Lisa heard Kendall let out an ear-piecing squeal and looked up to see her waving across the room to one of her friends. She recognised the other girl vaguely. Some model. Must have met her at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit party last month. Or maybe the after-party of the Victoria Secret fashion show? Lisa couldn't remember. They all ran together.
She couldn't quite remember what the girl's name was either. Some letter of the alphabet... Gigi? Bebe? Mimi? But of course the girl remembered Lisa's name. "Lisa!" she shouted as she approached, ignoring the other three people at the table.
Lisa had her arm around Jennie, but the other girl didn't seem to notice as she came over to Lisa's side of the booth and plopped herself unceremoniously into Lisa's lap. "Oh my God, I looove Cristal!" she shrieked, picking up Lisa's half-finished glass and draining it.
Lisa shifted her weight, trying to ease her off her legs and onto the seat beside her. Always awkward, trying to get a girl out of your lap without offending her. This one wasn't taking the hint. Lisa felt Jennie slide away from her and shrug her arm off from around her shoulders. Shit. Lisa needed to adjust the seating arrangements. Fast.
Lisa leaned towards Jennie and shouted in the direction of her ear. "We should dance!"
"Go ahead!" she saw Jennie mouth back to her.
"Yes!" the girl in Lisa's lap shouted, jumping to her feet and grabbing her arm. She was trying to pull Lisa up out of the booth. She managed to extricate her arm and reached back, taking Jennie by the hand.
"Come with me!" Lisa yelled, as she slid Jennie towards the edge of the seat. This was good, Lisa thought. Dance with Jennie. She wanted to go dancing. This would not be unpleasant. And then maybe Lisa could suggest moving the party home after a song or two. "Come on!" Lisa shouted again.
Jennie allowed Lisa to pull her to her feet and started walking with Lisa towards the dance floor, with the lap-sitter a few paces ahead of them. They left the roped off VIP section and entered the main part of the club, and Gigi (Didi? Fifi?) reached back to grab onto the lapel of Lisa's jacket, forming a three-person chain as they made their way single file through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.
They were just reaching the heart of the dance floor when Lisa felt someone's full body weight come careening into her. She lost her balance and staggered, falling to one knee and losing her grip on Jennie's hand as she went down. Koko (Lolo? Lala? Aaahh... Aubrie! Pretty sure it was Aubrie!) turned back towards Lisa and grabbed her by the arm now, laughing as she hauled Lisa to her feet. Lisa looked back behind her in the direction Jennie had just been standing, but she couldn't see Jennie - only a wall of people, gyrating to the beat. Aubrie started dancing now, still holding onto Lisa's arm. She craned her neck, looking around in all directions, but it was no use. Where was Jennie?
"Did you see my friend?" Lisa shouted into Aubrie's ear. She took the opportunity when Lisa brought her head close to throw her arms around Lisa's neck and start undulating against her.
To hell with being polite. Lisa peeled her arms off of her and began pushing her way back off of the dance floor. Maybe Jennie had gone back the way they'd come. She forced her way through the crowd and back to the VIP section. The bouncers stepped aside to let her pass.
"Fuck!" Lisa swore out loud as she craned her neck to look inside at the booth where they'd all just been sitting.
Empty. No Bambam. No Kendall. And worst of all, no Jennie.
