Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair (4 page)

Michelle reached for the napkin from
her lap, gently wiped her mouth, and sipped her water. "Edward and
I are going up to Wisconsin this weekend, and I've been working so
much overtime, I haven't had a chance to pack a thing."

"I don't think I could steal Bruce away
from his family for an entire weekend, but we make up for it,"
Camina said.

It was as if Bianca was a piece of
furniture as she sat there, observing, not saying a word. She was
without anything to contribute to their conversation, having no big
plans to speak of and no boyfriend to boast about or complain
about. Had she made a mistake in coming out with the two of them?
Bianca hesitated to say anything negative about Camina's
relationship with her boss because it was sure to arouse
uncomfortable emotions in Camina, but after thinking about it,
Bianca refused to sit quietly any longer. "You better be careful
with him," Bianca said. "I heard he has a heart
condition."

Camina didn't even look at Bianca.
Instead she chuckled and glanced over at Michelle. "Who do you
think gave it to him?" Camina asked with a giggle.

Michelle and Camina both shared a laugh
as if everyone got the joke, but Bianca.

"Really?" Bianca asked.

Michelle glanced at Bianca. "She's just
kidding."

"I gave him a lot of things, but I
didn't give him that," Camina said.

"Doesn't it bother you that he's
married?" Bianca asked.

Camina glanced over at Bianca, then
Michelle.

"It depends on how you waste the time,"
Camina said.

Not only did Bianca not understand what
Camina meant in her last statement to her, but Bianca also could
not help but notice how Camina seemed to make a concentrated effort
not to look at her for longer than a second. It was as if Camina
wanted to make like Bianca didn't exist.

Bianca sat erect in her seat, looking
uncomfortable. She then finished off her iced tea and asked, "So it
doesn't bother you that he's married?"

For the first time that afternoon,
Camina awarded Bianca a direct stare. "No."

"Bianca's right," Michelle said. "There
are a lot of single men out there. Why go through the trouble of
dating one who's married? And very married I might add."

"Who are you kidding?" Camina said with
a sluggish smile. "Those are the best ones." Camina laughed and
directed her attention to Michelle. "You know how some people say
they never date married men. Well, I'm the exact opposite. That's
all I date."

Camina's words reminded Bianca of her
late sister. How her sister would rebel against the norm, doing
everything the opposite of everyone else and taking great pride in
it.

It was a welcomed sight for Bianca when
the waitress brought over their check. Soon this lunch outing would
be over, and Bianca could bury it in her past.

"So, Bianca," Michelle asked as she
picked up the check. "Any thoughts on those absurd statements
Camina made about married men?"

Camina's eyes shot to Bianca as if she
dared her to say something, anything at all.

Bianca felt the perspiration in her
hands. "No."

A faint smile raced across Camina's
face as she turned away from Bianca.

Michelle casually changed the subject
and directed her attention to Bianca. "Anything planned this
weekend?"

Bianca was about to speak when she saw
Camina studying her with her cold eyes. It seemed Camina was
waiting for just the right moment to cut her down with the smallest
error.

"I don't have any plans," Bianca
said.

"You have to have something planned.
There must be something that you're going to do," Michelle
said.

"I don't know, I'll probably watch my
Netflix movies and clean my apartment."

As Bianca finished uttering her mundane
plans, perspiration crinkled down her forehead.

"And that's your weekend?" Camina
asked.

Michelle jumped in fast. "There's
nothing wrong with that. We all need to spend quiet time at home
sometimes."

"We all need to, but we don't, that is
if we have any kind of life at all."

Bianca eyeballed Camina, then quickly
turned away. Bianca knew that Camina would have something
insensitive to say, which is why she hesitated to answer in the
first place. Camina seemed to know just how much sarcasm and
condescension was required to make Bianca feel alienated and
uncomfortable.

Camina moved her drink to the center of
the table, scooted closer to Bianca. "Bianca, let me ask you
something."

Bianca could tell by the tone of
Camina's voice and her directness that she would not be prepared to
answer.

Chapter 3

CAMINA PEERED INTO BIANCA'S EYES,
seemingly holding her breath and asked, "Have you ever done
anything exciting or bad in your life? Or were you always this
boring?"

Bianca's mouth hung open as her eyes
moved to Michelle, hoping Michelle would answer for her.

"Camina!" Michelle said,
bewildered.

Camina smiled with a matter-of-fact
flavor. "What? I just asked a question."

"Bianca, you don't have to answer
that," Michelle said just before she picked up the check. "We're
getting ready to go."

Camina rested her hand underneath her
chin, seemingly amused. Almost sickened by the sight of Camina,
Bianca's eyes locked in with Camina for a long time, staring at
Camina's painted on eyebrows. Her malicious question had sent
Bianca to a place of discomfort that seemed inescapable. As Bianca
opened her mouth to speak, she hoped something sharp would come
from her lips, but nothing.

How was she going to answer?

Bianca so badly wanted to say
something, anything to silence Camina, but she didn't know what.
Finally, Bianca broke the embarrassing stare, turned away and
didn't say a word. Her palms were sweaty as she stared at the cold
pizza in front of her. Camina had won this round, because she had
left Bianca without a word of retort.

"That was so uncalled for," Michelle
said in an elevated tone. "And very mean."

A frail smile covered Camina's face.
"Did I hurt your feelings, Bianca? I sure hope not."

Camina's words were layered with
condescension, and Bianca felt doused with ridicule, shame and
fear. But she refused to stoop to Camina's antagonizing
level.

