Chapter 06
When they reached the Bunny Bar, worry finally hit Danny. What if Vlad hated both girls? What if he couldn't find anyone for Vlad to like?
"You didn't suddenly get cold feet, did you?" asked Vlad upon noticing the worry on Danny's face.
"Why would I have cold feet?" Danny chuckled and tried to force away any more negative thoughts. "Do they serve any good food here?"
"You're expecting me to pay, aren't you?" Vlad sighed when Danny responded with a nod and a hopeful look. "Fine, but in return you have to," he had to pause to think of a suitable exchange. However, nothing came to mind at that moment. "You'll have to continue cleaning our dorm room until I can think of something else. Oh, and you have to do the laundry too."
"So now I'm your maid?" Danny asked in a musing way. If it meant he could eat and have a place to stay, then he didn't mind having to clean.
"Hm, I wonder if I could get you one of those French maid outfits," Vlad said, but from his tone Danny couldn't tell if it was a joke or if Vlad was serious.
"You wouldn't," Danny growled in the cold tone that he used when a ghost pushed him from bantering mood to dead serious.
"I was only joking," said Vlad with a light chuckle. Shaking his head, he opened the bar door.
"It didn't sound like a joke when you said it," muttered Danny grumpily as he followed Vlad into the bar. When a group near the back burst into loud shouts, Danny jumped in shock. He glanced toward the group and found five men angrily throwing pretzels at a television hanging above the bar.
"Do you see the girls anywhere?" Vlad asked, and Danny shook his head after he didn't find any familiar faces. Vlad led the way around the bar to another section that Danny hadn't noticed at first.
"Danny!" The shout made Danny turn his head. Laura, waving her arm to get Danny's attention, stood at a booth to their left and near the back.
"That's the girl?" mumbled Vlad, not looking very impressed by the woman's appearance.
Danny nodded as he walked past Vlad and headed toward the booth. "Hey, Laura," he greeted her. "This is my friend Vlad." He gestured to Vlad.
"I'm Laura," she introduced herself to Vlad. "And my friend is Sara." Sara waved at Vlad from where she sat in the booth. Vlad nodded a hello to both women, and the action received a frown from the other three. They slid into the booth, Danny sitting next to Laura and Vlad next to Sara.
"So, um, you girls look nice tonight," Danny said awkwardly. Laura cleaned up quite well since their meeting in the Laundromat. She wore a sleeveless blue dress that cut off about mid-thigh. Sara had on a red dress with one strap slipping off her shoulder. "Don't you think they look nice, Vlad?"
"Yes, quite lovely," agreed Vlad as he reached across Sara to grab one of the small menus. "Have you already ordered?"
"Aren't you two sweet?" Sara giggled, blushing as she glanced at Vlad. "We were waiting for you to arrive before ordering drinks."
"So what's good here?" Danny asked.
"You'll be having water," replied Vlad, offering Danny the menu. "They have some hamburgers. I can't guarantee their taste." Danny took the menu to look over the hamburger choices.
"You're not twenty-one yet?" asked Laura as she blinked in surprise.
"I'm only eighteen," answered Danny. "That's not a problem, is it?"
"No, no problem," Laura said with a shake of her head. "Even if you are underage, I'm sure we can slip you a small sip every now and then. No one will notice."
"I think I'll just stick with water," Danny said after catching the disapproving look on Vlad's face. "So what are you two majoring in?"
"Well, I was working on a science major," answered Sara, "but it just seems like a lot of work, and I don't really understand half of what the professor says. I'm thinking of switching majors or maybe dropping out of this college and going to a beauty school."
"So you plan on becoming a beautician?" asked Vlad with a frown.
"Yeah, I mean I've always had a knack for doing hair and makeup and stuff," Sara said, smiling brightly.
"What about you, Laura?" Danny asked, deciding to move away from Sara's chosen career. Danny could see that Vlad didn't much like the idea of dating a beautician.
"I'm working on a journalism major," answered Laura.
"Really? I have a friend getting a major in journalism," Vlad said with a sudden interest. "Where do you want to work? The Wisconsin Reporter? Or maybe the Milwaukee Journal?"
"Actually, I was thinking of working at someplace like the Starlight Exaggerator," Laura explained.
Danny glanced at Vlad, whose eye twitched and he looked like he was trying to restrain himself from saying something rude. "Where are the waiters?" he asked quickly. He peered around, trying to find someone that worked at the bar to call over so that they could order drinks.
"Why would you want to work at a sleazy tabloid and write garbage about the latest Hollywood scandal?" shouted Vlad, not caring who overheard him.
"The Starlight Exaggerator isn't a sleazy tabloid!" argued Laura.
"Could you two not argue," Danny started to ask, but he shrank back when both of them snapped angry looks at him.
"The Starlight Exaggerator doesn't publish the latest Hollywood scandal," Laura continued. "They have lots of in depth articles about other things too. It's not all about some actress having Big Foot's baby. They just post that kind of stuff on the cover to get the public's attention."
"They shouldn't have to do that sort of thing if they wanted to be taken as a serious magazine," Vlad muttered.
"You're the one who believes in ghosts," said Laura, narrowing her eyes as she folded her arms.
"I wouldn't expect an airhead like you to understand anything about paranormal studies." Vlad climbed to his feet and walked away from the booth.
When he started to follow Vlad, Danny heard Laura say, "Your friend is a real jerk." Danny almost turned around to say he agreed with Vlad about the sleazy tabloid, but he thought it better to chase after Vlad. He met up with Vlad outside the bar where the man was waiting, leaning against the wall of the building.
