Unfinished Muse (28 page)

Somehow, I managed not to cry until I was
halfway home.

Chapter 23

By the time I got home, my tears had dried up, as
had my anger and my self-pity. Phyllis was so angry, she lost big
handfuls of leaves, and I had to sit with her using a damp cloth on
the remaining leaves to get her to calm down.

“I told you I should have gone with you.”
Once she was calm, she sounded more miserable than I’d felt in the
car. “I can’t do my job if you won’t let me.”

“What exactly is your job?”

“To keep you out of trouble. Obviously, I’m
doing a terrible job.”

We sat like that for some time at the
kitchen table, Phyllis drooping her branches in defeat and me
stroking her leaves with a soft cloth. The repetitive motion was as
soothing to me as it was to her, so it took me a moment to notice
Mark tapping on the window.

I waved him toward the door, and he let
himself in.

“Wow,” he said. “Doesn’t look like you’re
having the best day ever.” He pulled out a chair and sat. “You
okay?”

I put the cloth on the table and sat up
straighter. “Unexpected time off work. It’ll be okay.” I tried to
give him a cheerful smile. “How’s the project going?”

“I’ve got the designs all done. It’s going
to be gorgeous. I lost some time though. Those days I spent
screwing around have put me behind. I still have to build it all.
And her birthday’s next weekend.”

I frowned. “Will you make it in time?”

“I think so. Might be some late nights, but
I’ll make it work.” He scooted his chair out and stood. “Anyway, I
just came by to say thanks for your help. Without you, I’d still be
sitting around feeling sorry for myself.”

This time my smile wasn’t forced. “I’m glad
I could help.” I tilted my head. “Hey, I’m not going to work next
week anyway. Could you use an extra pair of hands?”

His eyes sparkled. “That would be
amazing.”

~*~

I had a number of things I wanted to take care of
while I was suspended from work. My number one priority was to make
sure all three clients made their deadlines. Screw my deadline.
This was no longer about me. My future didn’t hang on their
successes anymore. In fact, my future was out of my own hands. I
could cry about it some more, or I could use the week off to make
damn sure my garbage didn’t stick to them.

I had no access to the invisibility belt
anymore, but there had been that day I’d taken an extra bottle of
bubbles and slipped them in my pocket. I’d completely forgotten
about them until now. I found my jacket in the corner of my
bedroom, and the bubbles were still there. Nobody knew I had
them.

The collection of crazy-shaped wands I’d
bought at the toy store were still in the bag in the corner,
forgotten and unused. Keeping the Thought Bubbles with the wands
would’ve made sense if I wasn’t so worried the Muse police might
try to come in and search for my ill-gotten booty. I stuffed the
bag of wands in my closet, then hid the bubbles in my bookcase
behind some old Nancy Drews. Its presence both comforted me and
scared me. But I wasn’t going to give it up unless somebody caught
me. As much as I’d been screwed with over the last three weeks, I
figured I deserved to have a little magic to keep, even if it was
only a souvenir.

Before I could focus on my clients, though,
I had a certain ex-boyfriend to deal with—and I needed to do it
before he went into work that night and found out he’d been ratted
out.

I dialed Freddy’s number and wasn’t
surprised by how fast he answered. “Wynter?”

“Hi Freddy. Are you busy?” I knew he
wouldn’t be. He never was during the day.

“Why?” The question came out slow and wary.
“You haven’t talked to me in three weeks.”

“Well, I’m ready to talk now. Do you have
time for a cup of coffee?”

There was a long pause. For a minute, I
thought he’d hung up.

Finally, he took a breath. “I’ll meet you at
Jerry’s Java in half an hour.”

“See you then.”

I hung up feeling a little sick and a lot
nervous. But I was determined to confront Freddy before he found
out at work what I already knew.

“Kick him in the balls,” Phyllis said. “The
little worm.”

I laughed. “I won’t be kicking, punching,
biting, scratching, or karate chopping today.”

Phyllis’s branches rubbed together, making a
grumbling sound. “Fine. I’d want to watch anyway.”

