Cajun Vacation (2 page)

They had all moved away from Wisconsin when they graduated college. Living in different parts of the country made joint trips more difficult, but they went somewhere every summer. This year they managed to get flights that connected through Atlanta. They would fly out together to New Orleans. Alcohol always made Erica’s tongue looser than she wanted, but it was too late to walk out of the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson VIP lounge and take anything back she said now.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to push any of my troubles onto you. We’re supposed to have fun this weekend,” said Erica

Sara leaned in, her hair falling over her face, and grabbed her hand. “That’s what sisters are for. What are you going to do about it?”

Erica watched as Sara’s face twisted in concern. She always wanted to help everyone with their problems, even at the expense of her own. Erica was the oldest, and Alicia the youngest, but Sara in the middle, maintained the endlessly positive, common-sense, glass is half full attitude that tried to be the voice of reason.

“I’ll finish this report they want on the bayou. Then when I get back on Monday, we’ll see what happens. I can’t let my career go down the tank because of this,” said Erica. She strained her head to hear the announcements over the airport PA system.

Sara’s eyes bulged out. “But you can’t actually go through with this threesome. What about your integrity?”

The ever blunt and completely unromantic Alicia chimed in. “I’d do it.”

“How can you even say that,” said Sara, the reproach strong in her voice. “It isn’t right for women to have sleep their way to the top.”

Alicia shrugged and twirled the straw in her glass before taking another sip. “Well that’s what happened already,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I think Erica’s amazing in what she does, but she didn’t get promoted until she started sleeping with Gary. I figured she knew what the score was.”

“Do you think I planned to get ahead by sleeping with Gary?” asked Erica

Alicia took a sip from her drink and shook her head. “You’re not the type to fuck you way up the ladder. But once you got your promotion, and then another one in a few months, I figured you would have realized that it was your relationship that kept moving you up so quick.”

“Why are you always so cynical about men? They’re not all just out to have sex with you,” said Sara. “Erica thought Gary really loved her.”

Erica scanned the nearby tables in the lounge, looking for anyone trying to secretly listen in on their conversation. Several of the men seemed to be looking their way, but only for the view the three of them provided. She turned back to her sisters. “I guess I was hoping we had a future together. Just the two of us.”

“Men with that much power don’t do monogamy. They just have too much temptation, so they all take a girl on the side. It comes with the territory,” said Alicia.

“So you’d be OK with being the ‘side girl’?” asked Erica.

“It’s just sex. If I was someone’s side girl, I’d be milking it for all it’s worth.

“That’s not true about all men,” said Sara.

“Really? Why haven’t you mentioned Mark? Isn’t he your man?” asked Alicia.

Sara pulled back in her chair, her face growing red. “Erica’s problems seemed more important,” she said.

“You broke up, didn’t you?” asked Alicia

Sara hesitated. “Yes,” she said, looking away.

“What happened?” asked Erica.

“Well, it’s hard to explain…”

“Did you catch him screwing around?” asked Alicia.

“With one of our neighbors,” said Sara.

“Neighbors? You let him move in with you?” asked Alicia.

“He needed a new place after losing his job and it just seemed like the right thing to do.”

Alicia frowned. “Unemployed and cheating in your own bed. When did you put him out?”

“He’s supposed to be gone this weekend.”

Both Erica and Alicia gasped. “He’s still in your apartment?” asked Erica.

Sara nodded. “He didn’t have anywhere else to go. I couldn’t just throw him on the street.”

“I would have,” said Alicia, making a pointed effort to ignore the ogling stares a group of men across the lounge gave her.

“He wasn’t right for you anyway, but leaving him in your place while you’re gone. What if he takes something?” asked Erica.

“Not right for me? What was wrong with the two of us?” asked Sara

“He didn’t treat you right,” said Alicia. “I wanted to slap him every time he made some stupid comment about your weight.”

Sara crossed her arms. “That’s not true. He wanted to be helpful. I am still trying to lose a few pounds.”

“Sara,” said Erica, her voice going up a few notches. “I’d love to look the way you do. You’re beautiful.”

