Girlfriends (Patrick Sanchez) (29 page)

Peter was livid.

That bitch! That fucking bitch! That fucking Cameron Hartman! With Gina’s help, Peter had put a few benign things in place to aggravate Cameron for having him written up, but now he was beyond mad. He was ready to bring out the big guns and really get back at her. It was just a matter of figuring out how.

As Peter tried to sort things out, Cameron Hartman arrived at her cube a few floors below. She was usually in early but was delayed by three different moving companies coming to her front door, wanting to load up her furniture and take it to her new house in Indiana. Cameron had no intention of moving and had never been to Indiana. She thought they might have had her confused with one of the neighbors, but all the orders had her full name and correct address. Someone was obviously playing a joke on her. Between the movers and the person who had repeatedly been calling her house and breathing into the phone, she was beginning to get a little paranoid. Just as she was sitting down to her desk the phone rang.

“This is Cameron.”

“Ms. Hartman?”

“Yes.”

“This is Sylvia at Dr. Remly’s office. We’re just wondering why you didn’t arrive for your appointment yesterday.”

“I didn’t have an appointment yesterday. I don’t even know who Dr. Remly is.”

“Well, I have your name and number right here. You had an appointment yesterday at four o’clock.”

“I most certainly did not. I think someone is playing a little joke.”

“Well, we don’t find it very amusing.”

“Sorry,” Cameron said, and hung up the phone before it rang again.

“This is Cameron.”

“Hi, Ms. Hartman. This is George at Travel America. I’ve booked your reservations at the Stone Gate Nudist Resort. Would you like to book the airline tickets now?”

“Who is this?”

“George at Travel America.”

“George, I’m afraid I don’t need any reservations,” Cameron said before hanging up the phone.

Her phone rang again, but she didn’t dare answer it. Instead, she went to her mailbox just to get away from the phone. Aside from a couple of memos and fliers, there was a plain manila envelope. She opened it up to find a recent copy of
Give It to Me Baby
. She pulled out the magazine and looked at the cover in astonishment. Who was sending pornography to her at work? She didn’t know what to do with it. With her heart pounding, she shoved it back in the envelope and raced to the kitchen to throw it away. She certainly didn’t want it in
her
trash can. She dumped the magazine in the kitchen trash and threw a few paper towels over it; however, realizing that someone was seriously harassing her, she thought it prudent to keep the magazine. She might even want to have it checked for fingerprints or something, not that she had the slightest clue how to go about such a thing. She was starting to get scared.

Cameron pulled the envelope from the trash and went back to her desk. After sliding it into her briefcase, she saw that her voice-mail light was on and proceeded to check her messages. It took her a few minutes to get through messages from doctors wanting to confirm appointments and a Realtor wanting to know when he should meet her to look at various houses. Once she settled into work, she would then spend the better part of the day fielding such calls, including a caterer wanting to know if she still wanted chicken Kiev to be served at her wedding (she wasn’t even engaged), and a psychic healer wondering if she still needed help with vaginal dryness.

The One

“H
ello,” Cheryl said, picking up the phone while still searching through a drawer in her living room. She couldn’t find the gold hoop earrings she wanted to wear that night.

“Hey. It’s Cooper.”

“Hey there,” Cheryl said, perking up a little. It had been a tedious day at work, and she was looking forward to her evening with Cooper. He had been out of town on business the past couple of weeks, and Cheryl had seen him only once since their night at the circus.

“Would you mind doing me a big favor tonight?”

“No, not at all. What?”

“My boss just asked me if I could take a couple of clients out to dinner tonight. They’re in from New York for the evening and apparently they’re very interested in buying into the company. Do you mind if they join us? We can go somewhere really nice, and my company will pick up the tab.”

“Sure. I don’t mind,” Cheryl lied. Virtually every outing they went on, Cooper dragged along some sort of business associate. She admired him for being so committed to his career, but he needed to make some individual time for her. Besides, she figured tonight it was about time to let him take things a little bit farther—maybe some above-the-waist action.

Hanging out with his colleagues was always so boring. Cheryl had to think about everything she said and make sure it couldn’t possibly be construed as offensive. She chose her words carefully during these outings. She didn’t want Cooper to think she wasn’t cultured enough to hold her own during a business dinner. At least she must have been doing pretty well at schmoozing in the big leagues. Why else would he keep inviting her along to these events?

“Thanks, you’re a doll. I promise—next time it will be just you and me.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Cheryl said in a friendly tone.

Cheryl was walking up P Street toward Gabriel, a nuevo Latino restaurant in the Radisson-Barceló Hotel. Cooper was supposed to pick her up, but he was running late and asked her to meet him and his companions at the restaurant, which was several blocks from her apartment and not an easy walk in her favorite blue dress and high-heeled black slingbacks. She never did find her pumps with the lower heels. As she approached the hotel, she figured she had to choose between buying a new pair and cleaning out her closet to try to find the old pair.

Guess I’m going shoe-shopping tomorrow, she thought to herself as she walked into the restaurant, where the others were already seated. When Cooper saw her walk in, he stood up and waved her over.

“Hi, honey,” he said to Cheryl, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

Honey? Cheryl thought. They had been on a few dates, but they certainly weren’t at the “honey” stage. “Hi.”

“Cheryl, this is John Carpenter and Will Frankel. They’re in town from New York,” Cooper said.

“Nice to meet you,” Cheryl said, shaking their hands as they rose from the table.

Cooper pulled out Cheryl’s chair, and the three gentlemen remained standing until she sat down.

“What did I tell you?” Cooper asked his guests. “Isn’t my girl beautiful?” Cooper added, gesturing toward Cheryl.