~*~

Freddy was already there when I arrived, and he had
coffee waiting for me—a cinnamon latte, of course. The fact that I
hadn’t questioned Rick on knowing what to order bothered me, now.
I’d been an idiot.

I sat in the big comfy chair opposite Freddy
and smiled. “Thanks for the latte. How’ve you been?”

“Okay, I guess. I missed you.” He widened
his blue eyes to look sad and miserable.

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
Rick’s hair and eyes had changed shades a few times, and he was
bulkier through the shoulders than Freddy. Also, Freddy had a
longer nose with a bump in the middle. Even when their coloring had
been the same, they didn’t look at all like the same person.

The Dreams and Nightmares costumes were more
than cowboy hats and vampire capes—they went more than skin deep.
Even Rick’s voice had been different, deeper.

While I examined Freddy for clues—anything
that looked or sounded like Rick—he told me about his cat Dallas,
who missed me a lot, how his car had been in the shop for the last
several weeks after he’d wrapped it around a telephone pole, and
how happy it made him that I’d called.

I cleared my throat. “I have to tell you
something, Freddy. I never meant to hurt you, but…”

His face went pale. “What?”

“Well.” I took my time, smoothing my skirt,
taking a sip of my coffee, then looking up at him with as much
guilt and sadness as I could fake. “I’ve met someone else.”

He frowned. “You…you have?”

I nodded. “I met him at my new job.
Nothing’s happened, yet. Not really.” I smiled and looked away.
“Well, we did go on a picnic once. I really like him.”

Freddy relaxed a little. “I see.” He took a
sip of his coffee, but I could see the satisfaction dancing in his
eyes.

“Please don’t be upset.”

“Oh, I’m not.”

I leaned forward and put my hand on his
knee. “Will you excuse me? I’ll be right back.”

“Of course.” He sat back in his seat with a
self-satisfied look on his face that I kind of wanted to scrub off
with a loofa.

Or a phone call.

I left him reveling in his perceived success
at getting me to fall for Rick. Once I was in the bathroom where he
couldn’t see or hear me, I dialed Rick’s number.

Now, everything rode on this part. If Freddy
had separate phones for the two personas and had left his Rick
phone at home, this wasn’t going to work. But I knew Freddy. I was
betting he’d forwarded Rick’s number to his phone.

It rang three times before he answered.
Which made sense. Rick was way cooler than Freddy, so he’d never
answer on the first ring.

“This is Rick.”

“Hi, Rick. It’s Wynter.” Because caller ID
didn’t exist, and he couldn’t possibly know who it was, right?

“Oh, hey, Wynter. What’s up? I missed you
this morning in the cafeteria.”

I opened the door to the ladies room and
peeked at the back of Freddy’s head. He sat in his comfy chair
chatting on the phone. I stepped into the coffee shop and let the
door close behind me.

“Well, I’m going to have some time off next
week. I was wondering if you might want to do something.”

“Absolutely.” His grin was almost audible
through the phone.

I walked toward Freddy while I talked. “I
promise not to freak out on you this time.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it.” Freddy shifted
in his seat, but didn’t turn around.

“I know what I want now.” I stood directly
behind him, now, but he was so full of confidence, he didn’t
realize what was going on.

“That makes me really happy. What would you
like to do next week?”

I stopped talking and stood over him,
waiting for him to notice me.

“Are you there? Hello?” He took his phone
from his ear and checked the signal, than put it back.
“Wynter?”

I hung up.

He checked again and saw that I was
gone.

“In your excitement, you forgot to disguise
your voice,” I said.

He froze for a second, then slowly tilted
his head back to see me. “How long have you been there?”

“Quite awhile.” I moved around him and
returned to my seat. “So, any last words?” I took a long sip of my
latte, savoring the cinnamon. I might never have one again after
this. Maybe I would try hazelnut next.

“How did you figure it out?” His face was
pinched with disappointment.

I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is
why. Why would you do this to me? What did I do that was so wrong?
I broke up with you. I’m sorry that I hurt you, honestly I am. But
what was I supposed to do? Wait until we’d picked out china before
I did it? We weren’t right for each other. It happens.”

