My makeup drawer in the bathroom.
I snatched it.
I snatched the whole damn drawer and clutched it to my chest as I turned around, trying to follow the same path out as I had taken going in.
Turning off the lights as I left.
I didn't realize I had been holding my breath until I was standing in the hallway, the drawer cutting into my hands.
I passed the keys back to Caitlin and watched as she locked the door.
"And, Cait? Could you call Jake and have him see about getting a crew out here to clear the freaking shit out as soon as the Claim Adjustor is finished?"
I saws her eyes soften and a grin of understanding spread across her face.
"On it," she said softly, as her fingers once again flew across the keyboard of her phone.
Chapter Fifteen
There's a thing I read in a pamphlet about depression which was left with my mom right after my dad died. Something that really spoke to me then and still speaks to me now.
Especially now.
"The only way to overcome your losses, your fears, your pain is to work with others, giving of yourself to help them overcome their losses, their fears and their pain."
When I initially left my apartment, I was devastated, overcome seeing that needless, senseless destruction once again.
But when my girl Leila asked for help, I didn't hesitate for very long before turning right around and going back in.
Seeing the changes Leila had made and how she really was becoming the woman she wanted to be, having her ask for help in doing so took the some of the sting out of what I had seen.
Seeing her beauty enhanced with just a few cosmetics and hearing her fervent, "Will you, at some point, teach me how to do this?" helped even more.
Helping her, concentrating on her, helped me settle a little.
After I left Leila's house, I called Ram on his cell.
"Are you okay, Marianne?" were the first words out of his mouth. I never called him on his cell when I knew he was at work.
I realized there was a lot of caring in just those four words.
The deep caring that I was feeling from him, from my Ram, over the phone told my heart it was okay to lean on him.
"Not really, Ram. I went to the apartment with Cait after work…"
"I’m on my way home now. Come to me, Pyari."
"Yes, Ram."
He was waiting outside for me as I pulled into his deep driveway, his shirt untucked and boots off but he still came to my car door and opened it.
We walked together up the front walkway, his large hand holding mine.
As I kicked off my heels in the entry, my heart settled completely.
Chapter Sixteen
Things were moving along.
I was able to get the appointment with the Claim Adjuster for Monday, the ninth. I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to having it over and done with so the removal people could come clean up the mess.
I wanted my own space back.
Not that living at Aunt Estella's was a hardship, not at all.
But it wasn't my place, my special space.
Luckily, work wasn't as busy as it had been and I was able to catch up on all the things I'd shoved aside.
Feeling at loose ends, I texted Caitlin, Crystal and Leila asking about going to dinner at Enrique's on Thursday night.
Leila said she had plans.
Cait couldn't make it for dinner but could join us for drinks afterward.
Crys' text simply said, "Hell, yeah! Need girl time. Am surrounded by dicks all day long!"
If I had thought about it, which I didn't, I probably would've thought having dinner with just Crys would probably be stilted, given our age difference.
But I didn't.
And it wasn't.
She was just as much fun one - on - one as she had been at the mall.
We were seated on the Enrique's patio that only held six tables, but had four outdoor heaters and the fireplace going.
Nice.
Crys arrived wearing the cutest leather shrug, white ribbed tank paired with black cargo pants worn low on her hips, the legs rolled up to just beneath her knee . On her feet she had the feminine version of Doc Marten boots extending up beyond the edge of her pant cuffs.
Wow.
Just, wow.
Our margaritas were half full when we finally made it to the menus.
"Uhm, Marianne?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not big on the full dinners. Only like a couple of bites of everything except the beans. Not a fan of the beans by themselves."
I looked at her over the top of my menu and blinked slowly.
"I'm not big on the dinners either, Crys. And I don't like the rice. What if we do the ala carte stuff and share?" I couldn't believe we had the same tastes.
"Yes! Hey Dee!" Crys called.
"Just a sec, Crys." I heard called back.
"You know the waitress?"
"She's the receptionist at Tangles."
"Tangles?"
"The place where Leila got her hair done."
"Oh, yeah. Her 'full day of beauty' place!"
Crys laughed. Her voice, just her regular every day voice, was a throaty alto and when she laughed it was this warm, slightly rough, sexy sound.
No high-pitched giggles for Crys.
Dee took our order, her eyebrows reaching for her hairline at all the different ala carte food we ordered.
"You got a problem with that, Dee?" Crys asked tilting her head to the side as she watched Dee write out our order
"Not a problem, Crys. But you guys are ordering a shi…a lot of food!"
Crys glanced at me and rolled her eyes.
"And can we get another round of drinks?" I asked after bugging my eyes out a Crys. Everyone knew you don't piss off the person that'll be bringing your food, for God's sake.
After Dee left and our conversation resumed, I learned a lot about Crys that I wouldn't have guessed. Her love of music I knew about, since I'd seen her doing some dance moves when we were at the mall, and Leila had described her singing a cappella the first night they met.
