If the Shoe Fits (18 page)

“Well, I certainly don’t want a wife who clucks like a hen,”
he replied. “If they can’t see that, then they’re daft! All of them!”

“As you know
,
Queen City Magazine
is one of the sponsors of the Bar Association gala this year, and we’re doing an in-depth feature on each of the lawyers nominated for awards. Since you’re a Person of the Year nominee due to your charitable fund-raising, I thought we might spend some time talking about that. Can you spare me a few minutes this week?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“It won’t take more than a couple of hours. We’ll do a sit-down, take a few pictures, and I’ll get out of your hair.”

Julianne’s stomach lurched slightly. “Melanie, I’m going to transfer you to my assistant. Phoebe has my calendar and will be able to set something up for you.”

“That’s wonderful. Thank you.”

Julianne placed the call on hold and hurried out to Phoebe’s desk. “I don’t know how to transfer! Can you just pick it up from there if she’s on hold?”

Phoebe chuckled and nodded. “Yes. Who is it?”

“It’s that reporter from
Queen City Magazine
. She wants to set up an appointment to come and interview me this week. Don’t just give her the pick of all of the open slots dominating my calendar, okay? Give the impression I have a little something going on.”

“All right.”

“And try to put her off to the end of the week so I have time to shop for something to wear. She’s bringing a photographer.”

“You got it.”

Phoebe knew just the right button to push, and she answered in a professional voice that did Julianne proud.

“This is Phoebe Trent, Miss Bartlett’s executive assistant. I’ve got her calendar in front of me. Why don’t you tell me which day you had in mind and I’ll see if we can accommodate you.”

Julianne’s hand flew to her chest, and she sighed. “Perfection!” she whispered, and she turned back toward her office. “Sheer perfection.”

While Phoebe handled Melanie Larsen, Julianne dialed Suzanne on her cell.

“What are you doing?” she asked without greeting her friend.

“Coming out of a sales call. Why? What’s up?”

“I need you.”

“Outfit, shoes, or both?”

“Both. I’m being interviewed by
Queen City Magazine
this week, and they’re taking pictures.”

“I’m out in Kenwood, and I have one more stop to make. But I’m starving. If you bring sustenance, I can meet you in front of my closet in an hour.”

“It’s a date!”

After she hung up, Julianne emerged from her office to quiz Phoebe.

“We set it up for Friday morning at eleven,” she said before Julianne had the chance to inquire. “Not too early so you have the morning to get ready, but early enough for you to still be fresh.”

“Thank you!”

“I’ll make sure everything is tidy, and set out some pastries and fruit in the conference room …”

“You are—”

“… make coffee and tea, restock the fridge.”

“—an angel! I could almost kiss you.”

Phoebe beamed.

“I’m going to meet Suzanne for help in choosing something for the photo shoot. Something that says Person of the Year.”

“You’re a shoo-in.”

“When Will gets in, give him the heads-up about Friday? They may want to talk to him, too.”

“Of course.”

“And tell him about Holly?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, and can you remind him we’ve got a table for the gala? If his dad is feeling up to it, I thought he might like to come along as my mom’s date.”

“I’ll tell him,” Phoebe replied as she scribbled a note.

“And if you’d like to bring a date, there will be room.”

Phoebe paused. “Me?”

“Of course, you! You have to be there.”

“I wouldn’t even know—”

“What to wear?” she interrupted, and the young woman nodded. “We’ll go shopping next week.”

“Well, I … The thing is …”

The light dawned while Phoebe fidgeted, and Julianne chastised herself. “Listen, I know about being on a budget. I spent five years at the public defender’s office. I know some great places where we can both get something affordable. And if not, we can go shopping in Suzanne’s closet for you, too. You and she are about the same size, and her closet is the square footage of a small bedroom. She has a whole section of fancy-schmancy. We’ll work it out.”

Phoebe chuckled, and Julianne waved at her as she headed out the door. “I’ll be back in time for my three o’clock.”

“I was thinking about that Burberry suit jacket with the tieback. Do you know the one I mean?”

Suzanne nodded and took a quick bite of her salad before she hopped off the bed and disappeared inside the closet. “It has trousers with it, but they’re going to be way long on you. We could do a temporary hem though.”

“I don’t know about pants. The last time I borrowed that jacket, I wore it with my black pencil skirt.”

“Oh, right, for that lawyer lunch. And that beautiful starch-white blouse, with the rhinestone pin at the collar.”

Julianne sighed. “That’s right! That’s what I’ll wear with it for the photo shoot.”

Suzanne emerged with the tailored black jacket on a wooden hanger. “What would you do if you had a normal friend who wasn’t a complete clotheshorse?”

“Camp out in front of the Salvation Army store?”

Suzanne motioned toward the mirror and stood behind her as Julianne slipped into the jacket. As she buttoned it, Suzanne tied it at the back, accentuating Julianne’s small waist.

“You look like a million bucks,” her friend told her reflection. “I’m so proud of you, Miss
Person of the Year
.”

“Not yet. But you’re coming, right? To the gala?”

“I can’t, honey. I’ve got a sales conference in Dallas that weekend.”

Julianne groaned. “You’d rather spend the weekend with a hundred pharmaceutical sales geeks than cheering me on at the gala?”

“No, I would not. But I’m already registered, and my whole team will be there.”

“Traitor.”

The soft lining of the jacket caused it to slide straight down her arms, and she carefully placed it back on the hanger while Suzanne retrieved a vinyl garment bag from the closet. Once they’d zipped the jacket safely inside, Julianne hung it on the bedroom door and returned to her salad.

