by Marci Wilcox
Chapter Ten
Candi tapped her knuckles on Samir's open door. He looked up from his computer screen.
"Hey," he said. "What's up?"
"Have you seen Heather?"
"She called to tell me she'd be late. Seems she has a wicked hangover. I told her to take the day off."
Candi sat in one of Samir's visitors' chairs. His corner office didn't have a great view. Not that it would have mattered. Today was foggy and rainy.
"Did she say how the TGI meeting went?" Candi said.
"Very well. I'm not sure how soon we'll be able to get access to TGI's files."
"That's okay. As long as the process has started."
Candi noticed Samir smirking.
"Why are you smirking?" she said.
"Dane also called to say he had a hangover. I also told him to take the day off."
Candi's eyes widened.
"You don't think those two hooked up, do you?"
Samir shrugged.
"I have no idea. But if they did, I have to admit I'm a little jealous. I'm strangely attracted to Dane."
Candi giggled.
There was a rap on the door. Candi spun around to see who it was and her blood ran cold. Jarod Blackwell stood in Samir's doorway.
"Can I help you?" Samir said.
"I'm sorry to barge in like this," Jarod said. "I'm Jarod Blackwell. I'm the owner of Tile Genomics, Inc."
Samir narrowed his eyes at Jarod.
"So, you're the mysterious Mr. Blackwell. We've heard so little about you."
Jarod laughed.
"Yeah, that's my bad. I spoke to Chuck Rosewood and I can't tell you how excited I am about a possible business relationship with Braddock Insurance. That's why I made this surprise visit. I couldn't wait to come over and introduce myself."
"You certainly surprised me."
"Chuck suggested I meet with Heather Malone. I went by her office but she wasn't in. Do you know where I could find her?"
Samir was about to respond, but Candi got to her feet and faced Jarod.
"I'm Heather Malone," Candi said. "I'm afraid I can't meet with you now. I have meetings all day. I can have my secretary arrange a time later this week. Will that work for you?"
Jarod looked Candi up and down. He pointed at her hair.
"Chuck said you were a brunette."
Candi touched her hair.
"How nice of him to notice," she said. "If I'd known he liked it that color I might not have had it dyed yesterday."
Jarod looked around the office as if he just now noticed that he was intruding.
"Sorry to barge in like this," Jarod said. "I'll let you get back to work."
He sauntered out of the office. Candi watched him until he got on the elevator, and then she collapsed in her chair.
"So, that's Jarod Blackwell," Samir said. "If he got rid of the privileged smirk, he'd be kind of cute. Why did you tell him you were Heather?"
"He was looking for Heather," Candi said. "He suspects that Heather Malone is actually Heather Tile. I had to throw him off her trail."
"I understand that Jarod knows what Heather looks like. But why didn't he recognize you?"
Candi crossed her arms.
"He spent a year with Heather. He only saw me as a woman right after I was transformed. He's turned so many men into bimbos he probably doesn't remember what any of us look like."
Chapter Eleven
Candi parked her Subaru Forester on a side street and walked over to Lawton Elementary School. She chatted with a couple of the mothers she'd gotten to know. She'd created a back story for the imaginary daughter she was supposed to be picking up and mentioned her repeatedly during their conversation about the challenges of raising children in today's world. No one ever asked why Candi's daughter always managed to be the last child to leave the school or why they never saw her.
As always, Candi's heart leapt when she spotted Alex. It was painful to see him and not speak to him, but it was more painful to stay away so she kept coming back to torture herself. He had his head down as he trudged along and Candi worried if he'd had a bad day. She searched the crowd of mothers for Tracy but didn't see her.
A short man with bulging biceps squeezed through the crowd of mothers and waved at Alex.
"Hey, Alex," he shouted. "Over here, pal."
Alex ran to the man. He mussed up Alex's hair and then the two of them walked toward the line of cars.
Candi's blood turned to ice water. She mumbled a goodbye to the women she was talking to and rushed to her car. She had to know who this guy was and why her son trusted him. By the time she got her car started and maneuvered around the long line of mother's minivans and SUVs, Candi had lost sight of Alex and the mystery man.
On a hunch, Candi drove to her house. She hadn't had the nerve to go to the home David had shared with his family before now. She parked across the street and slid down in the driver's seat. There were no cars parked in the driveway.
She waited thirty minutes before a bulky fire engine red pickup truck drove by and parked in the driveway next to a motorboat on a trailer at a house three doors down from Tracy's house. It was the kind of luxury truck that more often carried a cooler of beer in the truck bed than construction supplies.
The short man and Alex got out of the truck. They both had giant soda cups and were sucking on the straws as they went inside the house. Candi was enraged. Not only was this stranger picking her son up from school instead of his mother, but this stranger had given her son an oversize soft drink and that was way too much sugar for a child his size.
Candi banged her head against the headrest. Who the hell was that guy? Where the hell was Tracy? What the hell was she doing here?
