"I was ... uh ... ordered to come here," I said.
"Really? By whom?" the second man asked.
"Well ... uh ... he didn't tell me his name. I met him at the dance hall that I work at."
The first man smiled. "Oh, I see. A little bit of entertainment."
"Uh, yeah. That's right." Since I thought that they were letting me in, I pushed on through, but then they stopped me again.
"Your kind isn't allowed here," the second man said. "Unless you work here. But you have to very good at what you do."
I looked past them. It was too late, I had lost track of the tall man and Suzie.
"You know what? Forget it," I said. I turned to leave.
"Hold on," the first man said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
"Sarus, you know the rules," the second man said. "Women like her aren't allowed. Unless they work here."
"Just this once? Come on."
The second man gave in. "Okay, fine. But after this, no more. Got it?"
"Sure," the first man (Sarus) said. He turned towards me. "It would be a shame to let you go to waste. I mean, since you won't be meeting the man you came here to see. You know?"
He took me further inside. Maybe this was a good thing. Sure, I'd have to hang around this guy. But maybe I would spot Suzie. And maybe even make contact.
