The Other Marlowe Girl (Marlowe Girls)

by Fred, Beth

  “And that mistake cost money.”

  “You’re being a jackass.”

  “As soon as I saw you were mixed up with her, I told you to think with your head. If you had listened, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  That pissed me off. I didn’t like what he was insinuating because our relationship was the most innocent relationship I’d had since the eighth grade. And seriously, I was so tired of people assuming someone couldn’t be interested in me for any other reason. But before I could respond, Enrique did. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “If Tiffany didn’t send her here, you did. Because you were thinking with the wrong body part, and this incident aside, just get a nice girl.”

  Enrique popped up from the chair across from my desk where he had been sitting and swung at Luke’s face. Luke caught Enrique’s arm with his hand before it connected.

  “Point proven. Papa’s going to find out about this.”

  “Whoa. What? You’re telling on me because you don’t like my girlfriend?”

  Luke laughed. He picked up a tablet and pen from my desk and handed them both to Enrique. “I’m going to say this one more time slowly, so write it down. Think. With. Your. Head. Angie says I can’t even fire her, because it was her first day and she has no experience. I have to write her up three times just to get rid of her. Paper and ink cost money and so does time. We’re losing money, so you could see your girlfriend at work. I think I should write you up.”

  Who was I kidding? I’m a twenty-four year old dance school drop out. I have no skills. I thought about quitting. It would make him happy and probably save Enrique a lot of trouble. But I owed a drug dealer ten thousand dollars, and this seemed like a good way to start paying him back. “Luke, if you’re through yelling at me, get out of my cube, please.”

  “Done. Find some work to do, because if I see you not working, I’m writing you up.” He looked to Enrique. “You’re at work. Don’t waste too much time.”

  “Actually, I’m taking the rest of the day off. I have more than enough vacation time to cover it, so call your broad and tell her to make it work.”

  “Don’t disrespect my wife.”

  Enrique shrugged. “How did she get her job again?”

  “It saved me money to hire her.”

  “I’m sure it didn’t have anything to do with that fat rock on her hand either.”

  “Leave my wife out of this!” Luke growled.

  “Has she ever worked a fourteen-hour day here? I think her life has been a lot better since she married you. She even traded her Honda in for a Lexus, didn’t she? But that was before you got married.” He shook his head. “Probably weren’t thinking with your head, Luke. I bet you don’t even have a pre-nup. Could be why she married you.”

  “It is not!” I said.

  Now Luke swung at Enrique who ducked to avoid the punch. “There’s that work place violence again,” Enrique said. I couldn’t take anymore. I got up and walked around them to get out of my cube. “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “To help my gold digging sister if she wants it. She probably won’t though. She knows I’m a screw up.”

  Enrique followed me out of my cube. “Wait, let’s grab a taco. I need to talk to you about something.”

  “Sure,” I said flatly. I had no idea what he wanted to talk about, but he was right. We did need to talk. I cared about Enrique more than any guy I’d ever dated. I thought I loved him, except I knew there was no such thing as love. I found that out the hard way and made my sister hate me in the process. But this thing between us was getting way too complicated. It needed to end.

  Chapter 11

  We hopped on his motorcycle, and he handed me a hot pink helmet. “You got a new one?”

  “It’s yours.”

  “Thank you. I think you’re the only guy I’ve ever seen ride a bike in a suit.”

  He laughed. “I used to only wear suits on days I had to go to court, but my brother felt it was a bad standard. I still wear jeans on Friday and when he’s gone.”

  “I’m sure that causes a distraction.” Oh my God! I said that out loud. I threw my hand over my mouth. “I—”

  He laughed. “That’s okay. Good to know.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.” Yeah, I did.

  “Oh? How did you mean it then?”

  “Oh—I don’t know. So what did you want to talk to me about?”

  He chuckled. “I just wanted an excuse for you to come to lunch with me.”

  “Thank you. I’m sorry about everything. I—if you think we should end this—”

  “There you go with the easy out stuff again. It makes me nervous.”

  “It’s just everything I touch falls apart, and I’m causing you problems everywhere. With your brother, at work, everywhere.”

  “But you’re a lot of fun in the process.” His easy smile put me at ease, and I smiled back.

  That night when I showed up at Burgers N’ More for my interview, the manager handed me a pink shirt and told me to go change. I hadn’t planned on working, but I couldn’t complain. I was making $5/hour plus tips, which was pretty good for a server.

  “Burgers N’ More,” Tiffany said, reading my uniform when I got home. “What’s up with that?”

  “My second job until your husband fires me. Then it’ll be my first.”

  “You screwed up pretty bad. I’m a day behind now.”

  “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

  She sighed. “I know, Kammy. You never mean to do anything.”

  I hated the way she could instantly make me feel like a teenager. “I’m going to my room.”

  “Hey,” she said as I walked past her.

  “What?”

  “Call Enrique.”

  “Why?”

  “He was here tonight looking for you. He waited for two hours.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at that. “Hey, why do you need a second job?” she called from behind me. “You should make enough to cover an apartment.”

