Nice Girl (7 page)

“Now that’s the spirit, Grace!”

“How about you, Jamie?  Anything scandalous I need to know about you.”

“No, Luke and I are pretty normal.  Kind of boring actually.  We’re just gay.”

“From what I understand about A and V private investigations, gay is the new normal.”

Chapter 6

After such a riveting introduction to the beginnings of A and V private investigations, I was pleasantly surprised at how
typical
my days went.  I opened the office at 9am and I was usually by myself most of the morning.  Every now and then, Anthony came in early to handle the returning of client calls.  The rest of the guys did not come in until noon.  I found out that they work late often.  Jamie’s partner, Luke, is a chef and also works late nights so he finds these hours perfect for their relationship.

Jamal started the following Monday and he was so easy going and laid back.  I wasn’t sure what to expect being that he was a felon.  I liked him when I first met him during my haphazard interview.  If I had known he was a felon, I wonder how I would have judged him ahead of time.  This was definitely a thought that I knew I would ponder when I took that class that focused on the rehabilitation of the incarcerated.   Jamal was friendly and professional.    He told me that his fiancée, Ivy, was going to stop by the office on Thursday.  When she found out I was a graduate student too, she was looking forward to meeting me.  Speaking of girlfriends, I still hadn’t met the infamous Carmella.  Jamie thought he heard Anthony mentioning she was in Florida for a wedding.

I was worried about Vinnie’s temper but so far, all I got from him was a grunt when he walked in the door in the morning.  He rarely made eye contact with me which I found comforting in a way.  I liked the idea of showing
strong confident woman
with Jamie, Jamal and even Anthony.  Vinnie, however, was a different breed.  I wanted as little interaction with him as possible.  The guy really made me skittish.

I can’t believe I was ever nervous about my classes.  Graduate school was amazing!  It was a totally different setting than the undergraduate classroom.  In each class there were only about 10 – 12 students.  The professor did not stand at the head of the classroom lecturing to the students.  In graduate school everyone sat around an oval table.  The professor sat at the table with us in a way that encouraged dialogue.  I felt more among my peers than I ever did in those huge lecture halls from my undergraduate days.

  I wasn’t attracted to any of the men in my classes.  It was so nice not to be obsessing about the orgasm pact.   The three times I had sex were not with any guys in my classes.  However they were with guys I saw around campus and in the bars.  Since the experience was not fulfilling, I had found myself going into a shell.  All I wanted to do was hide in Joe and Ben’s room.  I would keep my head down when I walked to classes hoping not to run into anyone who I would be embarrassed to see.  Now that I was in a different school and in a more mature setting, it really was a fresh start. 

No matter how self assured I felt, I was still standing by my declaration to Eve in the airport.  I was not going to get involved in a sexual relationship anytime soon.  Although my self-esteem was increasing, I still felt quite fragile.  All it would take was one more bad night of sex to make me feel lousy again.  I was just starting to feel good about myself.

I began the spring semester with three courses – Issues in Criminal Justice, Research design, and Policy Analysis.  All three classes met at 4pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  My only dilemma that affected A and V was that I might have to meet with my research team during some morning meetings.  I told Anthony about this right away.  I knew he liked the fact that I could open the office in the morning.  He quickly dismissed my concern like it wasn’t a big deal at all.  He just said to give him as much notice as possible. I couldn’t have asked for a more accommodating boss.  Of course, I still hadn’t experienced the Anthony and Carmella issue.  Anthony was so cool.  How bad could it really be?

These thoughts reminded me of a text conversation with Eve this morning.  I had to text her right after I stepped on the scale.

Grace:  Hey hot lady.  I’m joining you.  128 this morning!

Eve:  Bitch.  I’m at a total plateau.  I’m stuck at 127. 

Grace:  Be nice.

Eve:  I’m not the nice one, you are. 

Grace:  So I’ve been told.

Eve:  See a demonstration yet from your boss?

After that first day lunch with Jamie, I had to face chat via the webcam with Dee, Eve, and Janie.  Who would ever believe the cast of characters at my new job?  We were on the computer for hours laughing at the predicament that I found myself in.  I never knew Janie could do such a hilarious mob boss impersonation.

