"I really just want to go back to the hotel, okay?" Sumire's voice was quiet, nearly inaudible on the street outside the club. The three of them were standing on the sidewalk somewhere in Greenwich Village, while Nick and Darcie tried to convince Sumire to come in with them.

"Come on, just for a minute," Darcie cajoled, smiling. "It's brand new, with a 1920s vibe, and I think they serve real absinthe, supposed to be so cool!" Her look got serious for a minute. "We won't stay long, just a quick drink, no dancing or anything. I think it would be good for you to just unwind for ten minutes, you know?" She turned to Nick. "Tell her, Nicky. We're not going to get crazy, just relax before we head back."

"Darcie's right, Purple girl," Nick encouraged. "Nothing weird, just a drink, then back to the hotel." He put a light hand on Sumire's forearm for a quick second. "You need to get out among people, I think. It reminds you that there's a normal world out there, with regular people doing regular things."

Sumire bit her lip. "Nick," she began. "You know I don't like this kind of stuff. Please just let me grab a cab back to the Plaza, then you two can stay as long as you like, how about that? I'm not really dressed for going out, anyway--" she gestured to herself, to her jeans and chambray shirt.

"Oh, come on, Sumire, we're not, either," Darcie interrupted her.

"Yeah, but you two look like you belong here," Sumire said with a wry smile. To prove her point, she looked behind her, where the bouncer was waiting for them, the rope unhooked. On his other side, the line waiting to get in stretched around the block, at least a hundred people long. For Nick Pensieri and his beautiful sister, of course, such lines didn't matter.

And whomever their skinny, plain-Jane guest might be with the severe bun and glasses, of course.

"Have you ever had absinthe?" Darcie asked.

Sumire shook her head.

"It's so fun," Darcie enthused. "You can get it cold, just with sugar, which is the traditional way, or you can get set on fire, which is so pretty with the green color of the absinthe. Come on, let's go in, have one, then go back to the hotel and watch a movie, okay?" She pulled on Sumire's arm, which Sumire reluctantly let her pull.

"Welcome, Mr. Pensieri," the bouncer said with a toothy smile. Of course the usual cover charges were waived for someone like Nick and his "guests," and they were shown right to a table, where they ordered their drinks.

All reluctance notwithstanding, Sumire looked around with interest once they were inside; she'd never been in a club or an absinthe bar or whatever this place was. It was beautiful, all teak and brass, with understated music and beautiful people.

Nick sat between the two women, hoping that this would keep the random women who always hit on him in public at bay, and that he could keep the creeps who always came after his sister away also. Not that she usually needed any help in that department. Darcie could shut down guys faster than just about any girl he'd ever seen.

Sumire excused herself to the bathroom, and, as tended to happen in establishments where alcohol was consumed, some men watched her walk by. They checked her out after she passed to get a better view of her posterior, not because she looked particularly good, but merely because she was female; they'd been drinking, and were predisposed to look at any ass that walked by.

Nick watched this happen, and sat up, his hackles rising, gripping the edge of the table tightly. Darcie saw his knuckles whiten and felt him tense up next to her and shook her head at him. She laughed as she nudged his shoulder with her own.

"Getting a little jealous of people checking out your friend's ass?" she teased. "All those platonic feelings choking you a little?"

Nick turned to stare at his sister. "Don't think you're too old or too big for me to spank," he retorted. "Sumire's really sensitive about this shit, please don't fuck things up between us, okay?"

"Yeah, right, she's really sensitive," Darcie snorted, shaking her head again.

"She is, and she's coming back already, so shut the fuck up," he admonished, shaking his hair back and trying to put a neutral look on his face.

Their drinks arrived just as Sumire did, and their server set the sugar cubes alight for them.

"Oh, neat!" Sumire exclaimed, putting her hands together with a smile.

"Right? I told you!" Darcie answered.

They waited until the sugar melted through, and the flames burned out, then sipped the very strong drinks.

"Whoa, this is going to knock me on my ass," Sumire declared. "Yummy, though, isn't it?"

And, though they'd only planned to have one drink, they ended up ordering another round. Sumire stopped after two, and Darcie after three, but Nick ended up having four, and even after all of them, he was still fuming at his sister's remarks. He was not in love with Sumire, dammit. She was a fucking friend. And that was fucking all.

And he would prove it to her, dammit.

A very slinky girl with long blonde hair, no bra and pointy nipples came and leaned on their table to talk to Nick, ignoring Darcie and Sumire completely.

"Hello there," she slurred, her glittering gold jump suit sparkling under the lights. "I made a bet with my girlfriend over there that you're not that guy who made the bank heist movie last year? Nick Pensieri? You're not him, are you?"

Nick beamed at her. "Yup, that's me."

The girl turned and gave her friends a thumbs up. "Well, that's just great. The girl in the floral jacket? That's my friend Bernadette, she bet that you were him, so now I have to buy all of them a round." Slinky girl gave a small smile of self-commiseration to Nick.

