Operation Date Escape

mother’s worse matchmaking attempt yet. And there had been a lot of really bad ones to compare it to.
    “Excuse me,” she said, preparing for her escape.
    “Where are you going?”
    “I, uh, need to freshen up.” Or puke. This guy was giving her the creeps. She took the closest route of escape – the stairs.
    “Hurry back, Red,” he called after her.
    “You can count on it,” she said with a forced smile.
    Turning, she raced up the stairs, relieved to find she had the ladies room all to herself. Not that she should be surprised. The only women in the place, other than herself, were those employed by the lounge. And they were all busy downstairs working their tables. Or the stage.
    If anyone she knew had seen her come into this place, she was going to die of embarrassment. It had looked so normal and restaurant-like on the outside. The dilemma now was how to get out of there without being seen. Jack was just sleazy enough to be the kind of guy who would follow her home in hopes of getting ‘lucky’ with a redhead.
    No way was she taking that chance. Maybe she could just stay in the ladies room until the club was ready to close. Then again, her date was just sleazy enough to come into the restroom to find her. Scratch that idea.
    “Come on, Kelsie, think,” she muttered anxiously.
    A gentle breeze drifted in through the open window be side her, spurring an idea. She stepped over to it, smiling when she saw the sprawling oak branches nestled against the backside of the building. This was it. The perfect escape.
    No need to try and slip past her date downstairs. No worry about being seen by any passersby while leaving what had turned out to be a flesh palace. She could just climb down the tree outside and go have that bottle of wine Nanci had promised to save for her.
    She hurried to remove the window screen, setting it against the wall below the sash. Then she slipped off her heels and dropped them out the window, watching as they landed safely on the grass below. Climbing down would be much easier to do barefoot. Not to mention faster.
    She s ecured her purse over her shoulder before climbing up onto the window ledge. Thankfully, she had chosen to wear her good jeans to dinner that night. Descending a tree in a skirt wouldn't have been an easy feat. But considering what awaited her downstairs, she would have made the climb anyway.
    Choosing the sturdier of the two limbs by the window, she backed out onto it , hugging it tight as she began her descent. Legs locked securely around the branch, Kelsie smiled as she scooted backwards. This truly was the perfect date escape.
    Or maybe not. Halfway across the limb, her plan hit a snag.
    Literally.
    * * *
    Not even five minutes after she’d called Nanci from her cell phone to plead for help, her friend was there. Thank goodness she’d been able to reach her. She’d hate to have had to call her mother for help instead.
    “That was fast,” Kelsie told her as she looked down from the branch she was clinging to.
    Nanci stood staring up at her from the base of the tree, arms crossed in a not-so-happy fashion, Kelsie’s discarded heels dangling from her extended fingertips. “Lucky for you I live so close and, more importantly, that I wasn’t on a date.”
    “Believe me, I ’ve already told myself that.”
    “What I can’t believe is that you’re really stuck in a tree. I’m telling you, Kelsie, you’re going to get yourself killed writing that damn book of yours.”
    She was in no position to argue at that moment. Not that Nanci was about to let her get a word in edgewise anyway.
    “Climbing out of a second story window onto a tree,” her best friend continued to rant below her. “What in the hell were you thinking?”
    “I told you why I did this when I called you for help. I know it was a crazy thing to do, but I had no choice,” she replied in her own defense.
    “Now that I see how high up you are in person, I think I would have chosen to be stalked by Gold Boy instead.”
    “Not if you’d spent two seconds with him. Besides, I climbed a lot of trees growing up. This one isn’t any different.”
    “Except for the fact that you’re not climbing up or down it,” Nanci was quick to point out. “You’re stuck!”
    “For your information Operation: Date Escape is going to help a lot of women.”
    “Help them do what? Break their necks?”
    “I’ll admit this escape has some flaws that still need worked out, but I’d really prefer to