Ambient 06 - Going, Going, Gone

seem like the time to force an answer, so I fell back on sociability. »These are friends of mine. Jim, Trish, meet Eulie.« They nodded, but neither one was looking at the smaller of the pair. »Ah, yes, and this is her friend –«
    »Chlojo,« she said, giving her high-pitched growl.
    »A pleasure,« Trish said, examining their threads, sizing and resizing. »I’ve heard tell«
    »About?« Eulie asked.
    »You know.« My evil one grinned to beat the band, sloughing off the nasty looks I shot her way. »Did you give Walter a two-for-one deal?«
    The noise I heard myself making bore no relation to a laugh. »We require him,« Eulie said. »Agreeable?«
    »Of course. I can’t keep my paws off him, myself,« Trish said, getting up, sliding the straps of her Hermes bag over her arm. »Jim, tell you what. We don’t want to be fourth wheels here. Walter can certainly handle himself, not that it’ll be necessary. You got time to grab a bite?«
    »Sure,« Jim said, eager as a puppy.
    »I adore the Ring,« she said. »Who’s conducting?«
    »If you insist,« I said. »So Burp’ll be expecting me?«
    »Burt,« Trish said. »Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.«
    »Likewise,« I said, shaking hands with Jim, giving Trish double pecks. Although I’d have liked them to take Chlo along, I didn’t think Eulie would have been in favour of it. The second my pals were out of earshot I tried to take Eulie’s hand, but she worked out of my clutch. No matter; I was used to her playing impossible-to-get.
    »Where’d you run off to, last time?« I asked. »Why didn’t you come back before now?«
    »Departure essentials, Walter,« Eulie said, taking my arm and starting to lead me out of the café. Chlo was giving the remaining matinee ladies a stare that I’d have found awfully disconcerting, but they were a hardy bunch and stared right back. »Please.«
    »Wait a second. Whose departure where?«
    »Officeways,« she said. »Our office. It essentials.«
    »For how long?« Eulie smiled, but didn’t tell. »I’ve got something to do tonight. I can take off once I’m finished.«
    »Finished when?«
    »I got to go to the Astor Hotel. Meet up with some people and drop something off for ’em. Get there at seven, I’ll wrap it up by eight. Boom, bang, cat, bag, bag, river. Then I’m free and clear.«
    »AO,« she said. »We’ll accompany.«
    Wherever the gals planned to take me, it wouldn’t be as good as Hawaii; but I would get there sooner. All the same, I wasn’t going to pass up ten thousand big ones; that’d be the best deal I ever swung. Briefly, I considered the millions of ways things could go wrong that evening, if I decided to swing this gig drag rather than stag. Considered that this meeting of the Personality Dynamos, unlike the one I’d glimpsed before, would be going on in a public venue and not back at their den of iniquity – what could possibly happen? Considered that if I let Eulie take off without me now I might never see her again; that made up my mind for me. »All right, but it could be tricky. These people I’ll see tonight are –« I stopped to consider the best way to phrase it. »Funny.«
    Chlo didn’t smile. »Comedy funny?«
    »Psycho funny. You can come with me, but don’t do anything that’ll attract attention.« Chlo cracked her knuckles, and the sound was like a floor caving in. When shifted from boot to boot her suit changed from rubber to snakeskin to rubber again. »You didn’t happen to bring any evening wear, did you?«
    »What evening?«
    »Okay,« I said, »follow me.«
     
    We weren’t the high point of the day for the ladies at the Big Gals Shop on West 72 nd » ›No Miss too hard to fit,‹ « I said, pointing out the slogan they had plastered all over the window. »Where’s truth in advertising?«
    »Sir, I’m terribly sorry,« the assistant manager said, avoiding Chlo’s glare. I got the idea she was having flashbacks of a real bulldozer of a gym teacher. »I don’t see how we can possibly –«
    Then the owner came back from lunch. »Can’t possibly what?« she asked, stepping back onto the floor of the shop, wiping her lips with a napkin. She had on harlequin glasses and red ensemble coordinated down to her toenails. »What’s the problem?« Chlo stepped into her field of vision. »What’ve we got here?«
    The sales girl tried to explain, but didn’t get far. »They’re looking for an outfit for the, uh –« She gestured toward Chlo but still didn’t look at