“There’s nothing to it, really,” I told my partner with a smile. “Talk to me.”
It isn’t often I catch my old mentor totally by surprise . . . I get him upset on a fairly regular basis, but total surprise was a real rarity. This was one of those golden times.
“Say WHAT?” Aahz exclaimed loudly.
“Trust me, Aahz,” I insisted. “I know what I’m doing. Just talk to me. Tell me a story. How did you first meet Garkin?”
“Oh, that,” he said, rolling his eyes expressively. “Well, we were at the same boring cocktail party, see . . . you know, one of those dreary affairs where the crowd has you pinned against the wall and you get stuck talking to whatever the tide washes up against you? Anyway, he was trying to impress some little bit of fluff with his magic, which really wasn’t all that hot in those days … let me tell you, partner, anytime you start getting depressed with your lack of progress in the magic business, remind me to tell you what your old teacher Garkin was like when we first met. But, as I was saying, out of respect for the craft, I just had to wander over and show them what the real stuff looked like . . . not that I had any interest in her myself, mind you….”
I felt Guido tugging on my pantleg.
“Say, Boss,” he complained. “What is this? I thought we were in a hurry.”
“This is what we needed the time for,” I whispered back.
“For this he grumbled. “But Boss, if we don’t get started . . .”
“We’re started,” I answered. “Now pay attention to what he’s saying.”
I was afraid our side comments might have distracted Aahz, but I needn’t have worried. As per normal, once my partner got on a verbal roll, he wasn’t that easy to stop.