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KISS

Page 27

by Catherine Chernow


  Lilith's mouth hung open. “'Ms. Upstart?’ Is that what you call her?"

  Georgia smiled thinly. “That's not my name for her. Jared nicknamed her that."

  Lilith flopped back on the seat.

  "Look, if there's nothing else you want, I'm busy. You can send any comments or questions you might have about MegaMart to our corporate office.” Georgia rose from her seat.

  Lilith couldn't believe it. Ms. Upstart. How dare Jared call Kat that!

  "Just a minute,” Lilith's voice grew steely.

  Georgia glanced at her. “What?” She grabbed her bag.

  "Jared doesn't strike me as a man who would call someone names behind their backs. And Kat's no ‘upstart.’ She cares about this town. She cares about...” Lilith stopped. She was about to say Jared, but thought better of it. Lilith's gut instincts kicked in, taking over. This woman, this ‘George’ couldn't be trusted for a second.

  "Mr. Martin doesn't have time for all this nonsense. He wants to close this deal. Like I said, if you need further assistance, contact our corporate office."

  "You were at KISS the other day, weren't you?"

  Georgia whirled to face her. Lilith slid from the booth and rose to her feet. She felt her legs tremble, from anger or fear, she didn't know, but this was certain, she had to get to the bottom of all this. Kat wasn't herself, Jared was ... miserable ... and she didn't believe for one second that Jared would speak so bad about Kat behind her back. Behind all their backs. It would be like betraying all of Summerville if he did.

  George flicked some hair over her shoulder. “I don't know what you're talking about. And I don't know you."

  Lilith stuck her nose in the air. “Why not? Jared does. He made a point of getting to know everyone, even..."

  "Well, I don't and I don't wish to discuss this any further."

  "You were there!” Lilith shouted. “I saw you at KISS."

  Georgia pursed her lips. In a low voice, she replied. “No. I wasn't. You must be mistaken."

  "I am not mistaken,” Lilith huffed. “I saw you. Come to think of it, ever since I did see you there, nothing's been right—either with Kat or Jared or..."

  Georgia adjusted her bag on her shoulder and started to walk away. Her hasty departure caused her to crash headlong with a waitress. The tray slipped from the waitress’ hands, spilling its contents to the floor. At the same time, Georgia's bag slipped from her shoulder spilling its contents.

  Lilith sat back down in the booth and leaned over to watch the fracas unfold in the middle of the coffee shop. She saw Georgia berate the waitress for spilling juice all over her expensive, designer suit. All around them, broken dishes, cups, saucers, silverware and ... papers lay scattered on the floor. Georgia bent to pick up the contents of her bag, including the scattered papers. At one point, she slapped an innocent bystander's hands aside when the man bent to help her retrieve the items from her bag.

  Georgia stood and slung her bag over her shoulder, stalking out of the coffee shop. Lilith watched her departure and said under her breath, “Good riddance.” Then her eyes lit upon some papers lying on the floor.

  She slid out of her booth, keeping her eyes trained on the three papers that stuck out from under another booth. Lilith grabbed her bags and scurried over to them, reaching down to retrieve the papers.

  "Oh my,” she said, all innocence. “That woman dropped these. I'll bet she doesn't even realize it."

  "Hmph!” The woman sitting in the booth replied around a mouthful of eggs. “She was so nasty when my husband tried to help her. I'd just toss them if I were you, it would serve her right."

  "I'm sure it would,” Lilith murmured.

  Lilith shoved the papers in her handbag and noticed that they weren't just papers, they were photographs!

  Her heart pounded. She could have sworn she saw herself in one of those pictures.

  Lilith hurried out of the coffee shop and flew down Summerville's main drag. She didn't stop until she got inside the Yarn Barn. There, she grabbed the photographs from her hand bag and looked at them.

  It was she. Dressed in that slinky gown from the other night. Kat had called it her ‘floral silk burnout gown.'

  "Oh!” Lilith raised shaking fingers to her lips.

