A Trade For Good (14 page)

It was hard to hate her, but Sera
did.

"Yes. I mean hi. Yes, I’m
Sera."

"I've heard so much about you, and I
wanted to check you out myself.” The young woman laughed and
quickly added, “I meant to say meet you personally,” and then with
another chuckle she kept talking, while silencing Sera who was
trying harder to hate this woman, and not really following the
conversation all that well. “You see, I'm supposed to be jealous of
you, and quite honestly, I should be, because you’re absolutely
beautiful."

This woman was making it really hard
for Sera to hate her. Still, she could play the bitch game. Two
days of gorgeous women invading her turf was all she needed to play
rough.

Today wasn’t looking as good as she
hoped it would.

"And you are…?"
Sera asked with her nose up in the air, which
rather put her at a disadvantage since it barely reached the
woman’s neck…

"Oh damn, sorry. Don't even look at
me, by the way! I'm on my way to the gym and I’m a mess. I should
have at least worn some make up to come and meet you."

Sera laughed at her and blushed. Fine,
she had to admit it was actually impossible to hate this
woman.

"I meant,” Sera chuckled,
“No, not
I am beautiful
,
and you are...
something else,” she smiled and saw the meaning of it finally
dawned on the tall girl, “And you are… as in
do I know you?"

The young woman started laughing, a
very inelegant laugh with a slight snort to it that was very
contagious. "Shit. I should have started there,” she laughed again.
“I’m Trish. I'm Mitch’s wife; Jeff’s older sister."

Sera relaxed. She really relaxed.
Whoa. Yes, that felt better, but not wanting to analyze why she was
so relieved and feeling like a total ass, she told the tall girl,
"By the way, and before I stick my foot in my mouth again, you are
gorgeous. That part was coming next. You kind of startled me when I
first walked in. I didn't expect to see anyone, and yesterday this
woman came in and… Sorry," Sera extended her hand as a sign of
peace and a form of greeting, “Nice to finally meet you
Trish.”

“I'm sorry; I just wanted to finally
meet you. Mitch can't stand the fact that I'm not the jealous type.
He's been telling me how pretty you are, how efficient, and how you
brighten up everyone's day. I am supposed to hate you, but you
don't really look hate-able."

"Thanks. I was just thinking the same
thing about you! I wish all of my 'visitors' felt that
way."

"Visitors? I didn't think anybody ever
came in here." Trish looked around not with distaste, but surprise.
“By the way, this looks amazing. I know you are the one to blame
for making this place look like a real office. These guys are
worthless, not to mention clueless.”

"Actually no, we really don’t have
visitors. The guys meet clients at their homes, and the workers and
contractors aren’t really ‘visitors’. You are the second visitor
I've had, and the first one was yesterday. I’m sorry, I guess I’m
shell shocked. The lady who came in yesterday left me a little
rattled.”

Sera turned bright red when she
remembered this was Jeff’s sister she was talking to. Way to go
Sera.

"Who left you rattled? Did you tell
Mitch or my brother? Were you alone? I know they’re always
concerned about people popping in after-hours thinking there is
money here or something."

"No, sorry, I didn’t mean… You see, I
was alone, but… Well, I guess she just caught me off guard. Not her
fault at all.

“I feel like an idiot, anyway, I was
in the back when someone came in and Jeff always tells me to lock
the doors and I forgot, and …”

Trish was looking at Sera and waiting
patiently for some punch line.

“Sorry. To make a long story short, it
was Jeff's fiancée, who surprised me. It was just unexpected,
that’s all."

The woman looked at Sera confused, as
if Sera had just grown another eyeball right then and there. "What
do you mean by fiancée?"

"Just that she came in yesterday and
told me she was Jeff's fiancée. I didn’t even know he was engaged.
Anyway, she never told me her name… So when I saw you in here this
morning, I thought great, another fiancée checking things
out."

"Eww. You thought I was
her? Anyway, she actually
said
‘fiancée’?"