As she stared at the house that Alex and the stranger had entered, the answer to the first question came to her. The garage door was open. A weight lifting bench dominated the center of the garage. She knew this guy. His name was Jim Beers. When David and Tracy moved to the neighborhood, his wife came over with a casserole. Candi couldn't remember her name, but David and Tracy had liked her. A couple of years later, she divorced Jim for cheating on her.
David never had much to say to Jim. He seemed to spend all his free time either lifting weights or taking his boat out on the ocean. The few conversations David had with Jim were dull and boring.
An hour later, Tracy came home. She parked in her driveway and walked over to Jim's house. Candi scrunched down lower in her seat. Her heart raced as she watched her beautiful wife approach Jim's house. Tracy rang the doorbell. Jim answered the door. He was a little shorter than she was. He leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back. As he kissed her, he reached around and squeezed her ass. They finished the kiss and Tracy entered the house. Jim closed the door.
Candi opened her car door and puked on the street.
Chapter Twelve
Samira put her hands on her hips and tossed back her hair. She glared at the two women sitting in her living room.
"Enough moping," she said. "It isn't the end of the world."
Candi and Heather looked up at Samira. They tried to smile and failed miserably.
"I'm sorry," Heather said. "It's just that it's bad enough I almost slept with Dane, but with Jarod lurking about, it's going to make our job a lot harder. Still, my problem is nothing compared to Candi's."
Samira sat on the couch next to Candi and placed her hand on Candi's knee.
"You don't know if Tracy is sleeping with this douchebag," Samira said. "He could just be a friend."
"That's just it," Candi said. "It would probably be better for Tracy and Alex if Jim were more than a friend. Tracy deserves to be with somebody and Alex needs a father. Jim is duller than dishwater, but at least he's a man."
"I'm here to tell you sister, a dick doesn't make you a man."
"And who says Tracy would be better off with this guy?" Heather said. "You need to stop spying on Tracy and tell her the truth."
"You mean the same way you told Chuc
k the truth?" Candi said.
Heather hung her head.
"You're right," she said. "I can't tell you what to do if I'm not willing to do it myself."
Candi went over to Heather and led her the couch so that the three women were sitting together. Candi put her arm around Heather's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Candi said. "That was unfair. You actually have an excuse. You can't tell Chuck. Not yet. He might tell Jarod."
"That's it!" Samira said. "We're going out tonight."
"I'm sorry, Samira," Heather said. "I'm really not in the mood."
"That's exactly why we need to go out. We've been in this town for weeks and haven't had any fun. It's been all work and no play. The pressure is getting to us."
"I don't know, Samira," Candi said. "It might be safer for us to not show our faces around town, especially with Jarod lurking around."
Samira got to her feet.
"We'll go to a club," she said. "A big crowded club with loud dance music. Allah, I miss the clubs back in Dubai. But I read that they have good dance clubs here in Seattle."
Candi looked at Heather.
"Did Jarod like to go clubbing?"
"No," Heather said. "He preferred fancy pubs, country clubs, and upscale swingers' clubs."
"Dane and Chuck don't seem like the type to hang out in dance clubs either," Samira said. "It's the one place where we can avoid all the troublesome men in our lives and dance with men we're never going to see again."
Candi shrugged.
"I could use a drink," she said. "Who am I kidding? I could use a lot of drinks."
"Okay, Samira," Heather said. "It's a Saturday night. Let's go out and party."
Samira held up her finger.
"Wait," she said. "I insist you let me dress you like I did on our first date. I have a trunk full of Candi Wear dresses just going to waste. And besides, I'm tired of looking at you two dressing like Jane Hathaway."
"From the Beverly Hillbillies?" Heather said.
"I liked Jane," Candi said. "But I get the point. Okay, Samira. We'll be your personal Barbie dolls tonight."
Chapter Thirteen
Samira had the limo driver drop them off in front of the Trinity Nightclub. There was a line at the door with a bouncer deciding who got in and who didn't. The women were about to go stand at the end of the line when the bouncer waved them over. He looked them over and nodded for them to enter the club.
"That was easy," Candi said.
"Really?" Heather said. "I mean look at us. He'd have to be blind to not let us in."
Heather wore a black faux leather V neck dress. Candi wore a gold crossover front metallic dress. Both dresses were skintight. Samira wore a sleeveless neon coral dress. Heather marveled at how Samira had managed to create the illusion that she had breasts, small breasts, but breasts all the same. Heather had seen Samira's penis on many occasions. Even though Heather had seen her do it, she still didn't understand how Samira managed to tuck that snake away to where there was no sign of it while wearing a skintight dress.
They could feel the music thumping in their bones as they made their way toward the bar. The place was huge and dark as cave. Multi-colored laser lights pulsated over the crowd. A DJ was on a stage at the far end of the room. The dance floor was packed.
They squeezed through barrier of people around the bar. Everyone was trying to get the bartender's attention, but one of them came to them immediately. They gave him their drink orders. When he returned, Heather held out some bills to pay, but he waved them away.
"Your drinks were paid for before you even got to the bar," the bartender said.
He nodded at two men on the other side of the bar. They were in their late twenties with expensive haircuts wearing sport coats, dress shirts, and pressed jeans. They saluted the women with their drinks. The women saluted back.
