Trouble (4 page)

“I’ll never understand how you got suckered by her.” Karl shook his head and dropped into the chair in front of the desk.

It was simple really. He’d wanted her, he’d loved her, then he’d trusted her.

He’d been stupid.

“If you don’t clear the mortgage by the deadline, the bank will foreclose.”

“I know that,” Val snapped before scrubbing a hand down his face. He swallowed a sigh and spoke again. “Sorry, man. Just talking about it makes my skin crawl.”

“I know, buddy. I wish I could help you out more, but—”

“You’ve done all you can.” Val waved his hand sharply, cutting Karl off. “And I promise you, your investment is safe.”

“I don’t give a damn about the money.”

“Just the same, it’s safe. I’ve given Vera enough. She can use all the influence her family has, but I
will not
forfeit this club.”

 

 

 

 

S
amair woke slowly, the knowledge that she wasn’t alone in the bed creeping into her consciousness. She rolled away from the warm body she’d been cuddled against and landed on the floor. On her ass. Hard.

“Ouch!” She pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and glared at the figure still sound asleep in the bed. Some things never changed; Joey always had been a heavy sleeper. And a bed hog.

Samair stumbled to her feet and headed for the bathroom. After a long warm shower, with a quick blast of cold at the end, she felt awake. Almost.

She stood in the middle of the small studio apartment, pulling on her dress pants from the night before—sans underwear once again—when Joey’s eyes popped open and she jumped out of bed, instantly awake.

“I hate you,” Samair muttered.

“I love you, too.”

Joey grinned as she made quick work of making the bed. “Still not a morning person, eh?”

“It’s dark out. Mornings are not supposed to be dark.”

Since the club hadn’t stopped playing music until after two in the morning and Joey wouldn’t leave while she could still dance, they’d gotten home only a few hours ago. The good thing about that was they’d fallen straight into bed with nothing more than muttered goodnights.

Joey laughed softly as she made her way to the bathroom. “It’s almost October, what do you expect?”

“It’s not winter yet!”

“Will be soon,” Joey singsonged over the sound of the shower. Samair knew she was right, too. The days were getting shorter, and the nights longer. At least in Vancouver they didn’t get tons of snow all winter long like the rest of Canada.

As Samair passed the open bathroom door, Joey stuck her head out from the shower. “Put the kettle on, would you? And be prepared to spill your guts when I get out.”

Samair had known Joey would only give her so much time before she’d start demanding to know why her friend had suddenly reappeared.

The cab ride home the night before had been full of hushed giggles and light flirting as only friends who had once been lovers could achieve. There’d been no inquisition, only open acceptance. They’d been best friends for the four years of college, but had drifted apart over the years since. Yet Joey’s open welcome the night before made it crystal clear to Samair that their friendship wasn’t affected by things like distance.

So, she’d tell her friend everything.

She went into the kitchen, filled the shiny kettle with water, and set it on the stove. Then she filled the glass she’d pulled from the cupboard with Diet Coke and leaned against the countertop. She stared unseeingly at the small studio apartment, the events of the night before coming back to her in a rush.

Samair gave her head a shake. It was over and done with. In the space of a few hours, she’d managed to toss away everything she’d worked for over the past few years. Shit, she didn’t even have clean clothes to wear!

Or a place to live.

She could probably stay with Joey for a while, but it was a really tiny apartment. Basically one room, with only a breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the main area, and a curtain separating the bedroom. The curtain was open right now and from where she stood leaning on the bar Samair could see the bed and clothes on the floor. At least the bathroom had a door on it.

Not that it mattered, since Joey hadn’t closed it and Samair could clearly hear her off-key singing.

One thing she knew for sure, she wasn’t going back. She’d pick up some of her stuff from her old apartment, enough to get by, but that was it. Even though the apartment was in her name, she’d let Lisa have it
and
Kevin.

Her mind was made up: It was time for a life change. She’d be okay staying with Joey for a short time while she figured out what the next step was, but the place was way too small for a visit much longer than that.

Yet since it was so small, the rent should be reasonable. She could probably get herself a place just like it. It would have everything she needed. Of course, she needed to find a new job first.

She banged her forehead lightly against the kitchen countertop.
Fucked, fucked, I’m fucked
.

“Stop that before you hurt yourself.” Joey strode from the bathroom to the bed area, naked. “Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

Samair ignored her question and asked one of her own as she watched her friend pull a pair of yoga pants on over a pair of nylon short shorts. A heavy sweatshirt then covered her sparkly Lycra sports bra. “You still teaching?”

“Five classes a day, five days a week. I’m a professional now.” She grinned. “But I’m not teaching today. I heard about an open call for dancers for a video shoot, so I’m going to audition.”

“Shit, you dance at the club. You’ve been a professional for years. You’ll ace the audition.”

“It’s a bar. It’s not the same thing.”

“You had to audition to be a dancer there though, right?”

“Yes”

“Then it’s a job. You’re a professional. Not everyone can do that, stop selling yourself short.”

“And
you
stop avoiding me,” Joey said as she moved around the counter and poured the hot water for her tea. “You’re going to spill your guts to me right now. I don’t have time to fuck around.”

