AJ really, really liked it here.
Here, in general, and here in particular, in a booth with Heike right next to him, and Brian and Nick looking envious. Heike was blonde and creamy and gorgeous, and who needed a common language anyway?
Still, AJ had picked up a few things. He lent towards her, looked right into her big blue eyes and said, "Gib mir ein Kissen." He wasn't quite sure about the grammar, because German was a bitch that way, but the message was clear enough.
Heike's blue eyes iced over, she reached behind her for one of the skinny leather cushions, and swung it round right into AJ's face. By the time he'd stopped blinking, she was gone. Brian and Nick took a while longer to stop laughing, though.
Huh.
Oh well, plenty more girls.
By the end of the evening he was baffled, and a bit sore. What was it with German girls, anyway? They'd smile at him and giggle and be all kinds of eager to slide in next to him, but ask for one little kiss and they went psycho.
"On your own tonight, Bone?" Howie asked as they rode up in the elevator.
"Eh," said AJ, and explained that the girls here were weird. He'd done better before, when he hadn't even tried to talk to them.
"Hmm," Howie said, as they walked along the corridor to their room. "AJ, have you ever heard of 'false friends'?"
"Huh?" Brian and Nick, maybe? They'd thought the whole situation was hilarious. But he had a feeling that wasn't what Howie meant.
"Yeah. You were asking the girls to give you a cushion. What you needed to ask them for was a cushion."
"Wait? What?"
"K-ü-s-s-c-h-e-n," said Howie. "Gib mir ein Küsschen. Give me a kiss."
AJ looked at Howie, and thought about it. Well, he could do worse.