"This was a bad idea, take me home, okay?"

"Come on, Mimi-chan, you're acting like a baby." Nick kept his voice mild.

They were stopped at a red light on Olympic Boulevard. It was a warm July evening, and Nick had brought his convertible BMW out for a drive. He was enjoying driving a manual for a change of pace, feeling the breeze in his face, and being out.

He'd convinced Sumire to go to a party with him, and she was having serious second thoughts. She sat next to him, ramrod straight, gripping the armrest on one side and the door handle on the other. She was wearing her usual blue jeans and long sleeved shirt, though the shirt did have a few sparkles on it to make it bit festive. It was her only concession to the occasion, however, as she seemed to be wearing no make-up whatsoever, and her hair was up in its usual bun, from which a few wisps had escaped from being in the convertible.

"I'm just not a very social person," she responded. "Seriously, please, take me home, okay? I don't want to go."

"It's not even a real party," Nick coaxed. "Not like a Hollywood party or whatever, I swear. It's just a small get together of people I went to college with."

The light changed and they drove on.

"You went to college?"

Nick looked over at Sumire, eyes narrowed.

"Wait, that came out wrong," Sumire apologized. "What I meant was, 'I didn't know you went to college around here,' how's that?"

"Better," Nick answered. "Yes, I went to USC, as a matter of fact, paid for with my modeling money. Anyway, a couple of us are repped by the same agency that's sending me to Japan, and I think that Morgan, the assistant of the guy who hired you, is going to be there, plus a few other people associated with the movie, so we can probably talk a little business. We usually end up shooting a little pool, too. Didn't you say you like that?"

Sumire nodded. "I know, it's a weird skill to have, but I learned one summer from one of my stepdad's nephews when we visited them. I mean, I'm no pro, but I can hold my own, I guess."

"So we'll go, stay a while, and leave if you're bored, okay?" He looked over at her again. "Okay?"

Sumire took a deep breath and nodded.

She was reassured when they pulled up in front of a nondescript house in Hollywood that looked fairly normal. It wasn't lavish or lit up or noisy.

The door opened to Nick's knock, and he was embraced by the good looking blonde woman who stood in the doorway.

"Nicky! So glad you could make it!" she exclaimed. She ushered them in with a hand that was holding what looked like a margarita glass, leading them to a large room that looked out into a backyard with a lit up pool.

"Everyone, this is Nicky, as I'm sure you all know," she sang out with a smile. "And this is--" she paused, looking from Sumire to to Nick interrogatively.

"This is my friend Sumire," Nick said easily, touching her elbow.

"Hello, everyone," she managed with a small smile and wave.

The fifteen or so people in the room nodded back, hoisting their drinks in greeting.

"Come on, guys, let me get you something to drink," the blonde said, giving a come hither motion with her neck in the direction of the open concept kitchen.

"I'm Carol, by the way, Wayne's girlfriend," she said to Sumire. "Wayne went to school with Nick. He's the one in the red shirt in the living room."

Sumire nodded as she accepted a glass of white wine from Carol, murmuring her thanks.

"I promised Sumire some billiards," Nick told Carol as they went back into the living room. "You still have the pool table, I hope?"

"Oh yes," Carol answered, nodding. "You remember where, right?"

The doorbell rang and Carol excused herself to go answer it, leaving Nick and Sumire alone.

"I don't know some of these people," Nick told Sumire.

"Well, that's normal, isn't it? I mean, you don't always know everyone at a party, do you?" she responded as she sipped her wine.

"Come on, let's see if we can scare up a game of pool," he said, again, touching her elbow.

"Anyone want to shoot some pool?" he called out to the room at large.

There were a few takers who followed them into the next room, which was taken up by a full-sized table, a nice one, Sumire could tell.

As they grabbed cue sticks and set up, Nick could see that he didn't know the two men and two women who had joined them. The women, who looked like models or up and coming actresses, were obviously a little starstruck to be in the same room with Nick Pensieri in the flesh, and kept shooting him glances as they set up the table, whispering to each other. The men didn't have the polish of actors, models, or anyone who spent time in front of the camera, so Nick assumed they were associated with the business end of things, managers, agents, or people who worked for them.

"I'm sorry, but we don't know your names?" he inquired politely as they were beginning. "I'm Nick, and this is Sumire," he added.

The women laughed, because of course they all knew Nick's name. "I'm Mandy," one of them said. She had shoulder length brown hair. "And this is Rachel." Rachel had blonde hair in a casual beach wave. "And that's Danny and Larry." Danny and Larry were of a size, though Danny had black curly hair, and Larry had sandy, reddish hair that was in a pony tail.

Once they got going, Nick could see that Sumire hadn't been joking; she was good. She knew how to set up her shots, how to follow through, and how to use her stick to check angles.