Sara started, but Alicia cut her off. “Whatever excuse you’re planning to say. Don’t. Erica’s right. You’ve got a look that can send men crazy. Erica and I hate it when you knock yourself.”

An announcer came over the PA system.

Sara exhaled. “Looks like it’s time to board,” she said, and then her face broke into a wide grin. “Let’s forget about guys and just have a great time together this weekend.”

“Amen to that,” said Erica, and they all raised their glasses in a final toast.

Chapter 3

Erica pulled the rental car up to the
Le Pavillon
hotel in downtown New Orleans. The flight from Atlanta to New Orleans had been carefree, but the drive from the airport made her anxious. She wanted to have a great time this weekend, but now she was forced to complete a work assignment in some loyalty test for the station. The sights and sounds of the city deserved her full attention, but she could only afford a passing notice.

A bellhop came out and waited by the trunk as Erica popped it open for him. “This weekend could be fun,” grinned Alicia, eyeing him up and down.

Sara grabbed her arm. “He looks like a teenager. I’m not bailing you out if you get arrested.”

Alicia threw up her hands in a mock surrender. “Just taking in the sights of the city.” Then she frowned and looked over to Erica. “Is the whole Gary thing still eating you?”

“I texted this cameraman I’m supposed to work with. He’s going to meet me in an hour so I can get this story done. Hopefully I can finish it in a couple hours and then meet you two by the pool.” She walked into the lobby and handed the bellboy a tip. Her check-in went fast and she decided not to wait for her sisters. “So I’ll see you both by the pool this afternoon,” she said as she hurried to the elevator. The faster she could finish this report, the happier she’d be. Maybe working outdoors would clear her head and she’d be able to figure out what to do once she got back. Whatever else, and no matter what Alicia thought, she would never consent to a three-way with Gary and her backstabbing, leg-spreading slut of an intern. There had to be another way to salvage her career.

She hadn’t slept more than an hour since discovering Gary’s cheating. Her entire body cried out for rest. If she laid down, then she would never reclaim the motivation to finish this report. She let herself take a quick look out her window to the city around her. Traffic wove in and out, while people strolled along the sidewalk in a sea of color.

She enjoyed a busting city life, and living in New York provided it in abundance. But it seemed vibrant here without the overwhelming intensity she always felt in NY. She drew the curtain shut and started emptying her bag. Living out of a suitcase didn’t have the carefree feeling she liked having when she traveled, so one by one, she placed her clothes in the dresser. She looked up to fold her bag and scarcely recognized herself in the mirror.

Through her mascara, dark circles ringed her eyes. The quick wash she gave her hair before leaving had flattened into a bed hair look. Even the clothes she wore, that she thought were sophisticated only hours earlier, now appeared bland. Formal clothes that she thought presented herself as a professional, but only made her become boring. She opened the dresser and looked through her limited wardrobe again. None of the vibrant colors she wore even a year ago were there. Without even thinking about it, she’d allowed herself to become part of the studio machine. Bland and boring. A perfect match for the hyper-professional and buttoned down image the studio wanted to present to the public. She’d become a cog in a machine, that on the inside was oversexed and out of control.

How this insight would help her save her career wasn’t clear, but she knew what she had to do. This report they intended for her, she’d do her own way, with her own style. She collected her purse and with a determination she hadn’t felt in years, headed down the to the boutique shop in the lobby. The hotel store wouldn’t be cheap, but they’d have everything she needed for a fresh, fashionable outfit. Then she could go meet the cameraman to do her report in style. She bounded into store like an overexcited teenager shopping alone for the first time, and ten minutes later walked out with her new look.

Caution had been last on her mind while she shopped. She ended up choosing a white camisole that dipped a bit lower into her breasts than she usually wore, and then added a colorful jacket and skirt to round out the outfit. It reminded her of spring and she smiled at the old Erica blooming from the bland wardrobe prison she had locked herself into.

Once the valet retrieved her car, she took off and detoured through the downtown. Small shops and restaurants lined the streets. The smell of gumbo and spices filled the air and mixed with the sounds of street performers playing their tunes. Music faded behind her as she eased onto the southbound highway. The directions she had led her forty minutes south of New Orleans in one of the farthest points of the bayou that were reachable by car. Once there, she would go to other sites by boat.

