Not in the Cards

by Alex Westmore

  Delta glanced around quickly before sliding the folded $100 bill on the counter. Only one corner peeked out from under her palm. “How you doing this evening, Fibber?”

  At the mention of his name, the clerk glanced up. “Not bad.”

  “Good. I was hoping that I might make it better.”

  Fibber’s gaze followed Delta’s until he saw the money on the counter. “You have my attention.”

  Delta smiled. “Good. Look, I’m new in town and a friend of mine just told me that there was a special screening of some videos that I ought to see. I was told you’d know where the previews are being shown.”

  Fibber looked up from the money and studied Delta for a moment. If there was any recognition, he did not show any. “You interested in renting them?”

  Leaning across the counter, Delta grinned in his face. “Not that it’s any of your business, Fib, but no, I’m not. I’m much more interested in purchasing some pie.”

  This changed Fibber’s demeanor immediately. “Oh,” he said, straightening up and finally putting the magazine down. “I see.”

  Looking all around, Fibber slid his hand across the counter until it met Delta’s. Delta released the bill and the membership card.

  “One minute.” In a flash, Fibber escaped around the corner and out of Delta’s sight. For a second, Delta wondered if she’d blown it. Then, before she knew it, Fibber returned and slid the membership card back to Delta.

  “Can’t be too careful,” Fibber said, smiling a crooked smile.

  “No, one can’t.” Delta tucked the card in the only pocket in the dress. From the same pocket she withdrew a business card with just a phone number. “This is where I can be reached. It’s a machine, but I check it every hour.”

  Fibber nodded. “What kind of pie are we talking about here?”

  Delta smiled. “Sorry, Fib, but you’re just the middle man. Just tell your boss that I’m a very wealthy woman. I could enhance his business dramatically.” With that, Delta turned on her pump heel and whisked out the door.

  “Outstanding,” Connie said, when Delta closed the car door. “You reeled him in like a pro. I could tell just by watching him. Hook, line, and proverbial sinker.”

  Delta agreed. “We should be getting a call shortly. I don’t know where you got that membership card, but I think it saved the day.”

  “No kidding.” Connie looked over at Delta, who writhed in her seat. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting these damned nylons off,” Delta said as she continued to wriggle and squirm

  Connie jerked her head in the direction of a pick-up parked two cars away. “That’s not all you’re getting off.”

  Looking up at the man in the truck, Delta cringed. “Yuck. That’s sick. Take me home so I can shower. I feel so...so...”

  “Dirty?” Starting the engine, Connie laughed. “No desire to try the straight world? Just think, you could have your pick of any manly man in that place.”

  Delta shuddered and made a sour face. “I’d rather eat elephant shit.”

  Pacing back and forth, Delta glanced at the phone every other minute. It had been two hours since they’d left Kempt’s, and still no call from Sal. It was driving her crazy.

  Just as she was beginning to bite her third nail off, she heard Megan’s key slip in the lock. Megan stood at the door with her purse under her arm, her long hair blowing to one side, and a drop dead gorgeous aqua silk jumpsuit on.

  “Hi.” Standing back so Megan could enter, Delta inhaled Megan’s Opium perfume as it followed her through the door.

  “Hi, yourself.” Megan set her purse on the table and turned to kiss Delta lightly on the mouth.

  “I thought you had a luncheon or something like that?”

  Megan nodded and pulled Delta to the couch. “I did. I cut it short because I think we need to talk.” Megan lightly touched Delta’s cheek with her fingertips. “I know I’ve been so busy carrying on with my new friends, I haven’t even made time for us.”

  Delta shrugged and glanced over at the phone. Why did Megan have to choose this time to have this talk? “We’re both busy, Meg. That happens in relationships. I’m happy for you that you have new friends and new interests.”

  “Exactly. Delta, you and I are traveling in opposite directions. I don’t even feel as if we’re on the same path. I have a life at the university that you know nothing about.”

