Chapter 18

May 7, 2000 - 22:00

Half an hour later after she arrived, while on the dancefloor, Coralis' pager went off. She cursed and headed across the room to where the payphone was. Victoria knew that it had to be about work, but didn't say anything. Frank was watching her from their table. Seeing her facial expression as he saw her going toward the payphone, he became worried. He waited a minute and decided to go check on her, which didn't go unnoticed by Mark.

He caught the end of her conversation, where she told the person on the other end of the line that she'd be on her way, and saw her hanging up the phone with force, nearly breaking the receptacle.

"Is everything ok?" he asked, while leaning against the wall on which the payphone was.

Coralis was surprised to see him there: she didn't sense him coming. She wondered how much he heard of her conversation, and how could she have been so absorbed in it that she let her guards low enough that she didn't hear a human approaching.

"Do you really have to leave now?" he continued, when he saw her looking at him without responding.

She was relieved to see that it was all he caught of the entire conversation. She knew that she wouldn't voice out sensitive information when surrounded by humans, but accidents happen. When overwhelmed with things that were seemingly out of her control, she could have let something slip by accident.

"Yes, I'll have to."

Frank was glad that he caught the end of her conversation, so he knew that she wasn't just trying to avoid him and was truthful about the little he knew about her work. She clearly wasn't happy about having to leave at this moment.

Coralis saw the worries painted on his face and wanted to reassure him. She took the drink in his hand and chugged it.

"Don't worry, this isn't about you," she said, grabbing his shirt with one hand while passing her other hand behind his neck.

She brought her lips to his and kissed him. He put his hands on her hips to get her closer to him while responding to the kiss, his tongue searching for hers and exploring.

She stepped back after a minute and headed to the bar, where Victoria was, told her the situation, gave $200 to the bartender to cover their drinks, then left. Victoria had been watching the scene between Coralis and Frank from the corner of her eyes.

While Coralis walked to the bar to talk to Victoria, Frank went to their table, processing what had just happened. He didn't want to forget it. His friends had watched the entire scene.

"I knew it," said Maribel, smirking while looking at him.

"You and Coralis?" said Carlos.

Frank just shrugged while watching Coralis as she left the bar. Victoria got back to their table with drinks.

"Please be honest Vic," said Mark as he picked up his beer, "did you know about Frank and your friend Coralis?"

"I truly don't know more than you do Mark," said Victoria. "Frank, I saw what I saw… clearly, there is something there that we all missed… you and Coralis?"

"I don't know actually, I like her, yes, but I wouldn't say there is anything between us at this point, I guess we'll see," said Frank.

"Bruh, come on!" said Carlos. "The way she kissed you and clearly, you didn't object to it, there's got to be something you ain't telling us. That was quite a lingering kiss."

"You saw that?" asked Frank, looking at Carlos and Mark. "We kissed the last time we actually saw each other and still didn't really talk for nearly a month, so I don't know."

"Wait, you're talking about the time she came up to my dorm 5 hours after I told her that I was back?" asked Victoria.

"Yeah, uh, that time."

"Look," said Victoria, looking at Maribel, then back at Frank, "we know our friend very well, since we were 10. Coralis does not lead people on. I don't even care who kissed who first. If she kissed you back, twice, means she likes you."

"Unless I missed something in recent years… it's not something that just happens," said Maribel.

"You did miss a lot, but not on that. I mean, there was Veronica, but you know that doesn't count," said Victoria.

"Who is Veronica?" asked Frank, frowning. She never mentioned a Veronica when talking about her previous relationships.

"Trust me, she is no threat to you," said Victoria. Maribel was grinning next to her.

"Shit, now I want to meet Veronica," said Mark.

"You think you do, but you really don't," said Victoria. "Frank, I honestly think that you and Coralis are good news, but please, do not get offended if she isn't responding right away or if you don't hear from her for a few days. With Coralis, it's really not about whether she loves her work more than you. I saw what I saw. She likes you, clearly, or she would never have let you get that close to her, twice."

"So that's basically the catch? Girl actually likes him, but is unavailable. The elusive girlfriend," said Carlos.

"Literally," said Maribel. "Well… almost literally."