Unfinished Business (21 page)

“Let’s invite Riana, too.”

There is only the silence of chatter in the background. I offer up a reason. “She might have something to add. To the article.”

“You think so?”

“Of course. Before Peter, she even went out with successful guys, real man types with careers.”

“I guess. Go ahead and call her. I don’t think she’ll mind.”

“She, Riana, or she, your sister.”

“Either of them. Gotta go, my two forty-five is here.”

With that she hangs up and I text Riana, trying to make some beers at Anthony’s with Josie and her sister sound fun. Tricky business that.

But, I don’t stress too much about whether or not she’ll show because, like I said, things have been going my way lately and there is no reason to think that’ll change.

I have things under control.

No problems here.

Not now, not ever.

I reach for my coffee, lean back in my posh chair, then set the heels of my black boots on my desk.

Yessiree, things are fiiinnnneeeeee.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Dark Side of Business

That night at nine-thirty I park behind Anthony’s then swing out of my car. I’m expecting the usual collection of bums selling produce they dug out of dumpsters and early bar hoppers anxious to get some cheap drinks. What I get is a horde of goths. They’re leaning out of their cars, they’re loitering by the curb, and they’re milling around the parking lot. It’s Purple Heart’s cheap secondhand stuff meets Hot Topic’s overpriced poser wear in a seriously bad way.

Five of them are slumped against the wall next to the back entrance. A girl with at least four bolts in her mouth snarls at me while the boy next to her mumbles to himself and sways side to side.

The other three? I don’t even look.

No trouble. I won’t stick out too bad in my short, khaki skirt and white T-shirt. If I cared, I’d go roll in the trash to get rid of my just-showered scent. Since I don’t care, I push my way between the depressing and depressed until I spot Josie’s bright hair shining like a beacon through the haze. After my eyes adjust to the sea of black hair—long, short, flat and spiked—and black clothes—stuff stolen from the Salvation Army donation bin and designer duds from the Somerset Collection in fancy smancy Troy—I spot Josie’s sister and Riana.

They look a little out of place.

Kid Rock is nowhere in sight and I actually wish he were around somewhere, brightening the place with his non-all-black clothes. Josie’s sister is probably glad though.

Drinks are in order. “Who needs what?” I ask from the end of their wobbly table.

Riana—“Beer.”

Josie—“Beer.”

Josie’s sister—“Banana vodka on ice.”

Yeah. Right.

As if I’m going to order that with a straight face. Here. Right now.

Anthony’s wife is smiling at me from behind the bar. I must be a welcome sight with my laundered clothes and twenty-dollar bill. “Four beers.”

She shouts at me, “You come to see Dying Virgin?”

Hell no. “What time are they going on?”

“Eleven-thirty.”

Two hours to vacate the premises.

Using my best
barfrau
imitation, I fist the mugs and haul them over to the girls.

Things don’t look good. Josie is sitting there looking goofy, Riana is talking and Josie’s sister is writing. Beer sloshes over my wrists when I set the mugs down and slip into the only empty chair—next to Josie’s sister.

I lean over and try to see what she’s writing but she slides it away.

“So. What’s up?” I ask after a swallow of beer.

Riana gestures to Josie’s sister with one of the beers, “She’s going to cover The Willing Wheels Ride.”

I smell a rat. “You are? Why?”

“Human interest,” she answers as though I should’ve already known.

Josie pulls one of the beers over to her. “It’s better than the singles stuff. More real.”

More real than being single. Is that possible?

Whatever.

“I’ll even be doing mini-interviews, you know, before and after the event. Looking for an angle.”

An angle?

Riana straightens. “What about watching me race through the finish line?” she asks loudly enough to turn several heads.

I salute Riana with my mug. Maybe she’s found a way to shut Peter up.

But too soon, her smile falters. We all watch her poke at her mug handle until she looks up again. “It seems like the whole celebration thing is coming together really well, Hayley. I bet your boss’ll be thrilled. I’ll bet he’s already impressed.”