Your girl? What’s going on? We’ve barely been on five dates, Cheryl thought as she smiled in response to the compliment. “You’re sweet,” she said while John and Will nodded their heads in agreement with Cooper.

Once Cheryl got situated at the table, the four of them perused their menus and ordered a variety of tapas. They had some light conversation over dinner, and throughout the meal Cooper talked about himself and Cheryl as if they had been dating forever. He told his associates about how much Cheryl enjoyed socializing with his business partners and what a great girlfriend she was.

Cheryl played along. Maybe Cooper really was starting to have strong feelings for her. Maybe her good-little-girl routine was actually paying off. After giving it some thought, Cheryl decided she wasn’t going to give Cooper any above-the-waist action after all. She knew she was right—men always wanted what they couldn’t have, and they fell in love with the girls who didn’t give it up too easily. He certainly wouldn’t be taking some one-night stand to dinner with important clients. He was taking her. For once she was making the right decisions, and a relationship was coming her way.

Oh, thank God, she thought to herself as they wrapped up dinner. I play my cards right, and this guy might just be the one.

Plotting Revenge

“Y
ou can’t apply for anything for a year? You’re kidding?” Gina asked Peter as he sat down on her sofa.

“That’s right. Thanks to that little Cameron bitch, I’m stuck in my position for another year. That promotion was mine for the taking. It would have meant more money and an office. God, this really sucks.”

“Well, I have an idea to really get that Cameron chick, but I’m not sure it will work. We’ll need the help of someone I’m not sure will be willing to help me out.”

“Who?”

“This girl I went to high school with. Her name is Annie Harrison, and apparently she has turned into a regular computer geek.”

“So how does she fit into the whole thing?”

“I need someone who’s computer savvy.”

“Why?”

“Let me talk to her first, Peter, and then I’ll share my idea with you. It may not even be feasible. Hand me that notepad, would you? It has her phone number on it.”

Gina grabbed the pad from Peter and went into the bedroom to call Annie. As she picked up the phone, she heard knocking on the apartment door.

“Peter, get that, will you? It’s Shirley. She took Gomez for a walk for me.”

“Hey, gorgeous,” Peter said to Shirley as she walked in the door with Gomez and another dog, a little cocker spaniel or something.

“Hi, Peter. Where’s Gina?”

“She’s in the bedroom, making a phone call. Who’s Gomez’s little friend? Did you get a dog?”

“No, this is Rascal. He belongs to Mr. Borkourski, upstairs. He saw me walking Gomez the other day and offered to pay me to walk his dog. I figured, what the hell, I’m never one to turn down an easy buck.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“So, how are you, Peter?”

“I’ve been better, having some work troubles.”

“You and me both. I waited on this fat lady at the restaurant, and she got all huffy—complained to my manager that I gave her the check without asking her if she wanted dessert.”

“She ratted on you to the manager just for that?”

“Well, not just that. She was really bitchy when I gave her the check, so I told her that her big ole caboose didn’t need dessert. I guess that’s what really set her off. Like it’s my fault she’s a pig.”

“Hey,” Gina said to Shirley, emerging from the bedroom. She then looked at Peter. “Well, Annie agreed to help us out. But you’ll have to get a picture of Cameron.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“She must have one on her desk—of her and her boyfriend, or with her dog or something. Just steal it and bring it back.”

“I don’t know, Gina. I’m already in trouble at work.”

“Don’t be such a pussy, Peter. Just do it,” Shirley joked even though she had no idea what they were talking about. “So what’s all this about anyway?”

“It’s a long story, Shirley. I’ll explain it over dinner,” Gina said before turning to Peter. “So, Peter, want to come to dinner with us?”

“No thanks. I’m not the best company tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“You guys go ahead. Maybe I’ll just stay here with the dog and watch TV.”

“Sure, you can take him for another walk if you want,” Gina said as she and Shirley went out of the apartment and closed the door behind them.

“What about Linda? Is she coming?” Shirley asked Gina as they headed down the hall.

“No. She said she was going to some appointment with Rosa. Actually, I haven’t seen too much of her lately, since she started dating Rosa.”

“Rosa? Is she still doing that lesbian thing?” Shirley joked.

“It’s not a
thing,
Shirley.”

“I know. I was just joking. But it must get awfully boring. Don’t you think? My God. There’s only so much you can do with a pair of high heels and a couple of boobs.”

Lady with a Baby

“Y
ou really didn’t have to come,” Rosa said. She and Linda were sitting in the waiting area of Rosa’s doctor’s office. Rosa had the last appointment of the day, and they were the only two left in the room.

“I know,” Linda said. She really wasn’t sure whether she wanted to be there or not. She had known Rosa for only a month or so. It seemed odd to be tagging along to obstetrician appointments. After all, it wasn’t
their
baby. It was Rosa’s baby.

Linda convinced herself that she was just there to offer some support. What’s wrong with accompanying a friend to a doctor’s appointment? She’d do it for Gina or any other friend. It didn’t mean she was expecting to be co-parent of the baby or anything.

Linda tried to look at Rosa’s stomach without being too obvious. Rosa was only a few months along, but her belly was already starting to protrude. If Rosa hadn’t been so petite, it probably wouldn’t have been noticeable at all.

Rosa caught her looking at her abdomen. “Guess I couldn’t have kept it from you much longer, huh?”

Linda smiled. “You may have been able to disguise it a little longer. You certainly couldn’t have done any worse than the
Frasier
people did with that Daphne woman.”

“Maybe you just would have thought I was getting fat. Which would you have preferred? A fat girlfriend or a pregnant one?” Rosa asked, obviously trying to get a read on how Linda really felt about the whole thing.