by Parker Paige
That evening, Blue Ivy failed at her attempt to run into Rod at Excalibur. After downing a few drinks, she made her way back home.
Hope was not lost though.
Eventually, she would run into him and tell him what she should have told him when she met him the first time.
Thirty minutes late, definitely not the norm for her, but necessary to make a grand entrance, Blue Ivy strolled into her office the next morning. With her Coach bag on her shoulder, she received stares and ogles from everyone in her path.
After she hung up her coat, down the corridor she strutted. She wore a kick-ass attitude and an olive green pantsuit to match, which appeared to have been tailored for her lean frame. For each step closer to her desk, her persona, Blue, emerged. By the time she reached her cubicle, a plethora of coworkers awaited her as if she were queen of the heavens.
On her desk, an arrangement of flowers awaited her, along with a dozen red tulips. No doubt the tulips were from Lee because tulips were her favorite. After she offered her good mornings to everyone, she read the card of her delivered flowers and learned her assumption was correct. The tulips were from Lee, but what she didn’t know was that there was a second arrangement for her from her boss, Lillian, wishing her a happy birthday as well.
Blue Ivy was feeling on top of the world as her coworkers bombarded her workstation like she was a prominent salesperson. She was the center of this gala and enjoyed every second of it.
Rollie Williams, a paralegal who dressed more like he worked in the mailroom, wearing khakis and loafers managed to squeeze through the crowd and approach her, his eyes scanning her from top to bottom. “Don’t you look lovely,” he stated in his distinctive girlish voice.
“Thank you,” Blue Ivy said as she pushed her hair behind her left ear.
Soon Laura made her way over, her eyes widened and her mouth was half open. “Blue Ivy?”
“I like to think of myself as Blue.”
Episode 7
LAURA DID A DOUBLE TAKE of Blue Ivy’s appearance, seemingly even more shocked by the name Blue. “Okay, Blue. What did you do to yourself?”
Blue Ivy flung her fingers through her silky hair and held her head back. She was so full of herself, and she wanted everyone to know, because it was no secret. “You like?”
“Yes, I do,” Laura said to her.
As Blue Ivy absorbed the non-stop compliments about her hair, makeup and clothes, Camina came to mind as she lounged in the chair and crossed her legs. She couldn’t wait for Camina to see her. It was the moment that she anticipated and thought about all night.
It was as if her thoughts of Camina brought Camina out of hiding and into existence as Camina was now approaching Blue Ivy at her desk, her arms folded, not saying a word.
Laura was quick to speak in Camina’s presence. “Will you look at the new Blue Ivy? I mean Blue.”
“Blue? Who’s Blue?” Camina asked.
Blue Ivy elegantly stood up with a purpose. “I am.”
Camina glanced at Laura in disbelief, then turned to Blue Ivy and rolled her eyes. “So, what’s with the red hair? What, you want to look like me or something?”
Before Blue Ivy could answer, Laura immediately jumped in. “She doesn’t want to look like you.”
“I can speak for myself, Laura.”
While Laura seemed surprised by Blue Ivy’s unusual tone of voice, Blue Ivy placed her hands on her hips and directed her attention towards Camina. “For your information, I have no desire to look like you. I’m better than that. Much better.”
Though Blue Ivy’s new look resembled Camina and Laura’s, it was not her intention to look like them at all, but more so like her late sister who happened to resemble both Laura and Camina.
Camina appeared as if she were about to step away, when she suddenly stepped around to Blue Ivy’s desk. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you the other night at the club. It must have been tough watching me and Laura have such a good time while you sat there. Alone.”
Blue Ivy wore a mental venom protective shield to safeguard herself from Camina’s poisonous words. She was not about to allow Camina to steal her joy and bring her down. “Oh, it wasn’t so bad,” Blue Ivy said to her.
The congestion at Blue Ivy’s workstation brought an unexpected visitor─Bruce Colby.
