Castle Cay (4 page)

“No, don’t bother him,” said Dan, getting up.
“I’ll go with you. Where are they?”

Resigned, Julie handed him her worksheet and
said, “They’re over on the left side of the showroom, in front of
the window. The Imperial is parked right outside where they can see
it.”

“All right. Introduce me,” said Dan,
straightening his tie. “I’ll take it from here.”

Oh, thank you, Your Highness,
Julie
thought as she led him to the table.

“Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, I’d like to introduce
you to Mr. O’Hara, one of our Sales Managers.”

“Hi, folks. Call me Dan,” he said, smiling.
He glanced down at the worksheet. “Is it all right if I call you
John and Cecile?”

“Sure,” said Mr. Gilbert. He gave a
perfunctory nod toward his wife. “You can call the wife ‘Cece’,
though.”

“So, John, did you watch the Red Sox game
last night?” said Dan, pegging him as the decision-maker.

“Man, that Roger Clemens…isn’t he something?”
said Mr. Gilbert with a big smile, bonding with Dan.

Cece and Julie were immediately relegated to
the bench.

•

When the Gilberts drove off in their newly
acquired Imperial, Dan marched Julie into his office. Closing the
door, he turned and glared at her, livid.

”Haven’t you learned
anything
?” he
barked in her face, throwing the papers down on the desk. “You
aren’t supposed to talk when I’m closing! Don’t you know they need
to focus on me? Your talking takes their attention off of me and
off the deal!”

“Mrs. Gilbert asked me a question,” said
Julie through clenched teeth. “I thought it would be rude not to
answer her.” She probably should have stopped there, but her
building resentment just spilled out unchecked. “Besides, you and
Mr. Gilbert were completely ignoring her. No
wonder
she
started talking to me.”

Dan’s eyes widened, infuriated at her
insubordination. A vein pulsed on the side of his temple and she
could feel the anger radiating from him. He was crowding her, so
close that she was forced to crane her neck up to look at him but
she refused to give him the satisfaction of backing up.

“Look…
Julie
…” he said in her face,
“buying a car is a
man’s
business. A guy may come in here
with his wife, but when he’s ready to buy, it’s just him and the
sales-
man
, another guy in a shirt and tie. It’s not his
wife’s decision!”

“Well, I seem to be doing all right talking
to
both
of them!” she shot back.

“Beginner’s luck, lady. By the way, did you
know you were hired as a
gag
?”

Julie caught her breath and backed away as if
he’d slapped her. Her face burning, she grabbed the papers off his
desk and fled.

•

“Why didn’t you tell me, Pete? Did everyone
know?”

Pete Soldano looked thoroughly distraught
across his desk. “No! Nobody knew that but me and him,” he said. “I
can’t believe he told you that. The bastard! Pardon my
language.”

“
Him?
He’s not the one who hired me as
a joke!”

“Look, I’m sorry, Julie. I mean…I’m not sorry
that I
hired
you…” Pete ran his hands through his hair in
frustration trying to explain. “It’s true that in the beginnin’ I
was tryin’ to get back at him for winnin’ the trip, and I knew if I
hired a girl it would piss him off. I’m
sorry
for that. But,
honest-to-God, Julie, I saw you had talent right away and I told
him.”

If repentance had a picture next to it in the
dictionary, Julie thought, it would be Pete. She sighed.
It is a
man’s game.
Hadn’t she been to three other dealers first? And
what if Pete hadn’t hired her?
I wouldn’t be in my
apartment…

“All right. I guess I understand. But,
please, Pete, you’ve got to let me go start to finish with my
customers now. You owe me that much and you know I can do it! I
promise to turn over anyone I can’t close.”

“I got no problem with you closin’ in
my
department, Julie. But forget Dan. He’ll never do it.
Especially not now.”

“Please, Pete. Just get Dan to give it a try
for a month. Just
one
month! Tell him I’m really upset. Tell
him that I’ll probably quit if I fail.
That
should give him
some incentive.”

“You wouldn’t do that, would ya’?” said Pete,
alarmed.

“Are you kidding? You couldn’t drag me out of
here now with the tow truck!

