Blue Diamond

by Dawn Umrie

  “Yes,” I say while putting my left hand to my temple.

  “Seth, your video conference call with the staff of Graffiti’s is in an hour,” Janine says in a voice too bubbly for 8 in the morning.

  I’ve also come to the realization that she’s pretty much the only person that I object to addressing me by my first name. I think it stems from the fact that her job involves a close working relationship, and because of that, it somehow feels like the line of professionalism is being crossed to the personal side.

  “Thank you. I’ll be ready.”

  She sing-songs into the speaker. “You always are.”

  Now I know why my sister has mastered the eye roll, as I release my finger like I disarmed a nuclear weapon. This woman does her job like nobody’s business, so it’s a small price to pay in exchange.

  An hour later, on the dot, I turn on my webcam and get ready to Skype Mike. He told me last night that he’d bring his laptop into the bar because Graffiti’s operates without computers, which is unbelievable in this age of technology. It’s like telling an accountant he could only use a pencil and paper. Jim didn’t embrace modernization of any kind, so I can’t say it comes as a shocker.

  I see the whole gang sitting at the bar, Mike front, and center. I pan in on Merissa, who is swiveling on the stool back and forth. Our eyes connect briefly, or at least I think they did before I take in the others and start talking.

  “Thanks for getting together so early. I know how late and how hard you guys worked last night, and I was impressed and that’s saying something. What I realized in the short time I was there, is that you’re the reason the bar has been successful. No other reason. I’m lucky that my ownership includes a staff that is top-shelf.”

  I pause while they all thank me, almost surprised by the praise I was giving them, and I know why. The dickweed Jim is a slimy bastard who I hope goes into hiding with the rest of the slugs for the way he treated these people.

  “With that being said, I’m also going to add more staff and security, and with that, an increase in your salaries. After reviewing the payroll statements, if you could call them that, I saw that you are underpaid and overworked. That is going to change.”

  From behind the webcam they all light up in smiles.

  “The biggest change, however, is that the bar is going to get an entire makeover… and a name change. This means that I’ll need to shut it down for approximately one month. My designer, Trish, who you last night, did an initial walk-through, but she will be there with her team of people on and off for the next two weeks before I finally close it down.

  Signage is being made as we speak notifying the customers, and we’ll discuss a re-opening party when the time comes. Any questions so far?”

  Merissa raises her hand like I’m her professor and I can’t say that doesn’t trigger a student—teacher fantasy involving a ruler, a short plaid skirt, and her bare ass.

  I direct my attention to her.

  “I mean, that all sounds amazing, but it’s also a month without a paycheck. Also, I live upstairs, so I’ll need time to move out.”

  Fuck, she’s the one who lives upstairs? I thought he had a random tenant up there.

  “None of you need to worry about a paycheck. Consider it a well-deserved month long paid vacation. As far as your living arrangements, we’ll work around your plans, it’s not a problem, just keep me posted and if there’s anything I could do to help you, let me know.”

  Such as, I don’t know, making a house drop down for you, like the Wizard of fuckin’ Oz.

  I’ve already started the balls of the pendulum in motion and I choose not to stop them, especially, now that I just found out that she rests her pretty little head upstairs all alone. I would like nothing more than to hunt that piece of shit Jim down and make him pay with each of my fists.

  Merissa’s skin flushes a pretty shade of pink from the neck up. “That is more than generous of you, thank you. I still have to confirm everything with my agent today, but I’ll keep you updated.”

  Combing my fingers through my hair, I sit up straighter. “You’re welcome. Okay, so, don’t let me keep you guys any longer. Conduct business as usual for the next couple of weeks. If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Mike will give each of you my personal cell phone number.”

  They all voice their thanks, waving goodbye with big smiles on their faces, and hell-the-fuck-yeah, this is one of the rewarding aspects of my job.

  Merissa

  “That couldn’t have gone any better,” Mike says after he ends the call. “I already knew that he’s a stand-up guy.”