“Blue Ivy?” Bruce Colby bellowed. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”
Blue Ivy knew that Bruce held a fetish for redheads, and she witnessed his eyes snaking through her looping red hair.
“You look wonderful,” he stated.
“Thank you.”
Blue Ivy noticed Bruce peering at her in a way that he had never done before, a way that she never thought that he would. She had successfully captured the attention of Camina’s prized possession and that was reward in itself.
The excitement soon died down and everyone vanished and returned to work, all except Laura. Laura seemed to still be in shock by Blue Ivy’s new persona.
Blue Ivy plucked her compact mirror from her purse and studied herself. She then twirled the ends of her hair around her finger as if to doll herself up. Next, she added another coat of her glossy lipstick.
All the while, Laura continually studied her as if Blue Ivy were a science project. “Since you weren’t here yesterday, I’d like to take you to lunch for your birthday.”
Blue Ivy was so wrapped up in the reflection of herself in her compact mirror that she didn’t hear Laura.
“Blue Ivy, did you hear me?”
Blue Ivy’s face was locked with the compact mirror as she wiped the smudged eyeliner from her face with her pinky finger. “I’m sorry, something about lunch. Of course.”
“And don’t worry. Camina isn’t coming with us this time.”
It was as if Laura knew of Blue Ivy’s plan to never have lunch with Camina again. But things were different now. Blue Ivy was no longer intimidated by Camina’s crass words.
“She can come with us. I can handle Camina.”
“Are you sure?” Laura asked her.
“Trust me. I can handle Camina.”
“Well. I better get back to work.” Laura was about to walk away when Blue Ivy called to her.
“Does your friend still want to meet me?”
“I’m sure he does. I’ll get back with you.”
“Don’t take too long,” Blue Ivy said while she fiddled with her hair.
After a short silence, Laura crept away silently.
Barely at her desk long enough to answer the phones, Blue Ivy made three trips to the ladies room to fuss over her hair. It needed to have the perfect shape and the curls would have to hang at just the perfect angle. When she returned to her desk, the documents in her in-box from her boss were piling up. This was a telltale sign that it was time to do some work. After all, that was what they paid her for.
Most of the morning had elapsed so quickly, and the only thing that Blue Ivy successfully completed was booting up her computer and positioning her desk radio to the perfect station.
Finally, Blue Ivy got around to revising one of the five documents from her in-box. Right in the midst of printing the document, she glanced up and saw her boss, Lillian, standing at her desk. Lillian was a chunky woman who always wore black, no doubt, to hide the bulge that lurked underneath her expensive dresses.
“Do you have that letter I left for you this morning?”
Blue Ivy failed to see Lillian all morning. She found it interesting that Lillian had yet to acknowledge her new appearance, but Blue Ivy couldn’t concern herself with such minor occurrences at the moment. She was more concerned about the whereabouts of the letter in question.
“Letter?” Blue Ivy questioned.
“I left a tape for you to transcribe in your chair.”
Blue Ivy frantically fished for the missing tape. She searched underneath the scattered papers on her desk and through the documents in her in-box. Then mysteriously on the floor, she spotted the mini-cassette tape and felt as smal
l as the ballpoint pen on her desk. She immediately reached down and picked it up. “This must be it.”
Lillian exhaled what seemed to be a breath of frustration and a tinge of annoyance. “You think you could get that to me right away?”
“Of course.”
When Lillian disappeared into her office, Blue Ivy quickly transcribed the tape. So preoccupied with her new look, hair and flattery from everyone, she forgot why she was there. In her mind, the morning seemed more like a social festivity than a workplace.
Upon completing the letter for her boss, Blue Ivy delivered it to Lillian’s office. She then grabbed her purse from her desk drawer and made another famous trip to the ladies room to see what her new double-breasted pantsuit would look like without the jacket. Not to mention it was time for another coat of her favorite glossy lipstick, which she adored so much.