  “You gave me two weeks, remember? I need quick cash.” Plus, I owe a drug dealer $10,000, and your husband is going to fire me the first chance he gets.

  “I’m proud of you.”

  Wow! That was a first.

  Enrique called me as I walked up the stairs. “Where have you been?”

  “Working.”

  “Where?” he asked.

  “Burgers N’ More.”

  “So you did the second job thing?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re not going to have to worry about Daniel much longer,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s got a couple of warrants out. I have someone following him, and we’re hoping to get him picked up on a minor traffic violation. I don’t know what the warrants are for, so I’m not sure how long he’ll be gone. But it buys us time. If that doesn’t happen soon, I’ll have Will take him the money, and if he bothers you after that, I’ll pay Will to kick his ass.”

  “No!” I was not letting anyone else take care of this.

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “Because I’m taking care of this. I got myself into it, and I’ll get myself out of it. And you said yourself you weren’t sure he’d go away after the money.” I threw myself down on my bed, propping a pillow up under me.

  “Kammy, I’ve got this,” he said.

  “No. This is my problem.”

  “Kammy, please don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s going to take you a while to make that kind of money.”

  “I’m aware of that,” I said.

  “He’s not going to wait that long.”

  “Enrique, if I find out you paid him off, I’ll never forgive you. People already think—”

  “Hey, Luke’s going to drop that. I promise,” he said.

  “It’s not the point. Just let me do this, please?”

  “If he’s not in jail in the next couple of days, I’m paying him. I
can handle you being mad at me if you’re alive. Sorry.”

  “Arrg.” I hung up. But the truth was Enrique was right. Working as a secretary during the day and as a waitress at night, it would take me several months to come up with the money I owed Daniel, especially when I started paying rent. And I hadn’t even looked for an apartment yet. I sighed. I didn’t want anyone to take care of this. I didn’t want anyone else to have to take care of this. Especially Enrique. It seemed ominous for my new boyfriend (assuming that’s what he was) to have to take care of a problem caused by my ex-husband.

  I scanned the room as I racked my brain for a way out of the latest predicament I’d gotten myself into. Then my eyes landed on a small piece of black plastic on my desk. The flash drive Nigel had given me the night we did the photo shoot.

  That was it. Modeling paid way more than this. So what if I didn’t want to do it. I could quit the burger joint, model at night, and have the money a lot quicker. I picked up the phone and called Nigel.

  “Hey,” he answered, “I have your check for the last shoot. You can come pick it up tonight or any night.”

  “Do you have any more gigs lined up? Or do any of your friends?”

  “I don’t have anything, but I can ask around. I thought you weren’t into the semi-nude stuff.”

  “I’m not but—”

  “Most of the stuff that pays is semi-nude.”

  “I know. I’m desperate.”

  “If you’re really broke, I know another job. It will pay well, too.”

  “What?”

  “You won’t like it.”

  I tapped my forehead with the phone for a second before putting it back to my ear. “Nigel, I’m desperate. What?”

  “What else could a tall, beautiful, twenty something dance major do besides model?”

  Absolutely nothing. I was living proof of that, but he said he knew a job, so there had to be something. “Dance?”

  I didn’t know of any dance jobs around Houston though. “Yeah.”

  “Where? I didn’t think the ballet here auditioned like ever.”

  “My buddy owns an upscale club. They need a dancer, and it’s a nice place. I doubt you’ll get grabbed.”

  I sighed. “I don’t think I can do that.”

  Chapter 12

  Boy, did things change. The next day Enrique drove me to work again. We walked in together, and Luke was standing at the receptionist desk. He smiled at me without even glancing at his brother. “You’re fired.” The words were calm and collected. He wasn’t upset, but he enjoyed them.

  God! No matter what I did, nothing ever worked out.

  “Why?” Enrique asked.

  “There is five hundred dollars missing from the petty cash.”

  “I don’t even know where the petty cash is,” I said.

  “I’ve never had this problem before. I just got off the phone with my dad and he’s only had this problem once, and it was ten years ago.”

  “You’re being a jerk, Luke. I’m going to kick your ass,” Enrique said.

  “No, you’re not. You’re going to get to work, and act like Papá is here.”

  Enrique’s hand clenched tighter around mine. “I will give you the money to leave my girl alone.”

  “If you replace the money, I won’t press charges on her.”

  I did something I hadn’t done in a long time, at least since the disaster that was my bachelorette party. I picked up my phone and hit Tiffany’s speed dial.

  “This is Tiffany.”

  “I know. That’s why I called.”

  “What do you need?”

  “Your husband is being mean to me. Come now.”

  “Kammy, he’s your boss. Just do what he asks you to and it’ll be okay.”

  “He’s threatening to call the police on me.”

  “You are so not getting arrested again.” She hung up on me. I guessed she was blaming me for this.

  “Tiffany knows me well enough to know I’m not unreasonable.”

  Enrique took out his wallet and held it out like he was going to offer it to Luke, but I knocked it out of his hand.

  He looked at me, questioning me with his eyes.

  “He can press charges on me, if he can prove I did it.”

  “Won’t be a problem. We have security cameras for a reason,” Luke said.

