After she left, I didn't really have a spare moment to even consider thinking about Jubilation Lee, much less our imminent - wait, was it even a 'date'? Lunch with the others from the office went by in a blur of authentically Americanized Chinese food from the mall food court, and genuinely bad accounting jokes (not that there are any good ones to begin with…) mixed with some financial tall tales. And the four hours that followed featured an assortment of 'prospective clientele' who were as nondescript as the "New Season!" fashion trends on the manequins that were staring facelessly back at me from the Forever21 storefront across the way from my table.

But then it ended, and I was free.

4:02pm. I watched the time fade into an empty black screen as my computer shut down. The others from the office, their gear already packed up and in tow, gestured toward the doors to the parking garage.

I waved them off. "Still finishing here," I called out, while sticking the day's print receipts into labelled file folders. "Don't wait up. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

As the doors banged shut behind them, in my periphery, someone approached my table uncertainly and hovered in wait.

"Sorry," I said automatically, still unplugging the peripherals and printer cables, and stuffing the gear in its protective bags. "We're all done today; reps from our firm will be here again next Wednesday."

"Aw, suck. I was really hoping you could audit this burger for me, Robert."

I looked up. Familiar black hair, still accentuated by black eye makeup. But the piercings were conspicuously missing, the black lipstick had been cleanly removed, and the tight black outfit had been replaced by a somewhat ill-fitting and garish red-and-yellow generic-fast-food-place-in-the-mall-food-court type of uniform. Nonetheless, it was none other than my Miss Lee.

I should have realized. "Uh, you can call me 'Bobby'."

"Ahh, I get it." She nodded. "So, 'Robert' is for work, and 'Bobby' is for play, huh?"

"Something like that…" I shrugged, with a small smile. "Actually, only my mom and my boss call me 'Robert'."

"Bingo. Like I said." She grinned. "So, I'm guessing you prefer to play more than work, huh, Bobby…"

"So…" I swallowed, before my mind could get too far lost down that route. "What do I call you?"

She pointed at the name tag pinned above her left breast pocket.

"Don't worry, it's safe to say." She assured me, as she set down a tray of food on the table.

I tried not to stare too long in the general vicinity of her name tag. "Cool. 'Jubi-Lee' it is, then."

I finished clearing off my work stuff, and pulled out a chair for her.

"I hope I'm not getting you into trouble with this…" I sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"Nah, I've gotta half-hour break anyway." She sat down and started to divvy up the food between us. "Hope you weren't expecting something fancy, though. This is all I could afford to make."

"You made this?" My eyebrows raised in surprise; I was impressed. "Hey, a burger and fries – that's the American dream right there. And a cute girl bringing it, too. That's–"

"–every guy's American dream." She rolled her eyes, but had a pleased smirk on her face.

"Yeah. And not something that happens to me all that often…" I admitted.

"Oh good." Jubilee let out a small sigh of relief. "I take it that means you're not married then."

"Married?" I almost choked on a bite of my burger. "Me?"

"It's 'just something I'm required to ask'." She poked her tongue out playfully, but the mirth didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Something you've, uh… run into before?" I couldn't help picturing her the victim of some sordid Lolita-esque affair.

"Yeah…" She coughed, dissipating my wandering imagination. "Not really the best 'first-date' topic, Bobby."

"Sorry." I scratched the back of my neck sheepishly. "Okay, something a little safer, then… So, uh… What do your parents do?"

She blinked slowly, then took a deep breath. "They're, um, dead, so…" She pursed her lips together pensively, then asked, "How 'bout I have a turn?"

"Yeah. Be my guest…" I rubbed the lines on my forehead. Smooth, Bobby. Real smooth.

We both ate in silence for a few minutes, while she pondered a new question.

"So…" She dragged her fries through a mound of ketchup. "Are you gonna be back next week to do this all again?"

"Uh, no." I shook my head. "I only have to do this once during peak tax season…"

"Oh."

"But," I added quickly, "If you need some, uh, extra financial advice, you can always come see me at the office…" I pulled a business card out of my pocket and held it out to her. "For a free consultation."

She turned slightly pink and lifted a matching card partway out of her breast pocket. "I kinda swiped one earlier."

"Oh, cool. That's what I brought them for…" I tapped my superfluous card on the table. "If you want another… for a friend…"

She quickly stifled what would have been a loud laugh. "S-sure, sorry." She took the card and stuck it in with the other. "I just… dunno if you could handle my friends."

"Hey, if they surprise me half as much as you have…"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She interjected, slightly defensive.

"Just… You're not what I expected." I gave her an honest smile and shrugged. "That's a good thing."

"…Guess you're not exactly what I expected either." She relented. "But you still shouldn't judge someone before you get to know 'em. We're all fighting some kinda demons." She brandished a soggy French fry at me. "Especially some of my friends."

"Demons?" I cocked an eyebrow, curious about these friends of hers.

Jubilee gave me another look like I should know better, and finished off the last of her burger in one big bite, instead of answering. A tinny-sounding alarm suddenly went off on her Rainbow Brite watch.

"Saved by the bell." She smirked, standing up, and reflexively consolidated our trash.

I stood up as well. "Uh, so… Good luck with the rest of your shift."

"Thanks…" She smiled politely. "Not like it's so hard, though…"

Jubilee cleared her throat. " 'Good afternoon, sir. May I have your order? Anything else with that? Great. That'll be this-many dollars and that-many cents. Here's your receipt; your food's gonna be out in just a few minutes; you can wait for it over there. Thank you. Can I help who's next?' …Pretty sure I can say it in my sleep, Bobby."

"See? Another surprise. Something else I can add to your list of talents." I grinned. "That is, of course, if you can prove it…"

She smirked confidently. "Well, maybe you can test me sometime, and let me know."

While my slow caveman brain began working through the implications of her words - of the circumstances that could occur for me to end up in the same room that she might be sleeping in - the real Jubilee smiled again and waved goodbye as she disappeared into the artificial and over-priced glitz of the mall landscape.

I shook the reverie from my mind, picked up my gear, and glanced toward the glass doors to the outside world, where winter was still in its last wild throes.

Well, I guess it's like they say…

The snow's not over 'til it's over.