"We'll see." Turning on his heels, he stalked off. Grinning, Melanie realized her mood had lifted considerably.
Chapter 5
"He's taking me to Spirano's."
Melanie stopped pacing and turned to face her friend. She had stopped off on her way from work to brain storm. It was Friday evening and miraculously the salon was empty. Carrie worked mostly by appointments and the next person was not due for another hour.
It was five thirty and she had asked her grams to keep David again so she could go out tomorrow night with Rodney. This was becoming a habit, one she was not sure she could continue.
She had her cleaning job tomorrow and would be knocking it out early enough to rest and do something with her hair. All week, she had been trying to come up with reasons why she should let this go. She was not accustomed to intrigue, and this was turning out to be one.
"We could go vintage again or go with my original idea and raid that diva's closet. You're planning to be picked up from there, so why not wear something of hers? The woman's gone for a whole month. Take advantage."
"That's not me."
Spinning, she went back to the window to stare at the evening traffic. The days were getting shorter and the streetlights were already on. Her car had coughed several times reminding her that she was going to have to take it back to the mechanic before it died on her. She was desperate and desperation always led people to do crazy things.
"I like him."
"I like my guy too. He's taking me sailing tomorrow night. I might just let him have sex with me. Seal the deal."
Melanie turned to look at her friend who shrugged.
"I'm not into morals the way you are honey. I'm thirty, single and tired of being thirty, single and trying to make ends meet. This shop is not doing enough to pay the bills, and I'll be damned if I take on a second job."
"I don't have a child to think of, not one. My eggs are drying up, and my life is a train wreck. I'm going to take whatever I can get from my guy and if it goes somewhere, then so be it."
"If not, I intend to walk away with enough to have me set for several years at least. I'm not going to refuse any gift. Expensive things can be pawned."
"That's horrible. This is not us. We're not gold diggers."
"I prefer to think of it as seeing an opportunity and making use of it."
Carrie's eyes blazed. Easing out of her chair, a tall, willowy woman with spiked natural hair and a narrow face, she was attractive enough to draw a second look but paled in comparison to her best friend. Walking over to the shampoo basin, she started scrubbing.
She rented out a few work stations, but today the other two people had left early. Peeling off the protective gloves, she faced her friend and stared critically.
"Your car is about to die. You hate your job and that bitch Sylvia Anders treats you like dirt. Use her damn clothes and her place to get what you want. Think about David. He deserves better than you shopping at the thrift store for his wardrobe. You said you like the guy, have fun while you're at it."
"And if it goes further?" Melanie spread her hands. "What do I do then?"
"Honey, you're obsessing over nothing. Go to dinner and have a blast, period. It's about time we did."
Slumping down on the chair behind her, she propped her elbows on her knees and sighed.
"Today was like a day in hell." She admitted. "Jessica was on a tear about some shipment not coming in and that asshole Jerry is trying to jam me up. All because I refuse to sleep with him."
Slamming the basin she had been scrubbing down on the counter, Carrie marched over to sit on the shampoo chair, eyes blazing.
"Why the hell haven't you reported that prick?"
"Because he's Jessica's family. And you know what that means."
"Why don't you let me at him? All I need to do is bruise those small balls of his and render him impotent to every other woman including that wife of his."
Melanie laughed and felt her mood getting lighter.
"The wife is nice, so unlike Jessica." Blowing out a breath, she sat back and stretched her legs out. "I really like him, Car."
