Stilettos & Scoundrels (48 page)

“You know what, Tobey, it wasn’t that important. Actually, I can’t even remember what it was about. I will let you two get back to your important work,”

Tobey
didn’t believe me for one minute and his smug expression showed it
.

“You guys have fun. Maybe I will catch up with you later.”

******

“She’s getting to be a real pain in the ass,” Helen said, looking at Tobey as he sighed and leaned against the desk.

“You’re the one who started it by meeting with her in the first place. Helen, I think we should rethink this whole thing. I’m just not sure it is a good idea.”

“Tobey you need to stop being such a wuss and realize you have to take risks to get what you want in life.”
“That worked so well for Tom now, didn’t it?” Tobey said sarcastically.

“He was a weak man. Got sidetracked by women and money.”

“But Helen…”

“Shut up, Tobey. We’re doing this my way.”

“Katy, calm down! I can’t understand you.”
S
he
was crying hysterically. I
couldn’t understand a
word she was saying. All I
could make out was something about Chris and Helen, and that she
’d be there in a minute. I
planned on
spending a quiet evening at my
parent’s home because all the exci
tement earlier today had worn me out, and to be honest, I
had no idea what to do or where to go next. Trevor was breathing down
my
neck for the article
, and I
wasn’t sure how to write it exactly
—
especially the way he wanted
with the murder angle because I
didn’t have anything from that angle.
Plus, I
was mad at
Cooper
and still had no clue about the situation with him, Dirt, and Simon or
about
who killed the
Senator for that matter. I
wanted to help Helen and get to the bottom of this replacing Tom thing, but wasn’t sur
e how to do that either. All I
wanted to do was to curl up with some coffee and a good book in front of the fire.

My
parents
had gone
into the city with some friends to see a play. They wer
e staying the night in my
apartment
,
so they didn’t have to drive back late at night.
They had tried to cancel their trip because they didn’t feel comfortable leaving me alone because of recent threat. Dirt still didn’t have any leads, and my mother was very worried about me, but I had finally convinced them to go by saying that I would have Dirt, or one of his guys, drive by and check on me and the house. I
was
look
ing
fo
rward to having the house to my
self. These l
ast few days had been crazy. I
wanted to decompress and think things over. Maybe something new would come to
me if I could just relax my mind. Plus, I
needed to think about
the feelings I
seemed to have for
Cooper
. However
, what kind of friend would I be if I
weren’t there for a friend in need?
I
told Katy to come on over.

I
heard a car pull into the driveway
,
pushed aside the curtains on the window above the co
uch where I
was sitting
, and saw it was Katy. I
got to the door as Katy reached it from the outside. She was still
crying uncontrollably as I
led her back into the living room and got her to sit down.

“Katy, calm down. Can I get you anything? Water? Ice cream? A knife to stab the insensitive jackass with?” Even if she hadn’t said what Chris had done, tears of this magnitude could only be about something significant
and were usually related to the opposite sex.
What was it about guys that women allowed them to have this power over their emotions?

Katy smiled in spite of herself and started to calm down a little.
I
handed her some tissues.
“Presley, you are not going to believe this.”

“What? Tell me.” Katy s
tarted crying harder and I
let her get it out. “Don’t cry. It can’t be that bad.”

“Chris is sleeping with another woman,” she replied.

Disappointing? Yes. What a jerk. Surprising? No.
Katy already told me
that the last few weeks he had seemed less interested. Unfortunately, with men, that usually meant someone else.
With Chris, that was already a proven M.O. I
knew that from personal experience. No wonder
Katy
w
as upset. From what she told me
the other day, she really liked him. Even though
I thought Chris was a jerk, I
felt bad for Katy. No one deserved to be screwed over
, and you couldn’t help whom you had feelings for
.

“I’m so sorry, Sweetie. Let me get the ice cream out. I think my mom has some Cherry Garcia. We can pig out and think of creative ways to maim him. Or would you rather have some chocolate cake? It’s with fudge butter cream frosting. There are a couple pieces left.”

“You will definitely need some ice cream after I tell you this next part,” she said bitterly.

“What?”

“Guess
who
he is sleeping with!”

“I would have no idea, Katy. I haven’t been around here long enough to know who it could possibly be. I don’t know…the blond
e
waitress at the diner? You know the
one with the big boobs?” I
tried to be funny, lighten the mood, and make Katy laugh, but she wasn’t in the mood to play twenty questions.

Katy shook her head. “You’d never guess in a million years.”

“Well?” I
looked at her expectantly.

“None other than…” she paused for dramatic effect.
Oh, please!
I
thought, but as a good friend
, I
wasn’t going to push her. If this made her feel better
, then who was I
to take that from her? A little melodrama never hurt anyone
,
and to be honest
,
it did sometimes make things more fun, brought levity to the situation.

“…Helen. Daniels.”
S
he started sobbing again.

I opened my
mouth and clo
sed it, no sound coming out. I
was speechless. So
that
must have been who Helen was making out wi
th the other night. Wow. I
never would have figured that
one out in a million years. I
was in total shock.

