excerpt from work in progress titled: "novel".

“Christ! You look like hell, Robbie.”
Louis turned towards the voice with his good eye.
“Henry.” Shit, shit, shit. Louis thought. This is going to complicate things. What the hell is he doing here?
“You look like the last time I kicked your ass.”
“Dream on, Henry. I’m still 3-0 with you.”
“C’mon, Robbie, that’s creative memory for sure.”
Henry stared at him for a sec.
“Christ, with your left and you look like this? Can only mean one thing.”
“Yeah.”
“There must have been more than one guy.”
“I tripped while doing the Tango.”
“Yeah, sure Robbie.”
“Robbie?” Nat broke in.
Henry turned and looked at Nat. Hmm, pretty woman, he thought.
“Yeah…,” Louis hesitated, “ah… Robbie. An old nickname. From an old friend.” He quickly silenced Henry with a look.
“Henry, can I have a minute with you?”
“Sure.”
“Nat, we’ll be right back, ok?”
“Uh-huh. No problem, Louis.”
“Order a couple of whiskeys and an extra glass of ice.”
Louis pointed to his all but closed eye, shrugged and grinned.
He then swept Henry off to the parking lot.
“Louis? Robbie’s a nickname? What the hell you got going on here?”
“Well, I can explain…I…o shit. Bottom line, Henry, I’ve escaped out of my old life. I got a new name, new bank account, new identity, new everything.”
Henry stared, with a gravity, a sense that he had all the time necessary to understand whatever it was Robbie was talking about. Louis stared back as if his explanation should suffice to clear everything up. He shrugged and gave him his best confidence smile.
There was a beat.
“I know the look, Henry.” He sighed, resigned. “There just isn’t the time right now.” He turned to go back inside. Hoping Henry would follow.
Henry remained rooted.
He spoke first. “I don’t give a fuck if you’re cheating on Suze. She was always a bitch to me anyways.”