Payback and a Bottle of Merlot: Like Sisters Series Book One (7 page)

“Wow, the house looks great. Maybe I should be pissed off more often.” She let out a sigh and sat on the couch to take a break. She remembered she hadn’t called Karen yet. She looked at the clock: 5:22 p.m. “I’ll call her now while I’m alone. I hope she’s free on Tuesday.” Mia walked into the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and sat at the table while wiping away the sweat droplets that formed on her forehead. The phone rang twice before Karen picked up. “Karen? It’s Mia. How are you?”

“I’m fine. Have you talked to your friends?”

“Oh yeah, and we found interesting information about Sasha. Do you have Tuesday open? We could come by and brainstorm if you’re up to it. I’ll bring wine too… that is, if you like wine.”

“Wine sounds great. I’ll make lunch. How about noon then?”

“Perfect, thanks so much.”

“You’re welcome, Mia. See you Tuesday.”

That was easy. Cool, she’s in.
“Reggie, time for a walk.” Mia coaxed him to the door as she grabbed the leash.

Chapter Eight

The girls were more than excited when Tuesday arrived. The three of them piled into Mia’s Camaro with four bottles of wine and headed out. Tina and Vic were talking nonstop about how weird it was to be plotting with Jack’s ex-wife. They bombarded Mia with questions about Karen, asking how she looked and what her personality was like.

“Well, she wasn’t what I was expecting,” Mia said, “and she was kind of curt with me until she realized I wasn’t the ‘other woman’ Jack was cheating with. Actually, before I left, she came around. She’ll be a good ally, and helpful throughout this mess. I mean, she was with Jack way before me. She might know more about him, like his weaknesses, or things that set him off.”

“Sasha is evidently his main weakness,” Vic said. “Think about it. He’s been with her through two wives. What gives anyway? Why would anybody stick with a guy they only see a few times a week?”

“Um… hello? What do you think I’ve been doing since I met him?”

“Oh yeah… duh! Sorry, Chica.”

Mia parked her car in Karen’s driveway and they got out.

“This is it. Not the Manhattan high rise we pictured, right?”

“Not at all,” Tina agreed. “This is a beautiful, cozy looking home. Maybe she’s a perfectly nice woman who was betrayed by Jack the jerk.”

“Yeah… like me,” Mia said, as she rang the bell.

Karen answered the door and welcomed them in. Mia made the introductions as they followed her into the kitchen. A Persian cat strolled around the corner to check out the guests.

“This is Claire,” Mia said, to Vic and Tina. They looked down at the cat, then at Mia, and finally at Karen. They all burst out laughing.

“This is going to be an awesome day,” Vic said, chuckling. “Karen, where are the wine glasses?”

They sat at the kitchen table for several hours while eating, drinking and running ideas past each other. Mia told Karen everything they found out about Sasha.

“Okay, so you two own a beauty salon, and Mia, you’re a photographer?”

“Yep, that’s right.”

“Well, I worked for a fashion magazine for a few years before I married Jack. I did a lot of the design ads and coordinated placement for the stories and photographs. I was kind of like an editor, but farther down the totem pole. Anyway, the point is, I know how to dummy up pictures with Photoshop, and I can put together a website with Dreamweaver in no time flat. I still do some freelance work now and then. We could act like we’re holding an audition for a model to be featured on the cover of a glamour/hairstyle magazine. You guys have hairstyle magazines in your salon, right?”

“Of course we do,” Tina replied.

“Good. I can put together a very realistic looking letter and send it to Sasha. It will say she’s a finalist picked among local New York models to be featured on a magazine cover. We’ll make up some phony magazine name so we don’t get into trouble. We’ll act like we’ve already done the head shots for a number of models and she’s the last one. You ladies will do her hair and makeup, and Mia could be the famous photographer doing the photo shoot. I’ll put it all together at the end so it looks legit. I mean, it’s a way to get our feet in the door with her. Women gossip and talk about family, boyfriends and how important their lives are while they’re getting their hair done. We’ll make up a bunch of bs about the men we’re dating and all the drama. The wine will be flowing, and we’ll get her going about her man, as well. I mean, sooner or later we’ll have to fess up, but at least we can learn something first. Information is king. She won’t be able to keep her mouth shut once we get on the topic of men.”

