Donât you dare insist we leave right now. And be nice.â
âBe nice? Heâs my friend. Iâm always nice.â
Karen sighed, her chest heaving with impatience. âI mean, be nice to all of them. Pleaseâ¦Jan may not admit it, but sheâs saving all her quality flirting for Kyle, so just be decent to Mario so we can try to keep their threesome together. With us.â
âI told you, Iâll be nice.â
âAshley, youâre crazy. Have you ever really looked at your friendâs buns?â
âNo, Karen, I havenât actually stared at his butt, but if you say so, Iâm sure his buns are great.â
Karen shook her head again. âSheâs crazy,â she told Jan.
âNo, I understand her perfectly,â Jan said. âItâs either there or not. I canât really explain what âitâ is, chemistry or whatever, but if it isnât there, it isnât there. So quit feeling guilty and checking with Ashley to make sure sheâs really not romantically interested. She isnât. And weâre wasting time here, discussing this all in a bathroom.â
âRight, letâs get back there,â Karen said. âAnd you, Ashley, start talking to Mario. Talk shop if you have to.â
âIâm in the police academy, not fire rescue.â
âItâs almost the same,â Karen insisted.
Ashley discovered that she was actually able to have a nice conversation with Mario, who was somewhat shy and reserved. He was married and was just out with his single friends for the weekend because his wife was in Connecticut for two weeks visiting her folks. He was relieved to tell her about being a newlywed, since his friends had been afraid he was going to ruin a fun night for them.
Ashley told him about the accident they had witnessed, and he told her stories about calls theyâd taken on I-95, some tragic, some simply bizarre. When the others rejoined them at the table after dancing, she found herself repeating the story, knowing Len might be interested, since it had occurred in their neck of the woods.
âAshley, youâre going to see things like that more and more often,â Len said. âBad things happen on the highways.â
âHey,â Karen said. âWe all decided we were not going to focus on that awful scene.â She stared at Ashley, who hadnât even realized she had a pen out, or that she was sketching the highway scene on a cocktail napkin.
âAshley is an artist,â Karen announced. She kept her eyes glued sternly on Ashley and flipped the napkin over.
âAn excellent artist,â Jan said. âDraw a face, Ashley. Draw Kyle.â
Ashley obediently began a sketch of the firefighter. The others rose and stood behind her, staring over her shoulder as she drew.
âWow!â Kyle said, looking at her with new respect. âThatâs great. Sign it. I want to keep it.â
âWill you do one for me, too, please?â Mario asked.
âHow about Karen and Jan?â Len asked when she was finished, handing her a stack of napkins.
âIâve drawn them dozens of times.â
âBut maybe Kyle and I would like to keep them,â Len said.
Karen covertly jabbed her. âOf course,â Ashley said.
She finished the pictures and passed them out. Kyle shook his head. âSoâ¦Len says youâre going to be a cop, right? I mean, thereâs nothing wrong with being a cop butâ¦these are great.â
âAnd she has a photographic memory. Draw someone from todayâshow them,â Jan insisted.
Karen placed a hand over Ashleyâs. â Not the highway,â she said.
Ashley shrugged. âAll right.â
âYou go ahead, Iâll get the check,â Len said.
âHey, Len, thatâs not necessary.â
âYouâve fed me plenty of times, Ash, at Nickâs place.â
âThat means my uncle fed you,â she