I wondered what kind of business he was actually involved in. He looked and acted like someone who didn’t need to worry about money, and that made me both curious and skeptical.
“Still, it must be nice to have a law professor in the family when you’re dealing with companies and business and stuff, right?”
Chris seemed to consider this.
“I have actually been able to use Mom’s help a lot recently. But not business-wise. She doesn’t interfere with that.”
“So what happened?”
For the first time he stopped talking and looked down at the table.
“It’s none of our business,” Amina said primly.
“It’s okay,” said Chris. “I was subjected to … a lot of shit. But it’s a long story.”
“This place doesn’t close until three,” I said.
He looked at me. His smile was different now, his lips brushed with softness.
“I had a stalker,” he said.
“A stalker?”
“Seriously?”
Amina raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah, a real sicko,” said Chris.
55
Chris didn’t like to dance, so when Amina and I returned to the neon sea of the dance floor, he remained at the table with his champagne and his smile.
“Be honest, Amina,” I shouted on the dance floor. “Are you horny for him?”
“Quit it! What do you think?”
We held each other’s hands and spun around. The bass vibrated pleasantly through my body.
“He’s not ugly,” I said.
“I’ve seen worse.”
I laughed and twerked.
I’m not quite sure about what happened after that. I don’t usually drink much. In time I’ve come to realize that I don’t need alcohol, I get my kicks in other ways. Drinking mostly just makes me all hyped and annoying, and sick as a dog the next day.
Anyway, some guy dragged me off. We danced closer and closer, and soon his mouth was against my neck, his bulge against my ass. We’d met before, sometime last spring. The sex had been fine, but I didn’t remember his name, what he did, what we had talked about.
“I have to find my friend,” I said after a while.
“What the hell?”
He looked like I had just given him a fatal diagnosis.
I crowded my way across the dance floor, hunting for Amina. It was almost two thirty. Was she sitting with that Chris guy again, waiting for a slow dance? I staggered between tables, walked past the bar, but couldn’t find her anywhere. When I took out my phone to text her, I saw I already had a message.
Sorry!!! I went home puked in the bathroom couldnt find you I wrote back that it was cool, I understood, I was also heading home. I received a green puking emoji in return.
After downing a large glass of water at the bar, I wobbled my way to the sidewalk. The night was filled with birdsong, it smelled like liquor, sweaty perfume, and pollen. The sky was studded with stars.
“Taxi?” asked a male voice behind me.
I ignored him. I never take gypsy cabs.
“We can share one,” he said, and I turned around.
It was Chris.
“Only if you want to, I mean. It’ll be cheaper.”
He smiled in that intimate, humble way again. The glow of a streetlight was reflected in his pale eyes.
“I don’t know where you’re going,” I said, realizing I was having trouble standing upright.
Did I really want to take a cab with him?
“Pilegatan,” he said. “Right by Polhem.”
Well, we were going in the same direction.
Chris walked over to the nearest taxi and waved at me to follow. How dangerous could it be? We would only have to ride, like, five minutes together.
We slid into the backseat through opposite doors and I pressed my knees together.
The car took off with a jolt and my stomach turned. My mouth was dry as dust and I tried to ignore my dizziness.
“Are you okay?” Chris asked.
I tried to look at him, but everything was spinny and flickery.
“Do you feel okay?” he asked again, putting a hand on my arm.
“Like a princess,” I said, hiding a burp with my hand. “It must be the Chinese food I ate. Fucking duck.”
“Oh, bad duck. Been there, done that. Not my favorite memory.”
I gazed out the window. Fumbled with my phone and texted Amina.
Taking a taxi with Grandpa Chris!
She didn’t respond. What if she was mad?
No hard feelings, right? I wrote.
This time the answer appeared quickly.
Ha ha you can have grandpa to yourself no worries Happy smiley face with sunglasses.