In the ladies room, Blue Ivy shot down the Chardonnay from her travel mug. She stood in front of the full-length mirror, unbuttoned her jacket, which revealed a silk blouse underneath. Just as Blue Ivy turned to the side, admiring the shape of the loose-fitting pants on her narrow hips, Camina came through the door. Her arms were folded as she stepped behind Blue Ivy.
Blue Ivy studied Camina’s reflection in the mirror. “Are you lost?”
Camina stepped forward with her arms still folded, and Blue Ivy turned to face her. It was obvious that Camina wanted to say something, and Blue Ivy decided to help her out. “What? Do like what you see? Is that it?”
“As a matter of fact, I don’t,” Camina said.
“You could have fooled me.”
Camina pivoted around Blue Ivy like a piece of art for sale. “You’ve been drinking in here, haven’t you?”
With a fake smile on Blue Ivy’s face, she turned, about to walk away. It was true. She had been drinking, but how did Camina know?
Surely Camina did not smell it on her.
“You really think you’re something, don’t you?” Camina asked.
“Not think, honey, I know,” Blue Ivy said before she made an elegant exit.
A half hour later, Blue Ivy received a call from her boss, Lillian, wanting to see Blue Ivy right away.
Blue Ivy stood at the entrance of Lillian’s office. Though the door was ajar, Blue Ivy knocked. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes,” Lillian said as she stood up from her desk. “Come in.”
Blue Ivy was clueless as to the purpose of this meeting, and she remained calm, as she would find out soon enough.
It wasn’t until Lillian closed the door that Blue Ivy realized it would probably not be good news.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Blue Ivy pushed her hair behind her left ear and asked, “May I sit down?”
“Of course.”
Blue Ivy sat across from Lillian’s desk and crossed her legs.
“This is not really my place, but since you do work for me, I just wanted to bring to your attention something that was brought to my attention. It’s never been my policy to accuse anyone without first asking questions, so I’ll just come right out and ask. Were you drinking in the women’s room this morning?”
Right away, Blue Ivy recognized this as the work of Camina, but she was not going to fall victim to Camina’s petty tactics.
Calmly she stared directly in Lillian’s direction. “No, I was not.”
“I really don’t care what you do when you’re not here in this office, but since something like that can greatly affect your work, I thought I would bring it to your attention.”
“I’m glad that you did,” Blue Ivy said. “And I’m also aware that it was Camina who told you that.” Blue Ivy stood up. “I don’t know why Camina would tell you that, but it’s not true.”
“I didn’t think it was, but I wanted to ask you about it anyway.”
Lillian could have come out and rightly accused her but she didn’t. Instead she simply questioned her, which was one of the things Blue Ivy liked about her─her sense of fairness. Yes, it was true that Blue Ivy lied about the whole matter, but her boss didn’t know that and didn’t need to know.
Blue Ivy thought it strange that Lillian never mentioned one word about her new look. It didn’t much matter because everyone else’s awareness made up for it. She felt empowered that Lillian believed her over Camina. Though she was glad, she didn’t believe she quite deserved Lillian’s trust.
On Blue Ivy’s way back to her desk, she made a stop in the lunchroom to buy a stick of gum from the vending machine. With her back to the door of the lunchroom, she turned and saw Bruce Colby coming towards her. He carried a prescription bottle in hand, probably his heart medication, which everyone in the firm knew about.
“Hi, Bruce.”
“How are you, Blue Ivy?” he asked as he proceeded to the water cooler.
It was time for Blue Ivy to make her move. Here was a way to avenge Camina and have some fun at the same time. After already having captured his attention, now it was time to seal the deal.
Bruce stood at the water cooler and spilled the pill from the prescription bottle into his hand. Purposely, Blue Ivy dropped the coins from her hand onto the floor, knowing Bruce would be watching. It was not enough that he was watching; she wanted him to know that she knew that he was watching. Slowly and meticulously, she arched her body forward to pick up the coins so that Bruce could see how her pants sensuously hugged her ass.
She took her sweet time picking up the coins, and then arched her body up to a full stand and turned her head so that their eyes locked with each other. Just as she suspected, Bruce’s mouth hung open, a silent sullen look on his face as she approached him.
