Looking out the window, Alexis started quietly, 'I'm… sorry, y'know. I don't mean to be… insecure or anything. Anyway.' She stopped, and started again, this time looking at him. 'We should probably get going. It's getting late. We need to find her.'

'Sure.' Nigel replied, standing and waiting for her. 'Hey, what about the waitress?'

'I left a descent tip.'

'No, no, I mean, if Jessica's been around here, the waitress might know.'

'Oh! That is a good idea. Alright, let's go then.' She marched up to the counter and waited.

'That is not how you get noticed, luv,' Nigel said, coming up beside her and tapping on the Formica countertop. ''scuse me? Waitress?'

'Yes, hon? Can I get you a refill?' the waitress asked, sliding up towards them.

'No, thanks, um…' Nigel replied, wondering at the best way to approach this.

Alexis, however, burst right in. 'Have you seen this girl around here lately?' She held the picture in front of her, and she had that slightly frazzled look back.

The waitress looked the picture over, and looking at them, asked, 'Why are you looking for her? Are you the police?'

'Heavens, no,' Alexis replied, 'I'm an old friend of hers. I'm looking to bring her home.'

'Alright then. Yeah, she's been here. Comes in here every week, treats herself to a burger and fries. I always slip her more than she pays for, she's terribly skinny. Same with all the working girls, but she's the only one I see weekly.'

'…working girls? As in…?'

'Yes, dear, a hooker, but I don't like to judge. A lot of them are runaways, or betrayed by their 'boyfriends'. I just try to give them some help whenever I can.'

'So, weekly. The same time, same day, every week?'

'That's right. Every Monday morning. Least busy time of the week, I hear.'

'Thank you so much. So much! Um, if you see her before then, please don't tell her I was looking for her. I don't want to scare her away.'

''course, hun. Won't speak a word.' She offered a warm smile, and added, 'See you Monday, then?'

As she walked away, Alexis asked Nigel, 'Well! What is the chance of that happening, then?'

'Slim, and let's just leave it at that.' He smiled mischievously at her and continued, 'Monday, eh? Well, there's a lot of time to fill before then.'

'Wouldn't Dr Macy want you back at work?' she asked, smiling.

'Well, he wanted me to help you. Maybe he meant that he wanted me to help you around the city.' He put his hand on her elbow and began to lead her out of the building. 'Besides, what he doesn't know, won't hurt him.' He shot her a wicked smile, and they walked out of the building, arm in arm.

'Where have you taken me?' Alexis asked, leaning against Nigel beside a queue of well-dressed people.

'Just a little place I know.' He grinned at her and, as he pulled her to the front of the queue, he told her, 'I know the quick way in.' At the front of the line was the bouncer, a medium-height Italian man, who stood with his arms crossed behind a red velvet rope.

'Back of the line, bud,' the bouncer said, not looking in their direction.

'Even for a mate from across the pond?' Nigel said, putting his arm fully around Alexis's waist.

Finally glancing in their direction, he smiled. 'Nigel! Sorry, mate, didn't see ya there. Who's the girl?'

'Let us in, Chad, and I just might tell you later.' He covertly tightened his hold on Alexis for a moment, and smiled down at her.

'Alright, alright, be like that, but just so you know, we're pretty packed tonight, and she's the reason you're getting in. Have fun, you two.' He shot Nigel a suggestive look, and moved aside to let them through.

Alexis caught her breath as they walked through the doors. 'Wow – Nigel – this is… it's marvelous!'

'Isn't it, though? It's one of my favorites.'

'Really? I had you pegged as a Goth club type.'

'Didn't your mother teach you not to judge before you learned a little?'

'Indeed she did, indeed she did.'

This place certainly had nothing to do with Goth. Though the walls were a deep shade of indigo, the baby blue lights that covered them brought the room to life. The dance floor was lit from overhead by strobe lights, and on the far side was a lounge with squashy red and yellow chairs surrounding glowing knee-high tables. The bar was glowing with indigo neon, and the kitchen was hidden behind a mass of illuminated martini glasses. Somehow, though, the room managed to stay suspiciously dark and intimate. 'C'mon, they have an amazing menu, and I bet that plane food from this afternoon wasn't exactly filling.' Nigel led her though the crowd to an empty table, and waved over a waitress. Not taking his eyes off Alexis, he ordered two specials, 'and you look like a banana smoothie type of girl.'

'Do you always order for your dates?' Alexis asked as the waitress walked away.

'Only when I know what they want,' Nigel replied, laughing.

'Well, how is it you've only known me for... five hours?... and you know that I like banana smoothies? How?'

'Elementary my dear Alexis, when you were leaning over my shoulder I could smell your lip gloss – banana.'

Laughing, Alexis replied, 'I should be either very impressed, or very scared.'

'You're laughing, meaning you're impressed.'

'Alright, smart guy. So you figured out I like bananas from my lip gloss. Tell me some more about me.'

Taken by the challenge, Nigel looked her over and began. 'Well, I know you're from a small town in Ontario, presumably close to Toronto, so you visited the city occasionally. Maybe even had some family there, so you were excited to go there for University. You went to school in the big cities, London and Toronto, but maybe the big city wasn't what you expected. Maybe you were confused because you're so many nationalities and you were trying to find your niche. Well, you didn't find what you wanted to find in Canada, so you moved to London to see if you could find it there. Then, you started succeeding in the courts, but you weren't succeeding in the social scene because you were different – I can tell you're shy, that's for sure. But the way you're pursuing your missing friend, you were very close to only a couple of people, so when you left them, you left your social safe haven… how am I doing so far?' He sat back and sipped the drink the waitress had just set before him.

'What are you, psychic?' Alexis asked, stunned.

'Yea, luv, I am. I'm also a good dancer, so how about while our food's being made we go cut a rug?'

'Did you notice there's no carpet?'

'Stand up. Now – dancing. Let's go.'

'Nouns. Verbs. Make sentence,' Alexis laughed as Nigel pulled her to the floor.