Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [22]
“Me, Mom.”
“The light must be funny in that store.” Her mother sounded confused. “You look blonde in this picture.”
“I am blonde now.”
“Why are there beds behind her?” Aunt Lorraine shouted in the background. “I told you I wondered what kind of work she was really doing in Las Vegas. Prostitution is legal there. Tell her it’s not legal here in Chicago. Make sure she knows that.”
“Assure Aunt Lorraine that I do know that. Why is she there?”
“Her condo is being painted, and she had to come stay with us for a few days.”
“Thanks for warning me. I won’t be stopping by. How are you holding up?”
“I’m managing.” Her mother’s voice sounded strained, but then Aunt Lorraine did that to a person.
“Come visit me and see my new bed.” Faith indicated which one she wanted to the salesclerk with her free hand. “They should deliver it tomorrow.” She’d already checked that out online ahead of time.
“Won’t you be working tomorrow?”
“Right. That’s not a problem for the delivery. The doorman is great.”
“Yes, he was most helpful when we were there.”
“Again, I’m really sorry I dumped everything on you that way. I’ll make it up to you.”
“I may hold you to that.”
“I’m not going back to my library job,” Faith said.
“We’ll see,” her mother said.
Faith had her condo door open as Megan stepped off the elevator with a Giordano’s pizza with extra mushrooms in her hands. “I met the delivery guy in the lobby.”
Faith hugged her before grabbing the cardboard box from her. “I know Italy is the birthplace of pizza, but there’s nothing like a Chicago-style deep dish.”
“My dad told me you quit your job. Is that true?”
“Yes.” Faith opened the box and grabbed an extralong knife from the kitchen’s dark brown granite countertop. A regular pizza cutter couldn’t handle the job of this big-boy pizza. She also grabbed a pair of wineglasses from her cherry wood kitchen cabinet.
“Why?” Megan asked. “Why would you quit?”
“Because I wanted to.”
“Is this because of Caine? Or because of Alan?”
“It’s because of me. I’m tired of getting kicked in the teeth. I’m fighting back. Turning over a new leaf. Out with the old blah and boring me, in with the new mad, bad and blonde me.”
“You were never blah and boring,” Megan hotly defended her.
“Alan sure thought so. That’s why he left.”
“He left because he’s a bastard!”
“Why didn’t I see that something was wrong?”
“Love is blind. But don’t let Alan’s actions make you quit your job.”
“That’s not why I left the library. I need a new start.” After opening the bottle of 3 Blind Moose Merlot she’d chosen, Faith filled Megan in about how Caine had tailed her that last morning in Positano and how she’d evaded him. “It felt good flexing my investigative skills again. Vince actually told my father that he’d sent Caine there to ‘sweep me off my feet’ were his exact words.”
Megan’s eyes widened. “Vince and your dad spoke? I thought they hadn’t talked to each other in over a decade.”
“My father initiated the call and warned Vince that he’d crossed the line.”
“Does your dad know that you went to bed with Caine?”
“No.”
“Does Vince know?”
“Caine claimed he wouldn’t tell him.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know. I do know that Caine was my first and last dumb blonde moment.”
“I meant to tell you it looks good on you.”
“What does? Being a dumb blonde? Gee, thanks.”
“You know what I mean. The new hair color. It looks really good.”
“Thanks.” Faith ran her hand through her shorter do. “I’m still not totally used to it, but I do love it.”
“What’s this?” Megan asked, pointing to a beautifully wrapped small jeweler’s box on the table.
“I brought you something back from Italy. Open it.”
Megan looked down at the delicately carved cameo pendant. “I love it! Help me put it on.”
Faith did and received a hug before she and Megan once again focused on their meals.
Once most of the pizza and bottle of Merlot were gone, the talk became more emotional.
“What kind of cheap slut am I to be in love with Alan and about to marry him one week and then have sex with Caine the next? What does that say about me?”
“That you