“Do you really think it will work, Karen?” Mia asked, getting excited.

“Well, I know one thing from being around models and people in the fashion industry. They love to talk about themselves and their lives.”

“So how can I be the photographer when she’s already seen me? You guys can’t dye my hair or cut it because that would perk up Jack’s curiosity. He’ll be wondering what’s going on, and I don’t want to give away anything to him.”

“Hang on, I’ll be right back.” Karen left the room and returned with a black, Cleopatra looking wig. “Check this out,” she said, grinning. “This is a damn good wig, not some cheap synthetic thing. I was invited to a costume party last year, and I went all out. Try it on. Let’s see how you look.”

Vic and Tina squealed with delight at the thought of really going “undercover” for this mission.

“Get over here, woman, and let us put this on you,” Vic said.

Mia jumped at the chance and sat perfectly still while Vic and Tina placed the wig neatly on her head.

“Of course, we’ll get you together better at the salon and pin the hell out of this thing so it stays on your head. What do you think?”

Karen watched with a smile as Mia held a hand mirror and stared at her amazing transformation.

“Oh my friggin God! I don’t even recognize myself, you guys. This is perfect. Plus you’ll do my makeup and everything, right?”

“Right,” they both chimed in.

“This might work. At least we’ll find out more than we know now. At some point, when we plan our next move, we’ll have to tell Sasha who we are. For now though, this is going to be a blast,” Karen said. “With the four of us working together, she won’t have a clue what’s going on. Here’s what I need.” Karen wrote down Sasha’s name and address Mia had memorized already. “It will take me about two weeks to put everything together so it looks legit. When we’re ready to announce the event, I’ll make posters for you to hang on the windows of your salon. Of course you really aren’t going to do a magazine cover and Sasha will be the only contestant, but she won’t know that. I’ll even have the letter delivered to her by courier so it seems official.”

“What if she throws it away, or thinks it’s some kind of scam?” Mia asked.

“I’ll get a prepaid phone to use for now. I’ll include that number in the literature and the website I’ll build. She’ll probably call the number to see if it’s legit. I’ll be the one answering the phone anyway. I’ll make her believe it’s a new glamour magazine, and she has a one in four chance to be on the cover. There’s no model in the world that would pass up the opportunity to see themselves on the cover of any magazine, even if it’s
Popular Mechanics
,” Karen said, laughing. “Sure this is way over the top and unnecessary, but what the hell? It’s going to be a riot. She’s going to get punk’d and she won’t even know it. I’ll call you next week, Mia, when I have everything started. You can all come back if you like, and we’ll begin planning for her salon visit. You know, even if we never get her on board with us, we can still have photos of Jack and her together. We’ll just make sure to keep her face out of it. The bottom line is, we want to take Jack down. It doesn’t have to be at her expense. But once his infidelity is revealed, she would be smart to dump him too.”

“Sounds great. I guess we ought to be going now. It’s already four o’clock. Time flies when you’re up to no good. We’ll talk next week,” Mia said.

The girls left and giggled all the way back to Tarrytown. “I don’t think I’ve ever done a devious thing in my entire life,” Mia admitted.

“Well then, you’re
way
overdue,” Vic said. “This, my dear, is going to be a blast. We should video tape it, what do you think?”

“I think that’s an awesome idea. We can watch it over popcorn and wine, and laugh our butts off for years to come.”

Mia dropped her friends off and continued home. The old version of Mia was gone, and the revised, one step ahead of Jack version, was coming to life. She liked her new self. She changed into someone that wasn’t going to be a victim anymore. She would have the last word, and the last laugh at Jack’s expense.

Chapter Nine

Each girl had a role in the plot, and they loved every second of it. Karen was busy getting the website and posters put together. Tina and Vic were looking through magazines to find hairdos and makeup colors that would look good on Sasha’s olive complexion. Mia kept Jack off balance and taunted him every chance she could. The idea of putting his image on billboard ads was still a good possibility. Mia had to find out where Sasha stood in all of this once she revealed her true identity to her. She reminded herself to ask Karen to go through the box of pictures again and search for any intimate photo’s that showed Jack’s face but not Sasha’s. There might be pictures in there that would do just fine. If not, Mia had to get busy and start following them to get the perfect shots.