Josie breaks in. “Tell my sister about the chair.”

How could I resist? Why would I?

I retell the whole tale, taking extra care with the details of Caroline’s face. I’m so funny! We all laugh.

“The race, the raffle, what’s your boss got to say about all that?” Josie’s sister asks.

“She’s been planning the pool party but she hasn’t been around much lately. I hardly see her at all.” I grin with satisfaction.

“That’s kind of weird,” Riana says. “You’d think you’d see her more.”

I shrug and watch a pair of extra small goths slouch by. They’re so short their heads only come up to my shoulder and I’m sitting down.

Riana asks, “Aren’t you worried?”

I tear my eyes away from the tiny bits of darkness. “Worried?” Me worry? Why should I worry?

“She’s got to be planning something,” Riana says.

Josie nods. “Plotting against you.”

I’m glad to have friends who look out for me, but really. “You guys are more paranoid than I am.”

Riana shakes her head. “I don’t think so. Think about it.”

“Yeah, but—”

“But nothing,” Josie adds, “You better watch your back.”

I wave them off. “You guys are overreacting.” I take a gulp of beer. “Besides, she already got all the credit for the raffle
idea
thing.”

Riana leans forward and stares at me. “Who did all the work on that?”

“I did.”

She goes on with, “Who’s going to be there when it all happens? She will.”

“So will I. She’s going to be busy with her own stuff, the pool party, thank God.”

I’m seriously wondering what the big deal is when someone beside me asks, “Does this Caroline write your evaluations?”

Drat.
Why did she have to talk? I’d practically forgotten Josie’s sister was there. Josie saves me from having to answer by filling in the blanks.

After a while, the therapeutic value of letting it all out makes itself apparent so I fill in the spots Josie misses, adding in as much humor as possible. Riana joins in too. Anthony’s wife serves us a couple more rounds. We all laugh at Caroline’s petty stupidity.

“To Caroline,” I cry, raising my mug. “The ultimate bitchy boss.”

We all laugh, even Josie’s sister. Things go on that way for quite a while, because we all have work-related things to complain about and because we’re all having a great time. When the band comes on, we stand on our chairs and cause such a scene that even Anthony’s wife gets annoyed.

After midnight, we say goodbye to the goths, laugh our way to the street, and because Josie’s sister only had that one beer, she drives us all home.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lost and Found

“Is she sure she lost it here?”

Scotty is not happy about spending his Friday evening crawling around the salon on his hands and knees, looking for a diamond tennis bracelet.

“Yes,” Josie insists from her position under the shampoo bowls. “She got it cleaned right before she came in.”

I can see that today I am the lucky one. My post is the reception area which is wide open. All I have to do is sit on my butt and spin around. I look under the chairs and tables again. No bling.

“How can she be sure?” Scotty is complaining again, as he scoots around under the manicure tables. “Did you ask her if she looked in her car?”

Josie shoots to her feet and eyes him. “Keep looking. She’s one of my best clients and if she says she lost it here, she lost it here.”

“If it’s so important why isn’t she here looking for it?”

“Hello!” Josie’s voice is muffled because she’s on her stomach and running her hand along the baseboards.

Yuck.
I bet the floor back there is covered with hair.

“She came in today because her husband is getting a huge promotion and she had to go to a dinner.”

“If he’s so rich, why doesn’t she get him to buy her another one?”

“Good God, Scotty. Stop being such an ass!”

“I knew I shouldn’t have stayed after closing,” he grumbles as he hunkers down and rubs his palms across the tiles under the chairs. “I should’ve told you to do your own hair.”

I look across the room to where Riana is carefully scanning the shelves that hold the hair products. “How you doing, Riana? See anything?”

Her only answer is to shake her head.

I think I’m the only one who’s noticed that she is unusually quiet tonight. Josie is freaked out about finding the bracelet so that Scotty can do her hair. Scotty, well, he’s too into the drama of having to get down and dirty to do good. Whether he wants to or not.

Since meeting me in the parking lot fifteen minutes ago, Riana hasn’t spoken a word apart from saying hi to everyone.

