means I ought to keep Sean talking. It was a strategy Isometimes used with drunks. Just let them say whatever they want to say, and they don’t notice that the bouncer is on his way.
He looks me up and down. “You the new girlfriend?”
“Well, I’m not the old wife.”
Sean grins wolfishly. “Boy. He did a number on you, huh? Ollie the saint. You know Phoebe was with me before she dated him. Did he tell you that? He’s the one who stole my girlfriend.”
“I heard you dated her and then dumped her, yes.”
Sean sighs. “And did he say that he only went after her to make a point? That he told me he was going to date her before he started? That he was doing it to get at me?”
I say nothing, and Sean continues.
“She was never the right person for him. If she had been, what happened between us would never have happened. I was just getting her out of a mess she got herself into.”
“So you’re the hero in this situation? That’s quite a take.”
“Look, I’m not here to defend myself, alright? I’m here to talk to my brother.”
“And to distract him in the middle of a big competition?”
There is applause booming through the doors. We both glance toward the ballroom. Ollie’s dance must be wrapping up.
Maria’s voice can be heard faintly through the speaker system. “And the judges are just tallying up their scores…”
Sean gives me a look and then walks back to the doors, just as Ollie steps out. Ollie looks between us.
“What the hell is happening?” he asks.
Sean takes a step toward him, raising his hands in appeasement. “You can call off your girlfriend. I just want to talk.”
Ollie’s eyes flicker to me, filled with emotions. Ollie nods, once.
“Fine. Let’s go outside.”
“You should stay and hear who won first,” I say.
He shakes his head. “It’s not going to be me. I was a little bit distracted once I saw you two leave together.” He glances at his brother.
“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling chastened.
“I told her she was causing a scene,” Sean says as they walk toward the doors.
Ollie looks furious. “She has absolutely nothing to do with it. What the hell are you doing here?”