“See you,” she said, before breezing past him.
As far as Bruce Colby was concerned, this was just the beginning of much more to come. Ordinarily, Blue Ivy would never be interested in a married man. But Bruce was special.
He was Camina’s beau, which made him the coveted prize. A victory such as that would surely strike Camina where she lived. Blue Ivy’s trifling behavior was not like her at all, but much more like the tactics of her late sister. And that was what her ploy was all about─to be as much like her sister as possible.
Around twelve-thirty that afternoon, Blue Ivy, Camina and Laura stood on the elevator on their way out for Blue Ivy’s belated birthday lunch.
It was evident that Camina and Blue Ivy were not on each other’s Christmas list. But Blue Ivy knew why Camina chose to attend her birthday lunch this day. It wasn’t because Camina wanted to participate in the birthday celebration; it was Camina’s evil motive to torment Blue Ivy with her harsh comments. But this time Blue Ivy was well prepared for it.
They reached Nick’s Fish Market on Madison Street. As usual, Blue Ivy didn’t have much to say. She allowed Camina and Laura to do most of the talking while she did the listening. She patiently waited for just the right moment to verbalize a few choice thoughts for Camina.
After their food arrived, the conversation grew shorter and more spaced apart, exactly the moment Blue Ivy had been waiting for.
Blue Ivy wiped her mouth with the napkin from her lap and did not blink once. “You know, Lillian called me into her office today, wanted to know if I had been drinking in the ladies’ room. You know anything about that, Camina?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Camina said.
“No?” Blue Ivy asked with a double dose of sarcasm.
“Were you drinking in the ladies’ room?” Laura asked.
“Ask Camina,” Blue Ivy said.
Laura stared across the table at Camina as if she was about to ask her something when Camina said, “I don’t know what she’s talking about, Laura.”
Laura changed the subject. “Anyway, here I am at my desk, I have Dave breathing down my neck, standing over me waiting for me to finalize his letter, and he knows I hate that.”
“I hate that too.” Camina said.
“Then Mitchell comes over to me. He sees that I
’m in the middle of a rush and he asks me if a fax came in, as if he can’t go to the fax room or even call to see for himself. So I ask him if he can give me five minutes to finish up with Dave. You know what he said, don’t you? No.”
“Some of them are like that, but not Bruce,” Camina said with a brush of confidence in her eyes.
“Lawyers. You can’t work for them and why should you have to?” Laura said. “I bet Bruce wouldn’t be so sweet if it weren’t for those perks you so willfully offer, then the real Bruce would come out. You’d see he’s just like all the rest.”
“Bruce isn’t like that,” Camina said. “In fact, I don’t think he’d want anyone working for him but me.”
“Honey, Bruce will fire and hire in the blink of an eye, just like the rest of them,” Laura said.
“Not me he wouldn’t.”
“You just keep thinking that if it makes you feel better.”
For a moment, Blue Ivy actually felt sorry for Camina. Camina naively bought into the fantasy that secretaries really meant something to the attorneys they worked for. Blue Ivy learned a long time ago that secretaries were just a service and nothing more. Outside of the service they provided, they were absolutely useless to them.
And poor Camina was clueless.
Blue Ivy sipped her water, peered over at Camina, and then returned her glass to the table. “Bruce has a thing for redheads, doesn’t he?”
“What?” Camina asked, astonished.
“You heard me,” Blue Ivy said. “I mean, look at the pattern. You. His wife. And me. I’m sensing a pattern here.”
Camina’s nostrils flared, and Blue Ivy could tell that she had struck a fragile nerve.
As usual Laura was the voice of reason. “I can tell where this is going, ladies, and let’s not.”
Camina ignored Laura’s words, pushed her plate to the center of the table. “Look, bitch. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing with your cheap clothes, fake nails and colored hair, but I can tell you right now, Bruce has no interest in you, red hair or not. You’re not his type.”