Party Crashers

of tables where stewards poured an inch of wine from any of a dozen bottles before them.
    Despite the encouraging glances from Carlotta, a sweat broke out along Jolie's hairline. What if someone had seen them? She looked around, fully expecting a security guard to bound over and oust them.
    "It's just a little wine," Carlotta whispered. "They'll never miss it."
    Jolie nodded and tried to smile, but her palms were slick against her glass as she watched Carlotta hand the steward the smuggled stemware. The young man seemed a little too dazzled by Carlotta's curves to pay much attention to the glass. Carlotta gestured to a bottle of chardonnay, and he nodded happily, pouring the requisite inch, then adding an extra splash. Carlotta twisted and smiled prettily, then winked at Jolie when she turned to walk away.
    "What can I get for you, ma'am?" the young man asked.
    Jolie jumped. "Oh...the merlot would be fine."
    He smiled and gestured. "I need your glass,"
    She flushed. "Of course." She handed it over, her chest tight.
    He held up the glass and frowned, sending her heart pounding. "You have a smudge," he said finally, then polished the glass with a cloth.
    She exhaled in relief and silently willed him to hurry as he poured the berry-colored wine into her glass. "There you are," he said, nodding.
    She thanked him, then joined Carlotta, who was walking back toward the crowd.
    "See, that didn't hurt, did it?"
    Jolie sipped the ill-gotten wine. "It wasn't exactly honest, but I suppose the tickets to get in were expensive."
    "I suppose," Carlotta said with a secret little smile.
    "Did your friends the Holcombs give them to you?"
    Carlotta shook her head, her lips wet with wine. "Jolie, I don't know anyone named Holcomb. My brother printed those tickets for me on a laser printer."
    Jolie blinked and almost choked on her wine. "You mean, we're party crashers?"
    Carlotta laughed. "You should see the look on your face. It's not a crime, you know."
    "But it's dishonest."
    "It doesn't hurt anyone," Carlotta said, then swept her arm toward the crowd. "Do you think anyone in this herd cares?"
    Indeed, no one seemed to be paying them any mind.
    "Then why do it?" Jolie asked.
    Carlotta shrugged her lovely shoulders and pursed her mouth. "Because it's exciting to see what you can get away with."
    "You do this a lot?"
    "Hannah and I hit a couple of gigs a week. She knows every catered event in town."
    "But how do you know about the tickets?"
    "Every place in town uses the same printer. This museum uses the same ticket format on either white or blue paper."
    "That's why you had two sets of tickets."
    Carlotta answered with an exaggerated nod.
    "Do the Holcombs even exist?"
    "Somewhere," Carlotta said. "I always use an old Atlanta last name. That way even if someone suspects me, they're usually too intimidated to ask questions." She grinned, revealing her gapped teeth. "Come on, let's mingle."
    Jolie fell into stride beside her. "What if someone asks who I am?"
    "Well, I never give out my real name, but that's up to you. Tonight, I'm Carly Holcomb."
    "Do you always wear a wig?"
    "No. Sometimes I wear glasses or do other things to change my appearance if I feel like it. It's fun to pretend to be someone else for a few hours." She nodded to a food-laden table. "And tonight I feel like being someone who eats Beluga."
    "Have you ever gotten caught?"
    Carlotta shook her head. "It's all about the attitude. The trick to party crashing is to act as if you belong. Oh, there have been times when people suspected I'd crashed, but who's going to bounce someone who's entertaining the guests? I talk to people, work the room. When I go to someone's home, I fawn over pets, and I always take a hostess gift." She grinned again and lifted her glass to herself. "I'm so gracious, who wouldn't want me to crash their party?"
    Jolie was in awe of the woman's chutzpah. Carlotta made her feel as if she'd been living her life in a very small way. While she was squirreled away in her apartment eating frozen waffles, Carlotta was cruising upscale soirees eating caviar.
    They filled tiny saucers with bite-sized delicacies, and Jolie's stomach rejoiced. Carlotta had impeccable manners, she noticed, eating precisely and blotting with her napkin between bites. The woman knew how to behave in polite society.
    "Do your parents still live around here?" Jolie asked.
    Carlotta's expression changed. "No, just me and my brother. Will you be okay if I split to find Hannah and say