A Half Dozen Fools (11 page)

She almost grew defensive, but the depth of sincerity on his face stopped her short. Suddenly, she whipped out her cell phone.

"Hey," she said all atwitter. "I have a couple of things you can see on here." She went into her photo application. "If you want."

He nodded. "Sure I do."

She scrolled down her photos to a painting she'd done. "Check this one out."

Keb held her hand to study the image on her phone. "Wow, I like. I'm impressed."

She showed him two more, and he nodded with genuine appreciation.

"Oh," she added, "and this one I gave to my buddy Dylan. He's my best gay-friend. He's got it hanging in his living room."

Keb eyed it carefully. "Gorgeous, Elyse. Really. You're very talented. I mean that."

"Thank you." She smiled shyly and stuck her phone back inside her purse. "Sorry. Didn't mean to bore you."

"Sorry? What are you sorry for? You didn't bore me at all. Far from it."

Elyse fiddled nervously with the zipper on her leather bag. "But," she blurted, "believe it or not? I actually enjoy doing makeup, too. It's a different way of painting. I like helping women look their best. Even though..."

"Even though, what?"

"I guess I do miss my art sometimes."

"Seems silly to give up something you're so good at. Even in your spare time."

"Mm...I know." She felt confused all of a sudden, and sensed her cheeks were burning pink. "Well, I'd better get going. Don't want Judy to freak out on my being gone so long." When she rose, Keb also rose in gentlemanly fashion. She stood fast and touched his shoulder.

"Oh, please don't get up. Enjoy the rest of your lunch. Thank you for the coffee--and everything. You've been really sweet."

"You're welcome. Take care of yourself, Elyse. Be careful out there."

* * * *

On her way over to The Make-Up Place turmoil was brewing inside Elyse. She was thinking how deliciously warm Keb had made her feel by listening to her as if he cared. His kind words and compliments had lifted her spirits after her awful fight with Rick.

She swallowed.
Good Lord--I'd better watch it and not lead this guy on. After all, he's nice and everything, but he works in a copy shop. Nothing wrong with that, but that's just not right for me. I need a man who's ambitious. Well, who knows, he might be ambitious, in that world. But still--he's just the copy guy!

She decided that from now on she'd be friendly, but it might be wise if she kept a professional distance between the two of them.

 
OVER EASY

Elyse hurried down the Avenue of the Americas. With teeth ...ering and feet slapping the rain-drenched sidewalk, she battled the remaining squalls of a powerful storm. Keeping her head down, she pushed against winds that threatened to wrest the umbrella from her grip. Bone-chilling cold was further incentive for hustling onward as fast as she could.

She barely managed to side-step water hurled across the sidewalk when a yellow cab came barreling through a puddle. She cursed the driver as an idiot, and herself for walking too close to the curb. With icy drizzle biting her face, she also cursed the city. While she was at it, she cursed her entire life, since the bitter cold seemed to reflect the loneliness she felt in her heart.

She'd been dwelling on her lousy love life all day long and had worked herself into near-depression over the Rick Giordano incident. At first she blamed herself. Maybe she shouldn't have asked so many questions. Maybe she should have left well enough alone and accepted the situation quietly, like the cool chick he initially thought she was. When she finally accepted her right to be true to herself, she blamed herself for not seeing how incompatible they'd been from the start.

As she trucked down the Avenue of the Americas in the biting cold, she grew increasingly annoyed by how much farther it was to the bar than she had anticipated. The painfully nasty weather made her feel increasingly powerless, too, and ever more alone in the world. She wondered if it was the icy spray in the air bringing tears to her eyes or her personal misery. The thought of a cocktail perked her up, however, a good enough reason for quickening her step.

When she turned east on Sixty-Fourth Street, a blast of wind smacked her in the face. She gritted her teeth in anger and switched her umbrella over the other shoulder to keep the gales from ripping it inside out. Through the misty veil she finally spotted neon letters announcing her destination. Anxious for warmth, she practically ran down the block to the Voodoo Bar and Grill.

