Chapter 6. stranger
The man remained frozen in place, staring at me through the mirror's reflection. I pulled some paper towels to dry my hands.
"What are you looking for in someone like me?" He raised his eyebrows, somewhat disturbed by my question. "Well, if you want to look, you have to pay," I joked.
"Are you a prostitute?" he blurted out just as I was heading for the exit. I turned around and laughed.
"What did you say? A prostitute? I was joking with you." I looked at him in silence for a brief moment. "Americans," I murmured, pulling the door handle to leave. I couldn't help but laugh to myself; it seemed like the man had never seen a woman before, especially not legs like mine. I shook my head with a smile. "That must be it..." I reached the table in front of the stage where the salsa band was playing. They were announcing a break. Leah had a look on her face. "What did I miss?" I took a sip from my beer mug to cool off.
"I ran into my boss." I wiped my lips and widened my eyes.
"Seriously?" She nodded.
"I said, 'It's strange to see you here,' and he replied, 'Can't a man have a beer with his brother?'" She mimicked his voice.
"And I suppose you didn't stay quiet like you usually do."
"So I answered, 'I just said it's strange to see you here. Have another beer to relax.'"
"Oh God, and then?" Leah blushed, which was rare for her, but I noticed she was looking past me. When I started to turn around, she grabbed my wrists.
"He's at the bar. Don't look." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "He said he was relaxed until he saw me." I chuckled.
"He probably said that because he hired you this afternoon, so it might be awkward to see his employee in the same place." She let go of my wrists and straightened up, no longer hiding behind me.
"Yeah, that must be it. Why did you take so long?"
"The ladies' room was full, so I had to use the men's room, and I ran into a guy who seemed like he'd never seen legs before." Leah burst out laughing. "Don't make fun..."
"Sorry, but yes, you have nice legs. But let me tell you, mine are better..." We started laughing together. The music resumed, and we began dancing. After a few more beers, we called for a ride home.
"Take your coat, it's cold." It wasn't anything like London's cold, but I still didn't want my sister to get sick.
We waited outside the bar for about five minutes when a man approached us.
"Want a ride?" His breath reeked of alcohol.
"No, thank you," Leah responded politely.
"Come on, we can have a threesome." I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth. I imagined Leah ready to pounce, but she didn't.
"Stop bothering the ladies, or my fist will end up in your face." The voice of a man answered. I opened my eyes while holding Leah's arm tightly.
"My shoe in your…" Leah started to say but was interrupted by the same man.
"Get out of here or I'll call the police." The drunk man walked away muttering something we couldn't hear. The man moved next to Leah. "Are you okay?" Leah nodded.
"Thank you, boss." Ah, so that handsome blonde was her boss.
"Don't call me that, we're not at work. Just Jaco outside the office." He looked in my direction. "Are you sisters?" Leah nodded.
"She is Lilly, my sister." We extended our hands at the same time in introduction.
"You look like twins." Leah frowned.
"I'm a year older," I announced in my defense playfully. "But I look older," Leah immediately replied. Jacob smiled.
"Well, it doesn't show." The three of us smiled. "Anyway," he cleared his throat. "Do you want me to take you home?" Leah quickly shook her head.
"Don't worry, our ride will be here in less than five minutes."
"Alright, then I'll wait with you."
"Why?" my sister asked somewhat suspiciously. Jacob noticed.
"So no other man comes to bother you." Leah was about to retort that we knew how to defend ourselves, but I gave her a squeeze to stop her.
"Thank you, that's very kind." After an awkward silence, Leah spoke. "Weren't you with your brother?" He tensed, looking at the traffic in front of us.
"He already left." Then he looked in our direction. "He's very strict with his schedule. You know, no late nights to be well the next day."
"But tomorrow is Saturday, does he work then too?" my sister asked, too curious.
"Until noon."
"Oh," she whispered. I looked at the app and saw the car was just a few meters away.
"Our car has arrived," I announced, cutting the second awkward silence. We said goodbye to him. He opened the door for us to get in, and I noticed he didn't leave until the car merged into traffic. "Your boss is a gentleman."
"Yes, it seems so." I nudged her, and she twisted her lip. "Relax, we've only been in the city a couple of days, I already have a job, and believe me, I'm not interested in getting involved with anyone, much less him." I frowned, intrigued.
"You have information, spill it," she smiled. "Is he married?" She shook her head. "Widowed?" She shook her head again. "Then he's gay." She shook her head too.
"You missed womanizer," she said, smiling. I raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I'm not one to judge, but he has presence, he's very attractive."
"Excessively," Leah confessed.
"Wow, Leah saying 'excessively,'" I teased her.
"Just because I don't want to get involved with someone doesn't mean I can't look."
I giggled.
"Sorry, it just reminded me of the man in the bathroom. He got scared when I told him if he wanted to look, he had to pay. You should have seen his face, he asked if I was a prostitute." Leah burst into laughter.
"Did you tell him you charge a lot?" I elbowed her between laughs. "That hurt…" she rubbed where I hit her.
"No, but he looked so puzzled. Like he'd never seen a woman up close." I glanced out the window, looking at the streetlights, and a smile appeared on my lips as I remembered his face.