Mia kept herself busy over the next ten days shooting Little League team photographs and a small intimate wedding right in Tarrytown.

At home, everything remained the same. There was an obvious elephant in the room between them, but Jack didn’t know why. These days, Mia was thankful to have a king sized bed. She wanted him as far away from her as possible without outright telling him to sleep in a different room.

“It looks like I’m up for a huge promotion next month,” Jack said, as he finished his breakfast. He wasn’t telling Mia because he wanted to share life stories, not Jack. His only motivation to tell her anything was for the sole purpose of boasting about himself. “The rumor going around is that I’ll be the next National Sales Director. I don’t want to assume it will be me, but it’s the natural progression of things. I mean, I’m the only sales person qualified for a position like that, and of course, one would go from Regional to National anyway. How great is that? I knew it wouldn’t take long before I was a member of the upper echelon in the huge kid’s fashion and toy industry.”

“What did you say? Sorry… I wasn’t listening. My mind is on a photo shoot I have coming up with a model.” Mia smiled, knowing full well what Jack said. She wasn’t going to admit she was listening though.
He can pat himself on the back all he wants. I’m not going to indulge him.

As soon as Jack left for work, Mia called Karen. “Hi Karen, how are things progressing?” she asked, sipping her tepid coffee.

“Things are great. I have an idea I want to run past you though. What if I brought everything I have to you guys? We can go over the website, letter to Sasha and the posters right at the salon on Tuesday, if Tina and Vic don’t mind. We can even do a little role playing so we’re ready when the actual day comes.”

“Wow that sounds like fun. I’ll run it past them and call you later this afternoon. So you’re talking about next Tuesday, right?”

“Yes, and I’m almost finished with everything, so next week would be perfect.”

“Sounds good. I’ll call you back later.”

“Okay, bye.” Karen wolfed down her coffee and cinnamon toast, then went back to work.

***

The day was warm, sunny and perfect. Mia was about to call Vic and tell her what Karen suggested, but hung up the phone instead.
I’m going to ride my bike into town. Today is too nice to waste.
Mia finished her coffee and turned off the pot. She showered and dressed, walked Reggie, then left on her bike. The warm breeze felt wonderful against her face as she rode. Mia smiled at everything she passed. She appreciated the perfect flowers, the cloud formations and every bird that flew by.
It must be the photographer in me.
She reached the downtown area and saw Aaron walking toward the entrance of his store. She rode up next to him and rang the bell on her bike.

“Hey, Aaron!”

“Mia, what are you doing in town so early?”

“I came to invite you to Amelia’s for coffee and a donut. So how about it?” Mia ran into him purely by accident, but she had no intention of ruining the moment for him.

“Sure. That sounds dangerously close to a dinner invitation, Mia. By summer’s end I just might wear you down!”

“You never know. Things could change at any time.”

“Are you trying to tell me something, hot stuff?” he asked, with that perfect smile.

“Nope… I’m just saying.”

“Well, I can only wish.”

Mia locked her bike to the rack. They went inside and seated themselves at a cozy table by the window.

“This is such a great surprise, Mia. Once we’re married, we can have breakfast here every morning on our way to the camera store.”

“Oh, so you want me to work in the camera store with you after we’re married?” she teased.

“Well of course, if you want to. That is, if you aren’t too busy with the kids.”

“You’re crazy, Aaron.”

“Yeah, crazy in love.”

Mia paused for a moment, with a million thoughts bouncing through her head.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Not at all, Aaron,” she replied, her voice beginning to crack. “Actually… that’s a beautiful vision.”

After her breakfast with Aaron, Mia rode the four blocks to the salon. She waved at Tina and Vic through the large front window while she locked her bike. The salon buzzed with commotion as Mia walked through the doors. Gossip to the left and drama to the right. “This place is a riot, I swear!” she said, while jumping onboard the local gossip train.

“What brings you in all close up and personal, Chica? Do you need a blow-out?”

“Really, Vic? Does it look like I need a blowout? I have the authentic, wind-blown bicycle hair that these ladies pay good money for, and I did it the natural way,” she said, proudly.