  The other two were pictures of Evelyn and Annabelle and the three young women they had all gathered to help that evening. The last one was the worst ... where they all piled out of the back door. She stood there, holding open the back door of KISS as the ladies all snuck out ... into the waiting arms of a bunch of men.

  Their husbands, their boyfriends.

  But, oh my! It sure didn't appear that way...

  There had been no time to change, no time ... they had all left after cleaning up in Kat's absence, and hadn't bothered to change!

  Lilith plopped down on a stool behind a counter, her face cradled in her palms. She couldn't stop staring at the pictures. What had George O'Reilly been doing with these, she wondered.

  Worse ... what was she planning?

  Now she knew why Kat had been upset. This had to be it! These pictures. A horrible thought entered her mind ... were there more?

  If Kat was in trouble, then they were all in trouble.

  Kat had been right all along ... Summerville was at stake. MegaMart was its enemy!

  Lilith grabbed the pictures and stuffed them in her bag. She locked up the Yarn Barn and hung the ‘Closed’ sign on the door. Then she ran next door to enlist the help of the one person she knew she could count on...

  Fred.

  He'd know what to do.

  He always did.

  * * * *

  That same morning, Jared strode down the walkway of the Pink Lily, the heavy odor of the trumpet lilies mirroring the heaviness he felt in his heart. George chatted away at his side, as though she didn't have a care in the world, but he did. For Summerville. Leaving it this morning, knowing that his MegaMart dream and his dream of having Kat in his life had nearly vanished.

  "It will be sooooooo nice to wash the dust from this hick town off us, won't it?” George asked him, grinning.

  They arrived by his Jaguar. He opened the trunk and placed George's bag inside alongside his. “Summerville is not a hick town,” he told her, slamming the hood of the trunk closed.

  He unset the locks, sliding into the driver's side. He didn't bother to open George's door.

  "I don't know why I can't drive back with you,” she huffed while adjusting her seat belt. She flicked back some of her long, blonde hair over one shoulder, then reached for the vanity mirror and pulled it down. “It would be so much easier,” she finished saying as she admired her reflection in the mirror. She touched the tip of her pinky finger to the corner of her mouth to wipe away a drop of shiny gloss.

  Jared backed the Jag up, then put it in ‘drive.’ He drove out of the lot, down the side street and headed for Route Twenty-Five West.

  "It's not fair that you drive and I have to fly back.” George flopped back in the seat and folded her arms.

  Jared gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. “I told you ... you have a round-trip ticket back. There's no sense in wasting MegaMart's money by having you drive back with me."

  "You wasted plenty of it,” she grumbled, flicking a piece of lint from her skirt. “I told you, forget all this ‘Inn at Summerville Shops’ nonsense. You should have insisted on a MegaMart store here like we always build. We only have seven thousand stores in one hundred and eighty countries and they all do just fine. I don't know why you had to change this, Jared. What was the point?"

  Everything changes...

  He shook his head to clear it. Those had been some of Kat's last words to him. Kat ... Kat...

  He had to get her out of his head! He had to forget her...

  What a fool he had been to trust her, to think she'd support anything he proposed. But, why did she have to be so underhanded? Why? She didn't care about Summerville, she didn't. All she cared about was what she wanted. She led them al
l on a merry chase, led him on a merry one, too. By publicly agreeing with him, she could easily implement the blackmail she had intended all along ... his father.

  George put on the radio. She flipped through the channels until she found an all-Beatles station...

  In the town, where I was born, lived a man who sailed to sea...

  Jared hit a button, shutting off the radio.

  "Well, why on earth did you do that for?"

  "I don't feel like listening to music. Not now."

  George heaved a long, disgruntled sigh. “Maybe it is better I'm flying home.” She shifted in her seat. “You know, you never did say that you at least liked the Power Point presentation."

  "It was fine."

  Again she sighed. She picked another piece of lint from her skirt, her eyes downcast. “And how about ... us?"

  Jared's eyes widened. He hit the brakes before he went through the red traffic light. The Jag lurched forward. George clutched the dashboard, the seat belt tightening across her chest.

