Safe and Sane

He'd decided to visit Rumors on a night that, hopefully, it wouldn't be as busy and he'd have an actual chance of talking to Mona. Not that he really knew what the "club scene" was like in Boulder or that Rumors counted as part of it.

Black paints and coat, crisp white shirt. Nice shoes. Good lord, it had been awhile since he'd done this sort of thing. He paused just inside the doorway to let his eyes get adjusted and to get the lay of the land as it were.

The club had been transformed. The main room was no longer recognizable as a lounge; it had been made over with mood lighting and subtle decorations. On one end there was a huge buffet, the bar was open and tended. There was even room for dancing on a small wooden floor that had been laid down on the opposite end of the room. Scattered about were bowls of candy of all kinds.

One of the smaller lounges hosted traditional party games -- bobbing for apples, donuts on a string, even a table set up for carving small gourds and pumpkins. A few of the private play rooms on the main level had also been opened, set up for groups or exhibitionism, but as in previous year that wasn't the focus of the night. And, in case anyone had forgotten a costume or hadn't been able to find one, the smallest public lounge was being used as sort of a large wardrobe.

A large poster in the hallway announced the categories for the costume contest: scariest, funniest, the most creative, best couple or group, and -- of course -- the sexiest.

Boulder seemed to have decided to skip fall, and go straight for winter. Snow had been falling since the previous night, and most of the day. Not serious snow, but 8 inches or so was enough to cause problems on the roads. Mostly because it was the first snow of the year, and that, combined with maximum temperatures below freezing, was enough to keep a lot of people indoors.

It all meant that the cafe was quieter than usual that Wednesday night. Hallowe'en banners were draped over the counter, and a small squash had been carved and placed on each table, candles flickering inside them, adding their tiny warmth to the heating that fought against the snow.

The weather had been up and down -- freezing cold, not bad, and, if the forecasters were correct, outright pleasant for the rest of the week. The crew at the coffee shop had given up trying to predict what was going to sell and had decided to just offer everything up. Hot, spiced, cold, chocolate. If you wanted it, you could have it.

He'd been in town for more than a month now and the office was completely set up and organized. He'd even had a few walk-in customers, which he always counted as a win. With things humming along, he was able to take evenings off without feeling guilty.

He grabbed a drink and a newspaper and found a comfortable chair in the corner of the lounge.

Another Wednesday, another munch night. Evenings were beginning to draw in, with fall nipping at the air, temperatures beginning to drop as soon as the sun had sunk below the horizon. The cafe had responded with a range of spiced coffees, hot soup, and cookies and muffins still warm from the oven.

And, of course, the infamous chili spiced hot chocolate.

At last. The final element of Beth's venture was ready to open, the gallery ready to her satisfaction and Jason's, and displaying (after a certain amount of discussion) a selection of pieces created by each of the artists who would later be holding their own show in the gallery.

The cafe was brightly lit against the dull weather outside, and the store was still open downstairs, but the focus for today was on the gallery, the seating area at one end, and the works on display (and sale) there.

Another week, another Wednesday, another buy-one-get-one-free offer on all hot drinks from the cafe. Coming up to the full moon, the weather was uniformly dull, cloudy, and warm, long days with no rain, long nights too warm to really sleep, tempers were beginning to fray among the staff.

Gabriel was nothing if not organized. (After all, anything arranged by a disorganized travel agent just ended in disaster). So when he'd decided to open the third office, he'd made a thorough study of all the potential cities, pros and cons, both business and personal. Boulder had gotten a definite check in the pro column because of one thing: The Power Company. He'd heard of it from friends and knew the club came highly recommended.

With everything on his business "to do" list for the day checked off, he made his way to the club. He'd sent an introductory e-mail to the couple who ran it and had been offered a tour in return. He was a bit early but the woman at the desk invited him to wait in the lounge until it was time.

Gabriel looked around, and, noticing the bar, went over to claim a bottle of water.