Crys went into detail about that night. When Leila had first tried to make an appointment, she pissed Crys right the hell off with her fancy words and snooty attitude. So Crys had scheduled her for a time when Dex was not supposed to be in the shop.
Then, when Leila showed up and was so nice, Crys felt bad. Then, and I quote, "The universe smiled."
Great line, I thought to myself, tucking it away for future reference.
Dex had shown up and all was good.
Crys asked about my family and I told her about my dad.
I told her about my mom in Shady Acres.
I told her about my Aunt Estella and Greg which had her in stitches because she had dated Greg for a while.
Small world, huh?
Then she told me about her mom, her dad's passing and how Dex and Max were her surrogate parents now.
How they were always, but always, up in her shit -- her words, not mine.
"So, Dex and Leila, huh?" I said, remembering her text she sent earlier that afternoon.
"I know, right? When she came in, I swear to God, I thought she was there to have her colors added. But when he kissed her and called her 'Elle', you could've knocked me on my ass!"
We were laughing and shaking our heads.
When our laughing had finally settled down, my girl Crys just had to add another line.
"Shit happens when you party naked," she said.
Which, of course, completely set my laughter off again.
Dee cleared our table, taking time to thank us for stacking our plates.
I raised my eyebrows at Crys and she shook her head before slurping the last bit of her margarita, for once thankfully silent.
The only reason we had stacked 'em was because we had no room on the table for our own plates, unless we stacked the ala carte dishes.
"Hey, girls. Co
uld hear you two laughing your asses off all the way out on the sidewalk!" Caitlin called making her way to our table and sitting down.
"…and the horse you rode in on, Mrs. Future Gorgeousness!" Crys said straight back.
I couldn't get a breath I was laughing so hard.
Dee came by and asked for Cait's order. Crys passed. I asked for coffee.
"I'm taking off ladies. Got shit I've gotta do," Crys said as she plucked a couple of bills from her wallet and tossed them on the table. She leaned over and gave Cait a one-armed hug. I stood as she made her way around the table to me.
"Fun, Marianne, you know?" she said with her cute, lop-sided smile while she reached for me.
"You bet, baby girl," I whispered holding her close.
"Why the fuck does everyone call me that?" She mock-yelled as she disengaged from me and turned around. I watched as she bumped fists with Dee as she left.
I sat back down and caught Cait's soft smile.
"One in a million, yeah?" she said softly.
"Oh, dear God, Cait. You sounded just like Jake when you said that!"
"You're too pretty to be a bitch, Marianne!" she quipped with a laugh, which set me off again.
"Are you still seeing Paul Adler?"
Dee was just delivering our coffees, although Cait got the Mexican coffee with the shot of tequila on the side. At Cait's words, Dee bobbled her tray and the cups rattled against the saucers.
"Seeing? Yes. Dating . . . um, no."
"And that means…" Her voice lilted up at the end, in question.
"I've been seeing someone else."
Boy, had I ever.
I watched her roll her hand towards her chest, silently asking for more info.
"Ram."
Her eyes got huge.
"Ram Patel. You know, the Police Chief?" I clarified.
She just looked at me.
"Okay, Cait. Stop looking at me like I'm a new species, for God's sake."
"I knew it. Jake and I saw you and Ram when I was in the hospital, when you brought me that big bouquet. And both of us saw that there was this 'thing' when you looked at each other."
Now it was my turn to just look at her.
"It's kind of a big 'thing' for me now," I said softly, even using my fingers for the air quotes.
"Glad for you, Marianne," she said softly.
"I'm glad for me, too. But we really need to get you back to speaking like yourself instead of like your fiancé." I replied softly.
"To quote Crys. And the horse you rode in on, Marianne."
"Have you set a date yet?"
"For the wedding? No, not yet. I'm working with an attorney regarding the estate my parents left and would like to get through that and school before we actually make it legal."
"Your estate?" I asked.
"Yeah. I told Jake about what I had gotten after my parents died. He'd been through something similar when his dad and his brother passed and said my experience was different than his. And not in a good way kind of different. He put me in contact with his attorney friend, Sam McKenzie, because something was really wrong if that's all I received. Sam said he's heard about a lot of people getting ripped off when Jamison was the executor of the estate."
Holy shit.
I was connecting the dots with regard to my Auntie's finances.
Aw geez.
"What's wrong?" Cait asked when she caught the look on my face.
"My aunt's got some, uhm, financial issues. They seem to have started when my Uncle Roger died." I was almost whispering as I put a possible puzzle together.
If I was even anywhere near the truth, it was ugly.
"Do you think…" She didn’t finish her sentence.
She didn't need to.
I got Sam McKenzie's number from Cait and I made a mental note to call Greg at my first available opportunity.
*.*.*.*.*
"Hello. Am I speaking with Marianne?"
I didn't recognize the male voice that had called me on my cell when I was about to leave Enrique's parking lot.
"And you are?"
"Niko. Niko Milosevic. I believe we met at Buxby's the other night."
Ohmigod.
Handsome.
