"It could be a matter of preference, if not cost," he said, looking around again.
The number of people present caused Errol's previous exuberance to dim slightly. His enjoyment of the night was still there, but his inherent paranoia was beginning to reassert itself. The entire situation was almost overwhelming: an event that would have been by its very nature a death sentence for everyone involved in his previous life. He had stopped looking for informants in every unfamiliar face some time ago given the nature of his job at the bookstore, but the conflicting feelings of wanting badly to be here and wanting to be as far away as possible were difficult to reconcile.
He realized that he was tensing himself when the applause brought him out of it, the sudden rise in noise snapping his head around. "I need a drink," he told Fred quietly.