Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [36]
Faith wondered what her life would be like right now if she hadn’t gone to Italy. What if she’d stayed in her condo and cried about her ruined wedding, surrounded by unreturned wedding gifts? Would she have left her job at the library? Or would she have sunk into one giant pity party and not climbed out?
Had Caine actually been good for her? Wow, that was a weird concept, one she couldn’t quite wrap her mind around at the moment.
“Faith, are you still there?” Gram asked.
“Yes, sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About your new job? You dad is so happy.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And when he’s happy, I’m happy. That’s what moms do. They are happy when their child is happy. Their grandchild too. I want you to be happy.”
“Thanks, Gram.” After disconnecting the call, Faith was left wondering what it would take to make her happy.
She knew in investigative work, sometimes you never found the answer or the information you needed, no matter how hard you tried. Too often, life was like that too.
“We’re in a rut. We need to mix things up more,” Faith said as she joined Megan in the elegant foyer of Faith’s condo building a few days later. They were meeting for their customary dinner nearby.
“I don’t want to mix things up. I want sushi,” Megan said. “It’s the second Tuesday of the month, which means it’s Sushi Tuesday.”
“But we’re in a rut.”
“We are not in a rut. Stop saying that.”
“We’re creatures of habit.”
“Oh puh-lease. You changed your hair, your job, your man, your bed. That’s enough. It’s Sushi Tuesday, and we are having sushi, got it?”
“Got it.” Faith held open the door for Megan and motioned her to go ahead of her. “Jeez, you can be stubborn.”
“Me? You’re the one with the stubborn streak. I’m the optimist in the family.”
“Sure, it’s easy to be an optimist when Aunt Lorraine isn’t your mother’s sister.”
“True.” They started walking toward the Sushi Place a few blocks away. The early evening weather was perfect—sunny and in the mid-seventies without the humidity that could turn the coolest woman into a sweating blob . . . even a mad, bad blonde with the best haircut in the world. Shaking her head, Faith enjoyed the silky swing of her hair against the back of her neck. She still sometimes caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror and would do a double take for an instant. Changing her look was one of the smartest things she’d ever done.
“I need another author mentor,” Faith said.
“Does it have to be a dead author? A dead female author? I’ve got it.” Megan snapped her fingers. “How about Beatrix Potter?”
“Right. Like she’s a kick-ass role model.”
“Hey, she accomplished a lot in her lifetime. Not only did she create Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddleduck, she also donated over four thousand acres of land in England’s scenic Lake District to the National Trust so that future generations could enjoy its beauty.”
“Nice but not good enough. Who else?”
“You never answered my question. Do they have to be dead?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Fiction writers? Or nonfiction? If nonfiction, then how about Gloria Steinem? Or Erica Jong or Candace Bushnell if you want fiction?”
“I did have that one shopping spree in Italy, but normally I’m not really a shopaholic.”
“That’s Sophie Kinsella. Bushnell did Sex and the City.”
“Right.” They entered the Sushi Place. The white chairs and light wood tables and floors gave the small space a bright, airy feeling. Once they were settled at their favorite table near the big windows, Faith selected the tempura shrimp maki with fried shrimp, cucumber and scallops. Megan considered the daily special before going with the miso soup, spicy seaweed salad and a selection of tamago yaki, kani and several of her favorite dynamite sushi. Faith had ordered Japanese beer before but today went with the bottled sparkling water instead, as did Megan.
“Here.” Megan handed her a CD.
“What’s this?”
“I burned a breakup CD for you. You liked ‘I Hate Everything About You’ so much that I gathered a few more songs with a similar theme.”
Faith read the first few titles from the printed play-list aloud. “