That Man of Mine

by Maria Geraci

  Zeke laid down his sandwich and began reading through the papers. Mimi expected a quick perusal, but he took longer than she thought he would, like he was studying each and every little detail. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She couldn’t tell from the expression on his face and she found herself beginning to squirm. Any second now, her foot was going to have a seizure.

  He handed her back the paper. “Ten grand for Fatback Bubba and the Rattlesnakes, huh? You think they’re worth it?”

  “For what I hear they’re worth it, plus some.”

  “Okay. I think it’s good then.”

  “Really?”

  “Actually, it’s better than good. I think it’s brilliant.”

  The way he looked at her made her feel brilliant, too. She let go of a pent up burst of air.

  “I thought you said the committee was broke. How are you going to get the money to pay the band in advance?”

  “We have enough for their advance and the rest we can negotiate.” So it was a tiny white lie, but Mimi already knew how Zeke felt about Doug. If he knew that Doug was helping her with the band money he probably wouldn’t think the whole thing was so brilliant after all. “And I’m completely doing away with the promotion budget. For one thing, the festival is already well known to everyone in the area, so we’re going to go with using social media and local newsprint. And maybe some free radio air time if I can convince the area DJs.”

  He nodded. “That’s smart. What can I do to help?”

  Mimi hadn’t thought that Zeke could help, but if he was offering… “Maybe we can tighten up the security budget? I think this band will draw a big crowd, but we really can’t afford to increase the number of off-duty cops we hire.”

  Zeke munched on his sandwich thoughtfully. He finished it off and wiped the corner of his mouth with his napkin, then laid it on the table. “I can’t make any promises, but maybe since the festival is financially tight this year, I can convince some of the guys to do security for free. As a community service.”

  “Really? For free?” Her head began to spin. Normally, the off-duty cops were paid after the festival, so it wasn’t an expense to worry about in advance, but if they could pocket that money into next year’s budget, it would go a long way to putting the festival back on top.

  “Like I said, no promises,” he said carefully. “But I’m pretty sure I can swing it.”

  Which meant, yes, he could do it. Zeke never hinted at promising anything he couldn’t deliver. It was one of the zillion things she loved about him.

  Impulsively, she reached out and grabbed him into a hug. “I could kiss you right now.”

  Amusement and heat glimmered in his eyes. “I think we have an audience.”

  Mimi froze. She glanced to the left, and then to the right. A sea of cell phones filled the air as the restaurants’ patrons snapped photos or took video. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she muttered.

  Zeke shrugged like he wasn’t bothered by it. She, on the other hand, was tired of this mess. First Burger World, then Mrs. Manley, and of course Cindy from police headquarters, and who could forget Bettina, or Shelby from the beauty salon whispering in Momma’s ear? And now this… She might be one half of Whispering Bay’s “power couple”, but she and Zeke deserved some privacy.

  Mimi straightened in her seat, then stood to address the restaurant. “Hi, everyone,” she said, trying to be friendly. After all, she was mayor. She certainly didn’t want to come across as a shrew or anything. “Zeke and I sure do appreciate your interest in us, but despite the fact that we’re both civil servants of this community, we’re also a private couple and—”

  “Are the two of you back together or not?” someone yelled.

  Mimi thought it came from the back. She turned and an elderly gentleman, a friend of Gus and Viola’s from the Gray Flamingos whose name she couldn’t remember, waved at her. It left her no choice really, except to smile and wave back.

  Zeke just shook his head.

  “Um, so, back to your question. As I was saying—”

  “Are you gonna answer or not? Because I have twenty bucks riding on this.” This time it was Joey Pappas, Gus’s son, who wanted to know.

  People were making bets on whether she and Zeke were back together? What was wrong with this town?

  “I’m afraid no, we’re not back together yet.”

  The entire restaurant began to buzz. A low chorus of boos could be heard from the counter area.

  “I’m sorry, we don’t mean to disappoint anyone but—”

  “What was the point of calling 911 and gettin’ Zeke out there if not to get back together? I mean, didn’t the two of you do it?”

