Cheating Heart, A Lost Souls Novel: A Lost Souls Novel (2 page)

Vienna grabbed another pillow.
  “Swear?”   

“I swear!”
Kim put her arms up, still giggling, to protect her face.  She peeked between them at Vienna.  “Please, go out with me.  It’ll be fun!  I swear!  And
no
boys allowed.  You and I will go out and do something fun!”

“Like what?”  Vienna held up the pillow and pretended to be adjusting her aim.

“Um, I don’t know.  Dinner and maybe stop at a club?”

Vienna rolled her eyes.  “There are guys at a club.”

“Yeah,” Kim said.  “That’s the point.”

“I thought you said
no
boys!”

“I
said
no appointed boys to go with us as dates.  We’ll go and admire some boys instead.”

“Ahhh…” Vienna said, putting down the pillow.  “Oh, all right…
I’ll go.”

“Yea!”  Kim screeched, clapping her hands together.  “This is why you’re my best friend!”

“Yeah,” Vienna laughed.  “Because I’m a push over.”

“I can’t wait to go through my closet!  Let’s finish eating so we can go find something to wear.” 

Vienna sighed.  “All right.  Um, since I’m such a wonderful friend and all,” she nodded at the TV, “can you turn up the volume?”

Kim laughed.  “Of course, it’s the least I can do.”

Friday, February 14
th

Chapter 2

Vienna stretched her legs out beneath her desk.  Her back was aching from sitting for so long in front of the computer.  She looked up at the clock on the wall across from her cubicle.  It was fifteen minutes to five and she was more than ready to go home.  But at the same time, a part of her wanted to stay at work and wasn’t anxious to leave anytime soon.  If she had to work late, maybe she’d be able to avoid going out with Kim.  Tilting her head to the side to loosen up the tight muscles in her neck, she sighed.  She knew there was no way to avoid going out tonight.  Kim had texted her three times already to ask her opinion on how she should fix her hair.  And she didn’t have the heart to back out on her.  Not when she was so excited about it. 

“Hey!” A handsome head poked over the top
of Vienna’s cubicle.  Vienna felt her pulse quicken and her breath caught in her throat.  Kyle, a manager of a separate division of the healthcare group she worked for, was staring at her over the green fabric wall of her workspace.  She wasn’t exactly sure what he did.  He managed some sort of accounting part of the company.  But from time to time, he worked closely on projects with her manager, Bonnie.  As much as seeing him made her swoon, she tried to stay away from him.  All of the other women in the office seemed to melt at his good looks and charm, also.  The last thing she needed was to hook up with a player and be played.  She’d had enough heartache to last her a lifetime.  And for the last several months, she’d done everything she could to avoid conversations, not pertaining to work, with Kyle.

“Hi,” Vienna said, smiling.
  Unfortunately, she couldn’t hold back and she felt her cheeks reddened.  She swore at herself for being so transparent. 

“Any special plans for tonight?”  Kyle flashed
his gorgeous set of pearly whites.

Vienna glanced at his
gleaming baby blue eyes and stuttered like a moron, “Yeah, um, no.  I mean…um…”

Kyle raised a
perfect dark eyebrow at her.  “Anyone special?”

“Oh, um,” Vienna cleared her throat and took off her glasses.  She pretended to be cleaning them with the bottom of her shirt.  Her glasses always made her feel self conscious.  For some stupid reason, she wanted him to notice her
pretty hazel eyes and long dark lashes, and not the thick spectacles she wore.  “I’m just going out with my friend, Kim.”

“Oh,” he said.  “Well, I hope you have a good t
ime!”  He turned to leave when for some crazy reason she had a moment of true insanity and hopped up from her seat, following after him. 

“Um, Kyle,” she said. 

He stopped walking and turned around, smiling at her.  “Yeah?”

“We’ll be at the
K Street Club
downtown, if you want to join us.”  When the words flew out of her mouth, she did a quick mental head slap.  She wondered why in the world she’d said that.  What had gotten into her?  “I mean, um, if you’re bored…you know.  We’ll be there tonight.”

Kyle nodded.  “Okay.  I
just might see you there.”

“
Oh! Um, okay.  Bye.” Vienna wrung her hands together.  That’s when she realized everything around her was blurry and out of focus.  She’d left her stupid glasses on the desk.  She couldn’t quite tell if his smile was genuine, or amused, or if he thought she was a flipping nutcase, because she couldn’t really see him.  God, she hated being practically blind.

