“You’re not from here,” he said matter-of-factly.
I shook my head rather than overwork my vocal cords. But I wondered what gave it away.
“You working at the club?” he asked, bending down close to my ear.
“Until midsummer.” I nodded.
“Oh, so you’re with the camp?”
I jerked my head back, surprised on how perceptive he was.
“My cousin Becky worked there last summer. If you’re here for the season, you’re here till Labor Day; if you’re with the camp, then it’s midsummer.”
I nodded, understanding. I took another sip of my sparkling water and turned in the direction where I last saw Rachel, but she wasn’t there. I spotted her light-blue miniskirt a few feet away. She was now dancing with Peter in the center of the warehouse.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually like to get to know people while yelling into their ear,” Chris said, pulling back up and nodding toward the side of the warehouse.
I looked to see where he was pointing. It was hard to see past a certain point in the dark, overcrowded space, but all I could see was a red exit sign hanging a foot or so off the ceiling.
“Lead the way.” And I meant it. I wasn’t about to go headfirst to wherever that led.
He took my water and placed it next to his on the bar and gave a single nod to the bartender to indicate that we were finished with the drinks. He took my hand and led me through the crowd. He looked back at me every so often, and I kept glancing up at him. Every time he stopped due to traffic, I’d accidently bump into him.
We reached the far end of the warehouse. A gunmetal handrail with a short and narrow stairwell led to a green door. He went up the four steps and pulled me along. I followed as he held the door open for me. Despite the fact that we were standing on a useless, rusty fire escape on the side alley of a warehouse, it was refreshing to be outside and away from the crowd.
I couldn’t help but wonder why a simple door wasn’t sufficient to lead from one side to the other, since now I had to walk down the same number of steps I’d climbed on the other side of this wall. I eyed my surroundings. We stood on the right side of the building entrance. I could see my car parked in the small lot, along with those of other partygoers.
“Much better,” he said, finally stepping down to meet me. “Can you believe some people do this weekly?”
“I can. People in Denver would do this daily if it was open.”
“Denver?” He raised an intrigued eyebrow, and I felt the questions brooding behind it.
“Yeah.” I looked up at him with a tentative smile. “I just wanted to try something new this summer.” I shrugged, hoping it wouldn’t lead to questions.
“Do you usually travel great distances for summer work?”
“Well, sure. Don’t you?” I joked. I hadn’t been able to explain to myself why I’d driven cross-country for a job that paid just as much as one in my town.
Chris nodded understandingly at me. “Well, not now. But I imagine I will be doing a lot of traveling once I graduate from Piermont Law School.”
This guy had been in law school already? I must have underestimated his age. I could have sworn he wasn’t a day over twenty.
“Oh, wow—law school. When do you graduate?” Hoping it would give me more insight to his age without directly asking.
“I’m only going into my junior year at UConn. But with the extra credits I plan on taking through summer and winter breaks, I should graduate a year early.”
“And you already know you want to be a lawyer?”
“I know I want to go to law school,” he corrected. “There’s a lot I plan to do with it.” He went on describing the political dreams he had for himself—none of which had to do with promoting the general welfare of his citizens.
I wasn’t surprised at the level of maturity in Chris. His whole appearance spoke volumes on what type of person he was. And from what I understood, Chris believed in the faithful. “You get a good education to get a good job, to be anything you set your mind to.” I couldn’t help but smile in amazement as this guy talked about the success in life that came as long as you had a plan. It was impressive. And at the same time, as you could imagine, it scared the hell out of me.
We talked for a few more minutes until a couple came stumbling out the side exit. Chris and I turned simultaneously at the commotion.
It was the couple I’d met earlier. John and Misha came down the fire escape. Misha seemed woozy and wide-eyed.
“Hey guys,” she shouted in a Russian accent, which I hadn’t noticed earlier. “You having a good time?” She smiled widely.
