Half an hour later, Alex was attempting to work her way back to her companion from the bathroom without stepping on or elbowing anyone in the mass of people that filled the room. She had a slight advantage in that Bobby's head was usually visible above the crowd, and once she caught sight of it, she was able to set a definite trajectory.

She was mildly surprised to find when she reached him that he wasn't standing alone, ashe'd been when sheleft him. A tall, brown-haired woman was draped over his arm and laughing up into his face.

Alex stopped in her tracks a few feet from them, assessing the situation. She didn't remember having been introduced to the woman at any point tonight, but it was obvious Goren knew her. It was equally obvious that he wasn't sure what to do with her, judging by the way he was leaning his upper body subtly away from her.

Alex took a step closer and tried to eavesdrop on their conversation:

"Oh my god, you're a detective? That's so interesting! Do you get to carry a gun?"

"Uh, yes. We're all issued one."

"I bet yours is big, to go with the rest of you," the woman purred, running a hand down his arm.

Bobby swallowed convulsively, but Alex couldn't tell if it was from attraction or disgust. "Everyone gets the same weapon. It had nothing to do with size. Uh, Jan . . ."

"Ooh, so you do remember me! I was starting to get worried!"

"You're, uh, hard to forget."

Alex rolled her eyes. Bad move, Bobby.

"That's so nice of you to say! You remember little old me! So, tell me more about you. Have you ever been shot?"

His already-strained expression took on an added degree of tension, and she decided it was time to rescue him. "Bobby, sweetheart!" she called a little too loudly, striding up to him. "I thought I lost you in this crowd," she added, putting an arm around his neck and pulling him down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, who's this?" she asked innocently, sliding her arms around him to dislodge the other woman's and pretending to just notice that they weren't alone.

The brunette's eyes narrowed as she studied Alex, taking in the tiny figure, pixie-like face, and obvious emotional connection to Bobby Goren. "Janet Stapleton," she said coolly, holding out a manicured hand.

"Janet used to date Jimmy Willis," Bobby explained, looking down at Alex gratefully as the two women shook hands.

"Oh, now Bobby," the woman said, touching his arm possessively, "that was so long ago, it hardly counts. You know I forgot all about Jimmy when I started dating you."

Alex's eyebrows shot up. Bobby, her shy, detail-oriented Bobby, had dated this . . . Botoxed Amazon thing? She gave Janet an exaggeratedly curious look. "That's odd. You know, he's never mentioned you in . . . how long have we been together now, honey?"

Bobby, who had been watching Alex, fascinated by her act, cleared his throat. "Uh, five years, give or take."

"Right, right," she said. "What did you say your name was?" she asked, looking back to the woman, whose face had taken on a decidedly less pleasant look.

"Janet. Who are you?"

Alex gave Bobby a reproachful look. "Bobby, you didn't tell her?"

"Uh . . ."

"Call me Alex. I'm Bobby's fiance. Oh, and don't mind the hand," she said, glancing down at her bare left ring finger. "The ring's being custom-made in Italy, we're still waiting for delivery."

He'd known she was a good actress, but he was finding himself more impressed with each second that passed tonight. "She doesn't need to know that, honey," he said, looking down at Alex and trying not to show his amusement.

"Oh, you're just too modest," she said, grinning at him. Unable to resist some mild torture, she added, "How come you didn't tell me we'd be meeting your ex-girlfriend tonight?"

Janet jumped into the opening Alex had purposely left her. "Oh, he never told you? He was quite the ladies man! In fact," she added slyly, "I bet he still is."

"Ladies man, huh?" she said, looking up at him with a smirk. "Does that mean there are more old girlfriends here for me to meet?"

He gave her a dark look. "No."

"You're so lying," she teased.

"Drop it, Alex."

Her lips twitched as she tried to hold back a laugh. "No way. Tell me."

He gritted his teeth and looked over at Janet, who was watching them avidly. "Excuse us," he muttered as he grabbed Alex's arm and towed her away from the other woman. "What are you doing?"

"You're so easy to aggravate, Bobby. Give me a challenge every now and then!"

"You-"

"And while I've got you alone, how could you possibly date someone like that?" she asked incredulously.

"She didn't used to be quite so . . . frightening." At Alex's disbelieving look, he sighed and said, "All right, and she had big boobs and I had hormones."

She let out a shout of laughter and clutched at his arm, leaning into him as she continued to giggle. "I should have known. Teenaged boys are all the same."

"Can we set aside the subject of my ex-girlfriends now?"

"Not quite yet," she said, giving him a pat on the arm. "We can't leave poor Janet standing alone. And I want to hear more about how you used to be a ladies man. Come on," she told him, pulling him back toward the brunette. "You slept with her, she can't be all bad."

He stared at her back as she towed him along. "I . . . you think . . . what?"

"There you are, Bobby!" Janet interrupted. "I thought she'd stolen you away from me."

Alex grinned. "Never! We're here so he can catch up with all his high school friends, I wouldn't deprive him of your company."

He looked down at her and said tightly, "Alex."

"Oh, you two chat. I need to get a refill of my champagne," she said lightly. "The bartender did offer me that free drink," she added deliberately, curious about what Bobby's reaction would be.

"He was hitting on you," he said with a frown. "If you accept the drink he'll think you're accepting him."

