Payback and a Bottle of Merlot: Like Sisters Series Book One (8 page)

“Shush, and keep your secret to yourself. I don’t want to lose their business, or money,” Vic responded, winking at her. “So what’s up, mama?”

“I talked to Karen this morning, and she thought coming here next Tuesday would be a great idea. She’ll have everything done by then, and she said we should even consider role playing,” Mia whispered.

“That’s perfect!” Tina said, while styling an elderly lady’s white hair in the next chair.

“I’m going to hang out in town for a few hours. I’ll be back at lunch time to see if you guys are free.”

“Sounds good, Mia, later. Okay Mrs. Davis, we’re all finished,” Tina said, as she helped her out of the chair.

Mia rode her bike to the town square. She sat at a bench next to the fountain and called her parents in Florida. The phone rang five times before the familiar voice of Ann James answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mom, how are you?”

“Mia, it’s so good to hear your voice. I’m fine, honey, and how are you? Tom, Mia’s on the phone.”

“I’m good, hi, Dad.” Mia heard the extension pick up as her dad joined in on the conversation.

“Hi, honey, so what have you been doing?”

“Oh, the usual, working on photo shoots.”

“How’s Jack?”

“He’s good, keeping busy, you know how it is. I was thinking about coming down there to visit you guys soon. I haven’t seen you since Christmas.” Mia was happy her parents couldn’t see her eyes tearing up.

“Well, honey, we would enjoy that a lot. Will Jack be able to get off work?”

“No, Mom, I’ll come alone, but I’ll let you know when. I’m thinking late summer.”

“That sounds wonderful. We can’t wait to see you again,” her dad piped in.

“Thanks, Dad, I can’t wait to see you guys too. Well, I’ve got errands to run. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” It was a white lie telling her parents she had things to do, but Mia knew if she kept talking they would soon realize something was wrong.
It’s hard to keep things from them, they know me so well.

“Okay, honey, bye.”

Mia didn’t realize how much she missed her parents until she spoke to them.
When this mess is behind me, I’ll visit them for a month or so. That would be nice for all of us.

She put the cell phone in her backpack and walked to the creek to sit along the bank. She watched as frogs jumped and swallows caught bugs in mid-air. Mia thought about Aaron as she sat.
I wonder if we could have a life together someday. Does he mean what he says about loving me, or is it idle talk because he doesn’t think I’ll ever be available? He might find out sooner than later. Life with Aaron would be as close to perfect as anything I could ever imagine.

Her cell rang out, startling her out of the imaginary life she wanted.

“Hey, Vic.”

“Where the hell are you?”

“I’m at the creek hanging out with my thoughts, why?”

“Um… it’s after twelve. Did you forgot about us?”

“Holy crap! I must have lost track of the time. So what do you want to do?”

“Meet us at Barney’s. Tina and I are already there. We’ve got a cold one waiting for you.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in five.”

The girls waited at a bar table, waving Mia over as she walked through the door.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize how fast the morning went by. I needed that fresh air. It gave me clarity. So what do you think of Karen’s idea?”

“We’re on board, for sure. Tina can even practice makeup and hair styles on me since I’m the only dark haired, olive skinned beauty in our mix,” Vic said, chuckling.

“That’s a great idea. So when you’re ready to work on Sasha, you’ll know exactly what to do. This will be a blast. You’re going to have to make me up too so I look like a different person.”

Mia was excited, but she was also feeling strange about the whole plan. After all, they were going to be acting sweet and friendly to her husband’s lover.

Chapter Ten

“Mia, it’s Karen. I forgot to ask you the name of the salon,” she said, as she laughed at her own oversight. “I’m on my way and I should be there in a half hour.”

“That’s awesome. The salon is called Hair Brained and it’s on Center Street. Vic and Tina are already there getting everything ready. I hope you’re staying for lunch. We have several cool bars and grills to choose from right downtown.”

“No problem, it sounds like fun. I’ll see you soon.”

