Shortly after the girls began dancing the night away, Frank and Mark joined them. As the evening progressed, Frank and Coralis danced more closely. While on the dancefloor, Coralis' pager went off. She cursed and went to where the payphone was, by the bathrooms. Victoria knew that it had to be about work, but didn't say anything.
Frank could see her on the phone from where he was on the dancefloor. Seeing her facial expression, he became worried and went to her as the DJ put on a slow song, which didn't go unnoticed by Mark.
He caught the end of her conversation and heard her telling the person on the other end of the line that she'd be on her way, and saw her hanging up the phone with force, nearly breaking the receptacle.
"Is everything okay?" said Frank, leaning against the wall by the payphone.
Coralis was surprised to see him there: she didn't sense him coming and wondered how much he heard of her conversation.
"Do you absolutely have to leave now?" continued Frank, stepping closer.
She was relieved to see that it was all he caught of the entire conversation. She knew that she wouldn't voice out sensitive information when surrounded by humans, but accidents happen. When overwhelmed with things that were seemingly out of her control, she could have let something slip by accident.
"Yes, I have to. I am not ditching you to have fun elsewhere, don't you worry," said Coralis, facing him, her left hand on his shoulder. "This isn't against you."
Coralis wanted to stay longer, enjoying being surrounded by people who had no ulterior motives against her. Frank was glad that he caught the end of her conversation, so he trusted that she wasn't trying to avoid him and was truthful about the little he knew about her work. She wasn't happy about having to leave at this moment.
"Is that so?" said Frank, bringing his left hand behind her ear.
"Are you doubting me? You'll catch me again, I'm sure," said Coralis, looking at his eyes.
He brought his lips to hers, and she responded to his kiss as he pulled away. He passed his other hand around her waist, and she stepped closer to him, his tongue searching for hers and exploring.
She parted from him after a minute and headed to the bar, where Victoria was, and gave $200 to the bartender to cover their drinks. Victoria had been watching the scene between Coralis and Frank from the corner of her eyes.
"Anything you're not telling me?" said Victoria.
"Work called. I can't talk about it here, but yes, I have to go," said Coralis, turning around to leave.
"That's not what I'm talking about," said Victoria, looking at her friend.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'll call you before moving day," said Coralis before leaving.
While Coralis walked to the bar to talk to Victoria, Frank saw that his friends had left the dancefloor so he returned to their table, thinking about what had just happened. He didn't want to forget it. His friends had watched the entire scene.
"I knew it," said Maribel, smirking while looking at him.
"You and Coralis?" said Carlos.
Frank just shrugged, watching Coralis as she left the bar. Victoria got back to their table with drinks.
"Please be honest Vic," said Mark as he picked up his beer, "did you know about Frank and your friend Coralis?"
"I truly don't know more than you do, Mark," said Victoria. "Frank, I saw what I saw and clearly, there is something we all missed… you and Coralis?"
"I don't know. I like her, yes, but I wouldn't say there is anything between us at this point, I guess we'll see," said Frank.
"Bruh, come on! The way you kissed her, and she didn't object to it, there's got to be something you ain't telling us. That was quite the parting kiss."
"You saw that?" said Frank, looking at Carlos and Mark. "We kissed when we saw each other about a month ago and barely spoke since, so I don't know."
"Wait, you're talking about the time she arrived at my dorm 5 hours after I told her that I was back?" said Victoria.
"Yeah, uh, that time."
"Look," said Victoria, looking at Maribel before returning her attention to Frank, "we have known Coralis since we were 10 so we know her very well. Coralis does not lead people on. I don't even care who kissed who first. If she kissed you back, twice, it means she likes you."
"Unless I missed something in recent years… it's not something that typically happens," said Maribel.
"You did miss a lot, but not on that. I mean, there was Veronica, but you know that doesn't count," said Victoria.
"Who is Veronica?" asked Frank, frowning. "She never mentioned a Veronica when talking about her previous relationships."
"And she even spoke about that? Trust me, she is no threat to you," said Victoria, Maribel grinning next to her.
"Shit, now I want to meet Veronica," said Mark.
"You think you do, but you really don't. Frank, I honestly think that you and Coralis are good news but please, do not get offended if she isn't responding right away or if you don't hear from her for a few days. With Coralis, it's really not about whether she loves her work more than you. I know what I saw. She likes you, clearly, or she would NEVER have let you get that close to her, TWICE," said Victoria.
"So basically, that's the catch? The girl likes him but is unavailable. The elusive girlfriend," said Carlos.
"Literally," said Maribel, glancing at Victoria. "Well… almost literally."