* * * * *

D
an O’Hara’s attitude lit a fire under
Julie. She began closing her own sales and never looked back. By
her second anniversary at the dealership, at age twenty-two, Julie
was the top salesperson for Chrysler in the state of Massachusetts
and the Boston Globe sent a reporter out to interview her. His
first question would have a lasting impact on her future.

“
So what’s the secret of your success?”
the reporter asked.

“
Body language,” said Julie. “I think
it’s a key element to understanding people and what they
want.”

“
And how do you feel about being the top
salesperson for Chrysler in the state?”

Julie saw her chance to win over her
co-workers and grabbed it:

“
The guys I work with here at Solomon
Chrysler are all excellent salesmen. This year was my turn; next
year one of them will outsell the rest of us! Plus, we have a
terrific service department here, too. Those guys really stand
behind the promises we make, and that means a lot of return
business. But if it were up to me, I’d give the award to the ladies
in the business office. Without them, none of us would sell
anything!”

The article said in closing…

“
Well, Solomon Chrysler has its very own
“Pretty Woman” now, with the addition of young Julie Danes, who, by
the way, looks a lot like Julia Roberts. Check it out…”

And lots of curious shoppers did.

Julie’s solo lunches were over, and the
office manager, Mrs. Bennett, became “Laura”.

* * * * *

“
A
re you going tonight? asked Annie.
“You know Joannie, from payroll? We’re going together. We could
meet you there.”

“That would be great,” said Julie. I’d love
to have some company.”

They were talking about the company picnic.
It was scheduled for the evening of the Fourth of July. Solomon
Chrysler had staked out an area along the Charles River near the
Band Shell for the Boston Pops outdoor symphony. Julie was excited
to be going. It would be the first time for her.

She called Marc and gushed about it.

“I’m psyched! Can you believe that I’ve never
been to the Boston Pops?”

“No”, said Marc, “I’ve gone many times. I
love it. My parents are big supporters of the Symphony.”

“The only thing my parents support is the
liquor store.”

“Julie, everybody has problems. You just
can’t see them. You’re not alone.”

“I feel alone, though, Marc. I mean, I’m not
unhappy at work, but I just don’t have anyone close enough to share
things with. I really miss you.”

“I miss you, too. But I can’t say I miss all
those tire-kickers.”

“Hey, watch it! Those ‘tire-kickers’ have
been pretty good to me.”

“I know. I saw the story in the Globe.
Congratulations! But I think they should have given you a
public
relations
award for that speech,” said Marc,
laughing.

“Thank you. It wasn’t bad…if I do say so
myself. It sure changed things around here for the better. But I
still miss
you.
Hey, why don’t you come to the picnic?”

“I can’t, Julie. I’ve already made plans.
Look, there’s someone I want you to meet. Let’s go up to Good
Harbor Beach in Gloucester next week. What do you say?”

“Okay, call me. I’ll see you then.”

•

The Fourth of July was a near perfect night
for the Pops. A luminous, full moon shone through the leaves of the
tall oaks and maples on the Esplanade and the air was balmy. Along
the river’s edge, a gentle breeze rustled through the willows.

It seemed that everyone had paired off,
camped out in folding chairs and on blankets. Annie had asked
sheepishly if Julie minded her “sitting with Mike”, one of the
mechanics, and Julie noted, with some interest, that Joannie
DeAngelo from the payroll department was sitting next to Pete
Soldano.

Julie didn’t mind at all. She was sitting on
a long bench with some other employees, absorbed in the wonderful
music…soft at times, and then rising and booming in crescendo.

No wonder Marc loves the Pops…

There was a tap on her shoulder. She turned
and looked up. To her shock, it was Dan O’Hara.

“Julie, could I talk to you for a
minute?”

“Uh, sure”, she said, “Have a seat.”

“Maybe we could walk a little?”

He seemed nervous. Was he going to fire her?
Then, in a flash, she understood.
He wants to apologize… in
private.

“Sure, that would be nice.”

They started walking down the path to the
left that ran along the river, away from the large crowd at the
Band Shell. A couple, holding hands, approached them, heading in
the opposite direction, toward the music. They smiled and
passed.