Next to him, Nick felt Darcie shake her head slightly, and when he turned to look at her, he saw her roll her eyes.

He narrowed his eyes at his sister.

He looked back at Slinky girl.

"Tell you what," he said to her. "How about if I buy all of you guys a round? I'd hate to think I cost anyone as pretty as you a round of drinks."

Slinky girl perked up immediately, making her breasts bounce under the gold fabric. "Really? You'd do that? There's six of us. You wouldn't mind?"

Nick again looked at his sister before turning back to look at the tipsy young woman in front of him. He shook his head, flashing his famous smile. "Wouldn't mind at all. In fact," he said as he rose, "it would be my pleasure."

He turned toward Sumire, who'd been watching the whole exchange with no expression on her face. "Would you mind letting me out?"

Wordlessly, she scooted out and rose so Nick could get out.

Nick walked over to the group of women and was immediately enveloped into them, swallowed up like a fish into a bait ball of sardines.

Sumire sat back down and scooted in, a bit closer to the middle so she could talk to Darcie.

"Don't worry," Darcie said, looking over at her brother. "He's just doing this because he's pissed at me, at something I said. He'll be back in a few minutes."

Sumire shook her head. "I'm not worried," she responded. "Nick's a grown man, he can do what he likes." She looked at Darcie. "I've never seen him this, uh, impaired before, though. He's not in any danger, right? Of being robbed or anything? Is that a stupid question?"

Darcie looked at the smaller woman. "No, it's not. It's nice of you to be concerned for him, actually. It's more than most of his friends would do, to be honest." She looked over at where Nick was basically being felt up by six different women. "He's been in this situation enough to know what to do, drunk off his ass or not, I think."

Just when the two women were getting ready to leave, Nick wove his unsteady way over to where they were sitting. The other women had departed, leaving Nick alone with Slinky girl.

"Ladies?" he said, leaning on the table. "My new friend and I are going to retire someplace a little more private, so I came to say good night."

Darcie stood up. "Hold on a sec, there, bro. You weren't thinking of going back to the Plaza, were you?"

Nick looked at her, eyes bleary. "Well, yeah, not that it's any of your business. Why? What do you care?"

"Nick!" Darcie gestured to herself and Sumire, who had remained seated. "Where are we supposed to go, then, hunh? We were going to go back and go to bed, you know?"

Nick blinked, digesting this new information. "Oh. Yeah, I didn't think of that. So sorry. You're right. So sorry, sister, Sumire. My friend and I will seek accommodations elsewhere." He gave a slight bow and nearly fell over.

Darcie shook her head. "Nicky, please tell me you have condoms?"

Nick raised a forefinger. "Once again, you are right, o wise sister. I foresee a trip to a drug store in my near future."

Darcie shook her head again. "Come on, Sumire, hopefully stupidity isn't contagious. Let's get out of here."

Sumire rose and gathered her things.

"Oyasuminasai, Nick-san," she said in a soft voice, with a slight bow.

Nick just stared at her.

🤢🍎⛈🍎⛈🍎⛈🍎⛈🍎🤢

The hot, steamy weather finally broke the next day, and they awoke to cooler temperatures, thunder, and rain. Nick came rolling in while Darcie and Sumire were eating breakfast in their suite, looking kind of like a drowned and nauseated rat, very green around the gills.

He went straight to the bathroom without saying anything, and they could hear the shower running. The girls just smiled at each other and continued eating.

Nick emerged half an hour later, dressed in fresh clothes, looking a little better, hair combed and freshly shaven. He poured himself some coffee and sat down in a chair by the window.

"Good morning, bro," Darcie offered. "Feeling okay?"

"Feeling great," he answered.

"Um, you know, next time you have a beef with me, maybe you could just take it out on me, and not drag Sumire into it, okay?" Darcie began, setting her coffee cup down as she threw down the gauntlet.

Nick and Sumire both looked at her in astonishment.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"What are you talking about?" Sumire asked at the same moment.

"I'm just saying that she went through a huge, emotional shake up a couple days ago," Darcie continued. "She's very fragile right now, you know? And you are arguably her closest friend, certainly in the city. Not counting me, whom she just met, you might be her only friend in New York, you know? And you just got totally shitfaced and abandoned her in the Village last night so you could go out and party with some bimbo you just met!"

Darcie had gone from zero to a hundred in about ten seconds. Sumire was shocked.

"Wait a second, Darcie," she interrupted. "I'm fine with what Nick did, really. If you're upset about it, that's between you and him, okay?"

"Oh, and Darce? For the record? The girl? Her name was Victoria." Nick smirked. "I remembered."

Darcie rose and stared at Nick, eyes narrowed. "Well. Good for you. I guess you showed me, didn't you? Well done, Nicky."

Sumire poured herself a second cup of coffee and took a sip after she added cream.

Nick wondered why he felt the urge to apologize to her.