She kept her windows rolled down and let the wind sweep through her hair. Alicia and Sara would be down at the pool by now. According to Alicia, picking up men at the pool typically led to a better hookup since the guy usually wasn’t all drunk and stupid. But Erica and Sara never bothered to try it with her. Erica hoped that Alicia would remember that this was a sister’s weekend and leave the whole hooking-up thing for when she got back to her own home in Boston.

She’d have to sort Gary out after this trip, but whatever the fallout, she wanted to avoid all male entanglements for the near future. Men were too much trouble, and until she solved her own problems, she didn’t want to add any more.

Traffic eased the farther she drove from the city. Soon all around her were the edges of the famed New Orleans bayou. Green screamed from every direction as trees stretched along the land and into the edges of the water. She’d been to Louisiana before, but had never taken much time to explore the bayou. A tourist boat tour along the river didn’t get into the heart of the untamed wetlands. If this cameraman was a local, then maybe she’d finally have a chance to see some of the usually unseen parts of the area.

She smiled. He would probably look like the union cameramen back in New York: a forty-ish man with a good sized belly; faint traces of hair beginning to gray; pants that he needed to constantly pull up to stay on; and married, but seeing other people.

She pinched her nose and made a face in her mirror. Her vow to steer clear of men should be easy with that kind of selection. The decision to skip most of the pool time seemed wiser with each passing mile. If she stretched out on a lounge chair in her bikini, she’d have too much attention focused on her. Well, at least a little attention. Men paid more attention to Alicia and Sara than they did her, but guys didn’t completely ignore her.

Her phone GPS advised her of the last turn. Five minutes had passed since she saw another car. She exited off the highway, turned and went another mile down a dirt road. The road ended in a small parking area with a dock and boat launch. The GPS flashed arrival at her destination.

She parked next to a tree, grabbed her phone, and got out. It took her longer to get here than she planned because of her side trip to the boutique, but the cameraman couldn’t have left already. She glanced at her phone. She was ten minutes late. He hadn’t tried to call or text so he should still be waiting. She looked around the dock area again. A small trail led off into the woods by the water. She decided to head down it. Another dock might be nearby.

She started off and called out. “Hello. Is anyone here?”

The trail followed the water’s edge and she looked around into the woods. The highway was too far away to see and the dock had passed out of sight behind her. She peered over the small strip of land between her and the water. Frogs and birds sang out and mixed with the sound of her feet. No other dock came into view and the trail became damper. The ground was stable and dry enough to walk on, but no longer free of moisture. Up ahead, the trail seemed to split and fracture, with some viable paths crossing over the water. Farther past that, the bayou engulfed any visible way forward.

She stood in place and listened for the noise of a boat or any other vehicle, but couldn’t hear anything manmade over the wildlife. She frowned. Was a real cameraman waiting for her? She’d wanted to call and make the arrangements over the phone, but he insisted on texting. The entire arrangement had been set up by the station. What if it was a prank her producer and Gary were playing on her? Had the entire idea of this report just been another way of telling her that she was expendable if she didn’t play along with Gary sexually?

Her mouth went dry as she considered the possibility. If this wasn’t a real report they had sent her on, then the fragility of her situation at the station was worse than she realized. She pulled her phone out and dialed the cameraman. An automated voicemail picked up and she left a message.

Water splashed and she heard branches crack behind her. She froze and called out again. “Hello?”

Another crack and this time she knew it had come from down the trail back toward her car, but she couldn’t see anything or anyone. She considered running back to her car, but stopped herself. Any number of animals could break a branch. Running past wherever it may be hiding might scare it away. But the bayou had bigger animals too. Like Alligators. What if an alligator had gotten out of the water and waited in the brush just a few dozen feet from her. She stood planted in place and peered at the area where she thought the sound came from. Sweat tricked on her forehead and she pulled her phone out ready to call 911, but her hands shook enough that she dropped it. When the phone hit the ground, the brush down the trail rustled again. Erica screamed, turned, and ran farther down the trail.