Authors: Marie Astor
“I’m glad to hear that
. Y
ou’re welcome to come here any time. We’re open seven days a week.”
“Thank you. I’d be glad to
.
I think a few of my friends would enjoy it as well
.
I’ll be sure to let them know.”
“Ah, the power of word of mouth
. I
t’s how I get the majority of my clients.” Marlene smiled. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, there are a few things in the office that I have to attend to, but you stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you, Marlene. I’ll call you after the meeting with the website designer
. H
opefully
,
within two weeks I’ll be able to show yo
u a mock up of the new Artemis C
lub website.”
“Great
. T
hanks
,
Annabel. I know that you won’t let me down.”
After Marlene left, Annabel fired a few more shots
. E
ach time she took her time to aim, appreciating the calmness that the process brought to her mind.
“Wow, Ann, I see you really got into the swing of it!” Paige remarked
. U
nlike Annabel
,
she had scarcely touched her gun since Robert Sunderland had joined her.
“Thanks
,
Paige!” Annabel smiled, slightly out of breath with excitement.
“Well, I think I’ll be going now,” Paige announced. “Robert was kind enough to offer me a lift back into the City
. W
ould you like to come along?”
Annabel shook her hand. “It’s all right; you two go ahead. It was very nice to meet you, Robert.”
“Likewise, Annabel. You’re a mighty good shooter
. K
eep it up.” Robert Sunderland winked at her as he followed Paige toward the exit sign.
As she watched Paige and Robert take leave together, Annabel was surprised by how much the two resembled a couple
. T
hey had only just met, but the way they walked and the glances they exchanged made it clear that there was chemistry between them.
Well, maybe Paige has
finally met her match
, Annabel thought and immediately shook her head at the absurdity of the notion
. I
f she knew her boss at all, Paige would have three new dates lined up by the end of the week
,
and Robert Sunderland would be forgotten in a blink of an eye. Still, one could hope
,
because if there was a chance that Paige c
ould fall in love at forty-two, then maybe -
just maybe
-
Annabel could hope that one day she too would be able to let a man into her heart again.
“So, how was your trip to the shooting range, Ann?” asked Lilly, taking a sip of her drink. It was seven o’clock on a Thursday night
,
and the two friends
had
met for drinks after work.
“It was fun, actually - a lot more fun than I expected.” Annabel launched into the full account of her experience at the range. “By the way, I think Paige really did fall for that man she met at the range
. H
e is all she has been talking about the entire week
. I
t’s Robert this and Robert that
. T
hey’ve been seeing each other every night.”
“Every night? He can’t be from
New York
then
.
New York men are too paranoid to ask a woman out every night of the week.”
“No, he’s from
Wyoming
,
and he is the kind of man ‘who knows what he wants and goes after it
.’
I’m quoting Paige here.” Annabel grinned. “But seriously, he seems really nice, and he and Paige look really good together.”
“See, sometimes it pays to take a chance.” Lilly cast a pointed glance at Annabel, as she took another sip of her drink.
“Sometimes,” Annabel conceded. “But it’s got to be worth the risk.”
“And you don’t think that Stephen Vargas was worth the risk?”
“No, I don’t. By the way, Janine is going out with him this weekend, so that proves my point.”
“No
,
it doesn’t!” Lilly almost spilled the rest of her drink. “It only proves my point that you can’t judge a guy before you get to know him
. A
ccording to you
,
he is a no-good womanizer who only goes for one night stands, which pretty much contradicts his asking Janine out on a second date.”
“It’s their first date,” Annabel observed.
“What about the party
? T
hat counts,” Lilly shot back.
“It was not a date
. I
t was an accidental encounter.”
“No
,
it was not
. S
he had an invitation,” Lilly retorted.
“Ok
ay
, fine! Whateve
r. Y
ou win.” Annabel downed the rest of her drink in one gulp. It was all fine and dandy for Lilly to talk
. S
he had an uncanny ability to get over her break
ups by diving headfirst into the dating pool, completely fearless of its shark-infested waters
. N
ot everyone possessed the same resilience. “But you forget that I wasn’t interested in him
in
the first place
. I
t’s too soon. I’m not ready to date anyone yet
.
I just want to enjoy my new single gal status for now. O
kay
?” Of course
,
this was not entirely true, or to be more precise, not even close to being partially true
. S
he did not enjoy her
“
single status
”
; in fact, she barely coped with it, hoping that the deep pain inside her would dull one day. Still, that was better than the possibility of getting her heart trampled on all over again.
“That’s fine as long you are not just saying it to shut me up.” Lilly paused, looking at her friend with concern. “Ann, I’m worried about you, that’s all
.
I don’t want you to get into a rut.”