“Bye,” he said, running his
fingers through his gorgeous, dark, wavy hair. 

I’m a total idiot!
Vienna berated herself as she walked back to her desk.  She still hadn’t healed from when she and her college sweetheart broke up almost a year ago.  Thinking of her failed relationship with Brandon made her stomach tie up in a knot.  They’d been together for over three years, and off and on again for a fourth year.  She’d stupidly believed that someday they’d get married.  She had been so naive.  She even gave up going to a private Art School in San Francisco and stayed in Sacramento to get a mediocre Bachelors degree in Art Studio from a state college to be with him.  Then, of course, even crazier than that, there was her hunky, yet totally unavailable spirit guide, Jack, that she was head over heels for.  Why did she do that to herself?  He was someone who was completely unattainable and it tortured her to even think about it.  And now, to top things off, she was giving hints to a totally gorgeous player of a coworker to come hook up with her at a club.  What in the world was wrong with her?  Did she purposely go out of her way to make her life more difficult?  Was she looking to be hurt?  

What am I doing?
 
I don’t want to go out with Kyle!  Do I?  I practically threw myself at him.  What if the other women in the office find out? 
Vienna looked around to see if anyone was watching her.  There were only a few people left, and they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her.  Or at least she hoped they weren’t.  And now, Vienna wondered how she’d explain to Kim that she broke the rules of no boys’ night. 

***

Kim was all gussied up in a hot pink sleeveless, low-cut dress.  The dress ended just an inch above the knees.  She wore clear strappy high heeled sandals that looked as if they were made of glass.  Her hot pink toe and fingernails matched the color of the dress perfectly.  Vienna couldn’t help but admire her best friend.  She’d give anything to be able to pull off the clothes that Kim could wear.  Kim was tall and slender with long gorgeous blonde hair.  She had the type of body and skin tone that could pull off anything.  Vienna on the other hand, couldn’t.  Well, she thought she couldn’t anyway.  But she was also very hard on herself.  She was of about average height and average weight.  She had a pretty face and a nice enough body.  She felt her best features were her hazel eyes and her smile.  Her parents had spent a lot of money on orthodontic work when she was growing up so that she’d have nice teeth.  It was a painful process having her jaw widened and wearing braces had been extremely embarrassing in high school, but she was very grateful to her parents for the outcome.  She couldn’t complain. 

Something
Vienna could complain about and did a lot, was her hair.  She had thick, dark brown unruly curls that had a mind of their own.  Over the years she’d learned how to manage them and keep them somewhat maintained, but her locks were still a challenge.  Most of the time she just pulled her hair back in a loose pony tail which seemed to work in a cinch.  It wasn’t anything glamorous, but it was better than having crazy wild woman hair.

M
any times over, Kim had mentioned how lucky she was to be half Italian, and to have such beautiful dark curly hair and a natural olive complexion.  Vienna wasn’t so sure she agreed with her.  She felt Kim was just trying to make her feel better by being a good friend.            

Vienna
was wearing a black sleeveless dress that covered a bit more than Kim’s, but not a whole lot more.  What she wanted to wear was her favorite pair of dark blue Calvin Klein jeans and a black formfitting T-shirt.  However, she gave up on the idea of comfort when Kim threw a hissy fit.  As soon as she found out about Kyle possibly showing up at the club tonight, Kim insisted that Vienna wear something sexy.  

“
Stop worrying.  You look stunning,” Kim said, as they pulled into a parking garage in downtown Sacramento, a few blocks from their destination. 

“No,”
Vienna said as she tugged at the hemline of her skirt.  “
You
look stunning! 
I
look like I’m trying to be stunning.”

“Oh, shut up,” Kim laughed, circling the garage.  “You’re always so hard on yourself.
  I bet Jack thinks you look stunning.”

Vienna cringed at hearing Jack’s name. 
It hurt like a stab straight to the heart.  “I wouldn’t know.  It’s not like he’s been around for the last few months.”

Kim frowned.  “Sorry,” she said, knowing
how Vienna felt about him.  Immediately she wished she could take back her thoughtless words.  “I shouldn’t have mentioned him.”