Actually, young and handsome if we were skirting towards the truth.
"This is Marianne," I acknowledged slowly.
"Hello, Marianne. How are you?" His voice, with only the slightest hint of an accent, was just as stunning as the rest of him.
"Uhm, fine, thank you."
"I was wondering if you were available for dinner tomorrow night?"
Now, you and I both know that when a younger, handsome man asks a gal out, that said gal is flattered and might even entertain the notion for a second or two. Maybe even has a flash thought of a sweaty entwining with the previously mentioned younger, handsome man.
But, in real life?
"I appreciate the thought, Niko. But, like I explained at Buxby's, I'm seeing someone."
I heard him laugh softly.
Shit.
His laugh was as gorgeous as the rest of him. Not to mention, he had the cute dimple in one cheek. Why would I remember that?
"Another time, then. I'll keep trying. I'm nothing if not persistent."
Aw geez.
"Uhm, Niko? How'd you get my number?"
"From your cousin, Greg, of course."
Shit.
I should've known.
"Thanks for calling, Niko." I was trying to think of a way of asking him to lose my number.
"Have an enjoyable evening, Marianne."
"Ah, yes. You, too."
As soon as he disconnected, I called Greg.
"We need to talk, Greggy!" I said, almost yelling into his voicemail. "Give me a call immediately!"
Okay. So I didn't end the sentence at 'immediately'.
I might've maybe, kind of, added the words 'you stupid jerk'.
And there might have maybe, kind of, been a couple of 'F' bombs in the sentences.
Yeah, so?
*.*.*.*.*
It was just after nine when I made it back to Auntie's house. Luckily, she was still up although she was thoroughly engrossed in the news.
"Aunt Estella? We need to talk," I said gently as her show concluded.
"Yes, love?"
"I'm a little worried about your finances." I sat on the end of the couch, close to her chair.
"Oh, Mari. I'm fine. Everything's fine," she said, but she wouldn't look at me as she spoke.
"No, Auntie, you're not."
She whipped her head around to look at me and I saw her face begin to redden.
"I'm fine, Mari, and we have no need to have a discussion about money. It's such a vulgar topic anyway!"
Wait…what?
"It may be vulgar, but it’s something we need to talk about."
"I can't think about it right now. I'm tired and going to bed," she said, gently shooing Floyd off her lap before standing. She wouldn't look my way and quickly made her way upstairs.
I sighed.
This was going to be a lot harder than I thought.
I knew I couldn't go to Sam McKenzie without involving my aunt and my cousin, but how do you force someone to take a step they don't want to take?
I locked up the house and checked to make sure Floyd had been fed and had a fresh, clean litter box. I stood at the bottom of the stairs wondering exactly what it was going to take to get to the bottom of it all.
Chapter Seventeen
Ram was making his way from the interrogation room where Ted Pierson was interviewing one of the merchants that had claimed credit card fraud. There were too many holes in the man's story to make it believable and Ted was going to have to advise him of legal ramifications in making false statements before he cut him loose.
"Is he getting anywhere, Chief?" Paul asked from his desk in the middle of the bull pen.
"Unfortunately, no," Ram answered never breaking stride. He was steps away from his office when he hea
rd Marianne's name mentioned.
"Paul, you still seeing Marianne?"
"As far as I know, Cliff," Paul said with a smile. "Although her aunt says she's seeing a couple of guys. I just hope I'm still one of them."
Laughter at Paul's admission made its way around the room.
Ram took that on board and didn't show that he heard or cared about the subject. But he made a mental note to himself to have a talk with a certain blonde siren regarding the status of their relationship.
He had been willing to step aside after watching her and Paul's flirting at the hospital, but things had changed considerably since that time and Ram wanted to make sure she knew that he was the only man she was dating.
Although, dating wasn't the right word when he thought about it.
They had never gone out to dinner, seen a movie at the theatre or done any of what one normally does on a date.
He was aware that his unpredictable schedule was partly to blame for not having the time to go out, but it wasn't the full reason.
He turned this over in his mind.
Mainly, now that he thought about it, they had sex.
And they talked, then had more sex.
He wasn't complaining about it, but she was more than just a 'friend with benefits'.
He wondered how she would classify their relationship.
Did he mean more to her than just what they did in bed together?
Did what she have with him have meaning for her?
Listen to me, he thought. The standard joke was that the woman wanted to define a relationship, not the man.
Well, joke or no, he wanted to make sure they were both on the same page and were working towards a common goal.
'And just what the bloody hell is that goal, Patel, huh?' he whispered to himself before sinking himself into his large, office chair.
He was out of sorts when he finished up for the evening and made his rounds through the downtown.
He saw Marianne's car at Enrique's but didn't see her in the restaurant.
His out of sorts frame of mind stepped up a notch and he realized that he was getting angry; angry thinking that Marianne would think they were simply fuck-buddies, anger at himself for not showing her that he enjoyed her company both in and out of bed.
Anger at the thought that she was still seeing Paul.
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