Inside the trendy hot spot, Elyse met with both swelling heat and billowing smoke. She remembered Shar warning her about the semi-private club that still let smokers have their way. Coughing, she wondered how long she'd last in the den of nicotine addicts. With a sigh she bucked up, content to have escaped the bitter cold and messy weather for the moment.

The crowd was packed three and four deep at the bar. Elyse spotted two guys in suits about to vacate stools and pushed her way in fast to claim one. From her vantage point at the bar, she spotted a female bartender expertly brandishing bottles, and waved when she glanced over. Clad in a leather bustier top, the woman nodded she'd be right there. Elyse smiled and checked her out in more detail.

Large breasts rose like twin suns over the black leather horizon of her bustier top. As Elyse watched her pour different liquors into mixers and shake them feverishly, she wondered how they stayed intact with her physical exertion. Even more fascinating was the rose tattoo morphing from her cleavage into a snake up along her neck.

The bartender finally pressed her sultry frame against the bar directly across from Elyse, who made it a point not to stare at her great glands. Instead, she looked into the woman's darkly outlined eyes.

"Hi, there. I'm Giselle," the woman said. "What can I get you, honey?"

"Ketel One straight up, please."

Elyse tore her eyes away from Giselle's tattoo to scour the bar in search of Sharmaine. Scanning the crowd told her she was among high paid executives and other affluent professionals. Both older and up-and-coming captains of industry, along with different types of working girls, were numbered among the patrons.

All of a sudden Elyse caught the vibe that someone was watching her. She turned to see a tall, blond man in a charcoal suit leaning against the maroon leather wall, ...ing with a couple of guys. He smiled when her eyes met his, but Elyse barely returned it and continued looking for her friend.

"There you go, sweetheart." Giselle placed the martini before her. "Want to start a tab?"

Before Elyse could answer, the man called over, "You can put that on my tab, Giselle."

"Okay, James, I've got it."

Elyse turned to see the blond man grinning down at her, handsome in a scrubbed, yacht-club sort of way.

She raised her glass. "Why, thank you, sir."

Before she sipped, she happened to glance at Giselle reaching across the bar to grab a glass on the other side. In doing so, her breasts nearly burst up over their horizon line. And if Elyse wasn't mistaken, the nipples peeked out before returning behind the line again.

Here's to your maracas, sister.

She sipped and let out a satisfied, "Ah."

James smiled. Elyse placed her glass on the bar and started shimmying her coat off her shoulders. The man reached over in gentlemanly manner to help her take it off.

"I've got it," she said, trying to shake it down on her own. But he insisted, so she finally succumbed with a, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. By the way, I'm James Wentworth. And you are?"

"Elyse. I'm looking for a friend."

"I could help if you like. You might make a new friend that way."

She shot him a bemused look.

"Or not," he added with a laugh.

Elyse sighed. She hadn't been out much lately, still traumatized by her domestic drama with Rick. She'd been going home after work to read and sketch, with a tiny bit of TV or going to the gym. Shar finally convinced her she was too young to spend night after night at home alone, so Elyse agreed to step out again. Tonight she was meeting Shar's new boyfriend for the very first time--this older guy who was a lawyer.

Elyse would have preferred hanging out with Shar alone, since she wasn't much in the mood for making new acquaintances. But Shar was her truest friend, who had been especially helpful in the aftermath of Chef Rick's abuse. Therefore, Elyse pushed aside her own grumpiness for social time to please her friend.

Small talk with some guy who was hitting on her, however, was an entirely different matter. Okay, he'd bought her a drink, so she owed him a few minutes. While he inquired where she was from and how long she'd lived in Manhattan, she gave him the basics and continued searching for her friend. She finally spotted her way over on the other side, dragging off a cigarette.

Elyse gathered her coat, grabbed her glass, and looked up at James Wentworth.

"It was nice to meet you, James, but I see my friend over there. Thanks a million for the drink. Catch ya later."

He stepped back in surprise. "Oh. Well--but I--"

Elyse smiled, ducked down behind him, and pushed her way through the crowd.

After sharing a hug with Shar, Elyse was introduced to Jerry Bachman, a short, square-shaped man who politely gave up his chair to her. He ordered her another drink and gushed about what a wonderful girl Sharmaine was. Elyse agreed wholeheartedly, and Shar laughed at them both. Jerry then stated how excited he was about helping her build a new business.