He gave me a dark stare. “Once I could take.
But I gave you someone else—a whole new person. Rick was cooler and
better looking, but he knew all the things you liked without being
told. I made myself into your perfect guy, and you still rejected
me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Freddy,
I
don’t
even know who my perfect guy would be. How could you possibly
create him? That’s crazy.”

“I’m not crazy.”

“Dude. Seriously. You might want to take a
closer look at everything you’ve done over the past month or so.
And in case you’re wondering how my clients are doing, thanks for
your help, but I got them back on track anyway.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but
nothing came out but a series of stutters.

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah. That, too.
Anything I’m missing? Anything else you want to tell me about?”

He shook his head. His face looked a little
green.

I sat forward, perched on the edge of the
cushion. “Can you just tell me why? I get that you wanted a redo.
That explains the Rick thing—at least in
your
head. But why
the hell would you mess with my job? Why try to get me fired?”

He looked away, unable to meet me gaze. “I’m
really sorry about that. After you bolted from our picnic, I kind
of lost my mind. I’d tried to give you everything you wanted, and
you still dumped me. You’d shown me your assignments in the coffee
shop, so I spent the weekend tracking down your clients and
sabotaging your work.” He scrubbed at his face with the palms of
his hands. “I was so angry. But then I saw you again and thought
you might give me another chance. I felt terrible.”

I shook my head. “Shit, Freddy. I’ve been
suspended. They’re deciding whether or not to send me to the
Underworld. And what about changing the dates on my assignments so
I couldn’t make my deadlines? And you threw away my handbook so I
would break rules I didn’t know about. How did you even get into my
office? What the hell is wrong with you?”

He paled. “Wynter, I swear, I never set foot
in your office. I never touched your stuff.”

At this point, I had to believe he wasn’t
lying. He’d confessed to everything else. I couldn’t see a reason
for him to lie about this. I frowned. That meant somebody
else—probably someone in my own office—was also screwing with
me.

Mt. Olympus was turning out to be a giant
clubhouse for people who hated me. For once in my life, I refused
to accept it was my fault. Other than having crappy taste in men,
of course. That was all me.

I finished my coffee and stood. “Well, Fred.
It’s been a slice. Good luck at work tonight. My boss was pretty
pissed off. I’m sure your boss won’t be too happy either.” I walked
toward the door, then stopped and turned my head. “If things don’t
go real well over the next week, I guess I’ll see you around. In
the Underworld.”

I walked out without looking back.

~*~

When I got home, I felt drained, but at peace.
Whatever was going to happen would happen. Polly had taken me off
the job and said the clients were no longer my concern. But she was
wrong. I cared about them, now. I cared about their dreams. And I
wasn’t going to let petty people who were angry with me derail the
dreams of Mark, Missy, and Alex. It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t
right.

I’d have to help them the old-fashioned way.
With my own two hands. The next week would be a busy one.

Once Phyllis heard the sad story of Freddy
and Rick in the coffee shop three times, she was satisfied that
justice had been and would be served and went quiet for the night.
I, on the other hand, was still too wound up to sleep.

I opened the hall closet and stared at the
big black garbage bag tied shut with a knot so final, I’d have to
cut it open if I wanted to get inside. Despite my decision to throw
it out, I’d never managed to haul it off to the trash.

Did I dare try again to finish it? What if
pieces were missing? What if it was ripped?

I pushed at the bag with my bare toe.
“You’re the reason I ended up in this mess, you know. You’re the
proverbial last straw.” I prodded it again, and it prodded back
with a sharp pin to the foot.

My uninjured foot twisted beneath me, and I
fell to the floor, landing on my butt in front of the bag. I
squared my shoulders and ripped the plastic open. Pins and satin
and batting spilled out to the floor. I collected the stray pins
and stuck them in a pincushion, then gathered the material to
spread on the living room floor.

It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. Some of
the squares needed to be re-pinned, others had been sewn but needed
their stitches ripped out and re-sewn. Once the squares were all
together, I’d attach the binding on the edges, the backing, and the
batting to make it fluffy and sew it all together.