Time and Again

beat. He noted the costumes they chose and saw that there was no standard. Snug pants and baggy ones, long skirts and brief ones, vivid colors and unrelieved black. Women wore shoes flat to the floor or, like Sunny, shoes with slender spikes at the back.
    He imagined this meant those particular women wanted to be taller. But it had the side effect of making it very pleasant to look at their legs.
    He appreciated the style of nonconformity, the healthy expression of individual tastes. He knew there had been a space of time between this and his own when society in general had accepted a uniform. A brief period, Jacob mused, but it must have been a miserably dull one.
    As he stood and observed, waitresses in short skirts bustled on both levels, balancing trays and scribbling the orders shouted at them.
    Inefficient, he thought, but interesting. It was simpler to press a button on an order box and receive your requirements from a speedy droid. But it was a bit friendlier this way.
    With her hand in his, Sunny led him up a short flight of curving stairs and began to scout around for an empty table. "I forgot it was Saturday night," she shouted at him. "It's always a madhouse on Saturdays."
    "Why?"
    "Date night, pal," she said, and laughed. "Don't worry, we'll squeeze in somewhere." But she abandoned her search to smile at him. "What do you think?"
    He lifted a hand to toy with the trio of balls that hung from slender chains at her ears. "I like it."
    "The Marauders are good. The band." She gestured as the sax player went into a screaming solo.
    "They're very hot out here."
    "In here," he corrected. "It's hot in here."
    "No, I mean- Never mind." Someone bumped her from behind. Taking it in stride, she wound her arms around Jacob's neck. "I guess this is our first date."
    He ignored the crowd and kissed her. "How's it going so far?"
    "Just dandy."
    Taking that to mean "good," he kissed her again. Her satisfied sigh set off a chain reaction inside him.
    "We could always just stand here," he said, directly in her ear. "I don't think anyone would notice."
    "You were right," she said on another sigh. "It is hot in here. Maybe we should just-"
    "Sunny!" Someone caught her by the waist, spun her around and, ending on a dip, pressed a hard, wet kiss to her mouth. "Baby, you're back."
    "Marco."
    "What's left of me. I've been pining away for weeks." He slung a friendly arm around her shoulders.
    "Where'd you disappear to?"
    "The mountains." She smiled, pleased to see him. He was skinny, unpretentious and harmless. Despite the dramatic kiss, they had decided years before not to complicate their friendship with romance. "How's the real world?"
    "Dog-eat-dog, love. Thank God." He glanced over her shoulder and found himself being burned alive by a pair of direct green eyes. "Ah- who's your friend?"
    "J.T." She laid a hand on Jacob's arm. "This is Marco, an old poker buddy. You don't want to play with J.T., Marco. He's murder."
    Marco didn't have to be told twice. "How ya doing?" He didn't offer his hand, because he wanted to keep it.
    "All right." Jacob measured him. He figured if the man kissed Sunny again it would be simple enough to break his skinny neck.
    "J.T. happens to be the brother of my sister's husband."
    "Small world."
    Jacob didn't bat an eye. "Smaller than you think."
    "Right." If Marco had been wearing a tie he would have loosened it. But with his collar already open he didn't have a clue how to ease the constriction in his throat. "Listen, do you guys need a table?"
    "Absolutely."
    "We pulled some together back there, if you want to climb in."
    "Okay." She looked up at Jacob. "Okay?"
    "Sure." He was already annoyed with himself. The jealousy had been an emotional rather than an intellectual reaction. He watched Sunny's long legs as she walked between the tables. And an entirely justified reaction. Maybe men had progressed, but they had always been, would always be, territorial.
    Half a dozen people greeted Sunny by name as they stopped at the table. Because most of the introductions were lost in the roar of the music, Jacob only nodded as he took his seat.
    "This round's on me," Marco announced when he finally managed to flag down a waitress. "Same thing,"
    he told her. "Plus a glass of chardonnay for the lady and-" He lifted a brow at Jacob.
    "A beer. Thanks."
    "No problem. I sold three cars today."
    "Good for you." Sunny leaned over a bit, easily pitching her voice above the noise as she elaborated for Jacob's benefit.