"I shouldn't have snapped like that," mumbled Vlad, looking like he almost regretted his words.
"That was pretty rude of you," Danny said as he folded his arms and attempted to look mad at Vlad. "Why did you start yelling at her like that?"
"I don't know." Vlad sighed and looked away. "It annoyed me to hear that she wanted to use her major in journalism for something like that. That tabloid does nothing but report on Hollywood scandals and make up these bogus stories about aliens and big foot and… and ghosts."
Danny's brow shot up at the mention of ghosts. "What did they say about ghosts?" he asked, deciding that was what really made Vlad go off about the tabloid.
"They made up all this bogus stuff," Vlad replied, shrugging. "They provided no scientific evidence for their research. Their images looked like they took a picture of a mirror with the flash on and then made it blurry." He said nothing more about the tabloid.
"I'm sorry," said Danny after a lull in their conversation. "I shouldn't have forced you to go on this date."
"No, I-" A growl cut off Vlad's words. He smirked as a small blush colored Danny's cheeks. "I guess I should feed my maid." He started walking down the street. "I think there's a Denny's somewhere nearby."
"Do you really have to refer to me as your maid?" Danny hoped he didn't sound like he was whining.
"Why not? You are my maid, aren't you?" Vlad glanced over his shoulder at Danny following a few steps behind him. He tried to keep his expression serious, even when Danny hung his head and sighed. "Between you and Jack, I'm going to end up running out of money rather quickly."
"But doesn't Jack also get paid for being a TA?" Danny asked as he head snapped up.
"Yeah, but he has this habit of spending his money on unnecessary items," explained Vlad.
That sounds like dad, thought Danny, shaking his head. A few minutes later, they arrived at the Denny's. It wasn't terribly busy; only a few groups of people sat scattered around the restaurant. Vlad led the way to an open booth, and they didn't have to wait long for a waitress to greet them and hand them menus to look over.
"I really hope I have enough money to pay for both of us," muttered Vlad as they scanned the menu.
Danny glanced up at him. "Would you rather share something? I'm not all that hungry, and there's always the leftover Chinese."
"It's okay," Vlad said. "I think I can afford two classic burgers. Do you mind if we got water instead of sodas?" Danny agreed to that decision, and Vlad told the waitress their order the next she came by.
"Can I ask you something?" asked Danny after growing bored with glancing around the restaurant.
"I never said you couldn't," replied Vlad with a look of curiosity on his face.
"What got you believing in ghosts?" It never occurred to Danny until now that he never questioned why Vlad and his parents were so interested in ghosts.
"Do I really need a reason to have a fascination with something?" Vlad grinned at the waitress as she set two glasses of water on their table before she walked away again. When he glanced back at the man across from him, Vlad found Danny waiting with an expectant look. "Why am I interested in ghosts? I guess it started with a fuzzy image." He picked up his glass and took a sip. "I wasn't sure what I was seeing at first, but I was the only person who saw the fuzzy image. As I grew up, I began to realize it could have been a ghost. Other kids my age might have been scared to realize this, but discovering this only made me more interested in it. I started researching ghosts, reading stories about real life haunted houses and castles. I even made up a few theories about ghosts and their existence, but they never really panned out. The field of paranormal studies is fairly small, since there are a lot of skeptics out there, so I think there's a great possibility of making some amazing breakthroughs." He smiled warmly, shocking Danny who never saw such a smile on Vlad. "Someday, I'm going to be famous for making the biggest discovery in paranormal history."
"Or you could be famous for being the richest man in Wisconsin," Danny said.
Vlad stared at Danny. He wasn't sure at first what he should think of that comment. After a moment, he laughed, making Danny flush and shift awkwardly in his seat. "Me? The richest man in Wisconsin? You have a wild imagination, Danny."
The waitress approached their table then and set down the two plates. Their conversation halted as Vlad and Danny dug hungrily into their burgers. Neither realized how hungry they really were until the food was placed before them and the delicious aroma filled their nostrils. When they finished eating, Vlad paid the bill. He had just enough money. With their bellies filled, they walked back to the dorm building.
"The date fiasco aside, this night turned out to be rather nice," Danny commented as the dorm building grew nearer.
"Yeah, I guess it did," agreed Vlad, glancing at Danny. He bit his lip to keep from smirking as he placed a hand on Danny's shoulder to make him stop walking.
"What?" Danny asked and blinked in confusion.
Vlad reached into his pocket and retrieved a clean handkerchief. He wiped away the red smudge on Danny's right cheek while trying not to laugh at the sight. "You had a bit of ketchup on your face," he explained.
"I've been walking this whole time with ketchup on my face?" exclaimed Danny, blushing madly at the realization.
"I only just now noticed, if that makes you feel any better," Vlad commented.
"Not really," mumbled Danny as he pouted in embarrassment. I must have looked like a child with that on my face! he thought, frustrated with himself. Silence followed as they continued walking. They entered the building and headed up the stairs to third floor. When they reached Vlad's room, they found Jack waiting at the door.
"Forget your key again?" Vlad asked as he reached into his pocket for his own key.
"I lent mine to Danny," answered Jack in a mumble. "I thought you two would be here when I came back."
"Ah, sorry," Danny apologized. He forgot all about Jack while they were eating.
"It's okay. I wasn't waiting long." Jack shrugged as Vlad opened the door to their room. "So where did you two go?" Jack asked, walking into their room.
"We wanted something other than leftover Chinese for dinner," Vlad answered, not really in the mood to tell Jack about their dates. "Anyone up for a game of Pac Man?" he inquired before Jack could ask any more questions. Both Jack and Danny agreed, and the contest resumed.