  Okay, this was definitely out of bounds here. She didn’t need to explain herself to anyone, but on the other hand, she was mayor and her life should be an open book. Only there were chapters that were definitely off limits. As in, her and Zeke’s sex life.

  “I only dialed 911 because I was genuinely frightened.”

  “Of a couple of raccoons?” someone yelled.

  “They were armadillos,” Mimi insisted. “It’s a totally different animal.”

  Thankfully, Zeke decided to take over here. He stood and everyone instantly went quiet. It irked Mimi that he could do that just by standing up, but she was too frazzled to care much at the moment.

  “I think that’s about it, people,” Zeke said in a friendly, but firm tone.

  And with those simple words, everyone went back to their own business. Disappointed, yes, but it was clear they weren’t going to get much more than that with Zeke here.

  “Good grief,” Mimi said. She flopped back in her seat.

  Zeke shrugged. “What can I say? People are interested in us.”

  “Well, I wish they’d get interested in something else.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like something other than our sex life,” she said.

  “Be careful what you wish for.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  He looked her in the eye. “I’ve been chief long enough to know that public life has its ups and downs and, believe it or not, this is an up.”

  Bettina was the first one to arrive for this week’s meeting, besides Mimi of course, because she’d been waiting at The Bistro since her lunch with Zeke. To say her nerves were shot was putting it mildly. Zeke had proclaimed her proposal brilliant, but he had no idea what she was up against in Bettina and Sherry and Wendy, or as Mimi liked to think of them—the witches of Whispering Bay.

  Be nice, Mimi.

  This week Bettina wore yoga pants and a fuchsia sports bra and Tofu wore a matching colored bandana around her neck. As per her usual routine, she greeted Mimi with a snarl (Tofu, not Bettina), but this time, Mimi was ready for her.

  “Look what I have for you, little girl,” Mimi said, waving a dog biscuit in front of Tofu’s nose. Tofu snapped it up faster than Bettina could blink.

  “What did you just give her?” Bettina demanded.

  “Relax. It was only a biscuit. Toby loves them. They taste like bacon.”

  “You mean that mutt you got from the animal shelter?”

  “He’s not a mutt,” Mimi said. “He’s a...pug mix.”

  “Exactly, he’s mixed. Which means he’s not a purebred like Tofu. Who knows how many preservatives are in that bacon biscuit?” Bettina made the word bacon sound synonymous with cyanide. “Toby’s proletarian stomach can handle that kind of poison. But Tofu is very delicate. She only eats one hundred percent organic dog food and treats that are specifically approved by both her vet and her groomer.”

  “Okay, well, she doesn’t look like she’s suffering right now. How about—wait. Where did you see Toby?” They’d had the dog almost two months now, but Mimi was certain she’d never seen Bettina when she’d taken Toby for a walk. Had Bettina run into Cameron and Toby at the park?

  “That mongrel was at the fishing cabin the other weekend when I brought Zeke dinner. Cameron was there, too.”
r />   Mimi must have heard wrong. “When you what?”

  “I’m on the committee that brings our chief dinner every night,” she explained in a slowly insulting tone. Then her eyes widened in mock surprise. “Wait. You didn’t know? You didn’t think we were going to let Zeke go hungry? He’s an integral part of what makes this community tick. You might not care what he eats, but the citizens of Whispering Bay certainly do.”

  Her heart began to pound. Of all the… Mimi itched to knock that smug expression off Bettina’s face. “Who else is on this committee?” she choked out.

  “Betty Jean Collins organized it, but I’m co-chair. Let’s see, Sherry and Wendy are on it, of course, as well as the rest of the Bunco Bunnies and a few of the Gray Flamingos. Your neighbor, Mrs. Manley, and there’s Trudy who teaches over at the high school. Zeke is absolutely crazy over her pecan pie.”

  Mimi grit her teeth. “Naturally.”

