2 Maid in the Shade (9 page)

“Where are you going
?”

“I really can’t say exactly, the
Middle East, I’ll be moving from place to place. Trust me, the last thing I want to do is leave you after the day we’ve had. If I could send someone else I most definitely would.”

“
But you’re a venture capitalist, why venture there?” I asked.

“
I do a bit more than that. Venture capitalism was always the simplest way to label my work in the past. But I left the company just as you stopped answering my calls for a while and suddenly you had a new, may I say very odd job and a completely different life and actually so did I. With all you had going on my work was literally the last thing I was interested in discussing. But now I own an international, very specialized consulting firm.

I do tell people where to put their money and when it is safe to do so, with a slightly different emphasis on the “safe” part
. You read the news, you know more than one dictator has been overthrown, the people are moving toward some semblance of democracy throughout some regions?”

“
Of course I know that,” I said.

“
Global businesses are getting ready to pounce on all those countries as soon as it is practical. I’m to be their man on the ground, as it were, advising which governments have the best chance of success for my investors.”

“
But, why you? I never knew you were doing things like that.”

“
It’s a small firm, you knew I traveled for business, you knew I advised on start-ups and expansions. I speak several languages. The world has come to be a place where companies are more powerful than countries.” I’m traveling too much now, but it’s for us. I’m building it up while I look for someone to take over that part so I can spend more time with you.”

I
nodded doubtfully too concerned about the “for us” part at the moment. “You promise you won’t be in danger?”

“Of course, I told you I’m particularly well suited for this
work. Think of it this way, these regions are still considered high risk, so every possible scenario for my protection is mapped out in advance. Then consider what is going on here in the United States. People walk into their routine jobs, schools or shopping and suddenly there is a gunman mowing people down. No one is ever prepared for that in those places. But when I travel for business I have people waiting to ensure my protection and safe passage every step of the way. I’m safer there than I was just moments ago when you were trying to steal my virtue.” He smiled, “Wait, if I had exaggerated the danger wouldn’t you feel duty-bound to stay tonight?”

“Gah! I never knew you to be so underhanded. When were you going to tell me
?”

“I just found out this morning
. That’s the way this works, you prepare then wait. I was just planning to ask to see you tonight. Then you called and I made arrangements for our afternoon. Everything for my work is always organized for me by the client and overseen by my assistant.”

“Your chances of getting what you want are much better if you return in one piece, but I’ll drive you to the airport.”

He shook his head wistfully. “You can’t.”

“I can’t? What do you mean
?”

“This is very competitive line of work when it comes to new opportunities in those countries.
There are just a handful of us who do it but it is very cutthroat. I mean that figuratively of course. No one outside my company knows; only two there, and I won’t be flying commercial. But you can still stay the night with me,” he added hopefully.

“
Nope, I’ve already texted Lucy twice to look after Mosey today then I turned off my phone. I imagine she has an interrogation room set up for me. Water boarding at Gitmo would have been deemed unnecessary if the government had hired Lucy.” 

“
Well, I won’t see you for three weeks. I probably won’t be able to email or text but I’ll try to find a landline and call every two or three days if I’m able.”

I frowned,
“I understand companies and their need to keep their plans secret but this seems extreme. Just return to me.” I said, taking the remnant of lace from his lap and putting it securely in his pocket. “Call this incentive, like when boys go off to battle with pictures of their sweethearts. NOT that I am calling myself your sweetheart,” I said hastily, tucking my half in my own pocket. “But maybe I’ll let you see the replacement pair when you return safely.”

“
I do expect to see them, briefly, then on the floor,” Ben smiled. Then handed me his phone and said, “I carry around photos of my sweetheart. Check the pictures
in there.” 

I
scrolled through and saw pictures of me at Christmas, then on a sailboat laughing up at the camera, in a tree reading at their English estate. Guiltily, I remembered that I had told Jared once no one knew about my penchant for climbing trees. But I hadn’t technically told Ben; he caught me there with a book in the high crook of a tree eating an apple. When I looked down he was snapping a photo of me. I had thrown the apple at him in embarrassment which he caught handily. I remembered he had put the apple in his teeth, slung the camera around his neck and come up after me. We had spent the afternoon talking about books and plans and where we saw ourselves living someday and what the first thing we could ever remember wanting to be. I had read a book about female spies and watched countless documentaries about Jane Goodall, so I had already been torn between the two. Six years older than me, Ben had just been a member of the family I had hoped would stay awhile.

