Listen And Repeat
"Bonita."
"Bonita," Clarence repeats dutifully.
Scotty adjusts his sunglasses, smiles up into the sun filtering through the bougainvillea. "Mamacita.
"Mamacita." Clarence repeats after him.
"'Course, you don't wanna say that to a nice girl."
"Uh, yessir."
"I oughta charge for this."
Clarence, the young agent who came to deliver the documents and stayed to learn how to pick up girls, looks uncomfortable. "Sorry, sir, I uh…"
"Less of the sir, kid," Kelly claps Clarence on the shoulder reassuringly. "He's just trying to make you feel uncomfortable."
Scotty tips his sunglasses forward, gives his partner a Look over the tops, and returns them to their original position. "The wonderfulness of language learning should not be reserved for such base pursuits as romancing the opposite sex."
"Oh, excuse me, Mother Superior." Kelly gives him a Look right back. "For what should the wonderfulness of language learning then more properly be reserved?"
"Research," Scotty begins, waving an airy hand. "Study. History, politics…" Sipping his iced lemonade, he looks superior. "You do not see me using my language skills to pick up girls."
"Oh, there you are, darling!"
Clarence looks up, then rubs his eyes as a bikini-clad Spanish beauty emerges from the pool like Venus from the waters. He can't seem to take his eyes off her hourglass form, the polka-dot swimsuit setting off her assets, trickles of water running and sparkling over her curves… Embarrassed, he clears his throat as Scott rises and bestows a parting smile upon his table-mates. "Au revoir, peons." Linking his arm with the girl, he walks off, the rear view infinitely more fascinating than the front. Clarence snaps his mouth shut before he can be caught salivating in front of a senior agent.
But Robinson, a man of the world, just grins. "Go for yourself, my man," he murmurs at his partner's retreating back. He leans back in his chair, taking a sip of his pina colada.
"Uhhh…" Clarence breaks off, embarrassed.
"Yes? Don't be shy." Kelly appears amused.
He's never found a white man mentor-ish, but damned if Robinson doesn't have that elder-brother thing going on. Clarence kinda feels like he can trust him – at least, trust him not to mock him. "Well… I thought he said…" Kelly waits patiently. "I thought he said he didn't use his language skills to pick up girls?"
"True, true." Kelly picks up Scotty's discarded newspaper. "That, my dear young feller-me-lad, is because he only picks up girls who speak English."
Kelly unfurls his newspaper and begins to read. A moment later, a pair of hazel eyes appears over the top of the page, looking sideways. "Changing room's thataway."
And Kelly Robinson disappears behind his newspaper again.