Julie was quiet…waiting.

“I just wanted to say that I was wrong,
Julie…wrong about you.”

What am I supposed to say to that?

“Will you forgive me? I was a jerk.”

Now, that’s better…

“Of course I forgive you.”

“By the way, that was great,” he said.

“What was?” asked Julie, puzzled.

“The way you spoke up for everybody at
Solomon Chrysler in your interview with the Globe. I know we didn’t
make it easy for you at the dealership. I was probably the worst of
all.”

“Probably?”

They burst out laughing, the tentative mood
changed completely.

The boats glided by on the river, and the
crowd thinned and disappeared as they strolled along, talking.
Engrossed, they had walked quite a distance from the Band Shell
when they found themselves standing before a darkened boathouse.
There was a rack of narrow racing sculls to the left of it and a
dock behind it.

Dan cocked his head toward the boathouse,
smiling.

“We’d have a great view of the fireworks from
that dock.”

“We sure would,” said Julie.

He took her hand and - giggling like kids -
they ducked and ran around to the left rear of the boathouse. There
was a chain-link fence dipping down into the water.

“I’m game if you are,” said Julie.

Dan kicked off his loafers, rolled up his
pant legs and stepped into the water. Holding the bottom of her
white sundress and sandals in her left hand, Julie followed him in,
hanging on to the chain-link with her right.

“Oh shit! It’s all mucky!” she said.

“Did you just say ‘shit’?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am…Goody
No-Shoes?”

They broke-up with laughter again, and made
their way around the fence. As Dan grabbed Julie’s hand to help her
up the riverbank, he put his forefinger to his lips.

“Sh-h-h…”

Snickering quietly, they ran barefoot along
the riverbank past the neatly racked racing boats toward the dock.
Dan climbed up first and pulled Julie up behind him. To their
delight, there were folding beach chairs amidst some boxes and
canvas on the wide deck, just a few steps above them. Dan ran up
and got two of them.

They sat, hearts still pounding from their
escapade, looking down the moonlit river to where the boats were
gathered near the Band Shell. After a while, they began to relax,
chatting comfortably and listening to the beautiful music drifting
toward them.

Dan rose, smiling, and executed a deep,
theatrical bow in front of Julie.

“May I have this dance, Miss Scarlet?”

“Why, yes, of course, Mr. Butler.”

Laughing, Julie went into his arms.

And everything changed.

They danced slowly, her head on his shoulder,
her arms around his neck, their bodies pressed together, fitting
perfectly. Wordlessly, they searched each other’s eyes. Dan kissed
her, softly…hungrily. The thin straps of her sundress fell from her
shoulders. His hand slipped into the top, caressing her breast.

Julie’s mind was buzzing. She was swirling in
a maelstrom, incapable of coherent thought. Dan’s touch created an
exquisite sensation pulsing deep inside her body that obliterated
everything else. His leg slid between hers and she moved urgently
against it.

Then he was leading her up the stairs. He
grabbed the canvas there and spread it on the darkened deck. In the
next moment, they were standing entwined again, Julie’s back
against the deck railing.

Dan’s big hands were up under her dress,
pulling her close. Her head was thrown back and he was kissing her
neck. Julie moaned unconsciously, lost in new and wonderful
world…but her daze betrayed her innocence.

Dan pulled himself back, unused to the
situation.

“Don’t stop,” said Julie in a rush of breath.
She bent forward, pushing her dress and panties to the floor, her
hair cascading over her shoulders as she stepped out of them.

Suddenly, the dark night sky was filled with
crackling explosions and a dazzling display of colors. Julie stood,
bathed in the golden light, looking up at the sky in awe.

Dan was in awe, too…but he was looking
straight ahead.

* * * * *

O
n the way to the beach the following
week, Marc introduced Julie to Alan, which explained a lot. She
could tell that Marc was anxious about “coming out,” but Julie
truly didn’t care about his sexual orientation. She figured that it
was his business, and it had no bearing on their friendship. Well,
perhaps it did. There was no doubt in her mind that, somehow, it
made Marc a better friend.