  "God, Jared, be careful, will you?"

  "Listen,” he turned to face her. “There is no us George. There never was."

  She pouted. “There could be, if you'd only let it, Jared. My father..."

  "Is an old family friend. That's it. You got the job you have with MegaMart because he asked."

  "Well! You don't have to be so..."

  The light turned green. Jared sailed through it, the hum of the Jag's powerful motor vibrated beneath his hands.

  ...just like Kat. She had come to life in his hands, had brought him back to life. And for a few wild, crazy days, brought his father's dream and his dream back.

  "You've done a good job, George, but I'm only going to tell you this once. Don't push me. You get away with murder at MegaMart. If I have to make an example of you, I will."

  She narrowed her eyes. “And just what is that supposed to mean?"

  "It means,” he said, while making a left turn onto William Floyd Highway, “You take advantage. I can't very well take the other employees to task if I let you get away with things."

  "You just said I do a good job."

  "Yes, I did. When you focus. So now, do me a favor, focus on being quiet."

  George sighed again.

  "And quit sighing."

  They drove the rest of the way in silence. When Jared dropped her at the airport, George got out.

  "I'll see you back at corporate?” she asked, giving her bags to a porter.

  "Yes."

  Jared reached into his pocket and withdrew a ten-dollar bill. He tipped the porter then turned to face George.

  She threw her arms around his neck and whispered. “Don't say there's not an us. That time we were at that charity ball I had the best time. You remember don't you?"

  He peeled her arms from around his neck. “And I lived to regret it. They snapped our picture..."

  She grinned. “Yeah. Wasn't that great? We were in People magazine."

  He sighed. George would never grow up ... never.

  "Goodbye George. Have a safe trip."

  Jared got back in the Jag and took off for the open road again, grateful for the time alone.

  He had a feeling he would have plenty of it from now on.

  * * * *

  Lilith entered the Sweet Shoppe. When she didn't see Fred immediately she went up to the counter.

  "Billy, is Fred here?"

  Billy turned and looked at her from his position by the sink. “Hi, Miss Gentry."

  "Hi, Billy. Is Fred here?” she repeated.

  "Sure he is,” he wiped the counter in front of him. He motioned with his head toward the back of the shop. “Mr. Meyer is back there."

  "Oh,” her shoulders slumped. “Is he ... busy?"

  Billy smiled. “I don't think he's too busy to see you Miss Gentry.'

  "Thanks."

  She hurried to the back, slowing her steps when she saw Fred sitting at a table, his dark head bent in concentration. His left elbow was propped up on the tabletop, his chin cupped in his large palm. Glasses perched on his nose, he was intent on reading something. A mug sat untouched next to him.

  "Fred,” was all she managed.

  He looked up. When he saw Lilith, he took off his glasses. Her heart did a funny little dance in her chest—it always did at the sight of his cool, gray eyes. Their color matched the slight gray that appeared in the hair at his temples. Where had the time gone? Was it that long ago when the tall, lanky high school boy she knew came to her defense when those two boys were teasing her?

  She shook her head to clear it. This was no time for reminiscing. Kat was in trouble.

  Lilith hurried to the table. Fred began to stand but she shooed him back down. “Sit, sit,” she told him. “Please don't get up."

  He smiled at her. Oh, that smile! The years had been kind to Fred. Better than kind. He worked out now, his tall, lanky, six-foot three-inch frame had filled out over the last several years. She always found she sucked in a breath when she took in the width of his shoulders.

  Yikes...

  "How are you, Lilith?"

  She sighed. It was no use. The sound of his deep voice washed over her, making her insides feel ... funny. Oh, stop, she admonished. You're not a silly, high school girl anymore. You're an adult. Act like one.

  Lilith shifted in the seat. She crossed and uncrossed her legs. Finally, Fred asked her. “What's wrong, Lilith?"

  Everything. Nothing...

  "Kat's in trouble,” she blurted.

  He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean Kat's in trouble. How?"

