No Fear!

Jeremy had been banging on his door for several minutes. “I know you’re in there, Paul, let me in.” He stepped back from the door after hearing footsteps inside. It eventually opened, and Paul stood silently staring at Jeremy. “Good God, Man. What in the hell happened to you?”

“What do you want? I’m not in the mood, Jeremy.”

Jeremy pushed past him, and went for the bar. “Did you hear that you’re invited to a party in the penthouse tonight? And she’s got a boat waiting to take us to the fireworks. Nice to be friends with powerful people, isn’t it, Paul? I’m putting two shots in it, meaning your limit is expired after this. We’ll have a drink, and go find Emma. Now tell me what has you looking so beaten? It’s time to celebrate, Man! We did it, you’re done with your part, and in spite of this Sin Miedo thing, we have the city on alert, and her hotel is ground zero for it all. I know it isn’t exactly what we had in mind, but I for one feel pretty good about it. Trust me, Paul. This is going to affect her in a negative way over the long run. That makes you and me happy, yes? Forget what we talked about yesterday. We’re done, and now we play a little before we disappear.”

“Why do you want to see Emma?”

“Relax, Paul. Get that worried look off your face. I’m only carrying out instructions from the illustrious Gloria. She wants us to pick up this special desert thing that she ordered, something that is evidently the best in the world. I can’t remember its name, it was in Spanish, but she told me where to get it. We need to find the place called Panama in the Centro district. She told me that Emma knows where it is. Don’t worry. We pick up this thing, and go to a shrimp feed. Pretty good life if you ask me.”

“I was cornered by a couple of psychiatrists after my session today. I didn’t do a very good job of convincing them of anything. They saw right through me, Jeremy. It was total humiliation. What are you smirking about?”

Jeremy seemed sympathetic. “It’s over, listen to me. We won’t see any of these people ever again. Relax, done. Fini. Go change into your attire for tonight, and we’ll be off. I think I’ll make myself another drink while you make that handsome face of yours pretty. Go on, we don’t have much time.”

Paul came out of the bedroom, looking sharp in his casual wear, “What do you think of these?” He raised his legs to show off his sandals. “I bought these out front from a vender yesterday. Real leather, and look at the nice stitching.”

“That’s the happy guy I was looking for. Shall we see if she’s in her office?” Jeremy held the door for him.

The doctors chatted about how good the shrimp would be and how nice it felt that the work was behind them. “Jeremy,” Paul’s mood was radically better, it could be heard clearly in his tone. “Why haven’t you shown me this companionate side before? This entire week would have been more pleasant if you hadn’t been such a nasty SOB.”