Mia thought about the strange turn of events over the last month. For ages she thought Karen was the bitchy ex-wife that consumed all Jack’s free time. Now several years later, she realized there wasn’t even a daughter, but instead a hot girlfriend Jack spent his extra time with. The funny part of that horrible situation was the ex-wife was becoming a great friend.
Go figure,
Mia thought
.
She climbed into her Camaro and drove to the salon.

She crossed through the double glass doors and saw Tina and Vic lining up all the makeup shades. They had foundations in all skin tones, eye shadows and liners ready to go, as well as false eyelashes and lipsticks in every color known to man.

“Holy crap, you guys are on a serious mission.”

“That’s right, Chica. They don’t call us the best in a fifty mile radius for nothing.”

“Cool… Karen should be here any minute. She’s bringing the wig too so you guys can figure out how to disguise me. Here comes a silver Lexus pulling up to the curb. Yep, it’s her. I’ll help her bring the stuff in.”

“Hi, Karen, how’s it going?” the girls asked at the same time when she walked through the door.

“I’m good, and you?”

“We’re great. This is going to be a riot. Mia is even going to photograph and videotape what we’re doing just for the hell of it. We can watch it later, and laugh at our shenanigans.”

“That sounds like fun. So, let me show you ladies what I came up with,” Karen said.

She unrolled an enormous poster for the window. It showed a beautiful model’s face with a magazine called
Today’s Glamour
behind her head. There was a caption below the model congratulating the final four, chosen from hundreds of local models. One of them would be picked for the cover of the first issue.

“This looks so professional.” Tina was impressed.

Karen showed them the fake magazine website and letter she would be sending to Sasha.

“So what happens when it never turns into a real magazine or real opportunity?” Mia asked, concerned they’d be arrested for fraud, or something of that nature.

“Oh that stuff happens all the time. The investors fell through, or something like that. Don’t worry, new start-ups begin and fail before they even get their foot in the door. I’ve been in the business, it just happens,” Karen admitted.

“Okay, so who’s going first, Mia, or me?” Vic asked.

The girls spent two hours making up Vic and doing her hair in wild looks straight from the runways of Milan and Paris. Mia took forty pictures of Vic’s hair and makeup as they joked around. Mia’s turn was just as enjoyable. They put the black wig on her and made up her face with the finesse of world class makeup artists. They finished her look with crazy, lime green, rhinestone glasses and huge earrings. Mia stared at herself in the mirror with astonishment.

“Oh my God, who am I? There’s no way in hell Sasha would recognize me. I look like somebody right out of a top fashion magazine.”

“That’s right, Chica. This is exactly how you want to look for her photo shoot.”

“Awesome… this is friggin awesome. I’m keeping this wig on for lunch. Let’s go see if anyone realizes it’s me.”

The four girls walked the three blocks to Barney’s as heads turned and people stared. This look was so out of the norm for a small place like Tarrytown.

Just as they reached the restaurant Tina caught a glimpse of Aaron leaving his shop.

“Mia, there’s Aaron,” Tina said, almost choking with laughter. “Walk past him and see what he does.”

“I can’t do that, it’s cruel,” Mia said, giggling, with tears ready to roll down her cheeks.

“The hell you can’t, and stop messing up your makeup. Now go.”

It was hard for any of them to keep their composure as they stood across the street and out of sight. They watched Mia stroll toward Aaron as he locked the door of the camera shop for lunch. He turned to step out onto the sidewalk and ran right into her. He caught her by the shoulders and made his apologies for almost knocking her over, then continued on. The girls had a hard time maintaining some semblance of decorum. Aaron turned back once, stared at Mia for a second, shook his head, and disappeared around the corner. They couldn’t hold their laughter any longer as Mia ran across the street and down the block to meet with them.

“Oh my God, he had no idea who I was.” She was laughing so hard the black mascara streaked her cheeks.

“That was hysterical,” Vic said, as she handed Mia a tissue. “Now fix your face before we go inside.”

They enjoyed lunch together while making plans. Karen asked Vic and Tina if they could spread the word that their salon was going to hold an audition for local models. The winner would be on the magazine’s inaugural cover.

“We know a ton of people that have salons. There’s a bunch of blogs we salon owners read all the time about new products and the latest styles. We could post something on them too,” Vic said, already excited about it.