“
I remember that day,” I said tapping the picture to enlarge it, “you said the first thing you ever wanted to be was a lorry driver.”

“
You almost fell out of the tree laughing, I had to grab you,” he said smiling. “I couldn’t believe you got me up there at my age in the first place.”

B
en still had a wistful smile on his face as he pulled into the front of his building. As a valet started to move toward us Ben waved him away.

“
Unbuckle so you can be in the driver’s seat,” he said, removing his own. He jumped out of the Rover and came around to open my door.

A
s he walked me back he reached for the handle, and then stopped. Pressing me against the space between the two driver’s side doors where we were out of sight of the valet and front desk he leaned down for a kiss and I responded again with a scandalous hunger until suddenly it was broken and he was opening my door.

“
While you’re waiting for me, just remember, that’s just a short trailer for coming attractions. Once I return I’m adding staff and I won’t be going anywhere for a long time. Not anywhere without you.” he kissed me softly and buckled my seat belt. “We’ve been apart too much lately. Sure about not staying over?”

I
nodded weakly, fighting off the impulse to pull him into the car.

He
chuckled, grabbing my hand from its death grip on the steering wheel and he stroked my palm gently before dropping something into it. I couldn’t seem to take my eyes away from him to look down.

“
I’ll be back soon but in the meantime, here is an extra key to my place if you want to stay in the city awhile.”

T
hen he kissed me again and pulled the bit of turquoise lace from his pocket so it showed just slightly and winked.

I
waited, watching him walk into his building as I tried to remember how to start Bessless.

Facebook Post:
Is there a Rosetta Stone that covers many languages--just the swear words? Charlotte traffic makes me crazy. Also, it may be embarrassing to sit in a class constantly raising my hand to ask "How to you say "You stupid M*************** idiot, the sign says YIELD.” And by the way, “yield” does not mean "speed like you have a bleeding child in the back seat and you have a police escort to the hospital."

Chapter 4

A
s long as I was uptown I wanted to see Dallas. If I couldn’t get past his secretary Marge, at least he would know I made the attempt. I parallel parked near the square, fed the solar operated meter and popped into the lobby. It didn't bother me that I was going commando, a thong is just a hint above that anyway, and I do wash my clothes after I wear them, thank you very much. I stepped into the ladies room to freshen up. Then I approached the registry, signed in and the security guard waved me up into the sanctum of Goldberg, Helms and Micheaux.

I
whooshed up to the 22
nd
floor in luxurious silence and stepped out. The receptionist, Anne was ensconced behind a broad mahogany desk and peered at me curiously as I approached. “Dallas in today?” I asked confidently.

“
He is,” she said after glancing down at leather bound book where she penned the schedules of everyone who mattered. For some reason I found this comfortingly traditional, recording the comings and goings of everyone by hand. “I don’t see an appointment right now Gretchen, would you like to try and see him?”

“
Please,” I smiled, “I was in town and thought I would take a chance he might be available.”

S
he pressed a button and connected to Dallas’s secretary. “Marge, Gretchen Gallen is here if Dallas is still free.” 

I
went to a leather wing chair and sat down. In a matter of minutes Marge was briskly entering the lobby from the opposite entrance. Our eyes locked and she gave a slight nod before turning away, leaving me to follow meekly in her wake. We walked back to the corner office passing her desk in silence. Then she rapped on Dallas’s door and opened it. Immediately I was transported from the chilled and formal wide hallway into a warm smoky bear hug as Dallas pulled me into the room. He was a lean, wiry and wizened man but you forgot about that within seconds of meeting him. When you saw Dallas you felt his power and within seconds the enormity of his real stature 

“
Get in here gal! Want something to drink? Marge, get Gretchen a coffee and me…” he looked at his watch, “It’ gotta 5 pm. somewhere. Bring me a bourbon rocks.” Marge walked to the opposite side of the enormous office and poured his drink and delivered it precisely at the center of a coffee table.

D
allas guided me to a stuffed chair in the corner and sat himself down on a cracked but elegant leather one as he hunched down over the small coffee table and selected a cigar from an inlaid box.