“Ok
ay
, ok
ay,” I
said
,
sitting back down on the couch. “Back up. Start from the beginning.
How did this even come up?” I
had to hear the whole story. This was going to be a doozey. K
aty started to talk, but I
interrupted, “Wait! Let me get the ice cream.”

After getting set
tled with their goodies, I
motioned for Katy to continue.

“I couldn’t take his indifference anymore,” she said, licking her spoon. “We were supposed to get together tonight
,
and once again, he tried to blow me off. So, I went to his work, waited for him to get out, and confronted him. I was pissed he kept canceling and doubly pissed that I went out and bought this new outfit and spent hours getting ready just to make him want me.”

I
could feel that pain. You hated to waste a good outfit. Once you put a new outfit on, some of the magic went away instantly. Kind of like when you drove a new car off the lot and it instantly depreciated, so if you tried to return it five hours later, you would lose money. Well, that’s pretty much how it worked with a new outfit. After the first time
,
it’s still cool and you looked good
,
but that special feeling was just not there.

“I asked him flat out who he was sleeping with,” Katy continued. “The minute I asked, I could see it in his eyes
that
he was screwing someone else. Until that point
,
I thought maybe I was wrong
and
that he
was
really busy at work
,
like he said.”

“And he told you he was sleeping with Helen? Just like that?”

“No, at first he didn’t want to tell me,” Katy replied. “I kept asking him over and over who it was. Who it was he liked better than me. I have to admit I was starting to get majorly upset, but he wouldn’t say anything. I think that’s what made it even worse. God, I feel so foolish to have liked him so much. Why was I so stupid? Why don’t I ever learn?” She started crying again
,
beating herself up over her perceived stupidity
for
liking Chris.

“You’re not the foolish one, Katy, he is. We all can have
bad
judgments
when it comes to
liking guys. I like to think it’s because it makes the
next guy seem so great.” I
was trying to be nice and patient
, but I
wanted to find out how she finally got him to tell her about Helen. “So, did he just finally admit it was Helen? I mean
,
what exactly did he say? It might be important, Katy
,” I
asked, trying to prod her along.

“No, I just started guessing names and for some reason I thought of Helen
—
more out of fun than anything else. I never in a million years would have ever thought it would be her. I think I would’ve been less surprised had it been Betty or one of our friends
’
mothers or something. But Helen? As soon as I said her name, I knew it. I could see it in his eyes. Plus, Chris can’t lie worth a damn.”

I
was
still
shocked
by this news. My
mind kept whirling. This changed everything. Or maybe it didn’t
. I
was still too shocked to think.
W
hy would a woman like Helen want a small-town guy like Chris? Not that anything was wrong with Chris
:
he was pretty cute.
But seriously, Helen, there were plenty of other guys out there, and you had to go and steal Katy’s?
What was she thinking? He wasn’t even close to her age.

“Did he give you any details?”

“I asked him how long it had been going on. I felt I had a right to know,” Katy said, jutting her chin out defiantly.

“What did he say?”

“Chris said he had been ‘seeing her
,
’ that’s how he put it, off and on over the last two years. I just can’t believe I fell for him again
,
and again this whole time he was seeing her. What could he possibly see in that old bag? I know she is beautiful
,
but she is at least twenty years older than
he is
. Do you think it’s the money? Although it’s not like she’s been giving him any. Or at least he hasn’t been spending any more than he usually would.
And for two years? How did this stay such a secret? God, I’m such an idiot.
”

“Did he say why?”

“No. He didn’t, and I’m not even sure I want to know at this point.”

“What a rat bastard,” I said, rubbing my
friend’s
back.
“Good riddance to him.” I
wondered how they met. Through Tobey? “I certainly hope you are done with him once and for all.” Why would someone like Helen Daniels carry on an affair with someone like Chris? No offense to Chris
,
but did she really like him?

“Should we tell Dirt? Or
Cooper
?” Katy asked.

“Why? They don’t care who Chris is sleeping with. Although maybe Dirt would throw him in jail for you,”
I
joked, trying to make her feel better. “I saw him look at you the other night in the diner. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find he likes you.”

“He does not.” But this brought a smile to her face.

“You didn’t see him. You never notice the way he acts around you?”

“I always thought he was a dork. Then I grew up,” she smiled. “Anyway, that was eons ago.”

“Hey, he’s single
,
so who knows
?” I
thought maybe Katy was right
, and we
should tell
Cooper or Dirt. If nothing else, we
could ki
ck his ass for hurting Katy. I knew we
would
do it, but part of me
didn’t want to
tell them, a
t least not
Cooper
with t
he way he’d been acting. And I
was still pissed at Dirt, though he didn’t know it yet, for the way he treated
Cooper,
based on what I saw in those clippings. I didn’t know what I
should do or what to think.
This was so complicated. I
was sure Helen having an affair would at least be a source of interest for them
, for a variety of reasons. We
sat in silence
,
the kind old friends can have comfortably
, and enjoyed our
ice cream
, both thinking about what she had just said. Then my
parents
’
phone rang
. I jumped up to answer it. My
parents hadn’t yet subscribed to the high
-
tec
h functions of caller ID, so I
had no idea who it might be. Pr
obably one of their friends. I
could take a messag
e and then go back to eating my
ice cream.