"Eww, and no, I didn’t
think you were her, you look a lot more nor… Uh, I just thought you
were another fiancée or something. You’re a lot prettier! It’s just
that she made a point to say fiancée several times in the
conversation, and then kept referring to Jeff as Mr. Mason to make
sure ‘I knew my place’ or some stu…" Sera stopped abruptly and
turned a bright shade of pink. "Oh my god, I am so sorry. This
is
your
future
sister in law and I’m…”

"Sorry about what?" Trish
asked.

"But…” Sera stammered, “I’m so stupid.
I just realized that if you are Mitch's wife, that means that you
are Jeff's sister, and here I am badmouthing your future sister in
law. I’ve always had a big mouth."

Trish started laughing again. "First
of all, you can bad mouth that bitch any time you want. I will help
you and feed you some additional ammunition; I’ve got stories.
Secondly, she only wishes to be the future Mrs. Mason. Oh my god, I
can’t believe she actually said that.” Then with a big smile Trish
looked at Sera, “she must have felt super threatened by you to say
that.”

“Threatened? Threatened by me? I was
the one that felt threatened. She looked so… perfect.”

Trish looked down at Sera warmly. “Of
course she felt threatened, you’re here with Jeff all day, you’re
hot as hell, and you’re more his type than she will ever be. She
hates you!” Trish bubbled up with laughter, and loving the fact
that Sera had rattled Lydia as well.

“She’s NOT his fiancée. Jeff broke off
with her and just can't seem to get rid of her, and believe me, not
one person in our family would hesitate to dump a load of manure on
her if we got the chance. She's absolutely horrible."

"Well that's a relief," Sera said
suddenly serious, "not that she seems like a horrible person,
but...” Sera suddenly stopped and gave Trish a look that said she
was lying about Lydia not being a horrible person, and they both
burst out laughing.

Sera wiped her eyes and added, “I
honestly would hate to see Jeff with someone like her, not that
it’s any of my business, but he's such a great guy. It's stupid, I
know, but after I met her I couldn't get my mind off the thought
that I would take up voodoo just to get her far away from Jeff.
Yuck! She uh, she’s so… hideous, and wrong for Jeff."

Just as she was finishing her
sentence, Sera saw the door to the office open as Jeff walked in.
"What's wrong for me?"

Sera and Trish exchanged a quick and
knowing look, and Trish jumped in. "Brussels sprouts. They upset
your stomach.” She stretched out her arms to motion a hug, “Aren't
you going to say hi to your little sister Jeff?"

"My little sister is not
little in height nor is she in age, at least compared to
me
," he said laughing, and
looking at Sera, "Ever since my sisters passed the age of thirty, I
suddenly became the older one of the three. It's amazing how things
work out. And you thought my math was bad?"

Jeff walked over to his sister and
gave her a long hug and a quick kiss. "To what do I owe the
pleasure?"

"Not you, Sera. I'm supposed to be
green with envy and jealousy of Sera.” She winked at both of them,
“Mitch keeps telling me how wonderful she is and finally in a
moment of rage," she turned to smile at Sera," I told him I'd come
and meet my competition."

Sera looked embarrassed and slightly
confused, but Jeff was just laughing.

"Let me explain," Jeff told Sera,
"Mitch and I were college buddies. In all honesty, I don't know
why, but I was the one who had the most girls when we went out or
were partying. I mean, neither one of us was exactly the play boy
type, but I think Mitch always had his eyes on this one," he said
pointing to his sister who suddenly pretended to be shy and
embarrassed, "so I think he tried to behave in case she heard about
our escapades. Anyway, when she started noticing Mitch, Mitch would
tell her of all of the parties he went to, of all of the girls, and
would make up stories while I would just shake my head in the
background. My sister is smart enough to let him enjoy the pleasure
of thinking he’s making her jealous, when in reality, he's
completely harmless. Not only that, but this one,” he said pointing
to his sister, “loves to annoy him, but when it backfires, she has
to pretend so he doesn’t lose face. The truth is they’re both still
crazy about each other and play stupid games to keep the romance
alive since they don’t really get out much.”