  “Good—”

  Before I could finish, the elevator dinged behind me. Then I heard Tiffany’s all business voice. “Luke, what is going on? I don’t have time for this.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t call you.”

  “No, but you gave her a reason to. Now what happened, and I want to hear it from you.”

  “Anjel, there is money missing from the petty cash, and I’ve never had this problem. I’ve been the director of this division as long as you’ve known me.”

  “How much?”

  “Five hundred dollars.”

  “How much is in the petty cash?”

  “A grand.”

  “My sister didn’t do it.”

  “What? Tiffany, I know you love your sister, but she’s the first new employee in five years, unless you count Enrique who has still been here for years, isn’t exactly new, and wouldn’t take petty cash without telling me first.”

  “I did it,” Enrique said.

  “What?” Luke asked incredulously.

  “I did it,” he said again.

  “Go home,” Luke said.

  “Are you serious? My name is on the building, too.”

  “I can’t have a liar working for me. Take it up with Papá. Come back when you’re thinking with your head.”

  “She didn’t take the money,” Tiffany said, each word cutting.

  “Anjel, she’s not like you. You can be mad at me if you want, but it’s the truth.”

  “If my little sister took the money, she would have cleaned you out. She wouldn’t have taken half. Someone needed five hundred dollars. I don’t know who. But I know that dumb blonde is not your girl.”

  I crossed my arms. “If I’m going to be shady, I do it right.”

  Enrique laughed.

  “Well, you’re going home today. I’ll review the tapes tonight, and if it’s not you, you can come back tomorrow. I’ll give you paid leave today. If it is you, you can give the money back and I won’t press charges on you. Only because your sister would make my life a living hell.”

  “Do you need money for a cab?” Tiffany asked.

  I gasped. She was still taking his side. “Not from you,” I said.

  “Fine with me. Kammy, that was very fair.”

  “Luke, am I allowed to go to my meeting?” Enrique asked.

  Luke laughed. “I’m sorry. But you did lie to me.”

  “Because you’re a jerk. Fine, but I have to go make some money.” He took a credit card from his wallet and handed it to me. “Get a cab, sweetheart.”

  “I can pay for my own cab.”

  “Just take it.”

  “And don’t rob me blind,” Luke said.

  “You are such a jerk!” I said.

  Enrique shrugged. “You can go to my condo, princessa.”

  “No, I’m going to my sister’s house, but I’m telling on Luke. Again.”

  I refused Enrique’s credit card, but the truth was I didn’t have money for a cab. I knew I didn’t take the money, but Luke made it clear from the moment I’d shown up, he didn’t want me working there. I figured I’d take the fall for it. I needed money worse now, so I called Nigel again.

  “Yeah?”

  “That job you knew about?”

  “I’ll text you the number.”

  When I called, the guy, Nate, asked me what kind of dance experience I had. I told him tap, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, and some ballroom with most of it being in ballet. He told me most of the girls made $900 or more a night and asked me if I could start that evening. Shows started around five, so I’d need to get there at three. I was supposed to work at Burgers N’ More that night, but I’d be luc
ky to make $900 in a month there. I decided I would quit Burgers N’ More and go to work at Evian. Now, I just had to walk to Tiffany’s and hope not to be spotted by Daniel in the process. He was being low key now, and something about it bothered me. Like he was laying off because he had something big planned when he resurfaced.

  Chapter 13

  That night was rough. On the phone, Nate promised me that I was being hired to dance. I only stripped if I wanted to, but after we did my new hire paperwork, I was given a costume that didn’t cover much of anything.

  I had to walk around and talk to people before I went on stage. I wouldn’t have minded. I was good at talking to people, except I felt like a piece of meat in my black sequin butt floss and beaded bra.

  This was the first job I’d ever had where I was allowed to drink on the clock, and I was going for it. I needed something to take the edge off my nerves. I needed the money too badly to quit, especially since Luke had fired me and I quit my other job to be here. But contrary to popular belief, I’d never dreamed of being a stripper. Streaking at that party years ago had been the result of too much alcohol, youthful stupidity, and a dare. I sat down at the bar and ordered a ‘rita.

  “Are you a dancer?” the bartender asked, his eyes scanning me up and down.

  “Yes—but I’m a real dancer.”

  “You’ve never done this kind of thing before, have you?”

  I shook my head.

  “It’s mostly business meetings here, so this place isn’t as bad. But you’re going to have to toughen up to do this kind of work.”

  I nodded.

  As I finished my drink, I had an idea. I went back to the dressing room and found a few silk scarves, which I tied together and wrapped around my waist. It was perfect. I’d used wraps when I danced before, and I tied it in a way it would flow when I moved. It would look like part of the costume. I had half an hour left before I was supposed to go on stage, so I headed back to the bar. This was not the kind of dance recital I was used to and one ‘rita was not enough.

  I ordered my second drink as the first dancer went on. She couldn’t dance.

  “She’s not that good,” I told the bartender.

  “Better not let the boss hear you say that. She’s his top performer.”

  The guy on the barstool beside me turned to me and said, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”