Page 35 of No More Billionaires

Girl Talk

Later that night, Heidi and I sat in the middle of her bed, nursing big glasses of Chardonnay and oohing over bridal magazines.

We’d dropped Aric back at the TV station so he could get his car, and I told him I’d see him at the wedding in June.

“So how are you?” she asked in a way that suggested she was asking about my psyche, not my day.

“I’m great—really. Momma’s driving me crazy, but otherwise, things are good.”

“Have you seen him?”

“Mark? No, thank God.”

“Dating anyone new?” Her tone was playful, teasing, hopeful.

“No. Well, I did have one sort-of date with a guy I met at the WNN food court.”

“How did it go?”

“Hemighthave passed out in my car as I was driving him home. To his parents’ house. Where I had to almost carry him up to the front door. Thankfully, he’s about my same height.Andweight.”

She laughed, nearly snorting her Chardonnay. “Oh, that is one sucky date.”

Then her expression changed, taking on a mischievous gleam. “Larson certainly is nice.”

“Yes.” I kept my eyes on the unnaturally beautiful “bride” on the page in front of me.

“Well… what about him?”

“What about him?” I flipped to the next page where a freakishly-thin model who couldn’t have been over sixteen frolicked barefoot on a beach in an elaborate white mini-dress and headpiece.

“Stop being obtuse. There’s something going on with you two.”

“No. There’s nothing going on.”

“I don’t know—my pheromone-detector was pinging pretty hard, watching you together.”

Her voice had a sing-songy you-can’t-fool-me tone. “And the look he gave you before he drove away tonight—he was like a little boy letting go of his heliumwace car bawoon.”

She stuck out her bottom lip comically as she baby-talked.

“Heidi.” I looked up from the glossy page. “We work together.”

“Yes, and?”

I laughed. “You and your fraternizing—not only are you a practitioner, now you’re a pusher, too.”

Our old boss at WPVG had been an odd guy with strict rules about how we dressed and behaved on the job. One of his policies had forbidden fraternizing with other employees.

Though it hadn’t stopped Heidi and Aric from falling in love, it had kept their relationship under wraps for a while and served as an excuse for Heidi to hold him at a distance for far too long.

Their intense mutual attraction had been apparent from the first night they met.

“I’m a true believer. That’s what I am,” Heidi said. “It makes sense. Who else can understand this crazy career, the hours, the stress? It would be perfectly natural for the two of you to—”

“Heidi—no. Nothing’s going on, and nothing’sgoingto.”

Her answering expression held sympathy and understanding.

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