  I nod in agreement because at this moment, I’m the last ounce of Ketchup at the bottom of a bottle that you have to keep hitting to get it to come out.

  Nate sighs, “Our new boss could eat crackers in my bed any day.”

  We all crack up at his confusing, but, so Nate, comment.

  “What in the fuck does that even mean?” Mike jokes, “Might I also add that Bob would be thrilled to hear you say that,” he says sarcastically.

  Nate winks at Mike. “Who said Bob wouldn’t be eating crackers, too?”

  Brook and I are laughing so hard we’re wiping tears streaming down our faces.

  “Dude, you’re fucked up,” Mike deadpans. “Alright, I need to get over to the gym. Brook, you coming, honey?”

  Brook hugs Nate and me. “We’re going to make girlie plans during our one-month hiatus, so keep your calendar, open—you, too, Polly.” She glances at Nate.

  Polly want a cracker? I can’t with these two.

  The video call, literally, made me light-headed. Seth and I didn’t even share the same air, but he still managed to suck every bit of it out of the room. Every time he’d lift his arm, his shirt cuff would rise to reveal just a couple of inches of his ink. When a turtle’s head comes out of its shell at the zoo and the kids go nuts… that’s me, but with Seth’s tats.

  Every single movement he made caused me to experience slow-motion perception, the slow path of his fingers through his hair, a slow drag of his hand across the stubble on his jawline. The wacky part is that I caught myself unconsciously mimicking some of his moves.

  Talk about an eye-opener. This infatuation, or whatever you want to call it, isn’t healthy, especially since it leads to a road that has a big ole’ yellow and black dead-end sign.

  There was no mistaking how effortlessly blissful Seth and his Cher were together. He looked at her like the sun rose and set on her, the same connection I wish for myself one day.

  I raise my right hand to my lips and kiss my tattoo, a heart with a keyhole, that’s at the base of my thumb. Words from a letter my mother wrote to me a little over a year ago breeze through my mind.

  My sweet girl, who is now a woman. A daughter whose given up her dreams and aspirations for a mother who hasn’t deserved that kind of love in years. I lost my way and never tried to find my way back… my way back to you.

  Protect your heart, Riss. Lock it up tightly until someone earns the key to enter.

  Clearly, I’m suffering from a hormonal imbalance, or a nervous breakdown, one or the other. With my mental health at stake, I decided it would be best to pay Tim a visit at South Shores in person, mainly because a waffle cone at Rainbow’s Ice Cream next door fits my current mood that could only be saved by chocolate and sprinkles.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Merissa

  Deciding to leave Lucy home today to rest, I begin my short walk down to South Shores. Tim is expecting me since I called him first thing this morning asking if he was available to show me the house. He seemed quite enthusiastic and said that he had drawn up the contract in anticipation of my call. I woke up ready to sign off on the next chapter of my story, and so is my checkbook. Well, maybe not the latter.

  The weather has been unusually mild for this time of year, with a cool-ish breeze blowing gently. Then again, it’s only the beginning of May, not one of our hottest months. May usually
marks the beginning of swimming season for many of us spoiled Floridians’, as we’re of the opinion that any water temperature under 82 degrees isn’t acceptable to take a dip in.

  Standing in front of South Shore’s glass door, I stagger on my left flip-flop, feeling a tiny rock or something foreign under my foot. I proceed to remove the shoe, shake it, and place it back on when Tim abruptly opens the door and scares the bejesus out of me. Holding my hand to my chest, I exhale rapidly.

  “I’m sorry to have startled you, Ms. Manolas.”

  Feeling like a caterpillar that coils, in what I’ve always imagined out of fear, “No, no, don’t be, and please, call me Merissa.”

  “Merissa, it is. Please, come on in. Let’s go back to my office, and I’ll get the papers to bring over to the property.”

  I feel like skipping back to his office, but I settle for walking behind him.

  “Did I mention the house is fully furnished?” he says while opening his file cabinet.

