Getting Over Cameron Grey

8 | A Sleuth Tends To Be Shady

I can't decide if I like this or hate this.

The second floor was unexpectedly calm, which made a little bit of sense since there were less people. The music they played there wasn't anything that people could dance to, but the kind of music that you'd just want to kick back and relax to. The VIP section was filled with C-listers: fashion models, record producers, one-hit wonders and the like. I was surprised by how familiar Cody seemed with so many people there. I was even more surprised by his ability to smile. But I was most surprised by his nonchalance towards people mistaking me for his girlfriend. There was one guy in particular (Joe? Joel? Jules?), a producer who didn't look like a producer at all, who ended the conversation with a gracious, "See you around, Cody, and again – you and your girl – beautiful couple, man. Love it."

I maintained my forced smile until Jude was out of earshot. Then I turned my attention to Cody. "What's up with that? That's like the third person to call me your girlfriend. Do people honestly not believe that men and women can be friends anymore?"

"To be honest, I didn't notice at all. I'm still stuck on what Amara said earlier. What was it that she said? You remember?" A teasing grin spread across his face and I couldn't roll my eyes any harder. "Just... something about my voice? And how you..."

"You're so annoying." I groaned out of embarrassment, much to his childish joy. "Anyways, where's Amara? I keep losing track of her."

"Over there." He vaguely gestured to a corner with a nod, but I spotted them quickly after that.

The second floor was filled with these funny egg loveseats. They looked a bit like the ones you'd see in a movie, the kind that an evil mastermind turns around dramatically in while petting an equally evil white Persian cat. They were a little wider than that, though, supposedly wide enough to fit a couple. Cody and I tried sitting in one together since there was a complete lack of seating, but at some point he stood and let me stretch out. My feet were aching from my heels but I refused to complain. But Amara and Marlon looked cozy. She was cradling one of his arms to his chest while he gripped one of her legs as if it were his own. I sincerely hoped that she wasn't planning on going home with him, since she was my ride there. I watched them for a moment before looking back up at Cody, who had an elbow propped on the top of my egg chair. "Is this bad?"

"Is what bad?"

"Is it bad for you to... like, talk to clients? Outside of the case, I mean."

"Mm, it's not preferred. But it's bound to happen when you're working within a smaller community. I don't think about it too much. If it gets unprofessional at some point then I handle it then." He wasn't a fan of eye contact, I noticed. He was always looking somewhere other than me. He seemed very interested in something in Marlon and Amara's direction, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Has it ever gotten unprofessional?"

He hesitated. Then, with an intriguing amount of heaviness in his voice: "One time."

"Oh my God, was it a girl? Am I allowed to ask that? Or was it like a fight? It's kind of risky doing surveillance on people, I'll bet, especially if you're supposed to keep watch on some big burly guy and you get caught."

"No, no. Not a fight. It... it was a girl, kind of. You could say it had to do with a girl."

"Can I ask what happened? Like the gist of it? Probably not, right?"

"I could tell you." 

"But you're not going to." I finished. I tried to make the disappointment obvious with the vain hope that he'd cave in and tell me what happened.