Kit chuckled as did most of the audience. As Billy paused, even more of them laughed.

“You know what the horse said?” Billy finally asked.

“I don’t care!” the heckler yelled.

A now irritated Kit turned in the direction of the heckler and shouted, “Be quiet!”

Billy looked down at her and smiled. “Did my mother send you here tonight?”

Before Kit could answer, the spotlight went out.

“Someone was smart enough to pull the plug!” the heckler yelled in the room now dimly lit by just the small candles on each table. The whir of the air conditioner stopped, groaned, and sputtered to a halt.

“There’s been a blackout!” someone cried from the doorway to the bar area.

“A blackout!”

“Oh no!”

“Let’s get out of here!”

“I have to get home!”

People quickly jumped up, some accidentally knocking their chairs into each other. The darkened room suddenly felt stifling. Within seconds there was near pandemonium as waiters tried to collect money for the drinks and patrons were crowding the exit.

I guess it’s a good thing I sat up front, Kit thought. My foot definitely would have been trampled if I were in the middle of this bedlam. I’ll just wait here for a few minutes. With any luck Georgina will be outside and we’ll manage to find a cab.

“Are you okay?”

Kit turned. Billy Peebler was standing next to her. “Oh hello…,” she said.

He smiled at her. “Hello, yourself. Thanks for speaking up for me.”

“That guy was a jerk.”

“I know. But in this business you have to expect it.”

“I can’t believe a blackout hit when you were onstage.”

“I’m thrilled. I think I was about to bomb. I could feel it in my bones.”

Kit smiled. “No you weren’t. Your first joke was funny.”

“It’s one of the oldest jokes in the book, but it’s just silly enough to get that first laugh. What are you doing here by yourself?”

“The person I came with went out for a smoke…”

“Now that sounds like the beginning of a joke.”

Kit smiled and made a face. “I wish it were.”

They spoke for a few minutes while the room cleared. When everyone was out, it had a lonely, abandoned feeling. Only a few candles were still flickering.

“Let’s see if we can find your friend,” Billy said. He quickly pushed the overturned chairs out of the way, then carefully escorted Kit out to the sidewalk, his arm around her shoulder. The streets were dark, horns were honking in the distance, there was a sense of excitement in the air. But no sign of Georgina.

“I can’t believe it!” Kit said, shaking her head. “I’m hobbling on crutches, and she disappears. And she’s the one who invited me here tonight.”

The hostess who had seated Kit and Georgina was standing by the doorway. “Are you looking for the girl you came in with?”

“Yes.”

“I saw her out here smoking. Some tall, cute guy with blond hair bummed a cigarette off of her. A few minutes later they got in a cab. I thought to myself—‘That was fast!’”