  “We were going to put a halt to it after the 911 call, because we all assumed that had done the trick getting you back together, but you were so vehement that it wasn’t the case, and of course, Mrs. Manley just confirmed it. She sent a group text saying that you made a public service announcement just an hour ago that you and Zeke are still splitsville.”

  “Lovely,” Mimi muttered.

  So Zeke was crazy about Trudy’s pecan pie, huh? And to think she’d actually been worried he’d been eating too much fast food! She wished she could tell him exactly where he could stuff those pecans now.

  Viola and Sherry both came through the door at the same time. A few minutes later Wendy hustled in, out of breath like she’d just been running. The meeting was about to start and Mimi needed to keep a cool head if she was going to get this proposal voted through.

  Like last week, Bettina took over the meeting before Mimi could begin. “I believe the first order of business is the proposal we asked Mimi to write up.”

  Doreen pulled out a pad of paper and began taking notes.

  Mimi handed out copies of the proposal. She went through each item, step-by-step, explaining anything that might need clarifying. When she finished, she looked each member in the eye and smiled. It was easy to be pleasant with Viola and Doreen, both of whom seemed genuinely interested. Even Wendy seemed to be following along as Mimi spoke. But every time Mimi caught Bettina’s eye all she could think about was that all this time Zeke had his own personal version of the welcome wagon at his cabin every evening. And Mimi had never even stepped foot in the place. Of course, that was no one’s fault but her own.

  “Anything else?” Bettina asked.

  “No, that’s it. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have,” Mimi said.

  Wendy was the first to respond, which surprised Mimi. “So, you think we should use social media to advertise? Like what? Facebook?”

  “Exactly. The festival already has a Facebook page, but it’s mostly pictures of past years’ events, and it hasn’t been updated in months. I propose that one of us take the page over and begin posting daily and start encouraging other businesses in the community to do so, as well. We can list the entertainment schedule and of course, if you all approve Fatback Bubba we can link back to their fan page, which has like twenty thousand followers.”

  “Twenty-thousand?” Wendy said. “That’s really impressive.”

  “I know. Right?” Mimi smiled at Wendy, who tentatively smiled back at her.

  “This all sounds really good, but how about that ten thousand dollars?” Bettina said. “How creative were you able to get? Because without that money you can kiss this whole proposal good-bye.”

  “Actually, this is the really exciting part. Now, I would appreciate it if we kept this among the committee,” Mimi began.

  The rest of the group murmured their consent, except Bettina, who just stared at her with her arms crossed over her chest. Mimi glanced down at Tofu, whose head was once again poking outside Bettina’s designer bag. For once, though, Tofu didn’t bare her teeth at Mimi. Maybe that toxic proletarian biscuit actually did the trick and Tofu was beginning to see her in a friendlier light.

  “I’ve talked to Doug Wentworth, the city manager, and he agreed to lend the committee the seven-thousand five hundred dollars we’ll need to pay the band two days before the festival. If the rest of my outline goes as planned, we’ll have more than plenty of money to pay the city back. Plus…now, I can’t promise this, but I think we’ll also be able to slash most of the security budget.”

  “How?” Sherry demanded.

  “I showed this proposal to Zeke and he knows the festival coffers are in pretty bad shape. He thinks maybe he can get the off-duty cops we normally hire for the event to do it this year pro-bono as a give back to the community.”

  Viola looked impressed. “Now that would really help.”

  “What about the tickets you plan to sell for the concert?” Bettina asked. “I just don’t see anyone paying an extra twenty dollars to see this Fatback Bubba band.”

  “Well, I do,” Doreen said. “After last week’s meeting, I looked them up. They’re really popular, just like Mimi said.”

  “I know there are a lot of things in this proposal that are different from the way we normally operate, but the way we’ve been doing things isn’t working anymore. It’s time for a change. A big one. I think we can really turn this festival around and make it something that all of north Florida is going to want to be part of in the years to come.”

  Viola nodded enthusiastically. “Well said.”