Grace:  No.  The girlfriend has not showed yet.

Eve:  Keep me posted.  Not much excitement here on the rez. 

I was quite pleased at how I was managing the office.  In less than two week’s time, I only had three boxes left to go through.  The paperwork was neatly filed away in several large file cabinets behind my desk.  Anthony had ordered two large couches for the lobby along with matching end tables.  I had to hand it to him.  The guy had a way with style.  You could tell the furniture was quite expensive.  The office lobby looked classy. 

The phone did not ring non-stop but it was consistent.  Anthony wanted me to read through as many of the old cases as possible.  He felt I wasn’t at the point yet where I could answer any detailed questions on the services offered by A and V.   I just took the information from the client and said that an investigator would get back to them.  So basically, at this point, I was just an answering service.  I could tell though that Anthony was relieved that someone was even answering the phone.  From what I could gather in the short time I was here, they were very busy.  

“Good morning, Grace.” Anthony interrupted my thoughts at 11am.  Sometimes when I was alone, the morning flew by quickly.

“Good morning, Anthony.  Only 6 messages for you today.”  I grinned. 

Whenever I gave him his messages when he first walked in, he put on quite the show about accepting them.  He would groan and hunch over like the messages were the biggest burden I could dump on him.   Sometimes he would drop them and scream out “I just can’t Grace.  I just can’t make ONE MORE PHONE CALL!”

He always cracked me up.  He really had a wonderful sense of humor considering what I knew of his “mob” background.  One time, there were 13 messages and I kind of felt sorry for him.  He spent a lot of time with potential clients on these calls.

“Why don’t you get Vinnie to help you?  He is your partner after all.”  I had asked him one morning.

“Are you kidding?  Have you seen Vinnie’s personality?  We would have no clients if I let him be the first impression.  His job is fieldwork.  Mine is the business end.”  Well that DID make sense.

“Grace, I want to talk to you about something.”  He sat down in the chair right by my desk.  Jamie had put the chair there the first day.  Every day, when Jamie came in, he sat in that chair for at least a half an hour talking my ear off.  Seeing Anthony sitting in this same chair for some reason made me nervous.  He was my boss after all.  Not my gay BFF.  As usual, Anthony had no problem reading my face.

“Nothing to worry about, Grace.  Actually quite the opposite.  I wanted to tell you that I couldn’t be more pleased at the job you’re doing.”  He looked around the lobby.  “You haven’t been here that long and you have transformed this place.  Jamie was right.  We really hit gold when we found you.”

“I’m just doing the job you hired me to do.”  I tried practicing strong confident woman but I found myself blushing at the compliment.

“I would say you exceeded our expectations.”  He was looking me over as he started to get up.  I started holding my breath as he continued  “You also dress very, uh, …elegant.  Not that I am complaining but I hoped you realized that it’s okay to be casual here.”

I was suddenly too aware of my new sexy clothes and my body at 15 pounds lighter.  I was wearing a tight black skirt with a red form fitting turtleneck.  This morning in the mirror, I enjoyed seeing how my slimmer waist accented my large breasts.  Now, I was uncomfortable at how close Anthony was sitting next to me.  Well, here is the true test of my ability to show poise under pressure.

“I know you said I could dress casual, Anthony.  But the way I see it, I am the first person that your clients will meet.  Since you are a growing upstanding agency, your potential clients should be greeted as such.  Don’t you think?”

Anthony smiled.  “Yes, Grace.  You are exactly the face that I want our clients to see.  Thank you again for the admirable work you’re doing.”

At that moment, the door opened.  Thank you Lord!  I had been alone in the office with Anthony every morning for two weeks now but just then I wanted others in the office.  Maybe I should tone down the sexy office wear.  I didn’t want him to think it was for him.  It was for me!

In walked Jamal with a very pretty African American woman beaming at me.  Ivy!

“Hello Grace.  I have been looking forward to meeting you.”  Then noticing Anthony, she just gave a curt nod to him.  “Anthony.”  Hmmm.  Interesting.  You could tell Ivy was not fond of Anthony.

“Hello Ivy.”  Anthony answered back stiffly as he moved from the chair by my desk.  “Jamal, I think I need to be briefed about last night.”