Samair sighed. “To sum everything up, I’ve finally decided to stop pretending to be someone I’m not. To stop pretending I’m happy with a mediocre job and a mediocre boyfriend.”

“And what brought on this epiphany?”

The fact that Joey didn’t ask what she’d meant didn’t escape Samair’s notice.

“My boss pissed me off and I walked out on my job only to get home early enough to find Kevin getting fucked up the ass with a strap-on by my so-called friend.”

Joey’s jaw dropped, then she started to howl with laughter. “Oh my god! You’re kidding!”

“Nope.”

Joey laughed until tears leaked from her eyes. Taking deep breaths, she eyed Samair closely. When she could talk without giggling she spoke. “Are you okay? I mean, how much did you love this guy?”

Samair smiled, seeing the humor in it all now that the shock had worn off. “I’m fine. I mean . . . I was shocked, angry even . . . but strangely, not hurt. After I told them what I thought of them I walked around for a bit, and I realized that I actually didn’t really care about any of the stuff that had happened. I’d pretty much reacted to it the way I
thought
I should, but really, I didn’t care.” She shook her head slowly. “I haven’t cared about anything for a while now.”

“Oh sweetie,” Joey reached out and grabbed her hand, linking their fingers together. As if she could read Samair’s mind, she scolded her gently. “Just because you’re not heart-broken over those idiots doesn’t mean you don’t care. It just means that they didn’t surprise you. That, deep down, you never expected anything more from them than what you got. Unfortunately, with your family, you’ve learned to expect less than true honesty from people.”

“I expect true honesty from you.”

“That’s because you and I are soul sisters, babe.” Joey winked at her over her mug of tea. “You know me as well as I know you.”

Joey was right. They’d seen each other for the first time in close to three years last night, and it had felt like no time at all. It didn’t matter that she’d basically ditched Joey to focus on building a life she really hadn’t wanted; they knew each others’ hearts and secrets. They
were
soul sisters.

“What did your boss do to piss you off? You’ve been working there since I met you. I thought you loved Bethany.”

“I do love Beth. Unfortunately for me, she got pregnant last year and left. Rosa, the owner has been running the shop while Beth is on maternity leave, and she’s a stuck-up bitch who doesn’t know anything about fashion.”

Joey laughed. “Tell me how you really feel.”

“She just reminded me too much of my mom. Nothing I did was ever good enough. She pushed a button and I went off.” Samair smiled. “It sure felt good to tell her to fuck off though.”

“For the sake of your sanity, you gotta do that every now and then.” She shrugged. “So what’s the plan now?”

“I’ve no idea. Can I stay with you for a while?”

The look Joey gave her made it clear she was an idiot for even asking. She set down her tea and wrapped Samair in a quick hug before slipping into her shoes and grabbing her gym bag.

“There’s a computer in that corner cabinet and an extra set of apartment keys in the mug with the pens and pencils. Take them. I’ll be back around three. See you then!” And she was gone.

 

 

 

 

A
car horn honked and Samair stopped short with one foot still on the curb.

Shit, she’d better pay more attention or she was going to get run over. Between the dreary rain and the three hours of going through the job databank at the employment office, she was in a bit of a mental fog. Glancing around, she saw a Starbucks across the street and headed straight for it.

She carried a steaming mug of coffee to a small table near the window and had just sat down when her cell phone rang.

When she saw the caller ID she was tempted to ignore it. Instead, she swallowed a sigh and flipped open the phone. “Hi, Cherish, what’s up?”

“Samair, are you okay?” Her sister’s words were rushed, her voice worried. Cherish was only two years older than Samair, but she’d always acted like a second mother.

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I called Rosa’s and she said she’d fired you. What happened?”

“I didn’t get fired. I quit.” Samair glanced around the coffee shop; a few people were talking on phones, and with the rain outside the place was so busy her conversation wouldn’t bother anyone. She might as well get it over with; she was going to have to deal with her family sooner or later. “And you may as well know I broke up with Kevin, and I’m moving out of the apartment, too, so tell Mom and Brett if they want to get a hold of me, they should call my cell.”

“You’re moving, too? What’s going on? Where are you going to live? Are you having a nervous breakdown?”

“No. I’m fine, everything is fine.” She swirled the stir stick in her coffee. “It’s just time for a change.”

“A change?”

A heavy sigh echoed in Samair’s ear and she closed her eyes. Here it comes.

“What could you possibly want to change? You have a great job, a boyfriend, and a nice apartment in a very nice neighborhood. You have everything you could want, Samair.”

“No, I had everything
you
could want. Everything Mom wanted us to have. But it wasn’t what
I
wanted.”

There was a moment of silence after Samair’s words. That Samair had been different from her siblings wasn’t a secret. Cherish was the smart, perfect one. Their younger brother Brett was the athletic, charming one. And Samair, the middle child, was the chubby, flaky one.

Cherish pushed forward. “Todd can probably get you a job in his office as an—”

“I don’t want to work for your husband.”

More silence. She could almost see Cherish sitting at her perfect kitchen table in her perfect house, shaking her head in bewilderment.

“I’m doing what I want to do, Cherish. I’m twenty-eight years old. Don’t you think it’s about time?”