  Delta inhaled deeply. “Like Elizabeth and Sherry?”

  “That’s Terry, and yes, like them. This morning, I was sitting in the student union having coffee, and I realized that I’m not giving this relationship a hundred percent, either. All this time, I’ve been pointing the finger at you, and here I am, zipping around doing hundreds of things without you.”

  “But you enjoy doing them.” Delta was having a hard time concentrating on this conversation. What would she do if the phone rang? Answer it? Put Megan on hold? Suddenly, she could see that golden key sinking quickly to the ocean floor.

  “Yes, I do. I’m enjoying life more than I ever have.”

  Gazing into Megan’s face, something in Delta’s throat tightened. “There’s another agenda here, Megan, I can see it in your eyes. So why don’t we skip the preface. You want out?”

  Megan took both of Delta’s hands in her own. “Not at all.”

  “Then what?”

  “I just think that maybe we both need some time away. Maybe each of us needs to examine her life apart from the other and see if we have what it really takes to do this relationship justice.”

  Delta’s jaw clinched and she folded her arms across her chest. “I can do that without being apart from you. Damn it, Meg, I love you.”

  “And I love you. But Amanda is right. Love isn’t enough. And neither of us are putting enough time or energy into maintaining our relationship. We’re going through the motions, that’s all.”

  Delta couldn’t disagree with that, no matter how much it hurt to hear it—and boy, did it hurt. “So, now what?”

  Megan reached down with one hand and pulled something out of her purse. “I’ve been giving you a hard time about your job. Well, I’ve been no better, honey. I dove into my school work and my new life at the university, and I haven’t paused long enough to see where I’m going. This morning, I realized that I haven’t exactly been a shining partner, either. I haven’t given you everything you need. And you know why?”

  Delta shook her head. She felt about five years old.

  “Because I haven’t given me everything I need. I’ve spent the last eight years pleasing everyone but myself. Then, I get into this relationship and I’m still trying to please you. Well I can’t make anyone happy until I take care of me.”

  “What needs are you talking about?”

  “My need to grow. My need to experience the world without feeling like I have to ask permission.”

  “I’ve never—”

  “I know you haven’t. You’ve never done anything but be supportive. And I love you so much for that. But, Del, there are things I want to do that you can’t do with me because of your job. That’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the way it is.”

  Delta tilted her head to the side, puzzled. “What is it you want to do?”

  Megan handed Delta the university’s brochure for traveling abroad. “I want to go on that exchange with Liz and Terry.”

  Delta stared at the pamphlet as if it might bite her. “You want to go to Costa Rica? Don’t you think leaving the country to find yourself is a little extreme?”

  Megan laid the pamphlet next to Delta. “I want to travel, Delta. I want to see the world and see what I’ve been missing all these years. You had a chance to do that. I never have, but now I do. Now I can kill two birds with one stone by taking classes and doing an internship in Costa Rica. I can travel and go to school at the same time.”

  Delta felt dizzy. In one instant, Megan had managed to bring her world crashing down around her. “You...want...to...go...to...Costa Rica?”

 
; Megan nodded. “It’s just for the quarter. Three months, that’s all.”

  “That’s all?” Delta rose from the couch and paced over to where one of the cats was laying. “Three months? Megan, three months is forever! You want to travel to the boondocks for three months without me?”

  “Can you go?”

  “You know I can’t.”

  “Exactly. Honey, I really want to go. And it might just be the best thing for us.”

  “Us?” Delta mocked laughter. “Us? There is no us if you just flit on down to Central America for three months. You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “I’m not,” Megan said quietly. “I want to go. I need to go.”

  “Then go!” Delta got up and grabbed the door knob, swung the door open and gestured for Megan to leave.

  Slowly rising, Megan walked over to the door, gently closed it, and turned to take Delta in her arms. “I’m not leaving you, Delta. I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do. It doesn’t mean the end of us.”

  Clutching Megan tightly, Delta buried her head in Megan’s neck. “It feels like it.”