"I can handle one little bartender, honey." With that, she turned and began to fight her way through the sea of people toward the bar.

"Hey, pretty girl!" the bartender exclaimed when he saw her. "You're back!"

"Couldn't turn down the offer of a free drink," she said with a smile, putting her empty glass on the bar.

"For you," he said, uncorking a new bottle of champagne, "a glass of my finest. So, you an alumna?"

"No, just the date of one. An alumnus, that is, not an alumna," she added, figuring that if the guy knew enough to use the feminine form when addressing her, he probably knew the difference.

The man grinned widely. "And she's smart, to boot! What's your name, hon?"

Alex glanced over her shoulder at where she'd left Bobby, noticing that he appeared to be deep in conversation with Janet Stapleton. He'd be ok without her for a while. "Alex," she said, turning back to the bartender. "What's yours?"

"Oliver, but call me Oli." He took her hand and gave it a quick shake. "I was the misfit of the class," he added, "but I was always useful as a bartender, so they invited me anyway."

"You don't strike me as the misfit type, Oli," she said, sipping at her drink. In fact, she would have put her money on him being part of the "popular" crowd, considering his classically handsome face.

He looked away for a second, saying, "Let's just say I've changed a lot since then."

His abashed reaction reminded her of Bobby, and she giggled.

"What's so funny?" he asked, a hint of uneasiness in his voice.

"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you. You just reminded me of my . . . uh, date for a second."

"Yeah? Who's your date? I might know him."

She wasn't sure that she wanted to know if the two men had known each other, but dodging the question would be too obvious. "Bobby Goren."

"He was the tall guy that was with you before?"

She nodded.

"No shit! I thought he looked familiar," he said, slapping a hand against the bar. "He used to be a lot skinnier. Uh, I don't mean that as an insult," he said quickly, looking at her face.

"It's ok, I know what you mean. You knew him, really?"

"Sure! The misfits all knew each other, although he and I weren't particularly close friends. So you're . . . what? His wife, girlfriend?"

She shrugged. "Girlfriend, I guess."

"You 'guess'? You're not sure?"

"It's complicated." And that's the understatement of the year, she added in her head.

"Ah, complicated," he echoed. "I've heard that one before. Mind if I ask why you're over here instead of with him?"

The guy had a knack for getting to the heart of the matter, she thought. "I just needed a change of pace. It's overwhelming to be constantly meeting new people and having to keep a smile plastered on my face."

"Uh-huh," he said, obviously waiting for her to go on.

She sighed. "And he's busy with an ex-girlfriend."

"Who?"

"Uh, Janet somebody . . . Stapleton?"

Oli grimaced. "Boy, I remember her."

"Hey," she said as an idea hit her, "what do you remember about Bobby? Alone or with the girlfriend, whichever."

He pursed his lips, looking thoughtful. "I think I'll join you in a drink before I go into that one," he said after a second, pouring himself a glass of what looked like whiskey. After taking a sip, he let out a satisfied breath. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Hmmm . . . what did he act like? I know he was in the, uh, chess club, but other than that he's never really told me anything about his younger self."

"What did he act like . . ." Oli repeated slowly. "He was quiet. Very quiet. Never fought with anyone that I saw, although he had to defend himself a few times. You know, the typical gentle giant. A lot of people just thought he was weird, because sometimes it looked like he was talking to himself, but me, I figured if that was his version of insanity, it didn't look too bad. Oh, and he spent a lot of time in the library, too." He took another sip of his drink. "Has he changed much?"

"Going by what you just said, he's hardly changed at all. He's not as shy now, I think mainly because he can't be shy and still do his job."

"Oh? What's his job?"

"He's a detective. NYPD."

"I'm impressed," Oli said with a small smile. "Always knew his brain would get him somewhere. Of course, it was his brain that got him in trouble, too."

"It was?" she asked curiously. "How so?"

Oli sighed. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, because I don't know for a fact that it's true, but . . . the thing with Janet Stapleton. I heard she told people she had two main reasons for dating him: he had big feet, and he was willing to do her homework for her."

Alex winced. "Ouch. Did he know that?"

"Nah. Everyone who knew . . . either they didn't care or they didn't want to upset him. I was in the second group. Think about how quickly it would deflate a guy's ego to hear that he was being used for homework, of all things," he said with a shudder.

"How'd they break up? Did he figure out her motives?"

He looked down into his whiskey for a second. "Not exactly."

"Then what happened?"

He sighed. "He, uh . . . caught her cheating on him. Apparently that's something he doesn't give a second chance for."

"Well, I can see why!"

"You won't hear any argument from me. I never liked her to begin with."

"She strikes me as, uh, very fake, to put it gently. But if that's what happened between them, then how come he's talking to her tonight like nothing ever happened?"

"That, I can't explain, except to say that I saw him become wary of a lot of people, but I never saw him hold a grudge."

She thought about that. Oli had a point; Bobby didn't really even hold a grudge against Nicole Wallace, let alone anyone else. "Sometimes I think he -"

She cut off abruptly when an arm slid around her waist from behind and she felt long fingers brush the skin of her abdomen. "You left me alone with her," Bobby whispered accusingly in her ear, pulling her backward on the stool until her back was pressed against him.

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A/N: A minor cliffhanger, I guess. I'll try to crank out the next chapter quickly.