I resisted the urge to grab the entire pitcher from her, and instead simply held out my glass for a refill. With a major effort, I did my best to comply with her suggestion and sipped it slowly. It lasted a little longer that way, and did seem to have a greater effect.
“That’s better,” she said, refilling the glass again without being asked. “So. Did you have a good time last night?”
I paused in mid-sip, trying to force my brain to function.
“To be honest with you, Bunny, I don’t know,” I admitted at last.
“I’m not sure I follow you.”
“What I remember was okay,” I said, “but after a certain point in the evening, everything’s a blank. I’m not even sure exactly when that point was, for that matter. Things are a bit jumbled in my mind still.”
“I see.”
For a moment, Bunny seemed about to say something else, but instead she pursed her lips and wandered over to the window where she stood staring out.
My head was clearing now, to a point where I felt almost alive, and I decided it was time to try to set things right.
“Um . . . Bunny? About last night . . . I’m sorry I left you standing like that, but Vic had set up the date for me, and there was no real way to back out gracefully.”
“Of course, the fact that she was quite a dish had nothing to do with it,” Bunny commented with a grimace.
“Well …”
“Don’t worry about it, Skeeve,” she said quickly, waving off my reply. “That’s not what’s bothering me, anyway.”
“What is?”
She turned to face me, leaning back on the windowsill.
“It’s the same thing that’s been bothering me ever since I arrived for this assignment,” she said. “I haven’t wanted to say anything, because it’s really none of my business. But if what you say about last night is true …”