"Nope," Jake said, "it's really me."
"So what gives?" she asked. "Last I heard, you and the rest of the guys were putting together your next album."
Jake was surprised, and a little disconcerted to hear that she knew what was going on in his life. "I was taking care of some business in New Zealand," he told her. "There weren't any direct flights back so I decided to stop here for a day instead of waiting in the airport for three hours for my connection."
"So you're leaving tomorrow?"
"Yep," he confirmed. "I'm on the ten o'clock to LAX."
"Oh, I envy you," she said, smiling whimsically. "This place is nice but I've been here for four weeks now. I long for civilization."
"I'll give LA my regards for you," he promised.
She stared at him for a moment. Finally, she said, "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Aren't you going to invite me to sit down? Buy me a drink? Catch up on old times?"
"I wouldn't want people to think I was abusing you or anything," he said sourly.
She seemed to take this as a joke. "Oh you," she said, slapping playfully at his shoulder. "That's all water under the bridge, isn't it?" She walked over and pulled an empty lounger from a section of them a few yards away. After setting it up next to Jake's, she lay down on it and signaled for the nearest waiter.
"Yes, Ma'am?" he enquired.
"Bring me one of those tropical hurricanes please," she said. "And put it on Mr. Kingsley's tab."
"Yes, Ma'am," he agreed. "And another drink for you, Mr. Kingsley?"
Jake sighed. "Why the hell not?" he said.
"Right away, sir," the waiter said. He disappeared.
"Thanks, Jake," Mindy said. "You always were a good sport."
"Even when other people weren't," he said.
"Exactly," she said, picking up his pack of cigarettes. "Can I have one of these?"
"Help yourself," Jake told her. She took one out and put it in her mouth. Jake did not offer to light it for her. Finally she picked up the lighter and did it herself.
"So where's your girlfriend?" Mindy asked. "You're still dating that pilot girl, aren't you?"
"I am," Jake said. "She couldn't make it on this trip."
"I know how it is," Mindy said. "Scotty's off in Florida shooting a film too. We haven't seen each other in a month or so now."
"That's too bad," Jake said.
She simply shrugged. "The life we choose, huh? Remember how we used to say that when we were together?"
"Yeah, I remember. I still say it on occasion."
"I'm sure you do," she said. "It must be hard dating someone not in the business. I can't even imagine how you could make it work."
"It is trying at times," Jake admitted. "Especially when some psycho fan tries to kill her."
"I know," Mindy said. "That was horrible. It made me sick to my stomach when I heard about it. I mean, I've had a couple of obsessed fans in my time — I have six different restraining orders out against various people — but nothing like that. Did she really have... you know... a blowtorch with her when they arrested her? Or was that something the tabloid people made up?"
"She really did," Jake said. "Handcuffs, a set of knives, a gun, and a blowtorch. Fortunately she'd been kind enough to send a few threatening letters to me before she made her move and I was able to get an alarm and security system installed in Helen's house. It was that security system that saved her life. The motion detectors out front caught her and the cops were able to get there before Helen got home from work."
"God, that's just frightening," Mindy said. "Why is she still living in her own house? You guys have been dating now for what... a year or so?"
"We're coming up on year this month," Jake said.
"That whole thing in Omaha was when it started?" Mindy said with a giggle. "When those assholes broke into her room and stole shit out of her purse. Was that her first exposure to the power of the press?"
"Yeah," Jake said. "She wasn't too happy about that. Neither was her dad."
"Was that the first time you nailed her?" Mindy asked.
"Jesus, Mindy," Jake said, shaking his head. "I see you're as blunt as always."
"It's the only way to be, Jake," she told him. "So give it up. Was that the first time? The student seduces the teacher in a mid-west hotel suite after a dinner of smoked oysters and five hundred dollar wine? I bet you couldn't wait to get your hands on those boobies of hers. From the pictures I've seen in the tabs, she's got a mondo fucking rack."
Jake was still trying to hold on to his old resentment of Mindy — she had, after all, used him for purposes of her own and then cast him aside when she was done — but it was getting harder with each sentence that she said. He had always enjoyed Mindy's bluntness, her zest for life, the unbridled personality she possessed when she wasn't performing an act for someone. "Yeah," he told her. "That was the first time, although it wasn't me seducing her, it was her seducing me."
"Oh really?" Mindy said, rubbing her legs together gently. "Do tell the story."
Jake shrugged. "Not much to tell. She had made a few passes at me before that but I'd brushed her off. I didn't want to get involved with my flight instructor for one thing, and I was really hesitant to get involved with someone... you know... not in this lifestyle. I'd tried that before and it hadn't worked out very well."
"That would be the waitress you dated for a few months," Mindy said. "The one who broke up with you after you fucked that little redheaded girl in Mexico."
Once again Jake was a little disconcerted about how much she knew about his personal life. "What are doing, keeping a journal on me?"
"I've always liked you, Jake," she said. "Our time together is something I treasure greatly, even if it couldn't work out. Does it bother you that I keep tabs on you?"
"I'm not sure," he said truthfully. It did bother him a little, but on the other hand, it was also kind of flattering.
"Anyway," she said excitedly. "Let's hear about the seduction."
"As I said, there's not much to hear. The trip started out innocent enough, at least from my point of view. We were going to Omaha to pick up my new plane but I wasn't allowed to fly without an instructor onboard yet. She was my instructor. I booked us two suites in Omaha, but she didn't stay in hers. She found my weakness and exploited it." He looked into her eyes. "Some of you women are really good at that."
"Yes we are, aren't we?" Mindy said, a secret smile on her lips.
The waiter suddenly appeared, their drinks on his tray. He handed them out and Jake signed the slip, charging them to his hotel room. He added a generous tip. They took a few sips and stared out at the ocean, which was starting to fade with the coming twilight.
"So what was your business in New Zealand?" Mindy asked.
Jake told her of how he had fallen in love with the small, isolated country on their international tour and how he had just put into motion the purchase of twenty acres of hillside property overlooking the harbor. His story carried them through two drinks and three cigarettes. Mindy listened with rapt attention.
By the time he was done it was rapidly approaching full darkness. The beach was emptying of tourists and the waiters were preparing to start cleaning up their stations.
"Yes, I accept," Mindy suddenly said.
"What do you accept?" Jake asked.
"Your invitation to buy me dinner in the hotel restaurant."
"I don't recall asking you that," Jake said.
"I beat you to the punch," she said. "I know you weren't going to just let me go back to my room all alone and eat room service again."
Jake sensed something like danger here. He sensed it, but he'd had enough to drink to disregard the little warning bells that were going off in his brain. Now that she mentioned it, dinner with Mindy seemed a fine idea. They had been having a nice conversation and he was leaving early the next morning. Who knew when they would see each other again? And besides, she was married, wasn't she? She had what appeared to be a four or five karat diamond ring on her finger to prove it. Would it hurt anything to buy her dinner and talk a little more?