  No exaggeration, I would gladly sleep on an air mattress and eat on a TV tray if I had to until I saved more money for furnishings and such. “No, you didn’t. That’s incredible!”

  He pulls a folder out of the cabinet. “Are we ready to see your potential new home?”

  The way he says potential… as if. With a grin so big that my cheeks hurt, I respond. “Positively.”

  * * *

  The small house is straight out of a fairy tale. I stood rooted to the front lawn with my mouth agape, expecting Goldilocks to dash out the front door at any minute. Stucco, the color of a latte with a rusty red barrel-tiled roof, a chimney in an unusual L-shape rising high above it. Two large arch-shaped windows and a red French door takes up almost the entire façade.

  After Tim gave me a tour of the interior that could have come straight off the pages of a designer magazine, I had to wipe a couple of stray tears that fell onto my cheeks and pinch myself because if this was a dream, I didn’t want to prolong the fallacy.

  I signed all the lines of the contract that Tim had ‘sign here’ stickers on as quickly as possible as if this moment was getting ready to fade to black.

  “Congratulations,” Tim says as he collects the pen and papers off the kitchen counter.

  “Thank you, Tim. I have no words.”

  “No need to explain, I certainly understand. You’re looking at about two weeks before move-in day, then we’ll do a final walk-through.”

  “Perfect, can’t wait.” I lift my purse off the counter

  and start for the front door.

  “Merissa, one sec.” I turn back to him as he walks closer to me. “How about we celebrate your new home by having lunch at a restaurant called Palms. They have really great food and it’s right across the street from the agency, which allows me to drop off the paperwork.” He must sense my hesitation because he adds. “My treat, of course.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t let you do that. I was just going to grab a coffee and a little something on my way home.”

  “Nonsense, I insist. Think of it as a business write-off, if it makes you feel any better,” he says with an awkward wink. I think he has something in his eye.

  Smiling in return, “Okay. Sure, that sounds nice.”

  Back at the agency, Tim excuses himself to bring the paperwork to his office while I wait in the reception area.

  “All set?” Tim claps his hands. “Let’s go do lunch.”

  At the same time that we attempt to exit, a woman enters carrying a tall glass vase of flowers in front of her face.

  “Sylvia, I’d like you to meet the woman who’s going to be renting the house on Aqua Vista.”

  Aqua Vista, sigh.

  She walks over to the nearest table and places the flowers on it before coming to stand next to the two of us.

  That’s when I immediately recognize her.

  Seth’s girlfriend from Perks.

  Dear, Lord, why?

  “Oh my God, I love that house! Congratulations. So nice to meet you, but I can’t help but feel like we’ve met… your face is so familiar.”

  Just like at the coffee shop, she exudes charisma. “I’m Merissa, we have, actually. We high fived at Perks, Cher.” I sincerely laughed recalling that day.

  She laughed in response. “Yes! I knew I’d seen you before. Thanks for humoring me, by the way.”

  Ugh. I totally understand what Seth sees in her. She’s sunshine and laughter’s spawn. “Anytime.”

  We exchange smiles before she addresses, Tim. “Tim, do you have a minute before you leave?”

  “Sure, will you excuse me for just a few, Merissa?”

  “Of course, I’ll be right outside. So nice to officially meet you, Sylvia.” And I really mean it.

  Insert frowny face here.

  “You, too, Merissa. I hope to see you again soon.”

  “Me, too.” Let the torment begin.

  A few minutes later, Tim joins me on the sidewalk, and we walk side by side across the street to Palms. “Sorry I kept you waiting.”

  “Think nothing of it.” My eyes dart around the outdoor seating space set up under large green awnings. Rattan chairs, round tables with crisp white tablecloths, and a multitude of potted palm trees planted in terra cotta pots surround it, giving it a serene tropical ambiance.

  “How charming this place is! Are we sitting outside?”

  “Sure, if that’s what you’d like”

  “I’d love to.”

