“I will.” Diego smiles and gets up. And I watch, astonished, as he gathers both our glasses and the bottle and rinses the former in the sink after throwing the latter in the recycle bin. Good looking, down to earth, and with perfect manners. Impressive!

“Mind if I use the bathroom first?” I ask.

He shrugs. “It’s your house.”

Feeling again awkward, I wave. “Good night, then.”

“Night.”

When I come out of the bathroom, Diego is in Blair’s room, out of sight. I slip into my room, change into my PJs and, feeling a bit silly, I lock the door.

***

The next morning, my phone starts ringing the moment I resurface above ground from the subway station closest to work.

I lodge my earbuds in place and pick up.

“Are you alive?” Blair demands, as I begin the short walk to my office building. “Where are you?”

“I answered the phone; that should be a good indication I’m still breathing,” I say, stopping at a red traffic light and wrapping the collar of my coat tighter around my neck. “I’m walking to the office. You?”

“Me, too. Sorry, I’ve just been so worried all night.”

The light turns green and I cross the street. “No need to be; Diego is a perfectly nice guy.”

“Nice or not, Richard agrees with me: you were reckless to invite a total stranger into our house.”

“You told him?” I almost stop in the middle of the road, but the Manhattan pedestrian crowd prompts me forward.

“Of course I did. How else was I supposed to explain my late night pick up request?”

“Saying you wanted to spend time with him?”

“Oh, please, I’d just left him, he would’ve known something was up. He also said he wants to meet this guy before we drive home with him.”

“Oh my gosh,” I sigh, exasperated, as I open the door of my favorite Starbucks. “Richard is just as paranoid as you are.”

“No, we’re both responsible adults.”

“Hold on a second…” I say, then mouth, “The usual,” to the barista, switch my phone to the Starbucks app to pay, and go wait in line for my order. “Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Responsible Adults, you can both relax…”

“Yeah, why?”

“Diego’s entire family is in law enforcement. He’s hardly serial killer material.”

“Mmm, hello? Have you seen Dexter?”

“Dexter only zapped the bad guys, so I should be safe anyway, no?”

“Unless one of his serial killer buddies decides to take it out on the girlfriend.”

“Fake girlfriend, and, Blair, life isn’t a TV show. But if Richard really wants to meet Diego, tell your boyfriend to come to the casting on Tuesday. But please also tell him to be subtle and not to interrogate Diego, deal?”

“Oh, great, I wasn’t sure he’d come.”

“Why? Because you took his fingerprints? It’s a good opportunity for him. He’s a professional; why wouldn’t he come?”

“I don’t know… He could be busy planning his next murder?”