  Bettina made a big show of looking at her watch. “If we’re done talking, then I say it’s time to vote. I’ll start.” She smoothed out her features and made a pleasant, but sad looking face. “First, I think all the work you’ve put into this proposal is just…well, it’s just darling, Mimi. I can’t tell you how much we all appreciate it. We really do. But this is your first year on the committee and I’m afraid beginner’s enthusiasm has gotten the best of you. We simply have to stick to the formula. It’s true, the formula hasn’t worked so well in the past few years, but I for one am ready to go out and give it the old Whispering Bay try.”

  Doreen looked up from her pad of paper. “So…does that mean no?”

  “Yes, hon, that’s a no,” Bettina said.

  “I’m afraid it’s a no for me as well,” Sherry said.

  What a surprise! Mimi bit her tongue.

  “I think this proposal is just fantastic,” Viola began. “I do have a few reservations about how all the ticket sales will go, but I say yes!”

  “I say yes as well,” Doreen said.

  “Well, you all know my vote,” Mimi said. “It’s my proposal, so of course my vote is yes.”

  Bettina placed her hand in the air. “Before we go any further, let me just remind you that committee rules specify that any new proposals or ideas must meet majority approval.”

  In other words, no ties. Which meant once Wendy voted no, the vote would be three to three and the proposal would die a quick and clean death, and all of Mimi’s work would have been for nothing.

  “Your turn to vote, Wendy,” Doreen reminded her.

  Everyone turned to look at Wendy. Poor girl. Her brow was covered in sweat and her right eyelid twitched nervously. Mimi sighed. She supposed she couldn’t blame her. Bettina was a bully and Wendy was simply too weak to stand up to her. Mimi tried to think of any local bands besides Harry Tuba who might want to play for free, but right now her mind—

  “Yes,” someone squeaked. But it was so soft that Mimi wasn’t sure she heard right.

  “What did you say?” Viola asked.

  Wendy’s eyes went round. “I said…yes.”

  Bettina made her scowly face. “Wendy, hon, I think your blood sugar is too low. It sounded as if you said yes, when I know what you meant to vote was no. Isn’t that right?”

  Sherry nodded. “I’m positive I heard no.”

  “I vote yes,” Wendy said in a voice loud enough that no one could dispute.

  Be
ttina and Sherry stared (or rather gawked) at her as if they couldn’t believe it. Mimi could hardly believe it herself. Thanks to Wendy’s vote, her proposal had just been passed by the committee!

  “Well! That settles it, then.” Viola rubbed her hands together gleefully. “The vote is four to two, so Mimi’s proposal is voted in.”

  Doreen made some final notes in her pad and glanced around the table. “Now that the vote is settled, I say we adjourn this meeting.”

  *~*~*

  This time, Mimi was careful to watch where she stepped. The parking lot was once again empty, except for her and Bettina, who always seemed to be the last to leave. She had hoped to have a chance to talk to Wendy and thank her for keeping an open mind on the vote, but Wendy had practically run out the door the second the meeting had adjourned. Mimi didn’t blame her. She was probably hoping to escape the wrath of Hurricane Bettina. Sooner or later though, Mimi was afraid it would catch it up to her. She could only hope Wendy had the fortitude to stick to her guns and keep following her conscience.

  Mimi put her key in the car lock.

  “Congratulations.”

  She whipped around to find Bettina standing a few feet away. Tofu blinked at Mimi with those dark, soulless eyes of hers (okay, so maybe she was actually kind of cute when she wasn’t snarling).

  “Thanks, Bettina. I know you and Sherry weren’t on board with my proposal, but I hope we can all work together for the good of the festival.”

  “Of course we can. And I don’t want you thinking my vote was anything personal now. Just give me a job and I’ll do it. You’re in charge, Mimi. The fate of the festival is all on your shoulders now.” Bettina walked off toward her car. Tofu turned her head and kept looking at Mimi with a sad, almost wistful expression. Sorry, no more bacon for you, Tofu.

  The fate of the festival is all on your shoulders now.

  The way Bettina said it sounded almost ominous. Mimi had wanted to be mayor. She’d promised during her campaign that she’d do what was best for Whispering Bay. It looked like it was now time to make good on that promise.