The long line along the outside wall of the hotel made the party look more like a Saturday. But on a Thursday night, only the able people partied: those who didn’t have to clock in in the morning, those who didn’t care, and those who planned to work it all out.

Ivan fit the last group. He would definitely make it to work in the morning. He would just have less sleep to count on. But he was too curious that evening to let the opportunity of the Padres party pass by.

“Come on, just let us in, it’s only the two of us,” a pair of long-legged twins, wearing revealing dresses, begged the doormen at the front. The time was fast approaching midnight.

“In a minute,” the husky doorman responded to them. He stretched out his thick right arm in front of them, wearing the same professional black suit as the rest of the men who worked the party. Their orchestrated job looked like the set of a Men in Black movie. It was a doorman’s extra duty to deal with the begging types. So Ivan studied the scene to see how he would plead his own case. He definitely wasn’t planning on walking to the back of the long line and paying. However, he figured he at least needed to know what the cost would be.

“Hey, what’s the price to get in?”

The doormen looked him up and down before anyone answered. Who was he? Was he dressed correctly? Was he coming in? Or was he staying out?

Once they all established that Ivan David was a nobody, they gave him the price of general admission.

“Cover charge is twenty-five dollars. The line is that way,” one of the men piped up to him, and pointed. They continued to guard the entrance without missing a beat.

All right, here I go, Ivan told himself as he prepared to address the doormen with more information. He noticed that they marked off a guest list held just inside the doorway.

I hope Emilio has a list of names, he thought. From there, he would have to work it out himself.

“Actually, I’m here as a guest of Emilio Alvarez, the rookie shortstop. Tell him Ivan David is here.”

Ivan spoke with such presence and authority that the two brown-haired twins turned to look him over for themselves. A few of the other anxious line-waiters looked in Ivan’s direction as well. Who the hell was he?

“What’s your name again?” the first doorman asked him. He continued to hold the twins at bay in front of him.

“Ivan David.”

“Ivan David?” the doorman repeated in confusion. “You got two first names?”

Ivan grinned. “Yeah.”

The doorman cracked his first smile. “Okay. Hey, check the list for Ivan David.”