Moments later, Emory watched as the car turned the corner. She stood in her driveway for several delicious moments, the glow in her chest almost painful. There was a part of her that wished she were going with them. Instead, she made her way back to what now felt like a very empty house. It was with a full heart, however, that she placed a very large dish of water on the dividing wall out back along with a few small cubes of chicken for good measure.
Chapter Nine
It was all very well to make out with another woman on a couch and daydream about it for hours afterward, but quite another to take the first step toward a very big, life-altering declaration to the people she knew and loved. Sarah sat on the corner of her brand new desk, delivered just hours ago to the small office she’d rented for herself across the street from the main office of Immaculate Home.
Three days had passed since she’d seen Emory, and though she should be getting some work done on her new venture, she was desperately preoccupied with thoughts of Emory and dying to share this new development in her life with someone, anyone. While she was never one to keep secrets, the idea of announcing to her parents that she was dating a woman had about as much appeal as an all-night dentist’s appointment. She decided to go for the next best thing.
“We need to talk,” Sarah stated matter-of-factly into the phone. She could hear crashing and shrieking in the background, a sure sign that the boys were up from their naps. “Bad time?”
“Not at all,” Carmen practically shouted with relief. “You’re a grown-up, a hot commodity in my world. Hang on. Let me drag this cord into the closet.”
Sarah waited patiently while Carmen hid herself from her children in what sounded like a lost scene from Lord of the Flies. “Maybe I should call you later,” she offered, envisioning one of the boys with blood pouring from his face.
“No need. They’re just having fun. They’re boys. It’s what they do. What’s up?”
Sarah stood and walked to the window. “A lot. I think I might be ready.”
“All right. Ready for dinner? Ready for some football? To rumble? You’re going to have to help me out a little here.”
Sarah took a breath. “Ready to tell you that I have feelings for someone. I didn’t plan on this happening. In fact, it completely blindsided me. It’s not perfect, and there are things still in the way of this being a fully functioning relationship, but it’s a step, right? These feelings?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone before Carmen exploded like a Fourth of July firework. “Ahhh! This is the best news I’ve heard in months! What color should my bridesmaid’s dress be? Green? I like green. I can work it in green. I knew you two were perfect for each other! I told you. I told you! Didn’t I tell you?”
“Wait, Carmen, let me finish.”
“I can’t wait to tell Roman. He’ll be home any minute. We should all go to dinner together.”
“Nope, flag on the play. It’s not what you think.”
“Are you free this weekend? I could get a sitter.”
“Carmen, you’re not listening to me. I’m not talking about James.”
Another pause. “Well, then who?”
“Someone new.”
“What’s his name?”
Here goes nothing. “Actually, I’ve been kind of dating a woman.”
Silence. “I’ll be right over.”
*
Things were hopping at Global Newswire that Wednesday. Emory had personally handled five new client calls (three of which landed them new accounts), hired two new upper level sales people in the southwest region, and outlined a new leadership development track for promising junior account executives. Now she was moments away from concluding her weekly sales meeting and couldn’t wait to get home and tend to her real life, a feeling that was entirely new to her.
“So as you can see, our selling strategy is working for the mid-range companies, but the larger, public corporations haven’t latched on to the multimedia releases as readily.” Emory moved to the last slide of her PowerPoint presentation.
The end of the day was in sight.
“What I’d like to see happen in the next quarter, at least on the West Coast, is more of the services listed here, offered to our top clients, free of charge for five releases. If we give them a taste of the multimedia side of things, they’re going to see a huge jump in their stats and inevitably want more. After that, ladies and gentleman, we’ve got ’em.”
Her sales staff answered with a hearty round of applause.
“Thanks, everyone. August was a good month. Let’s make September even better.”
After some proverbial patting on the back of her upper level staff as they shuffled from the conference room, Emory sank into a black leather conference chair and finally gave her BlackBerry, which had buzzed several times throughout the meeting, her full attention.
Lucy lingered and tidied up the conference table, a job Emory had told her a hundred times could be left to their assistants. But Lucy was the type who liked to have her hands in everything, and eventually, she’d just given up.
“So that went well,” Lucy mused. “I think you sufficiently fueled their fire. I like this new motivational side of you. You look good in positive.”
Emory stared at her BlackBerry in horror. “Shit.”
“No, it was much better than that, trust me.”
Emory held her head in her hands. “This is so not what I needed right now.”
“It’s surely not that bad. What’s up?”
“Vanessa’s coming.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly.”
“What brings the ice queen to California?”
“Mother’s house sold earlier this week, and instead of just signing the papers and making this as quick and seamless as possible, she’s insisting on doing it in person. It gets better. She’s bringing her Mini-Mes and that robot of a husband along with her.”
“Double ouch. My sympathies, Em.”
“Want to come to dinner with us this weekend?”
“Ah, gee. So much to do this weekend. So terribly much,” Lucy said without a trace of emotion. “I don’t think I can swing it. Wow, so disappointed.”
“Nicely done.”
“Take Sarah.”
“In case I haven’t made it clear, I actually like Sarah, and it’s too early to scare her away entirely. Cruel and unusual punishment does not a good impression make. Vanessa’s not only a bitch, but she’s a snob and would be about as welcoming to Sarah as a cuddly python.”
“Touché.”
“Maybe I should start drinking heavily. An alcoholic for the weekend. What do you think?”
“I think I don’t envy you when it comes to spending time with Viper Barbie, but I know that you’ll handle her with the utmost of class and finesse until the moment you get to gleefully put her back on that plane to Aspen. I’d like to get your cartwheels at the airport on video this time.”
Emory sighed dramatically and wondered why in the world God had just slam-dunked her on what had been such a good week, thus far. Vanessa, really?
*
Sarah stared across the red and white checkered tablecloth at a very shell-shocked, wide-eyed Carmen. She’d managed to hold her off until the end of the workday when they could get together for a drink at Sabro’s and discuss the newest development in her life.
They sat at a table along the sidewalk so Carmen could keep an eye on her boys, who were busy wreaking havoc on the small playground across the street from the café.