"What kind of business?" Elyse asked.

"
Trompe de l'oeil
," Shar answered.

"
Trompe de l'oeil
painting?"

"Yes, darling. You know I used to paint, years ago. Not quite the artist you are, but I think I'll do well with this kind of thing. It can be very profitable, you know."

"Where? What surfaces, I mean."

"Anywhere--residential, business. For anybody who wants a wall painted to look like something else."

"Here in New York?"

"I doubt it. I'm still researching for the best place to start a company."

Elyse marveled at how, once her friend decided to do something, she went at it with fervor. In fourth grade, she'd said she was going to become a great dancer and never wavered from her goal. Now she was going to create a business for
trompe de l'oeil
style painting, and Elyse figured she'd be a huge success with that, too. How ironic that Elyse, on the other hand, had much God-given talent for visual artistry, yet never quite figured out how to use it to her advantage. Her family had convinced her pursuing art for a living simply wasn't practical, so she'd gone into teaching instead. Yet her divorce had brought far more changes than she could ever have anticipated. She was still letting go lots of preconceived notions about what her life should be versus what felt right to her.

Elyse happened to glance over and see James Wentworth standing a few feet away. She was about to quip about him stalking her when Shar called over.

"Hey, James, how's it going?"

"Fine, thanks, Shar. How are you?"

Elyse watched in surprise as the two of them shared a friendly hug, and Jerry reached over to shake his hand.

"Hey, Jimbo," Jerry said. "Elyse, this is James Wentworth. James, this is Elyse, Shar's friend."

"Yes," Elyse said drily, "we've met."

"Oh?" Shar asked. "You have?"

"Over there, by the bartender with the tattoo on her neck. He even bought me a drink."

She fluttered her eyelashes at Shar.

"Well, I didn't put him up to it," Shar said defensively. "Did I, James?"

James laughed, showing straight, white teeth. "Nope. I found the young lady all on my own. Pretty cool, though, that you two are friends."

Elyse suddenly realized that
this
was the guy Shar had been trying to fix her up with the past week. She looked at Shar.

"A real co-inky-dink."

Shar laughed and sipped her chardonnay.

"So," Elyse asked James, "you're a lawyer, too?"

"Hell, I'm no lawyer! Although, I probably could be at this point. I'm very familiar with certain aspects of the law, you might say."

Jerry guffawed and James cracked up, too.

Elyse didn't know why, but she'd never liked getting set up with anybody, even James Wentworth. But this was Shar's friend, and Elyse loved Shar, so she played nice.

"What is it you do, James?"

Jerry butted in. "He manages the money of the rich. And even some of the famous."

James shrugged. "Somebody has to." He placed his empty glass on the bar and called for another Grey Goose on the rocks.

Elyse couldn't decide if James was cocky or
uber
-confident.

"Cheers," he said with his refreshed drink.

He clinked his glass against Elyse's martini. His eyes held hers as he tasted it.

"Hey, you two," Shar said. "What do you say we all grab some dinner?"

Elyse protested mildly, "I have to get up early for work."

"We all do," James said.

"Come on," Jerry said. "I've got it--it's on me. Let's go over to the Jade Bull."

Shar nudged Elyse gently in the rib. "It'll be fun."

"Hey, I'm up for that," James said with a grin. "Knowing it's on Jerry will make it all the more delicious."

Elyse didn't get the joke, but Jerry cracked up laughing.

Jerry asked, "You good with the Jade Bull, Elyse?"

"Sure, of course. Wherever you say."

"Good," Jerry said. "Drink up."

As the men paid their tabs, Shar winked at Elyse, who smiled back weakly.

* * * *

Unable to catch a cab, the foursome walked in the drizzle. James and Elyse followed Shar and Jerry under the umbrella James held. Since Shar stood three inches over Jerry in her stiletto-heeled boots, she held their umbrella up.

Elyse shivered. "Are we almost there, Shar?"

"Yes, darling. A block and a half more."

"You cold?" James asked Elyse.

Holding her by the waist, he pulled her in tighter. She tried to put some space between them by moving away.