  The hostess seated us at a corner table before opening our menus and handing them to us. This is the moment that gives me anxiety when I’m invited to eat out on someone else’s dime. I usually scan all the prices first, then choose something from the lower ones… or an appetizer.

  Maybe there’s one of those books for dummies for this type of situation.

  Seth

  Disappointment. I was expecting to see a certain black-haired beauty at Graffiti’s today, but she was nowhere to be found, and I wasn’t about to go upstairs and bang on her door. And say what?

  Trish’s team invaded the bar like a bunch of worker ants taking various measurements among other stuff, so I stayed just long enough for Trish to share more of her vision. Truth is, I was more interested in seeing her than I was about color and woodgrain selections.

  Pulling my car into a ‘South Shores only’ parking space, I shift to park before recognizing, Tim on the same sidewalk… with Merissa. They’re using the pedestrian crosswalk to get to the other side of the street, and I’m shooting daggers at him as soon as he places his hand on the small of her back. I remain in my car until I see where they’re going first, then get out and storm into the agency like I’m the head of a swat team, only I’m the entire team.

  Vee is standing in the middle of the floor with her phone to her ear when she notices me and smiles. Since steam is probably billowing around me like an aura, her smile changes to one of worry and ends her call less than a minute later.

  “Hey,” she says while giving me a hug. “You alright? You look like someone peed in your pasta.”

  I scratch my stubble and shake my head. “Yeah, I’m good. Work shit, that’s all.”

  She pouts like she used to when she was five. “Aw, sorry to hear that. Want to talk about it?”

  I have to smile at her because she’s as cute as she was at age five. “Nah, I’m a big boy, Vee.”

  “I know, I know. Anyway, I was going to call you today, so you saved me the trouble.”

  “Oh yeah, what’s up?”

  She puts on her cutesy face and places her hands on her hips. “I should be the one asking you.”

  I raise my eyebrow because there’s no telling with her, but if anyone can calm me down it’s this little crap. “Are you going to continue talking in fuckin’ riddles, or are you going to just tell me what’s on your mind?”

  “Okay. Chill the “f” out. Tim told me that you’re letting that woman from Perks that sat in the back rent the Aqua Vista house on the cheap… and, you had the whole place furni
shed, and stocked to the brim. So, it begs the question—what are you not telling me, brother dearest.”

  That tattling fuckin’ weasel.

  “Have I told you that I don’t like him? I haven’t since you hired his ass. He gossips more than a bunch of old ladies playing fuckin’ Canasta.”

  Vee rolls her eyes. “He knows how to make sales, Seth. That’s what he’s here to do.”

  “Precisely. Where is the little weasel, anyway?” I ask, knowing full well where he is and with whom.

  “He went over to Palms with Merissa, who just left here a little while ago, and she’s freakin’ gorgeous. Like, I was even like, damn. I could tell she has no clue, either. She seems sweet, too, but I gather you know this already. Hmm?”

  My sister is a self-taught interrogator who has many psychological tactics up her sleeve, so I keep my face expressionless, although I couldn’t agree more with her assessment. Ignoring her question, I ask one of my own. “Does he have the habit of taking female clients out to lunch?”

  Fueling the fire, she says, “No, this would be the first time, actually, and judging by your hostility, you’re not too pleased about it. You liiiike her.”

  “You know what? I’m charitable, that’s what I am. I’ve got to go.” I kiss her cheek while she has a grin on her face that might split her face to the point of needing medical attention.

  She got the information she wanted from me and didn’t even have to remove my fingernails one by one to get it.

  Damn, am I that transparent these days?

  I’m Jay, and I’m walking… directly over to Palms. You know, because I feel compelled to stop by and just say, hello. I search through the jungle of Palms, which I would appreciate normally if I weren’t on an illogical mission.

  The patio is full, but I spot them in the far corner As I go around the foliage, I overhear the fucker tell Merissa that he would like to take her out some time to get to know her better.