Nobody at Barney’s recognized Mia, and they had a great time making up stories about this famous fashion photographer visiting Tarrytown for the day. All that was left to do now was decide when to put their plan into action.

“Karen, did you get a chance to go through the box of pictures you have?” Mia asked.

“I did, but the close up ones showed both of their faces too clearly, and the pictures from a distance made it hard to tell who Jack was. He could have been any business man on the street.”

“Well, I guess that means I have to get a high power zoom lens and start following them. I have to get the perfect shot of Jack’s face while they’re kissing. I just thought of something else too. I’ll need some business cards with a phony name on it. If Sasha talks to Jack about this photo shoot before we tell her the truth, she certainly can’t mention my name.”

“That’s true,” Karen said. “I’ll put a few together for you. Is there any name in particular you want to use?”

“Just use a first name, something flamboyant like Jasmine, or something like that. I wouldn’t want her Googling me. What phone number should we have on the card?”

“I’ll make up a phone number with a different country code on it. We can act like you came from South America, or something. I’ll have it ready in a few days.”

“So what’s next?” Tina asked.

“I need to get good pictures of them together first. We can’t do anything to make either of them suspicious. Once I get some up close and personal pictures of Jack in compromising positions, we can move forward,” Mia said.

“Okay, ladies, I should head back to Greenwich. It’s almost three o’clock. Today was a blast. Stop by in a few days, Mia, and I’ll give you the cards. All of you are welcome to stop by any time. We should start having lunch dates together,” Karen said. With a wave out the window, she smiled and drove away.

“Well, that was fun,” Mia said. “I should wash this goop off my face and take off the wig before I go home. Let’s get back to the salon before anyone else asks who I am.”

***

“Hello, beautiful. I can’t get you off my mind. Will you join me for dinner? I know it’s short notice, but I need to see you tonight. I have good news to share with you.”

“I’d love to, Jack. I just got home from meeting with my agent. They’re going to find someone to update the photos in my portfolio. It’s been three years and I need new pictures circulating. Anyway, yes, let’s have dinner. I’ve been on the go all day and I’m starving.”

“Great, I’ll be there in twenty minutes. How about Zara’s?”

“That sounds perfect. I just have to freshen up a bit.”

Jack made reservations at Zara’s for seven o’clock. He was confident Sasha would join him for dinner before he even called her. He had a quiet table at the far end of the restaurant set aside for them. It would be perfect for tonight. He walked to her apartment, but called ahead for a cab to be in front of the building at six-thirty.

He rang the bell and waited for her to buzz him in. He entered through the living room and headed directly to the master bedroom. He found her standing in front of the full length mirror, checking her appearance. He was mesmerized by her face, her body, her smell. Her hair was pulled back tightly in a sleek ponytail that fell to the center of her back. The black knit sheath clung to her curves and was cut low enough to reveal her ample cleavage. He moaned at her beauty, and kissed her. His hot breath and flicking tongue engulfed her mouth. She seductively bit his lower lip and responded by squeezing his buttocks, pulling him in closer. He wanted her right then, and pressed his growing manhood against her pelvis.

“Can you feel what you’re doing to me? I can barely resist you, Sasha. You get me so worked up.”

“I know I do, but I’m starving. You can have every inch of me when we get back,” she said, with her sexy innuendo. She gave his groin a squeeze, and laughed.

“You’re one evil woman, you know that, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.” Sasha looked out the window and saw a cab pull up to the curb. “The cab is here, let’s go.”

They arrived at the restaurant and the hostess addressed them, “Mr. Barnes, it’s nice to see you again. Ms. Renaud, hello. Please follow me.”

They were escorted to that quiet corner table. Candles were lit, and the ambiance was beautiful. Jack pulled the chair out for Sasha and kissed her neck as she sat. The scent of Chanel filled his nostrils.

“This is lovely, Jack, thank you.”

“Thank you, Sasha, for being my love, my woman, and putting up with my crazy schedule and hectic life.”

“Well, if I wasn’t so busy going back and forth to Marseilles to care for my father, it might be a different story. For now, we both understand that there are other things influencing our lives.”

“I want to tell you something special.”