Page 9 of Truth Be Told
“What?”
“A strip club? What are you doing going to strip clubs?” She makes a face that shows her disdain.
I get it. Really, I do. A year ago a strip club would have never been my thing. And it still isn’t. “It’s just a… stupid and desperate attempt at distraction.”
“I’ll say.”
I almost start to tell her about what happened with the girl last night, but I hold my tongue.
“That’s just so not like you,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s so…”
“Desperate?”
“Trashy.”
I lean back in my seat. Trashy works. Olivia knows me better than to think I’d be desperate, but it seemed to be a fair enough guess at the time. “Well,” I put my cup down, for good now, “I agree. It’s not like me.” I walk to the silver coatrack next to the door before realizing my coat isn’t there.
Shit. That’s right.
“You heading to work?” Olivia asks.
“Yeah,” I answer as my head is somewhere else.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. I must have misplaced my coat last night, that’s all.” I open the nearby closet. “It’s okay. I have more.”
The open closest reveals a wide assortment of high-end jackets, all of them black or some shade of grey. I pull one out randomly and put it on.
“Well, I know you have more,” she says. She sighs. “Did you misplace it, or forget it?”
I laugh as I adjust the collar around the back of my neck. “What difference does that make?”
She shrugs. “It’ll help me know if I need to come around more.”
I glare at her jokingly. “I misplaced it.”
“Okay, okay.” She glances at the clock above the stove and looks around at the work still to be done. “I’ll be here for a little while longer. Probably another hour.”
I reach around her for one last sip of my coffee, then give her a quick peck on the cheek.
She gives a small smile and lightly touches the side of my arm. That’s Olivia’s way; despite how outspoken she is, that outspokenness doesn’t apply when it comes to her displays of affection. She’s always been modest in that way. These moments between us don’t call for anything more, though. Ever since the accident happened, all she needs to do is give that look of hers, the one that speaks a thousand words without actually uttering a single one. And she’s giving me that look right now.
I clear my throat. “I thought you weren’t really here for the cleaning,” I say, referring to the timeframe she just gave me.
She smiles again. “I’m not.”
STELLA
I hold it in my hands, feeling the interior’s silk, remembering what it was like to feel him place it over me last night. I’m bringing it back to work with me on the off chance that he comes back for it. Carefully, I hang it on one of the hooks in the bottom of my locker.
“Can you believe last night?” says Lorelei. She’s just arrived, and she’s unwinding a scarf from around her neck.
I’m not sure if she’s talking about the fire alarm going off, which has never before gone off as long as I’ve been working here, or about what happened – or rather,almosthappened – to me.
“Last night sucked,” I respond. A safe answer.
“Did you hear back from Mama May about what she’s going to do about those guys?” Her locker door rattles in response to her force. “They better not show their face here again, that’s for sure.”
