Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair (3 page)

She licked the back of the spoon and
swallowed the ice cream in her mouth. "Is that what I
need?"

"It's exactly what you
need."

It was no secret that she charmed him,
but she never assessed his feelings as anything more than harmless
flirting. After everything she endured, Lee was a good friend; a
much-welcomed delight, and she didn't dare tamper with
perfection.

"Well, you know what I think?" she
asked him.

He slid his hand on top of hers and
gently stroked the back of her hand. "No, tell me what you
think."

She gazed down at his hand on hers,
then flashed him a warm smile. "I think you want a
wife."

"Maybe."

The pin in Bianca's hair slipped out,
and she grabbed the back of her bun. "Who would want to marry Ms.
Plain Jane, anyway?" she asked, referring to herself.

"You would be surprised. He may be
closer than you think. Besides that's one of the things I like
about you─your natural beauty."

For a moment, she considered telling
him about the visit from her sister, but fearing he might not
understand, she chose not to, having shared that incident with her
doctor was enough.

She smiled and admired him staring
across the table at her as it was always flattering.

"You have to give it time," he
said.

She didn't have a clue to what he was
talking about. "Give what time?" she asked.

"Your situation, the
sadness."

"Oh, that."

"Things are never comfortable at
first."

"Is that what you have learned from
your thirty-three years of living?"

"This is what I know because I speak
from experience."

After showing incredible restraint,
Bianca glanced at the psychedelic gift box on the table, and her
curiosity set in. "What's in the box?"

Lee slid the box in her direction.
"Open it and find out."

A warm smile lit Bianca's face as she
grasped the box, thinking that it was a shame to ruin the
beautifully wrapped package. Upon unwrapping it, she uncovered a
red glass alarm clock with polk-a-dot numbers. "This is beautiful,
Lee. Thank you."

This was an unusual gift. Having grown
accustomed to the red tulips, chocolates, desserts, and even books,
she couldn't help but wonder what significance a clock held. Then
again, maybe it wasn't supposed to mean anything. What mattered
most was that Lee had mastered the ability to make her feel so
special.

Bianca lifted the clock from the box
and set it on the table. Not only was it a special gift, but it was
her favorite color─red. And that made it even more
special.

"There's something else," he
said.

Bianca gazed inside the gift box and
underneath the red and white designer papers was an immaculate
red-faced watch with a black leather band.

Bianca's eyes lit up with joy. "This is
gorgeous."

"I know you don't wear a lot of
jewelry, but this is special."

"And what makes it so
special?"

"Because it's from me to
you."

She didn't quite know what to say
because it was such a unique collection of gifts, a clock and a
watch. There was obviously some type of symbolic meaning behind it,
no matter how subtle.

"Is this watch supposed to mean
anything?" she asked him.

"Not really, just a gift from one
friend to another."

She was no dummy. There was much more
to that watch than Lee led on to believe, and though she couldn't
quite figure it out that day, eventually it would all come
out.

Bianca studied the watch, not certain
whether to accept it or not. "It's just a friendship gift, right?
It doesn't mean anything other than that?"

"Nothing else," he said.

"Well in that case, thank you." She
leaned across the table and kissed him on the lips. Though it only
lasted a second, it was the first time she ever shared a kiss with
him on that intimate scale.

She found herself flirting with the
idea of someday possibly being more than just friends with Lee, but
she and Lee shared a dynamic friendship. And she didn't want to
change a thing. So many other things had changed in her life, and
what she valued and needed most was consistency, which would soon
end if they moved in a more intimate direction.

Bianca always lacked the tolerance for
intimate relationships, which explained why none of her previous
relationships lasted longer than a few months. At the first sign of
trouble or imperfection, she would bail out, and she didn't ever
want that to happen with her and Lee.

They would be friends
forever.

The engraved wall read: Whitley &
Austin.

Bianca stepped off the elevator on the
forty-fourth floor of the office building where she worked and
strutted past the reception area and down the corridor. Past
several secretarial workstations, she made her way to the walk-in
closet and removed her coat. She wore a black and red polk-a-dot
dress, which stretched down past her knees over her dark tights.
She favored dark colors, especially red and polk-a-dots, any shade
of red and any style of polk-a-dots. Her black hair was neatly
pulled back into a bun, and not a trace of makeup could be spotted
on her narrow face. Wearing flat shoes and black tights, she knew
she was plain looking, but it was by choice. Who would be
interested in her anyway?

When Bianca reached her desk, the
silence and lack of motion indicated that she was one of the first
few to arrive that morning. She enjoyed arriving early, and getting
a jump-start on any work her boss, Lillian, may have left for
her.

Most of the secretaries in her group
worked for two attorneys, but since Bianca's other attorney left
the firm, she was one of the few secretaries with only one
assignment. Her boss was one of the most well liked attorneys at
the office. Not only was Lillian independent and did most of her
own work, but she was lenient and extremely appreciative, making
her more like an acquaintance than a boss.

Twenty minutes passed and the office
was transformed as Bianca's coworkers filed in one by one. While
Bianca capitalized on her idle time by organizing her desk,
Michelle Moore, a fellow secretary, approached her desk. She was a
tad taller than Bianca, with the same slim body frame, and the same
dark chocolate complexion as Bianca. Minus Michelle's long straight
bleached-blonde hair and bangs, she and Bianca could easily pass
for sisters. Maybe even twins. She viewed Michelle as her hairy
friend, the lioness with hair that covered her body like hives,
sideburns long enough to curl and eyebrows that connected in the
middle.

