But now I was in a new dilemma. I damn sure couldn’t ask Andrea what I needed to ask her while Victoria was in the room with me.

I asked Andrea, “How did you know to call here?”

I was stalling while I tried to figure how to work everything out.

Andrea ignored my question. “So, what did you have to ask me earlier?” I guess she realized my hotel question was meaningless. It was easy for her to find out where we were staying. All she had to do was ask a few people who were at the event earlier.

I thought fast and came up with the only solution. I had to ask her without asking her.

I said, “Somebody told me that you gave them some information at the airport some years ago, and I wanted to follow up on the truth of it.”

Andrea didn’t budge. She said, “You have someone in the room with you?”

There was no sense in lying to her about it. I wasn’t with her anymore and hadn’t been with her for years.

“Yes, I have company.” I had to make Victoria feel privileged to be with me again.

In the middle of my act, my cell phone went off in my right hand. I should have turned it off, but it was too late for that. I didn’t even look at it.

Andrea said, “Stop talking in riddles. Ask me what you want to ask me.”

I knew she knew what I wanted, I told myself. She was playing me like a flute.

“How ’bout you give me your number and I’ll call you back at a better time?” I told her.

I had to get the hell out of it and get back to her. It was my only solution. Otherwise, I would ruin everything I hoped to have with Victoria. All the while, my cell phone continued to buzz in my right hand.

Andrea responded, “How ’bout I don’t?”

I was stuck. I looked over at Victoria; she was staring into empty space thinking who knows what.

Okay, this is fucked up, I concluded. Why did I even answer this damn phone? Asshole!

I said, “Okay, well, you call me when you get a chance then.” I was praying that Andrea would go along with it and hang up, but she didn’t.

She said, “Wait a minute. You were practically killing yourself to talk to me earlier, now you’re trying to hurry me off the phone.”

“I told you I have company. Now either you give me a contact number where I can reach you, or I’ll just talk to you whenever.”

I was trying to make myself sound as cold, business-oriented, and distant as I could.

Andrea said, “Well, I’m not calling you back. So I guess it wasn’t that important then.”

She was killing me, but I refused to make an even bigger fool of myself by bringing up too much of my personal history in front of a two-day acquaintance.