“
I still can’t believe they let you smoke in here,” I smiled as he clipped and lit it.

He
waved at the ceiling grandly. “Had the sprinklers removed.”

“
You get away with murder.”

“
Haven’t tried yet, but possibly, yeah more than likely.”

He
tapped the cigar and his sharp knees began
a little jittery dance before he crossed and uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. He gave me an appraising look with delighted but concerned eyes as though searching for signs of recent injury. “You look good, girl,” he finally pronounced in a satisfied tone.

M
arge knocked lightly and came in, balancing a tray with my coffee in a porcelain cup, with a white china sweetener holder with a varied selection of sugars and a tiny pitcher of cream. Hugh, a partner and former friend of mine, slipped in behind her and strolled over to Dallas’s bar and began to sort through the various glasses until he found one suitable for some bourbon.

I
felt as though the marrow in every one of my bones had turned to frost. I stared at him; then forced myself to blink. I was suddenly self consciously aware of my very non-corporate attire. Not that I should care what he thought of my appearance. Hugh had dropped me from confidante and best work buddy to persona non grata right after I scored a big coup at the firm and before everyone else noticed my subsequent downward slide. I had to respect his nose for imminent failure, but I despised him for it too. He had avoided me well before my spiral became apparent to anyone else, but then, he had known me better than most. I don’t think I had exchanged a word with him in the months since he had come upon me, tense and white-knuckled, waiting to hear if the big merger I had initiated had gone through. It was hard to believe, looking back, that I had ever been reassured by his presence.

O
n what I could count as that last day of our friendship, shortly after Hugh had pressed almost a dozen pills into my hand, the merger had been approved. Once the good news had been relayed through Dallas, the late afternoon winter workday became an impromptu party. As both the guest of honor and the low man on the totem pole I had foolishly resorted to a second Xanax from Hugh before realizing the first hadn’t kicked in.

I
walked home to my condo that evening in a blur. That is, until my world was thrown into sharp, violent and surreal focus as I was forced to the ground by a man walking behind me and raped.

A
fter the assault, with no one to confide in and my own prescription for Xanax I obtained from a well-meaning doctor the very next day, I went quickly from the peak to the valley and had been summarily and justifiably fired.

N
ow after all that time here was Hugh leaning lazily against the door frame. “If it isn’t the cat with nine lives! Come downtown to test your luck with that some more?”

H
ugh had one of those Opie faces, neither good looking or bad, just pleasantly Midwestern and trustworthy, with a light dash of freckles, a ski slope nose, and unremarkable eyes. You could win a campaign with a face like that, I had often thought.

D
allas gave him a hard look. “Gretchen doesn’t need luck, she’s resourceful and clever. We were damn fools to let her go; or don’t you read the papers?”

“Of course,” Hugh grinned and bile rose in my throat.
“Going riding?" He asked, indicating my attire.

A
ctually, I just got back from shooting rats at the dump.” I said smoothly, “Missed you.”

D
allas laughed heartily then looked at what I was wearing. “You have a job here in the city today? Isn’t this what you wear under the coveralls?”

H
ugh smirked, “I’d pay good money to see Gretchen in coveralls.”

D
allas ignored him. “Were you up here for that suicide Gretchen?”

I
turned back to him. “Yes, the Dunbarton one. The manager and I both thought there was something off about it.”

H
ugh spoke up from the doorway. “I think we can all agree Gretchen that when your reach exceeds your grasp it does not end well. Are you and Christopher going into the private eye business?”

D
allas looked from me back to Hugh reluctantly. “Wasn’t that suicide a gal who was supposed to interview here?” Dallas demanded.

H
ugh shrugged, “Obviously she never made it. I understood she had two days of interviews set up for several firms and we were scheduled for the second day. Bright girl, but evidently unstable. We don’t need any more of those do we Gretchen?”

D
allas’s face flushed red and his mouth was set in a grim line. I wondered if he still kept the Sig Sauer in his desk and hoped it wasn’t loaded. Just as he started to retort I reached over and touched the old man’s shoulder to distract him. I had suddenly realized I didn’t have to take flak from anyone here ever again.

“Did I ever tell you Dallas, about the day we were waiting for my merger news
?”