Michelle and Bianca first met when they
both used to work at Skadden, Arps. They connected immediately when
they learned that they both grew up in Evanston, Illinois. Since
then, they remained the best of friends, as Michelle was one of the
few people that Bianca trusted. It seemed it was fate that brought
them together once again at Whitley & Austin.

"Good morning," Michelle said with an
enthusiastic ring to it.

"Oh, Michelle, I have something for
you." Bianca searched into her red book bag and pulled out a book:
Guide to the Dells, then handed it to Michelle. "I thought this
might come in handy for your trip with Edward."

Michelle smiled and didn't speak right
away as if moved by Bianca's kind gesture. "That was very nice of
you. Thank you," Michelle paused. "Camina and I are going to
Giordano's for lunch today. You're welcome to come with
us."

"I don't know," Bianca said, instead of
just outright saying no, which was what she wanted to
say.

Michelle seemed to ignore Bianca's
ambivalence. "We're going around twelve-thirty." Michelle exhibited
a take charge attitude, which Bianca admired, especially since
there wasn't a take-charge cell to be found in Bianca's body.
Moments later, an attorney, Bruce Colby stepped from his office. He
was an attractive white attorney, in his late thirties. He wore
expensive suspenders and was the epitome of self-confidence. "Hello
ladies," he said as he strolled by.

"Hello," Bianca said.

Michelle flashed Bruce a luke-warm
smile just as she was about to step away. "I'll see you at lunch,
Bianca."

Bianca found it odd that whenever Bruce
made his presence anywhere near Michelle, Michelle would always
find a reason to disappear. Something was definitely going on
there. Bianca just didn't know exactly what. For a minute, Bianca
vaguely considered having lunch with Michelle and Camina as
Michelle had so eloquently invited her. Though Bianca had no issues
with Michelle, it was Camina that stirred the reluctance. It was no
secret that Camina and Bianca were not fond of each other, and
Bianca preferred to limit their time in social settings as much as
possible. But it was her value of her friendship with Michelle that
encouraged her to go anyway.

Later that morning, Bianca was about to
head towards the lunchroom for her second cup of coffee when she
spotted her cousin, Stuart Clark, pushing a mail cart. Because of
his dark suit, tie and clean-cut image, he resembled one of the
attorneys more than a staff employee. He was new to the firm, and
only because Bianca referred him with a glowing recommendation.
Having just completed rehab for his drug addiction, Bianca agreed
to help him obtain a job on the condition that he remain clean
indefinitely, believing that everyone deserved a second chance or
two.

"Hey," Stuart said.

"Hey."

"Thank you again for helping me get
this job, especially since─"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'd
do the same thing for me."

Stuart handed Bianca her mail and
continued down the hall. For the brief moment that he stood before
her, she thought she noticed a speck of white powder in his nose,
but that couldn't be true. Not giving it another thought, she
quickly pushed her concern aside. He couldn't possibly be on that
stuff again.

While Bianca listened to the mellow
sounds of Rihanna from her desk radio, she made changes to the
heavily marked-up Asset Purchase Agreement. From the corner of her
eye, she saw Camina coming towards her desk, carrying a bagel on a
paper plate. Irrespective of their animosity, Bianca's
professionalism forced her to always speak, even if Camina
didn't.

Camina stood an inch taller than
Bianca. She was nearly anorexic, with long straight bleached-blonde
hair with bangs, identical to Michelle's. Not only was Camina close
to the same height as Bianca and Michelle, but she was super slim
and possessed the same dark skin as Bianca. Easily, all three of
them could pass as triplets.

"Good morning," Bianca said, keeping
her eyes on the computer screen in front of her.

Instead of returning the greeting,
Camina chuckled. "Nice dress," she said to Bianca.

Bianca felt the sting of Camina's
ridicule, having become intimately accustomed to her insensitive
remarks. The animosity between the two stemmed from their high
school days together. Not only was Camina petty enough to resent
Bianca because Bianca received better grades than Camina did, but
it didn't stop there. It was Camina's grudge against Bianca's late
sister, Sandy, that Camina mostly hung over Bianca's head. Camina's
almost fatal accident left her almost bald and Bianca's sister
would always tease Camina about the shortness of her hair. Although
Bianca never participated in such crass behavior, Camina seemed to
resent her the same as if Bianca condoned her sister's behavior.
Her nasty and well-rehearsed words of mockery were Camina's way of
reminding Bianca that she had not forgotten and probably never
would.

Many times, Bianca considered
apologizing to Camina for her sister's behavior, but it was too
late. Camina was past the point of forgiveness. This was an
unsalvageable relationship, and all Bianca could do was accept it
for what it was.

Against her better judgment, Bianca
kept her lunch date with Camina and Michelle. It was just a short
walk from where they worked, but seemed endless as Bianca listened
to Camina boast about her boss and lover, Bruce Colby. As far as
Camina was concerned, she and Bruce were a match made in heaven and
naively believed that Bruce would one day leave his wife of fifteen
years to be with her.

It was one o'clock when they reached
Giordano's restaurant on Randolph Street. Even after having
pre-ordered their food, they still ended up having to wait 30
minutes before their pizza was served. Seated at a table near the
window, Bianca sipped on an iced tea while Camina and Michelle
enjoyed daiquiris. Though Bianca treated herself to many bottles of
wine at home, somehow, it felt strange for her to have cocktails in
the company of others. It was as if she accustomed herself to
drinking alone. Not having much of an appetite, Bianca barely
touched the pizza in front of her except for a few nibbles at the
sauce and crust. Meanwhile, Camina and Michelle chowed down as if
the daiquiris elevated their hunger.