“Sure thing Anthony.” Jamal smiles at Ivy and bends down to kiss her chastely on her cheek.  She smiled up at him and you can immediately pick up the connection between them.  It was lovely and gave me hope that one day I could find someone who would look at me like that. 

“Ivy, please have a seat.”  I motioned to Jamie’s chair.  “I hear you’re in graduate school too.  We can share our pain together.”

Ivy laughed.  A hardy rich laugh.  She embodied the sureness I was striving for.  She was a stunning woman.  Tall, around five foot seven with voluptuous curves.  She had long hair that was braided and pulled back with a colorful scarf.  The scarf complemented the long flowing skirt she was wearing.  She looked every bit the part of a hipster filmmaker. 

We compared NYU and John Adam’s graduate programs.   I found her so easy to talk to.   I avoided any discussion on Jamal’s background.  I didn’t know if that subject was off limits.  I did find out though that she was the reason Jamal was hired.  Ivy’s twin sister is gay and she met Jamie and Luke at a party her sister held.  In conversation with Jamie, Ivy learned that A and V were looking for an employee.    Not surprisingly with Jamie’s enthusiasm, Ivy quickly warmed to the idea that Jamal was ready for the world of private investigation.  She seemed hesitant towards the end of the conversation.  It was almost like she wasn’t sure they made the right decision but she didn’t want to give too much away to me. 

Before I knew it, it was noon, and Jamie walked in like clockwork. 

“What a lovely surprise to walk into a room and see two beautiful women instead of just one.”  Jamie took Ivy’s hand and kissed it.  “Hello Miss Ivy.  I’m happy to see you but I hate to inform you that THAT is my chair.”

Ivy looked at Jamie, then me and smiled quizzically.

I helped her out. “Sorry Ivy but I guess Jamie needs the comfort and security of plopping down in that chair before he starts his day.”

“Well don’t let me get in the way of a man that needs his dose of psychological consolation.  You’re lucky I have to get to class, Jamie.  I love messing with the weak.”

“Oh Ivy, you wound me with your aggression.”

Ivy chuckled as she walked out the door, “Please tell the love of my life that I had class.  Catch up with you soon, Grace.”

Jamie sat down in his chair.  “Okay, gorgeous, wait until you hear about this case from last night.”  

I couldn’t enjoy more Jamie’s dramatic flair for telling a story.  Even something as mundane as four guys sitting in a surveillance van all night, he can make sound interesting.  I was trying to finish filing one of those three boxes but I found myself having to pause every minute to double over with laughter at Jamie’s musings of the other three men in this office.  I barely heard the door open and Vinnie walk in.  I waited for the grunt and nod he usually gave before storming off to his office.

“Hey Superman.” Jamie was one brave man.

Vinnie grunted at Jamie but then paused as I was standing by the file cabinets.  I watched as his face looked me up and down.  His gaze followed my legs all the way up from my tight black skirt and landed on my pronounced “D” cup breasts that were quite accented in my fitting top.  I immediately turned the same shade of red as the color of my shirt.  His eyes met mine then for just a brief second before he turned and walked into his office.

I exhaled.

“Well, what did you expect?”  Jamie’s satirical tone interrupted the tension.

“What are you talking about now, Jamie?”  I tried to sound annoyed to cover up my shakiness.

“You look hot.  You didn’t think he’d notice?”

“He scares me.”

“He scares everybody.  Now, where were we?”  Jamie continued with his story but I found myself not paying attention so much.  I was still reeling from the piercing gaze from Vinnie.

All too quickly the door opened again.  In walked a young woman in her 20’s.  She had that permed hair look from the 80’s.  She was wearing skin tight leggings with a shirt that showed too much cleavage.   She could have been considered attractive but her makeup was on so thick it was an immediate turn off.

“YOU must be the new secretary.”  She said with total distaste.

“YOU must be Carmella.”  I answered in the same tone.

“How did you know that?”  She actually looked shocked that I knew who she was.  I had a feeling there wasn’t a light on up there.

Jamie snorted in response.  Carmella turned and glared at him.  “Oh, it’s fairy boy.”

“Carmella, really, can you be more original?  And, by the way, Grace is our office manager, not our secretary.”