  Megan kissed Delta’s cheek, then drew back to gaze deeply into Delta’s eyes. “You want to bust your rear end to catch crooks, and I want to experience a side of life I’ve only dreamt about. Right now, those two things are mutually exclusive. So, let’s stop beating our heads together and just do what it is we both need to do.”

  Delta tore her eyes away and glanced over at the quiet phone. The bottom line was that Megan was right. There were things they each wanted and needed to do which didn’t include the other; no amount of words and no expensive therapy could change that.

  “You want me to send you off to Costa Rica with a smile on my face?”

  Megan grinned. “You don’t have to smile. Actually, a few tears and ‘I’ll miss you’ would really make me happy.”

  Returning to the couch, Delta picked up the flyer about Costa Rica and glanced at it. “Seems to me,” she said, handing the flyer to Megan, “that you get the better end of the deal. You get to sunbathe on the Caribbean, and I get to run around with pushers, pimps, and perverts. Somehow, that doesn’t seem quite fair.”

  “I’ll bring back plenty of goodies.”

  “There’s only one goody I want, and that’s you.” Turning in Megan’s arms, Delta kissed her long and passionately.

  “Mmm. How about me with a golden tan?”

  Delta smiled. “When do you leave?”

  “I met with Professor McVeigh this morning to see if there were any openings.”

  “And?”

  “If I want to go on the same trip as Liz and Terry, I’ll have to leave in six days.”

  Six days? Delta’s heart sank. “So soon? It doesn’t give me any time to get used to the idea of you being gone.”

  “Would you ever get used to it?”

  Delta grinned. Megan knew her so well. “No.”

  “I didn’t think so. Look, I’ll be attending university full time for the first month, then I get a part-time internship for the second month, and the third month I work full-time at the internship. It’s perfect for me.”

  “And what kind of internship are you looking at? Banana picking? I mean, isn’t Costa Rica a third world country?”

  Megan’s face softened. “That’s what the rest of the world thinks, but no, they’re not. It’s a beautiful country with friendly people and an excellent university.”

  “So what’s your internship about then?”

  “Paralegal.”

  Delta was taken aback. How much of Megan’s life had she really missed these last few months? “Paralegal?”

  Megan nodded. “After spending all those crazy hours with you and Connie, I’ve decided to try my hand at law. What did you think I was taking all those law and poli-sci classes for?”

  “Paralegal, eh?”

  “Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Megan Osbourne, paralegal par excellance.” Snuggling into Delta’s arms, Megan sighed heavily. “I’m coming back, you know. I don’t want you to think that I’m leaving for good. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  Holding her closer, Delta kissed her forehead. “Wouldn’t ever want to.”

  Megan’s face contorted into a mask of seriousness. “You mean that?”

  “Megan, I have loved you since the first moment we met. Believe it or not, I really do understand what’s going on with you. I wish you didn’t have to go thousands of miles away, but if that’s what you have to do, then I’ll be as supportive as I can.”

  “You won’t regret it.”

  Delta’s smile faded. “I hope not. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Do you know what you’d do with a new and improved me?” Megan kissed Delta’s chin, cheek, and neck.

  “I think I could figure something out.” Lowering her mouth to Megan’s, Delta tasted every bit of her she could. “I love you, Megan Osbourne.”

  “And I love you, my beautiful Storm.”

  “She’s going where?”

  “Costa Rica.” Pulling her seat belt over her lap, Delta shrugged. “I should have seen it coming, but I guess I’ve been too wrapped up in my job.”

  Reaching across the car and patting Delta’s leg, Connie gave her a sympathetic smile. “It was bound to happen, Del. At least Megan is smart enough to catch it now instead of five years down the road when you’re really invested.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. It doesn’t make it hurt any less.” Staring out the window, Delta tried to ignore the ache in her heart.

  “She’s doing the right thing, you’ll see. When Megan comes home, she’ll be ready for your relationship. She will have sown some wild oats and gotten that out of her system.”