“I know, but I’m fine, really,” Annabel replied, surprised by the sincerity of her own voice
. O
ver the past few weeks she had gotten exceptionally good at telling people that she was fine
. S
he only hoped that one day she would believe it herself.
“O
kay
, that’s that
,
then.” Lilly smiled. “I won’t say a word more.”
“So, how are things between you and Simon?”
“Good.” Lilly’s eyes lit up. “A little too good if you ask me
.
I don’t know what I’m going to do when he goes back to
Paris
.”
“When is he leaving again?”
“This Saturday.”
“Wow, that’s soon.”
“Well, it’s been a month.” Lilly shrugged, but by the way she averted her eyes, Annabel could tell that her friend was nowhere near as cavalier about
Simon leaving as she would like
to appear.
“Have you talked about it?”
Lilly nodded. “Yeah, we worked out a plan
. W
e’re going to talk on Skype on weekends and call each other during the week
. T
he time difference makes it hard. He’s going to talk to his boss to get his stay here reinstated
. W
ho knows, maybe they’ll send him over for another three years.” Lilly’s voice trailed off. “I’m seeing him later tonight. I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into, Ann
.
I’m head over heels for this guy.”
“Well, you are going to
Paris
in less than two months, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” Lilly tugged at the corners of her eyes. “You mean we’re going to Paris
. Y
ou’re not going to bail out on me now, are you?” Lilly added, looking up.
“No, of course not
.
I’ve
got three weeks off from Paige,” Annabel hurried to reply, thinking it best to omit the fact that she had been contemplating canceling her Paris trip almost every day of the past few weeks
, but
it was way too late to back out now. “But…” she hesitated, “if you feel like you’d rather go by yourself to spend more time with Simon, I’ll totally understand,” she added.
“No, I don’t
.
I want us to go together. I could really use your help with the show,” Lilly assured her. “I haven’t even done anything for the show yet
.
I’m a complete mess. I guess that’ll give me something to do besides missing Simon when he leaves.” Lilly groaned. “Oh, look at me
.
I’ve become a pathetic, lovesick puppy!”
“Oh, come on, stop that! You should be happy
. Y
ou’ve met a great guy and you’re in love!”
“That sounds just like you.” Lilly shook her head. “You always went gaga for that mushy, romantic stuff. Give it to me plain and simple: good time, good sex
,
and no strings attached
. T
hat’s the way I like it
,
and it’s worked for me all these years. But no, I had to go and fall in love with
a
guy who lives in another country
. S
erves me right.”
Annabel stifled a smile, seeing right through Lilly’s bravado
. U
nderneath all her toughness, Lilly too longed to find love.
“Another round of drinks?” Lilly offered.
“Sure. What time are you meeting Simon?”
“Not until nine
. H
e is working late tonight. How about we blow this joint and try something different?” Lilly suggested.
“You pick the place.”
“A new bar just opened further up
Third Avenue
,” suggested Lilly once they were outside.
“That sounds good to me.”
As they walked up
Third Avenue
, Annabel’s thoughts turned to Jeremy again. At times, she was not even sure if she had really loved him
. S
he was certain that she thought she loved him, had managed to convince herself that she loved him, but was it really love, or simply her desire to be in love with someone
,
masquerading as the real thing? Ever since Lilly had confronted her on the matter, Annabel had dissected her relationship with Jeremy in her mind countless times. Still, even if Lilly was right, and her feelings for Jeremy were nothing but her longing to love and be loved, they had drained her just the same. She had loved him or her own version of him with such abandon that she could never imag
in
e loving somebody that much again.
Suddenly Lilly halted in the middle of the street, interrupting Annabel’s musings. “Wait up, Annabel,” she called.
“What is it? I thought you said the bar was further up.”
“Check this out!” Lilly motioned at the sign in the dim window on the right, which read,
“
Madam Aurora – Tarot Card Readings.
”
Let’s go inside!” Lilly exclaimed.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Annabel replied
. S
he had an inborn distrust of psychics and palm readers which she had inherited from her mother
,
who maintained that they were nothing but con artists. Lilly’s mother
,
on the other hand
,
was very much into this sort of thing
.
Annabel remembered many
visits when
she would
arrive only to find
Lilly and Mrs. Clayton engrossed in a tarot card reading.
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Lilly urged her. “Don’t you want to get your fortune read?”
“I’m not sure
. I
f it’s anything like what it’s been recently, I think I’d rather stay in the dark.”
“Well, I want to get mine read
.
I want to see what’s in store for me and Simon,” Lilly insisted. “You don’t have to get yours read if you don’t want to.”
“All right, have it your way,” Annabel surrendered, knowing full well that once Lilly got something into her head, it would be impossible to talk her out of it.
Lilly tugged on the front door, but it was locked.
“It says here that you have to ring.” Annabel pointed to the small sign next to the intercom.
Lilly pressed the intercom button, but no one answered.