I shrugged and worked my way onto the dance floor. I started moving to the beat that throbbed from the speakers, and before I knew it, I had burned enough calories to make Jenny Craig proud.
After a while I took a break and wandered over to the bar in search of Sam. I found him sitting on a stool, resting his elbows on the counter.
"Lonely?" I said, plopping down onto the stool next to him.
"Yeah, a little. You want something to drink, Kate?"
"Um, yeah, I think I do." I thought for a minute before deciding, "Grasshopper. Straight up." I told the bartender.
"You drink that?" Sam asked.
"Yeah," I told him. "My favorite."
"It's CJ's favorite too."
"You're kidding!" I laughed.
"I'm not," Sam replied.
The bartender delivered our beverages. We drank in silence.
"Why do people like to go dancing?" He asked me, pointing at Zoey and Charlie with his near empty beer bottle.
I watched the couple grooving on the edge of the crowd and smiled. "I don't think I can answer that." I set down my drink.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, polishing off the rest of the bottle.
"Well, I could tell you why I do it, but if you ask, say, that guy over there, he'd probably give you a totally different answer."
"Oh."
"But, I always thought that people danced to just celebrate...celebrate life, love, being drunk off your feet...anything that you're happy about." I smiled.
"Or to get away from your problems," Sam offered.
"That too," I conceded. "It's amazing though. You just go out there and start moving and it's like you go to this other world....a world where nothing can touch you, where everything goes right...it's perfect."
I sipped my drink and gazed at the bubbles that floated above me.
"Let's go." Sam stood up and held out a hand.
"Mmmph?" I said through a mouthful of Grasshopper.
"I want to dance," Sam said and gave me a thousand watt smile.
"Sam, how many drinks have you had tonight?" I yelled to him as he led me through dozens of people.
"Including the one I had with you?" He yelled and stopped in the middle of the crowd. "Four."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said and started to dance.
I shrugged and joined him. Sam could actually dance pretty well, but I blamed it on the fact that he was wearing flats. The next time I looked at my watch, it was eight PM.
"Hey, Sam, can we take a break?" I asked him.
"Okay," he said, and proceeded to dance his way over to the bar. He looked like a total idiot but it didn't seem like he cared.
"This is so much fun!" Sam cried out, smiling. "We should do this more often."
"Hey, maybe you shouldn't have another drink, Sam." I advised as he chatted with the bartender.
"I'll be fiiiiine," he said with a wave of his hand.
A beer and a soda appeared before us. Sam grabbed the beer.
"Oh, it's diet coke!" I exclaimed after taking a sip of the soda. "How did you know that's my favorite?"
"You have a can of it sitting on your desk half the time," he chuckled.
"Good observation, Mr. Seaborn," I raised my glass in a toast.
Our glasses clinked, then Sam's attention was locked on the group in front of the DJ.
"That looks like fun too, actually," he declared.
"Crowd surfing?" I asked and raised my eyebrows at him.
"Yeah. Why not?"
"I don't know...it just looks dangerous. I've never tried it though, so who knows."
"Want to go back out there, Kate?"
"Sure!"
We started over to the dance floor, but I stopped suddenly and grabbed Sam's arm.
"Sam!" I squealed.
"What's wrong?" he swung around to look at me.
"The....the....the girl crowd surfing is Zoey!!!"
"ZOEY?" He cried and looked where I was pointing.
Just then, Charlie appeared from the direction of the restrooms. "Hey guys, what's up?" He asked.
"Zoey is what's up!" I told him.
"WHAT?"
As the two men stood in shock, I ran through the crowd and waited for Zoey to come by. When she passed over me I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down. Five guys around me groaned.
"Stifle it," I growled at them and dragged a protesting Zoey over to where Charlie and Sam were standing, watching the chaos.
"Sam, pay the barkeep," I told him, "and meet us at the car."
"What?? What did I do?" Zoey asked, wide-eyed.
"C'mon, let's just go," I said and led Charlie and Zoey out to the car.
"Can you tell me why we had to leave?" Zoey asked as I got our coats out of the trunk.
"We can't just go and have a good time without considering the consequences," I buttoned my coat and put my hands in my pockets. It was chilly out.
"She's right, Zoey," Charlie told her, helping her put on her coat. "If the press found out that you were crowd surfing at a club, we'd all be in major trouble."
Sam joined us then, looking completely drunk.
"Don't puke in my car is all I ask, okay Sam?" I asked as I started the engine.
Zoey sulked for most of the ride home. Sam made random comments and laughed hysterically at them.
I pulled up in front of the White House and let Zoey and Charlie out. Sam started to follow, but I stopped him.
"What? My car's still here." He said.
"No way, Spanky. I'm driving you home."
"I'm fine, Kate, really."
"No, you're not. I'm not letting you drive home. You live a block away from me, it's no trouble. Really."
He gave up and got into the front seat. We were silent for most of the drive.
I stopped the car in front of his building and turned to him. "Are you sure you're alright by yourself?" I asked.
"Kate! I'm a grown man! I'll be fine!!" He shouted.
"Okay, okay, no need to wake the neighbors," I quipped and drove away.
~~~~~
I sat alone in my apartment, surfing channels. Disgusted with myself, I threw down the remote and picked up the phone.
I was on hold for a long time before Zoey finally came on the line
"Hello?" she sounded tired.
"Hey Zoey, it's Kate."
"Oh. Hi."
"I wanted to apologize to you for ruining your night. I knew you were just having a good time. Maybe I'm overly concerned or something, but I just want to make sure you're okay. If something happened while you were with me, your dad would have my head on a plate."
Zoey laughed. "Hey would, wouldn't he. Anyway, it's all right. I should have been more careful. Thanks for taking us tonight, Kate."
"Any time. Now go get some sleep."
"G'night, Kate," she said.
"'Night, kid," I answered her and hung up the phone.
I tried watching TV again for a little while, but my conscience was still bothering me.
I dialed the phone again.
" 'Lo?"
"Sam, it's me."
"Hi, Kate," he answered me.
"Sam, I'm sorry I bothered you so much tonight."
"It's okay."
"No, really, I'm sorry. I guess....I guess I just worry too much. Are you sure you'll be okay tonight?"
"Yeah, Kate, fine and dandy." he sighed.
"Okay. That's all I needed to know. I'll pick you up at seven and drive you to work tomorrow."
"Sounds like a deal."
"Goodnight, Sam."
"Hey...Kate?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for caring about me so much."
"Only going my job, Sam. 'Night."
I felt better after making the phone calls. I went to bed and slept until the alarm went off.
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