  "Oh Fred...” her eyes filled.

  His widened. “Lilith, for God sakes ... what's the matter? Is Kat ill?"

  No, I am!

  "If I show you something, will you promise not to—” she stopped, blushing from the tip of her chin to the roots of her hair.

  "Will I promise not to what, Lilith?” he leaned back in his chair, hands on the table.

  She looked down at his hands. Those same hands had punched Mark Lowman in the face the day he said Lilith had ‘pretty titties.’ He and his friend had been drinking beer in the bleachers of the high school one afternoon after football practice. They followed Lilith on her walk home and taunted her, calling her names, making lewd gestures. Fred appeared from seemingly nowhere and had taken care of Mark and his friend.

  She never forgot it.

  She wondered if he did.

  Lilith pulled the pictures from her bag. “If I show you these, you must swear not to ... oh, here!” She tossed the photographs face up on the table in front of Fred.

  He reached for them and examined each one. Lilith died a little inside when he saw the one of her dressed in that ‘burn out’ gown.

  "Lilith, this looks like the back of KISS."

  "It is. And that's me."

  "I can see that,” his tone was clipped.

  Yikes!

  "Who took these?"

  She swallowed. “That's just it Fred, I don't know. All I know is, they fell out of the bag that assistant of Jared's carried."

  "Huh?” he shook his head, frowning. “I'm not following you."

  Lilith took a deep breath and recited the entire story of what happened in the coffee shop between her and George.

  Fred listened, his face growing taut with each passing second.

  "...so I thought, if anyone could help, y-you could.” She held her breath. He hadn't said a word about her dressed in that ... gown.

  Always the gentleman. Always polite.

  But within Lilith, a tiny little part of her wished he wasn't.

  * * * *

  Fred continued to stare at the pictures as Lilith spoke.

  "...it was the night we had a-a ‘lingerie party’ at KISS."

  His head snapped up. “What's a lingerie party?"

  Whoa, down boy. Fred shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The sight of his Lilith, the woman he'd dreamed about since high school, dressed in that sexy, purple gown nearly sent h
im over the edge. He glanced down at the picture again and looked at Lilith's beautiful bosom, outlined by the top of the gown. When he looked up again, Lilith's cheeks were almost the same color as the gown. Two, bright splotches of color appeared on them.

  Damn, he had embarrassed her with his animal lust. Fool!

  "Lilith,” he reached for her hand, running his thumb over the soft skin he felt there. “It's okay. It'll be all right. We'll find out who took these."

  "Jared."

  He narrowed his eyes. “What about Jared?"

  "He was there that night, Fred. And ... I got the feeling he was angry with Kat that night. They had a fight or ... something."

  He sighed, wanting to kick himself in the behind for ignoring what he had seen. A man sitting in a Ford Taurus. He had seen him twice in the back parking lot by KISS. He had thought he had seen a camera in the man's hands, thought he had seen him take a picture of something. Fred never gave it more than a passing thought...

  Until now. And now, he wasn't about to frighten Lilith.

  "Just tell me something, Lilith. What was going on at that party?” The pictures were so damning, he thought. Lilith had every right to be worried, and so did Kat.

  "We did it for the three young women that Annabelle and Evelyn knew. When they do their volunteer time at the hospital, they heard about three young women ... women who were sick. We did it to lift their spirits. A sort of lingerie and makeup party."

  God bless Kat, he thought, Lilith, and all the rest of Summerville's women. This time, their good works were going to get them in big trouble.

  He looked at Lilith's pale face and thought...

  Over his dead body!

  * * * *

  Lilith looked at Fred, her eyes wide. “So, what can we do?"

  He thought for a few minutes. “What I'm going to do is speak with Len Avery."

  Lilith bit her lower lip. “You think he can help us?"

  "Len has a few friends in the FBI and the state police. If anyone can help, Len can.” Fred gave her a small smile. “I could always tell Len I won't vote for him for chief of police next year if he doesn't help me."

  Lilith tried to smile back, but her throat felt tight.

 

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