"Certainly, they know that these drinks didn't buy them a damn thing," Candi said.
"They're cute," Samira said. "For that, I will let them talk to me. Unless they bore me."
"And if they bore you?" Heather said.
"Then I will see how well they dance."
The two guys worked their way over to the women. They're names were Tobey and Cody. Their jobs had something to do with marketing. Samira told them she wanted to dance. She danced with Tobey and Candi danced with Cody. Heather waited for them at the bar.
She finished her drink and was about to order another when someone nudged her shoulder.
"You sure you want to do that? Too much drinking leads to bad decisions."
Heather turned to the speaker. To her surprise, it was Dane Braddock in a black T-shirt and faded jeans.
"Oh my God," Heather said. "You're the last person I expected to see here."
"I'm equally surprised to see you here. But here we are."
"Yes. Here we are."
There was an awkward silence between them. Finally, Dane spoke.
"I have to say, you clean up pretty good. I mean, that is one hell of an outfit."
Feeling overexposed, Heather crossed her arms over her breasts.
"Thank you."
He leaned close to her.
"I would say I'm sorry for what happened last week, but I'm not sorry. Maybe we moved too fast and that scared you. I understand. But, you can't deny that there's something between us."
Heather waved to the bartender and held up her empty glass. He nodded.
"I'd rather not go into it right now, Dane," she said.
She had enough to worry about without Dane trying to start a relationship with her. He was a co-worker, which made it impossible to avoid him completely.
As she tried to think of a way to deal with Dane, she spotted a larger potential problem headed her way. Samira and Candi were returning from the dance floor. They must have left Tobey and Cody behind because they were on their own.
How was Dane going to react when he saw Samir dressed as a woman? Heather was prepared to kick Dane in the balls if he said something terrible to Samira.
Samira and Candi squeezed in next to Heather.
"Dane!" Candi said. "Didn't expect to see you here."
"Heather said the same thing," Dane said. He stared at Samira. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"
Samira held out her hand.
"I'm Samira," she said. "I am Prince Samir's cousin. Please don't tell him you saw me. I'm not supposed to go out without a male member of my family as my escort." She looked around as if searching for spies. "But, I convinced Heather and Candi to sneak me out tonight. They even let me borrow their clothes."
Dane took Samira's hand and kissed it.
"I swear on my mother's grave," he said, "I won't tell a soul. Your secret is safe with me."
"Wonderful. Would you like to buy me a drink?"
"I would love to."
Dane bought Samira a drink and the two of them moved to a table so they could talk alone.
"Why do I get the feeling this is going to end badly?" Candi said.
"Maybe not," Heather said. "At least, Dane has forgotten about me."
"Yeah, but what is he going to do when he finds out that Samira has a penis?"
"Hopefully, Samira won't let it get that far."
Heather and Candi took their drinks to a quiet corner.
"You know, there are times when I miss Bimbo Candi," Candi said.
Heather put her hand on Candi's shoulder.
"Don't say that," Heather said. "Being under hypnosis is like being in prison in your own body."
"But then I wouldn't have to worry about Tracy or Alex. Or David Alcott. I would be somebody's mindless sex puppet."
Heather pulled Candi to her and hugged her.
"Life isn't fair," she said.
Candi broke the embrace.
"I love you, Heather," she said.
"I love you, Candi. Promise me you won't leave me."
"Okay, but you have to promise you won't leave me."
"Never."
"
Good. Because I'm going to leave now."
Heather playfully punched Candi's shoulder.
"You just promised me," Heather said.
"I'm just going home," Candi said. "I can't get into this scene. I'll get Uber to take me back to the apartment. Tell Samira good night for me and I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Candi walked away. Heather looked over at Samira and Dane. They were deep in conversation. Heather didn't want to be a third wheel, but she didn't want to leave Samira on her own. She settled for watching them from across the room.
A couple walked over to their table and began to talk to them. Heather recognized them. It was Chuck Rosewood and a woman who worked in the research department at TGI. Her name was Julie something, Heather couldn't remember her last name. She was Charlene's best friend. Chuck had his arm around Julie's waist so maybe their relationship had entered a new phase.
Samira looked over at Heather and motioned for her to join them. Heather hesitated. Her feelings about Chuck were still very raw. But she didn't want him to suspect anything. That could ruin her plan to get her company back.
Heather joined the others. Chuck introduced her to Julie.
"Chuck was just telling us how he and Julie have been coming to this club to dance for years," Samira said.
"I didn't know you liked to dance," Heather said.
Confusion filled Chuck's face.
"How would you know that?" Samira said. "You just met the man."
Everyone laughed. Heather's face burned with embarrassment.
"Of course," she said. "I couldn't possibly know that."
"Well, I also like to dance," Julie said. "Who wants to join me on the dance floor?"
"Let's all go," Samira said. "I'm sure once the boys see Heather is dancing solo, they'll make sure she isn't lonely out there."
As they made their way to the dance floor, Samira pulled Heather aside.
"Where's Candi?" she said.
"She didn't feel well so she went home," Heather said.
"I'll call her when I get a chance."