"Doing grand, Mr. Gilroy. And yourself, sir?"
"I'm always great, Frank! Business is booming!"
Frank chuckled as if that was some sort of inside joke. Red shook his hand again and got in the cab with them.
"That Frank's a caution," he told Mara. "He's been doorman there for what, the last twenty years?"
"Hell, more like thirty, I'll bet," Cole answered him. "I remember him from when I was a kid. Dad knows him well."
"Is Belle his wife?" Mara asked.
Both men burst out laughing, throwing their heads back in a simultaneous expression of glee. "No," Cole sputtered. "She's his goat. She just gave birth to twins."
"Oh," Mara giggled. "So you literally meant kids. Oh, my!"
They pulled up to a restaurant that looked like it was covered in palm thatch. Mara's experienced eye could pick out the concrete structure beneath it, but it was very cleverly concealed to blend in. Discrete neon script to the left of the door told her they had just reached the Cabina del Sol.
A doorman opened the door and they were greeted with very unexpected music. Hard hammering guitar, bass and drums hit her like a tall, cold wave.
"Papa Roach?" She glanced around for the band.
"No, but a damn good imitation, wouldn't you say? They do their own stuff too. It's one of the bands I've been promoting," Red told her. "Not exactly typical dinner music, but this isn't the typical dinner crowd either."
They walked into the dining area. Small tables were scattered around a dance floor. The band played loudly, a mirror ball spinning above their heads. Several young couples danced in front of them, obviously enjoying the hard rock sound. They were mostly of the tattooed, pierced lip crowd. The song ended and another began without a break. This time it was more of an Eighties rock tune. It wasn't much to Mara's taste, but it had a good beat and the dancers enjoyed it.
"They take requests right now," Red told her. "Anything you want to hear?"
"Not at the moment. I'll think of something eventually," she smiled. "I see what you meant that business is booming." She giggled.
Cole bumped Red aside with his hip so he could help Mara with her chair. Red chuckled, settling across the table from her, allowing Cole the place of honor next to her.
A buxom waitress in a skimpy, black outfit walked over to their table, handing them menus with a smile. "Hi, guys. What can I get you and the lady?"
"Hi, Candy," Cole grinned in return. "The usual for us. Mara?"
"Oh. What do you recommend?" she asked Candy. "Do you have a house special?"
"Well, not really. We sell a lot of those drinks with the little pink umbrellas. But that's mostly the tourist crowd who like them. I've got just the thing." She grinned.
"Great! Surprise me!"
The band was now playing electronic dance music that Mara didn't recognize.
"What strikes your fancy, Mara? Do you like seafood?" Cole asked.
"I eat just about anything," she grinned. "As long as it's not kicking or bleeding, I'm willing to try it."
"Same thing apply to the men in your life?" Cole quipped, then looked a little embarrassed.
"Way to stick your foot in your mouth, Cole!" Red clapped him on the back. "That's his none too subtle way of asking if you're seeing anyone," Red translated. "As a man who is firmly in a committed relationship, I would never venture to ask. Cole, on the other hand, is a free agent." He winked at his friend's consternation.
"Thanks, Red. I'll remember to tell Becky that next time I talk to her."
"Go ahead, she knows how I feel about her. Why the woman won't marry me, I truly do not know."
"Have you asked her?" Mara couldn't help herself.
"Lately?" Red thought about that a minute. "Not for a few months. I'm due to ask again when I get home, I think. Maybe this time she'll come to her senses, and say yes."
"And maybe," Cole interjected, "she'll come to her senses, and move out."
"You'd know better than I would," Red was devoting his attention to the band, casually ignoring Cole. "She's your sister."
"No one ever said good sense ran in our family," Cole said, nudging his friend.
Candy came back with their drinks. "What can I get you for dinner?" She waited patiently for them to place their orders.
"What's the house special tonight?" Red asked.
"You don't want the special," she told them, wrinkling her nose. "Randy picked the special. I'm supposed to push it, but Chef Brady says if he gets too many orders, he's quitting."
"So what's the special?" he persisted.
"Meatloaf and all the fixings. You can get that at home, why eat out?"
"Forget that then. How about three of Chef's Specials?"
"With everything?"
"The works," Cole told her. "Tell Brady we've got a virgin out here for him. Have him knock himself out."
©2021 Dellani Oakes
To Buy Dellani's Books https://www.amazon.com/Dellani-Oakes/e/B007ZQCW3A/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
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