  “Well, it’s that sowing part that bothers me.” Just the thought of Megan with another woman or, god help her, a man, made Delta’s stomach turn.

  “Don’t second-guess her on this, Del, or it will drive you crazy.”

  “It already is.”

  “Then accept it and let it go. Be grateful she was straight with you. Not many people would be so honest. She obviously trusts you enough to handle this. Give her the same respect.”

  Turning from the window, Delta squinted at Connie. “Do you always have to be right about everything?”

  Connie grinned. “That’s how I maintain my genius status. Besides, you might stop coming to me for advice if I was ever wrong.”

  Delta’s grin matched Connie’s. “I wasn’t aware I had asked you for advice.”

  “Sure you did. In a roundabout way. But seriously, Del, you’re going to be okay. It’s not like she’s leaving you alone. Gina and I will make sure you behave, brush your teeth, and eat well.”

  “Thanks. I feel better already.” Shaking her head at Connie, Delta felt lighter than she had since Megan had told her. “You never cease to amaze me.”

  “That’s what Gina says after sex. I’m something, aren’t I?”

  Tossing her head back and laughing, Delta didn’t even try to respond. When Connie got like this, the best thing to do was to not egg her on.

  “So where are we going now? I thought we needed to stay by the phones.”

  “We’re going right to the source. I thought we’d pick up the Camaro and give you a chance to meet Sal.”

  “Where did you say you know this Sal person from?”

  Connie shrugged. “Here and there. Mostly from my pals in the military.”

  “The military?”

  Connie nodded. “I worked with some people from the Marines when I was at MIT.”

  “The Marines? Your friend Sal is in the Marines?”

  Pulling into the driveway of a house that looked like it belonged on the front page of Better Homes and Gardens, Connie turned the motor off. “Sal wasn’t in the Marines. Her father was.”

  In a flash, a small, wiry little boy peeked out from behind the six-foot gate, wearing a camouflaged baseball cap with matching fatigues.

  “Sal!” Connie cried,
sweeping the little boy off his feet. Upon closer inspection, Delta realized that this little boy with the short brown hair poking out from underneath the cap was, in fact, a woman.

  “Sal, I want you to meet—”

  “Storm,” Sal said, reaching her hand out and grasping Delta’s firmly in it. “Connie’s told me so much about you. It’s great to finally meet you in person.”

  “Same here.” Bowing her head, Delta surveyed the petite woman wearing lace up black army boots. She stood a shadow over five feet tall and kept tucking her hair behind her ears. She looked like a little boy wearing his father’s clothes.

  “No call yet, huh?” Delta asked.

  Sal shook her head. “Nope. I’m sure they’re checking you out.”

  “What about the real woman who belongs to that membership card?”

  Sal smiled and her freckles seemed to jump around on her face. “Not to worry. Everything will check out just fine.”

  “And the transmitter?” Connie asked.

  Sal jerked her head toward the garage. “Slipped her in like a glove. You have a ten mile radius, it’ll flash when the vehicle is moving and stay on when the vehicle comes to a stop.”

  Sal pulled something from her pocket and handed it to Connie, who showed it to Delta. “Keep this with you. It will beep when the vehicle starts moving. After that beep, it will flash until the vehicle comes to a stop. It will beep once again when the vehicle starts again.”

  “So it beeps after the car starts from a stop light or something?” Sal nodded. Delta noticed a pack of freckles living on her nose and two very thin lips resting beneath a cute button nose. Right away, Delta liked this diminutive woman.

  “Your receiver will show you where you are as the flashing green light. Each quadrant of the grid is half a mile, so you can gauge where you are accordingly. Any questions?”

  Connie nodded. “Were you able to make any other connections for us?”

  Sal grinned. Her two front teeth crossed over each other and a single dimple showed in her right cheek. “We hit the jackpot. I contacted Josh to see what he could come up with. We landed four more.”

  “Red ones?”

  Sal nodded vigorously. “Red ones.”