He could also see that Danny and Larry were checking her out as she leaned across the table to do these things, and that, her jeans and shirt, instead of covering her up, actually drew attention to the lines of her body and gave them a perfect map of her shape and size.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

Rachel and Mandy were scantily clad in what Nick liked to call "Why not?" outfits, as in you got the feeling that their answer to anyone propositioning them would probably be "Why not?" Their skirts were short, their tops were tight and skimpy, they were showing plenty of skin, but they were kind of meaty and disgusting next to the woman he'd brought with him, he thought.

He watched Sumire line up her shot, concentrating, and he could see the loveliness in the arching of her brows, the lining up of her slim hips with her shoulders, the bit of her neck that showed under her bun--

He moved to stand between her and Larry, blocking his line of sight.

And even though Sumire was completely wrapped up in the game, she must have realized she was being watched on some level, because when she was finished she walked around the table to stand next to Nick instead of simply standing next to the wall, which would've been the logical thing to do.

He wanted to put an arm around her, but he knew better, so he did the usual and touched her elbow. She moved into his touch slightly.

"Whew, is it hot in here, or is it just me?" Mandy asked, unbuttoning her blouse and revealing the  spaghetti strap cami underneath. It barely covered her, and her nipples showed plainly against the sheer material.

Nick took a deep breath and rolled his eyes, turning toward Sumire so his back was partially toward the room.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Why?" she asked, taking a sip of her wine. "This is you, isn't it? Your MO? I mean, I've been at your house enough times as parties are ending, you know?"

This stopped Nick in his tracks.

She was right. Normally, he'd be all over a girl like that, her or her friend. Maybe even both of them, if he was in the mood. What was different about tonight? Why did he feel the need to apologize to Sumire about her, anyway?

"Nick, if you want go off with her, or if you even want to take her home, I don't care, you know that, right?" Sumire asked, looking into his eyes. "Don't hold back on my account. That's what this whole 'being friends' business is all about, right?"

"Right," he responded. He nodded for emphasis.

"Nick, you're up," Danny called from behind them.

As he stepped up to the table, he saw Danny's eyes flick to Sumire, who was still behind him, his eyes roving from her head to her toes and back up again, and he had to fight back the urge to walk up to him and punch him in the face. He grasped his cue stick, hard, and surveyed the table as if he cared about his next shot.

"Bathroom break, okay guys?" Sumire called. "I'll be back before my turn."

Once she was out of the room, Nick didn't have to worry about skeevy Larry and Danny staring at his friend, at least, and he was able to concentrate on his shot. He took it and stepped back, indicating he was finished. He grabbed his beer and finished it in one, long drink, debating going out for another. He decided he'd wait for Sumire and get her another at the same time and leaned against the wall, watching Larry take his shot.

Larry was shitface drunk, he decided. He could barely hold the cue stick straight.

Suddenly Rachel was standing front of him, smiling wetly, lasciviously, way inside his personal space.

"Hey, Nick Pensieri," she said in a breathy whisper.

"Hey, Rachel," he responded, his voice normal. He couldn't back up, as he was already against the wall.

"You know, Mandy and I wouldn't normally come to a party in this zip code, but we heard you might be here, so, well, here we are!" she said in the same weird whisper.

"Yes, here you are," he agreed. "Nice to meet you."

Suddenly, they were joined by Mandy herself, who came and slung an arm around her friend, breathing scotch fumes into Nick's face, as she, too, stood so close, too close.

"What are you two whispering about over here, hm?" she asked conspiratorially.

"No one's whispering," Nick assured her. "Just small talk."

"Nick." Mandy said, leaning in even further, so her ample bosom brushed against his chest. "Nick Nick Nicky Nick. You wanna get busy with us? Hm? We are so fucking fun, you know? Anything you can imagine, we can do, yup." She nodded for emphasis, by now standing so close that her hair brushed against his face.

"Yeah, Nick," Rachel added, pulling her cami down so he could get an eyeful of her breasts. "You can fuck us, or suck us, or tie us up and beat us, whatever the fuck you want."

And now Nick did put his hands on them, he had no choice. He put a palm on each of their shoulders and pushed them back, gently. He was aware that they were both severely inebriated, and the last thing he needed was for them to fall over and get hurt.

They each took an unwilling step back, their inviting looks being replaced by ones of confusion. Nick gave himself just enough room to step away from the wall, and he took a deep breath of what felt like fresh air.

"What's the matter Nick?" Rachel asked. "We know you're into this, we've heard all about you."

He shrugged. "Sorry, ladies, not tonight. Maybe I--" he looked around. "Where are Larry and Danny?"

"They wanted to go after that lame piece of ass you brought, for some reason," Mandy told him with a shrug of her own. "They left. They--"

Nick didn't stay to hear what else she had to say. He was out the door and off like a shot down the hallway. He ran into Carol in the kitchen, where she was chopping strawberries for a fresh pitcher of margaritas.

"Where's your bathroom?"

"Well, there's one down this hall, but I think there's a line," she told him. "I told Sumire to go use the one in our bedroom. Upstairs, second door on the right?"

Oh dear god.

Nick took the stairs two at a time.

Oh dear god.