“What are you wearing anyway?” Suzanne asked her, munching on a quesadilla wedge that came with her salad. “It’s black-tie, right?”

“I found this
gorgeous
gown in that vintage shop in Clifton. It’s pale ice blue with a beaded little bolero overlay with three-quarter sleeves, a rhinestone empire waist. Ah, Suz, it’s stunning. It has this whole forties Balenciaga vibe … without the price tag, of course.”

“It sounds smashing. Shoes?”

“None yet.”

Suzanne’s hazel eyes flashed suddenly, and she leapt to her feet and rushed into the closet. “You know, I thought of you when I bought these, Julianne. And now I feel like, I don’t know, maybe it was meant to be!”

She emerged from the closet clutching a shoe box, and she plopped on the bed beside her. She opened the box as if presenting Julianne with the Holy Grail of footwear and slowly peeled back several layers of light pink tissue paper. Sounding more like the theme song to
Star Trek
than the harps-and-angels song Julianne felt sure she was aiming for, Suzanne crooned at the top of her lungs. When she got a first look at the contents of the box, Julianne gasped.

“Oh … Suz …”

“Crazy, right?”

“Completely.”

Julianne moved her hand toward the shoes, gingerly touching one of them with the tip of her index finger. Four-inch spiked peep toes, three-quarter-inch platform, metallic silver underneath solid rows of sparkling crystals.

“It’s like … a shoe made out of …
diamonds
.”

“They’re spectacular, aren’t they?” Suzanne asked rhetorically, and she nudged the box closer. “Try them on.”

Julianne lifted one shoe from the tissue-lined box and held it up to the light from the window long enough to watch it shimmer.

“If they don’t fit, I’m going to jump off the roof.”

“My condo’s a single-story. There’s nowhere to go. Put them on.”

Julianne kicked off her own shoes and lovingly slid into one of the crystal stunners. The farther her foot went into the first one, the wider her grin became. When it was evident that the fit might work, she snatched the second shoe and happily jammed her foot into it before rushing over to the mirror.

“How do they feel?” Suzanne asked her.

“The truth?” she said with a chuckle. “They pinch.”

“Ohhh.”

“But I don’t care. I love them!” Julianne exclaimed, turning her leg sideways to admire the reflection. “What’s a little pain when your legs look like this?”

“That depends on how long you’ll be in them,” Suzanne remarked. “But if you’re willing to endure it, I’m willing to lend them.” She wagged a finger at Julianne and grinned at her. “Get that? They’re on loan.”

“Yes, yes, I get it…. I’ll have them back to you before the clock strikes midnight at the end of the weekend.”

With her plastic salad fork in hand, Suzanne jumped up and knighted her friend. “Then I hereby dub you …
Belle of the Ball
.”

Julianne beamed. “Thank you, Fairy Godmother. You kind of rock.”

“Kind of?” she teased before shifting gears. “And what about your prince? Is he all set to step into the Cincinnati lawyer scene with you on his arm?”

“I haven’t asked him yet.”

“Well, get on it, girl.”

“He’s taking me to a fund-raiser tonight. I’ll talk to him about it then.”

“Cincinnati’s Hungry Children or Cincinnatians Without Cars?” Suzanne teased.

“Legal Aid Art Exhibition,” she stated. Glancing at the clock, she jumped to her feet. “I’ve got to go. I have a three o’clock with Lacey James.”

“Oh, that sounds like your idea of a perfect afternoon,” Suzanne teased.

Julianne grabbed the garment bag as she passed it, blew a quick kiss to Gus in his cage, and hurried out the front door.

She placed Suzanne’s Burberry jacket in the backseat with all the loving care it deserved and slipped behind the wheel to head back to the office. At the stoplight on Galbraith and Winton Roads, she quickly punched out a text to Paul.

Reminder re benefit 2nite. Pick me up at 7?

By the time she merged onto Interstate 71, her phone jingled with his reply; but she couldn’t read it until the light at Eighth Street.

Sorry, meant to call. Can’t make tonight
.

“Ahhh, maaan,” she whimpered, and she tossed the phone into her purse.

Julianne pouted all the way upstairs to her office. She’d really been looking forward to attending this one with Paul. A lot of her peers from the legal community would be in attendance, and she thought it might be a good practice run.

She noticed Will in the conference room, and she stomped in and flopped into a chair across the table from him.

“So much for my brilliant plan.”

He looked up at her and removed his wire glasses. “Another brilliant plan bites the dust?”

“Paul backed out of the legal aid benefit tonight.”

“And his taking you was brilliant because …”

“Because if he had a good time, I might get him to agree to take me to the gala.”

“Ah.”

Will stretched and leaned back into the chair.

“What are you reading?”

He tilted his iPad toward her.
“Trial Lawyers Magazine.”

She faked a yawn, and Will chuckled.

“Did Phoebe tell you Holly was here earlier?” she asked him.

“She did.”

“And?”

“And I called her.”

Julianne bristled. “You called her? Will!”

“Don’t ‘Will’ me. You just didn’t want me to prove you wrong since you told her that I wouldn’t.”

“She told you that?”

“Of course she did.”

She felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her, and she pulled a face. “Of course she did.”

Will smiled and shook his head. “You thought she wouldn’t?”

“Never mind. What did she want?”

“To talk about the other day. It was a little awkward when we ran into each other at the kite festival.”