Camina plucked her Coach wallet from
her purse and placed a $20 bill in the center of the table. "I
guess we should go. There's nothing exciting going on here." Camina
continued. "By now Bruce has probably paged me twice already. He
knows that I take an hour for lunch, but every day he thinks I'm
only going to be gone for thirty minutes."

Bianca picked up the $20 bill and
handed it to Camina. "I'll take care of it," Bianca said. "I'll put
it on my credit card."

"You don't have to do that," Michelle
said.

"No, it's okay," Bianca
said.

"If she wants to pay, let her," Camina
said. "I just wish that I had ordered more of
everything."

Michelle's wide eyes peered over at
Camina, then Bianca "Are you sure about this?" Michelle asked
Bianca.

"Yes," Bianca said. "I'll take care of
it."

Well aware of how odd her actions
appeared to Camina and Michelle, Bianca knew what she was doing.
She could not and would not let on just how much Camina really
offended her and this was her way of demonstrating just that. While
Camina and Michelle gathered their things to leave, Bianca placed
her credit card on the center of' the table, on top of the check.
"I'll meet you back at the office," Bianca said. "I'm going to make
a quick stop at Starbucks."

It was not unusual for Bianca to
frequent Starbucks on her lunch hour, but that was not the case
that afternoon. It was Bianca's choice not to walk back with them
and definitely not to spend any more time in Camina's presence than
necessary.

Camina exited the table and waited for
Michelle.

"I'll see you back at the office,"
Michelle said to Bianca. "And thanks for lunch."

Bianca waited for Camina and Michelle
to move through the revolving doors, grateful that lunch was over.
It should have come as no surprise that Camina would continue to
spit her poison every chance she got. Baffled, Bianca could not
understand why it was that Michelle never just invited Bianca out
alone. For some reason, it always had to be the three of
them.

What was that all about?

All the same, this was their last lunch
together as a trio and Bianca meant it. If Michelle wanted to have
lunch with her, then fine. But not Camina, not ever
again.

Camina was right.

As much as Bianca hated to admit it,
deep in her heart, Camina was right about her never having any fun.
Bianca headed back from the restaurant, thinking about everything
that transpired over lunch. She saw herself as a boring individual,
and she did not like it. Despite her late sister telling her that
she would always be wonderful just as she was, Bianca found her
sister's words hard to swallow, especially after what happened over
lunch. All the same, she never did anything fun, exciting or
different. Her idea of fun was participating in her watercolor
class, and that was about as risque as it got.

Camina's blunt words were still
inexcusable. Though Bianca wasn't the type to hold a grudge against
anyone, she considered making a concentrated effort to hold a
grudge against Camina, but in the end decided against it. She was a
forgiving person. And she was not about to allow Camina to change
her or mold her into someone that she wasn't. The scary thing was
it was already happening. She was already holding a grudge against
Camina, if only on a subconscious level. Though she always forgave,
she also always remembered.

The thought of becoming someone else, a
different somebody returned to her fast. The idea excited her, even
elevated her spirits. She didn't know exactly what to do or where
to start, but one thing was for certain, change was needed, and it
was needed now. Desperately, she needed to move forward with her
life, move past her family's untimely death, and live. Eventually
it would come to her and when it did, if only for one day, she
would cut up and cut loose.

Back at the office, Bianca stood at the
bulletin board in the lunchroom, reading about the upcoming
Christmas party when she heard the clatter of high heel shoes
coming in her direction. When she turned around, she found Michelle
standing behind her.

"There you are," Michelle said. "I've
been looking for you. Did you grab something delicious at
Starbucks?"

Bianca caught herself about to lie, but
then changed her mind. "I didn't go to Starbucks." Bianca paused
for thought. "Camina hates me, doesn't she?"

"She doesn't hate you. She just has a
problem with people that are different from her. It's an obsession
among the very beautiful and the very popular."

"No. She hates me."

"Forget about her," Michelle insisted.
Michelle grasped Bianca's hand and said, "I don't hate you. In
fact, I like you."

Bianca's eyes scrolled down to
Michelle's hairy arm, and observed her hand joined with Michelle's.
And for a few seconds, Bianca believed that Michelle liked her for
other reasons. Realizing that she was probably reading more into
Michelle's affectionate nature than necessary, she dismissed the
thought from her mind. Michelle seemed to pick up on certain vibes
and abruptly released Bianca's hand from hers. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay," Bianca said. "What's
up?"

Enthusiasm glistened from Michelle's
immense eyes as her voice escalated to a screech. "I have a friend
who wants to meet you."

"A guy?"

"Of course a guy, who else?"

"Why?"

"I told him about you, and now he wants
to meet you and before you say no, let me tell you about him. He's
funny. Very funny. Smart. Very smart. Cute. Very cute. And he's a
gynecologist or something with an 'ologist."

Why did Michelle suddenly want to set
her up? Did Michelle feel sorry for her?

"Is this a charity offering because of
what happened at lunch today?"

"No, it has nothing to do with that. I
know you can find your own dates."

"I could if I wanted to.

"I know you could. So, are you
interested?"

Bianca had not been very popular with
men these days, as the only person, in some time, that showed any
interest in her at all was Lee. Bianca knew that she would have to
at least consider the offer though she didn't think she would be
good company to anyone who didn't really know her. "I don't know,"
Bianca said.

"Bianca? How long has it been since
you've been out on a date? I mean a real date. I'm not talking
about the time you spend with your friend, Lee."