At that, Trish punched her brother
hard on the arm and he pretended to fall against the
wall.

He kept going, unperturbed, “This is
not the first time Trish has had to pretend to be the jealous wife,
just so you understand, Sera."

"Well, I am not sure if I really do
understand. You see when I heard stories like that about my
husband, I never heard them from him, and they ended up being
mostly true." Sera smiled.

Trish and Jeff exchanged a sudden look
and Trish looked heartbroken. “Oh Sera, how heartless of us. I
completely forgot. I mean, not that we know anything, but Mitch
told me a few things about what's happening in your life, and I
know your husband left you, but I didn’t know if it was for anoth
...I mean that he had cheated, so still, I mean…

“Umm… Oh god, I should just shut up."
Trish finished, and turned a bright shade of pink.

Sera went over to Trish and surprised
her with a big, heartfelt hug. "Please, it's not your fault. First
of all, I'm okay, and secondly my husband is an ass. You can't say
much nice about him because he doesn't deserve it. And contrary to
the stereotypical wife that has been dumped because her husband
went off with another woman, I don't think it was my fault. I do
think I make a better mom than a wife, but sometimes you just have
to grow up, and they were his kids too. The guy is an ass, and you
just pointed it out. Other than the financial loss and the hurt
he's left on my kids, I am better off without the man. Of that I am
sure."

Trish hugged Sera back and said with a
wink, "You go girl." Then looking back at her brother, she added,
“You deserve a nice guy.”

Sera wasn't sure why, but she looked
up at Trish and turned bright red again. If Trish and Deb met, they
would definitely hit it off, but then again, it might be safer if
they never met.

The door opened again just as Sera and
Trish were separating from their hug. This time it was Mitch who
came in. He looked surprised to see his wife there and immediately
smiled and went to give her a kiss.

Trish put her hands up to shield
herself from the man she had married and said, "I came to meet her
for myself, Mitch. She's everything you said she was and
more."

Mitch looked suddenly uncomfortable,
and turned to Jeff, who looked quite happy with the way things were
developing.

Trish turned around to wink at Sera,
but only Sera saw her do this. "Sera, I am here to tell you this
man is mine. I want you to keep your paws off him, you
hear?"

Mitch looked extremely uncomfortable
and started to say something when Sera walked over to him and told
him, "Oh Mitch, I don’t know what to say. I was hoping, but…”
Raising her hands to touch him, and stopping herself as if burned,
she added, “I guess it’s just not meant to be. You have your wife
and family, and I have my kids. I just wish we had met a long time
ago when we still had a chance.”

Mitch shook his head and started
chuckling, while at the same time Trish and Sera exchanged a look
and Sera said, “Good bye sweet Mitch,” and with that Sera raised
her hand as if to wave a goodbye, but instead got a high five from
Trish.

Trish smiled, “Well played my
friend.”

"Them two is some dangerous wenches
bro," Jeff told his brother in law, and then bent down and kissed
the top of his sister’s head, walking off to his office with Sera
following.

Trish grabbed her brother’s arm as he
was walking away, and said, "Not so quick little
brother."

Jeff turned, "At least we got the
‘little’ part straight," he said even though he towered over her by
a good five or six inches, "What's up? You look just like you did
when you caught me with that dirty magazine when we were
little."

"Oh yeah, I remember. Mom gave you
hell and dad asked to see what the fuss was all about – he kept it
as evidence, he said. Anyway… Don’t change the subject!” she waved
her finger at him, “Now tell me, what's this about you getting
engaged and not telling me about it?"

Jeff looked at Mitch, then
his sister, Sera after that, and then back to Sera again. "What
the…
Engaged?
Engaged to
what?"