“Who are your friends?” I asked Rachel next. I was hoping they weren’t anyone I knew or had talked to the night before while hanging out with the models and sponsors.

She blew the question off and said, “You don’t know them.”

I didn’t want to get too involved with the conversation, but I was still curious about her connections there.

“How do you know I don’t know them?”

“They would have told me they knew you.”

“Where are they now?” I asked her.

“Why, you wanna meet them?”

I didn’t, I was only skeptical of her legitimacy. But was she calling my bluff or what? I thought about it, and it wasn’t worth it, so I left it alone.

“Nah, that’s all right. I still have to find my table,” I told her.

“What table are you seated at?”

None of your damn business, I felt like telling her. Our Miami conversation was over and done with.

I answered, “I still have to find out,” and began to look around and away from her.

“Well, I’ll see you later on,” she told me. “Let me get back over to my friends.” I guess she could see the hastiness in my eyes and in my reactions.

“All right,” I told her with a nod, and I moved on.

As soon as I moved away, I caught TaShay’s eyes and Kim’s eyes, both spying me. I wondered what that meant. I didn’t have time to think about it for long, though. Victoria walked in that next minute, and I froze. Why did she have to wear the exact same shade of green as my tie and handkerchief ? I was ready to take it off immediately, but she found it humorous.

“Oh my God, look at this.” She posed beside me so her tall, blond-hair friend could view our color coordination. Her friend was wearing all black, and she may have been tall and blond, but she wasn’t that attractive. She had weak hair, bad skin, and everything. I guess Victoria knew what she was doing after all. Her girlfriend was no competition for her.

“Did you guys plan this?” she asked us, grinning.

“Absolutely not,” Victoria answered her. Then she looked at me. “But what does it mean that we did? Does it mean we think alike?”

I immediately wondered what other people would think about it, especially since I had invited her there. That made me hesitant to introduce her to anyone. I would need to explain our matching outfits to them all. Even if someone didn’t ask, I knew they would have to think something about it. It was only natural. In fact, I would feel more comfortable around those who would ask. At least we could get it all out in the open and make a joke out of it.

I didn’t get a chance to do that before a cameraman stepped up and took a picture of us standing there together.

“Oh, now that’s classic,” he told us as he snapped several quick shots. Victoria struck a pose for him and everything.