"You're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid," Harley immediately tore into White.
"Yes, ma'am," was the only response he could think of.
"Well, which is it? Brave or stupid?"
"…I'm feelin' pretty stupid right 'bout now, ma'am," he admitted, but failed to add 'scared shitless'. Deciding he was as good as dead at that point anyway, trying to explain his indiscretion couldn't possibly make him any deader and just might save him. "I wasn't checkin' you out last night."
Harley smiled softly and struck a seductive pose. "Why not? Dontcha like what ya see?"
White's mind panicked as he thought, How the hell do I answer that?
Harley relaxed her position and laughed at the look on his face. "I'm just messin' with ya. I know you weren't lookin' me over. That wasn't the kind of look you give someone you're interested in. …Do I look that bad?" she asked genuinely.
"Um…I've seen worse," he rambled quickly. "My sister hooked up with this world class asshole. Roughed her up a lot. She didn't wear it as nice as you though." White was relieved that she didn't seem angry, but wasn't at all comfortable with the conversation. He didn't want to get personal.
Harley fell silent and seemed to stare out into space, lost in thought. She hadn't given him the freedom to leave, but she wasn't doing anything either. White broke the silence by trying to ask what was foremost on his mind. "So, uh, the boss…I mean…he doesn't…"
Harley woke up from her daydream at his stammering. "Oh no. You're fine. When you looked at me like that…it just upset me. I didn't mean to get you in any trouble. I covered for ya."
White exhaled deeply as though he hadn't taken a breath since the incident and Harley laughed. "You poor thing! Get out of here and go relax."
"Yes, ma'am!" he said happily as he headed off. "Thank you, ma'am!"
He met Henshaw at their regular dive down near the docks. White couldn't help but look smug at his friend's shocked expression.
"I don't know what happened between you two," Henshaw stated, "But I sure as hell didn't think I'd see you again after how worked up you were earlier."
"Worked up? Nah, everything's cool. I wasn't worried," White responded confidently.
"You're so full of shit," Henshaw laughed and then bought his friend a drink.
White knew he had gotten lucky this time, but he'd also learned a few things. Harley wasn't the complete mystery that she had been a mere day ago and she wasn't at all like the boss. The boss never demonstrated things like pity, mercy, or…well…anything decent folks should. Not that I could really consider myself a decent person, White reflected. But there were degrees to these things and, whereas the boss stayed firmly off the charts, Harley seemed to be hanging on to some extent. White wasn't sure if that meant good or bad things for him, but he did know it was time to pull back a bit. He had inadvertently stepped into the light and needed to become invisible once again.