I
glanced back at Hugh whose eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Yep,” I continued, “I was sitting there waiting for the momentous outcome and who c
ame slithering by, but Hugh.”

D
allas’s shoulders had lost their wiry tension as I leaned back and smiled pleasantly. “Suffice it to say that one of us was having a problem and the other happened to have a solution. You see, Hugh’s wife was getting awfully dissatisfied and I happened to have a Viagra on me—don’t ask why!” I winked. “Well before I could warn him not to take it until he got home? Hugh had swallowed that little blue pill. And you’ll never guess what happened!” Dallas looked from me to Hugh in eager anticipation. “Well,” I said “as soon as the pill started taking effect? Hugh doubled in height!”

D
allas slapped his knee and started laughing until it turned into a cough. I jumped up to pat him on the back and take his cigar away from him. By the time I looked up again Hugh had vanished from the doorway and I heard him whistling as he made his way down the hall, the tune was the Twisted Nerve song from “Kill Bill.” The sound faded away with his departure.

D
allas was still rocking back and forth wheezing with laughter when I began to feel a little nervous. Why couldn’t I have let Hugh’s scathing remarks go? Instead of being his punching bag I had called him out formally as an enemy. That was never smart. On the other hand, I had entertained Dallas, no mean feat.

“God love ya darling I’ve been hoping to see that horse's ass
get his comeuppance for years.”

“I apologize for being
crass,” I said, “but he just didn’t know when to quit did he?”

“I thought you did a very ladylike job of calling him exactly what he is, a
complete prick!”

I
grinned, “I’m not the one to cry victim, but I never told you, and I never blamed him at all for what happened to me that night, but he slipped me some Xanax while we waited for the merger news. So using that little joke about a prescription was a reminder to him that he did something that might be frowned upon by the firm.”

D
allas started blinking rapidly, as his narrow face got redder and redder.

“Hang on now,” I said. “He may have given me the pills but no one forced me to swallow them. I just have to wonder sometimes…”

“Of course you wonder!” Dallas exclaimed, “Everything might of come out differently. Look how you defended yourself in that terrible situation in Bridle Springs! But that night you left here drugged. He was your superior, he gave you prescription medication and you trusted him.”

“
I wouldn’t have told you this at all if he hadn’t been so mean-spirited just now, but Dallas nothing that happened afterwards is on him. Now, of course I will say that no one had ever seen Hugh the worse for drink or drugs so I did assume the pills were very mild.”

He
jumped up and grabbed the turgid, expired cigar and stuck it back in the side of his mouth as he began pacing. Finally he rasped, “Why don’t we just call Harlan in on this and see what he thinks?”

“Lord,
Dallas, what will that look like? Plus it would damage the firm. I never told anyone because I guess I felt like the decisions leading up to the rape were mine, I could have declined the Xanax, I could have passed up that drink, I took the second tablet because I thought the first one hadn’t worked and I was a nervous wreck. I could have accepted a ride or walked home a different way. My rapist is to blame for my rape and I could have handled the aftermath with more courage. I didn’t. You’re old enough; hey I’m old enough, to know sometimes the world just hangs on a big old if.”

“
He gave you more than one? You ever think you probably wouldn’t have accepted the drink if you hadn’t had the pills? I had noticed when you came on board here that you were always very careful about alcohol. We liked that.”

“
But I took them Dallas. Hey I’m no fan of Hugh’s anymore; boy has he turned foul; but we both know he didn’t mean any harm by giving me the Xanax. We were good friends back then. I may be a fairly young adult but I am an adult. But I guess he realized he shouldn’t have done it. He never spoke to me again after that night, even before my fall from grace was apparent.”

“
Because he realized giving you his prescription was illegal.”

“
Oh, I’ve always had a reputation for being discreet.”

“
Yeah, like you just now telling me a partner gave you a powerful anti-anxiety medication?”

“
You’re the first one I’ve told about Hugh being part of that equation. If I had known you were going to have a conniption fit about it I wouldn’t have told you today. But has he always been this spiteful? I don’t remember that.”

“
That’s because you haven’t known him since he was a young viper like I have. Personally I never liked him.”

“
Really? Sounded like you were still on the fence about him with the snake comment.”

Dallas fiddled with his cigar again thoughtfully. “Come to think of it he’s been a little easier to deal with over the past few months until…”