Something is up and I’m waiting for the right time to ask.

“Okay. Okay.” Scotty is on his feet. “Let’s be smart about this. Josie, you be her. Go to the door and do everything she did.”

Josie is not moving fast enough to suit him. He’s pulling her up and shouting, “Go. Get up.”

“All right,” she says, tugging at his hands.

Riana steps away from her post and comes to sit next to me in the waiting area. For the next few minutes, we watch as Josie reenacts the whole appointment. Manicure, shampoo, quick trim and blow out. Last step. The pay off.

“Fuck me!” Josie screams as she holds up the goods. The huge stones nearly light up the whole room. “I gotta text.” With that, she snatches up the phone and takes care of business.

Scotty zips off to get his station ready.

I lean over to get Riana’s attention. “What’s up?”

“Peter and I are done.”

I was expecting ‘I have cramps’ or ‘the lawyers at work are control freaks’. Not this. “Done like over?”

She gets up and walks to the wide glass window that runs across the front of the shop. “Yeah.”

I’m not shocked, only caught off guard. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of Peter but I hate seeing my friend look so sad. “You guys broke up?”

“Yep,” she replies, looking at my reflection in the window.

“Oh. Okay.”

Josie hangs up the phone and spins around. “Did I hear that right? You’re done with Peter?”

Riana is still gazing out of the window. “Want to know why?”

We both nod. Of course we do. Even Scotty, who has come over to listen in, wants to know.

Riana’s mouth pulls tight and she sucks in a soft breath before replying so quietly that we all have to lean forward to listen, “He’s going to do The Willing Wheels Ride.”

“Your rally?” Josie asks. “He thinks it’s stupid.”

Riana turns around and comes back to the reception area. “At first he said he was going to sign up to do it to help me with my training, then after I told him I didn’t want his help, he got all mad and started saying that stuff about how I’ll never make it to the finish line.”

Scotty folds his arms across his chest and mutters something about guys being competitive assholes when its least appropriate.

I urge Riana to tell us the rest with, “And then?”

One side of her mouth lifts up. “I don’t really remember what I said after that. I was pretty mad. I think he was surprised.

“I guess I told him I didn’t need somebody to compete with. We’re supposed to be friends, you know. Not just a couple, but friends that support each other. He called me stupid.” She drops into a chair. “And that really did it. I walked out.” She’s quiet for a minute, then asks, “Do you guys think I’m stupid?”

Josie and I rush over to sit beside her. I tease her about her ridiculously awesome job that she is actually good at, and Josie teases her about how she always makes us look like idiots when we watch
Jeopardy
.

Scotty shakes his head and points out, “Riana you are the least stupid person I have ever met.”

Riana doesn’t look convinced but she’s smiling. Sort of. She laughs, then says, “I called him an asshole. He’s going to do the rally just to show me up.”

I can’t think of anything to say to make it better. I know how she feels but now isn’t the time to explain why. Josie isn’t saying anything either. The three of us sit in the chairs with our arms intertwined, hunched over and sad.

“It’s a done deal.” Scotty is all business, grabbing Josie and pulling her to his chair, while saying to Riana, “You did the right thing. Nobody needs a man like that. Especially you. You’re better off now.”

I want to hug Scotty right then for saying the exact right thing. If someone had said that very thing to me when I walked away from what everyone else said was going to be the perfect life, it would’ve been a lot easier. In the end I gave up trying to explain why I didn’t want to stay in the country, be a farmer’s wife weeks after graduating from high school and start having babies at eighteen.

Scotty being who he is, he’s already over the crisis. “Come on over,” he says to Riana and me. “Watch me make your friend into a princess.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Bridal and Beautiful

Saturday. Wedding day.

Family. Friends. Togetherness.

Humiliation. Bad memories. Unfinished business.
There’s no way of getting around it. I have to call Nick so we can work out what time we’re leaving and all that sort of stuff.

I’m staring at the phone when it vibrates.

I click it on and say hi to Riana.