"I love Catch-22! Milo Minderbinder and his little cartel. The movie wasn't so great thought."
"I thought it was okay for what it was," Jim said, and back and forth they went over plates of lasagna. When the bill arrived, Jim reached for it.
"No, I can't let you pay for mine," Chloe said, but Jim countered.
"I won't be," he said as he pulled a credit card from his wallet, "The Miss Great Shape contest will pay for us both."
Chloe took great delight in the sexist competition paying for her meal. "That's fair enough," she said.
After dinner Chloe led Jim across the waterfront bridge to the stage theater. She unlocked the door to the wardrobe storage and told Jim to take whatever outfit he wanted. He went with the t-shirt, sweater, and blue jeans. "Retro, huh?" he said.
"You're wearing a greaser costume mixed with a yuppie getup," she said.
"And yet, it works."
With the Nehru jacket and tracking device left behind, they left the theater and walked along the waterfront. "I'm glad we met," Chloe said, breaking the silence.
"So am I. Just think, if I hadn't come to judge that stupid contest, we'd never have bumped in to one another."
"How much longer are you in town?" Chloe asked.
Jim paused; he really didn't know. Sure, he had 30 more days of his trial ahead of him, but where did this existance take him after the contest? "Another two days," he said, making it up. "How about you?"
"I'm just staying at the hotel overnight to try it out."
"Try it out?"
"I live out in the suburbs. The theater's flying in an acting troup to perform and it's my job to book their rooms. I had to be sure the hotel meets their requirements."
Their walk eventually led them back to the hotel. As they entered the lobby a slew of media were on hand, snapping pictures of the Miss Great Shape women. "They won't leave me alone," he whispered to Chloe, "They just throw themselves at me. I can't stand it any longer. One of them actually broke into my room earlier and tried to seduce me."
Chloe sighed, figuring it all out. "I knew you were too good to be true," she said, "Don't tell me all those women wore you out."
"Of course not," he said, then added, "I mean, I want nothing to do with any of them. They're so trashy. Not my type at all."
At that moment, one of the women saw Jim. "There he is, girls!" she shouted, and a grand chase began to stir up.
"Oh, not again!" Jim said, "I can't keep this up!"
Chloe saw the look of dejection and panic in Jim's eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Jim. I was wrong about you. Now come on, let's go!"
She took Jim's hand and led him to the stairwell. Running together, hand in hand, they raced up the eight flights of stairs, down the hallway, and into Chloe's room before the crowd of women caught up with them. "You'll be safe here," Chloe said.
"Until I go up to my room. I bet they think that's where I've gone. They're probably waiting to ambush me."
"Well then maybe you shouldn't go back to your room tonight," Chloe said.
"Huh?"
"Nobody would look for you here," she said, "So why don't you stay?"
"I'd... I'd love to," Jim said.
Chloe said...
Wed Feb 11 20:30:55 2004