“It’s all right.  It’s not your fault.” 
Vienna pulled down the visor on the passenger side and did a quick check of her makeup.  Then she double checked her teeth to make sure there wasn’t anything stuck in between them.  They had eaten at The Spaghetti Factory and she had to admit, it was kind of fun going to a restaurant all dressed up.  At first she felt out of place, but then it felt good to be overly dressed with all of the attention they were attracting.  Maybe Kim was right.  Maybe she was being too hard on her self.  “I still can’t believe we went to the
Spaghetti
Factory
dressed for a nightclub,” Vienna said, trying to push Jack from her thoughts by changing the subject.

Kim pulled into a parking spot on the third floor. 
“Yeah,” she laughed.  “That was fun!  And that cute waiter kept bringing us bread.  Did you notice that?  We had like three things of uneaten bread on the table by the time we left.”

“
Oh, and don’t forget the soda refills,” Vienna reminded.  “I’m still zinging from all the caffeine.  I think I had four diet Cokes.”

“Me too!”  Kim
unclasped her purse and dug her lipstick out and quickly reapplied it.  “Okay,” she said very seriously while turning in her seat to face Vienna, “is my hair still okay?”

Vienna gave her a look.  “Are you kidding me?”

“I’m serious,” Kim said, patting the side of her hair.  “I spent over an hour curling it and I know the curls are already falling.  I must’ve used half a can of hairspray.”

Vienna shook her head.  Kim’s long blonde hair was pulled up and pinned with rhinestone clips.  She had long silky locks strategically
loose and tumbling down her back and on her shoulders.  “Your hair is always perfect.  Heck, you roll out of bed and it’s perfect.”

“
Shut up!  You’re such a freaking liar!”  Kim beamed at the compliment.  Sometimes Vienna felt Kim was even more self conscious than she was.  The only difference was that Kim didn’t show it on the outside.  “Come on,” Kim said.  “Let’s go.  I’m curious to see if that hunky manager of yours shows up.”

“Oh God, don’t remind me.” 
Vienna took in a deep breath and slowly let it out.  She thought about Kyle and wondered if he would actually make an appearance.  She really didn’t know what to think of him.  If he made an appearance, then that probably meant he was really interested in her.  But then again, it could mean that he was bored with nothing else better to do.  And if he didn’t make an appearance, then she wouldn’t have to worry.  It meant that he really wasn’t interested and was just trying to be nice to her at work.  That thought turned her stomach.  If he didn’t show up, she wouldn’t want to face him again after practically throwing herself at him in the office.  She’d have a heck of a time avoiding eye contact with him. 

I’m so stupid,
she thought. 
Ugh!
 
Why do I do such stupid things?

The girls made their way out of the parking garage.  Kim pushed open the heavy metal door that led them out to the street.  Vienna looked down the dark street in the direction they’d have to walk to get to the club.  This was the second time they’d been
to this club.  For the moment, it was considered the
in
place to be.  She always found it interesting just how quickly the nightlife
hot spot
changed.

Being downtown at night, dressed up
in short dresses and high heels made Vienna nervous.  They were a few blocks from the club and the streets were pretty vacant.  She kept having horrible visions of being mugged down one of the dark, eerie streets.  She didn’t know if the thoughts were a product of her imagination or if maybe they held a ring of truth.  She wondered if she might be picking up on something that had happened in the past with her psychic abilities.  She wouldn’t at all be surprised if people had been mugged walking these streets at night. 

This time
Kim hadn’t bothered looking to park on the street near the club, even though they’d both have preferred to be closer.  The last time they were here, they had to circle around the block for a good half an hour while searching for a parking space, before they finally gave up.  They had kept driving around in circles with absolutely no luck until they stumbled upon the parking garage a few blocks away.  It was a little out of the way and cost more than a parking meter, but it saved them the hassle of searching for a place to park. 

Vienna and Kim walked side by side down the street until they came to the crosswalk.  The crisp night air chilled Vienna to the bone.  That was one of things she disliked most about going dancing.  Bringing a jacket was a
pain because it was always so hot inside a club with all of the body heat being generated.  And if you wanted to take it off, you were stuck either carrying it around or setting it down and hoping no one stole it.  So it was easier not to bring one at all.

“It’
s chilly,” Kim said, rubbing her arms.  “My teeth are starting to chatter.”

“Mine
, too.”  Vienna crossed her arms over her chest while waiting for the light to change.  There weren’t any cars coming.  And she was so cold, she was seriously thinking of crossing anyway.