by Maggie Brown
“Not yet. I’ll have lunch first.”
“What did you want to discuss with me?”
“We’ll talk about it while we eat.”
“What’s with you and Pandora?” Jessie asked abruptly. “You’re very friendly all of a sudden.”
Winter lifted her brows in surprise. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Come off it. Very touchy-feely for just acquaintances.”
“It was nothing.”
“Didn’t seem that way to me.”
“It’s hasn’t anything to do with you, Jess.”
“Someone has to look out for you.”
“Why? I’m a big girl.”
“Huh! Can’t you see Pandora wouldn’t suit you at all. You’re so bloody naïve when it comes to women and sex.”
Winter stared at her. Was there a challenge behind the words? Mockery? She frowned. “Just because I’m conservative doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
“Really? Hell…you let yourself be Christine’s doormat for years.”
Affronted, Winter couldn’t help but respond angrily. “I might have made the wrong choice there, but at least I made one.”
Jessie glared back at her. “What makes you so damn self-righteous. I’ll settle down one day, and when I do it’ll be with someone who fits with me.”
“Meaning what?”
Jessie gave a nonchalant shrug. “Meaning you’re going for the wrong types. You need someone sweet, nice, with not too many expectations, not too sophisticated…like Linda.”
Sometimes her attitude really ticked off Winter. She glowered. “Slightly dipsy, you mean?”
“Well…in the way…yeah. Someone uncomplicated.”
“And you think I’d be happy with a partner like that?” Winter snapped, itching to wipe the smug look off her face. “You know, sometimes I think you don’t know me at all. We’ve been best friends forever, but you’ve never seen past that awkward shy young girl I was when we first met. Believe it or not, I grew up. If you’d bothered to pay more attention to your friends rather than your next shag—”
She broke off, appalled at herself for letting Jessie get under her skin. She rocked back on her heels. “What are we doing? We never used to argue.”
A small cough echoed from the open door. She whirled around, horrified to see Pandora leaning on the doorframe, watching them. Her expression was inscrutable. With a mumbled, “Sorry for that display,” Winter brushed past her and headed inside. At the dining table, she called out, “Let’s eat.”
For once in her life, Jessie looked shame-faced when she sat down. She gave a feeble smile. “Well, that was awkward. Usually Winter doesn’t bite back, but I guess I pushed her too far. My only excuse…I had a really shitty day yesterday.”
Pandora’s eyes ran over her face. “Something happen at work?”
“Two kids came in with severe respiratory problems. It took hours to stabilize them properly.”
“You said you’re a paediatrician.”
“I specialise in respiratory paediatrics and I’m one of the Mater Children’s Hospital’s on-call specialists.”
Winter ate, simmering as she listened to Jessie talk about her work. She probably should admire her—she had turned a demeaning situation into a point scorer. Busy doctor overstressed from saving children. And Pandora seemed to be hanging on her every word.
As the jumble of anger and hurt settled down, Winter forced herself to push past her resentment and be reasonable. Jessie’s work was fascinating and heart-warming. And she was a good doctor who cared for her patients.
Damn! Facing the truth didn’t make her feel any better, it only made her more depressed. She couldn’t imagine anyone as vibrant as Pandora would be interested in listening to her waffle on about merges and acquisitions.
Silently she continued to watch morosely as the conversation moved to soccer, something else at which she had never excelled. On the other hand, Jessie had been a star, the captain of the university women’s team, and still played in a local team on Saturdays when not on call. She was dragged into the conversation when Pandora asked, “Did you ever play, Winter?”
“She’s not exactly a soccer babe,” piped in Jessie with a hearty chuckle.
Winter tried to answer cheerfully but couldn’t quite pull it off. “I seem to have two left feet when it comes to kicking a ball. They delegated me to be the water carrier.” Then rankled by the continual smirk on Jessie’s face, added defiantly, “I’m much better at golf.”
“I love golf as well,” replied Pandora, leaning forward over the table with a warm smile. “Perhaps we can have a round one day?”
“I’d like that,” murmured Winter, lost in the smile. “There’s a course attached to the local sports club down the road. Afterward we could have a massage. The woman there has magic hands.”
“Mmm. That sounds divine. Sign me up.”
“Done,” Winter answered, sinking back into a cloud at the thought of Pandora stretched out on the massage table.
She was brought back to reality by Jessie clattering her fork down on the plate. “Okay. Earth to Winter! Time to tell me why I’m here.”
She pulled her eyes away from Pandora to study her friend, whose smug smile had dissolved into a pout. She felt a little burst of satisfaction—Jessie looked put out. “We want you to do something,” she began.
“Go on.”
Winter threw a questioning glance at Pandora who nodded her go-ahead. “As you no doubt noticed, Michael has a giant crush on Pandora.”
“Yeah. He made that obvious the other night.”
“Well…it’s got to the point where he’s practically stalking her and he can’t seem to get it into his thick skull she’s not interested. Gussie has asked me to do something about the infatuation.”
Jessie stared at her. “Heck, Winter, it’s nothing to do with you. Butt out. He’s in his twenties.”
“I know but tell that to his mother. She’s really worried about him.”
Jessie cast a discerning look at Pandora. “Haven’t you told him to get lost?”
“I’ve tried to but it’s not quite that simple,” she replied with a grimace. “I’m expected to be pleasant to customers and he hasn’t done anything that would warrant his being tossed out by the bouncers. It wouldn’t be pretty. And quite frankly, I think he’s too obsessed now to take rejection well. This has been going on for months.”
“So…what are you proposing and how does it involve me? There’s no way I’ll talk to him if that’s what you’re suggesting.”
“Of course not,” Winter interjected. “We figured the best way to get the message across is for Pandora to be seen with someone else. Since she can’t do that at the club, I’m throwing a party for my birthday and we want you to be her date. There’ll be no dispute then that she’s simply not available.”
Jessie relaxed visibly, her face spreading into a wide grin. “Oh, that explains why you two have been so friendly. Sounds a good plan to me. I’d love to be your date, Pandora.”
“No doubt you have a technique or two to show your interest in me,” Pandora said lightly but there was a distinct gleam in her eye.
“You bet.”
“Just so long as you don’t forget we will be playacting.”
“Maybe it’ll be you that’ll forget,” replied Jessie with a wink.
Pandora laughed. “Perhaps. Who knows?”
“You wanna start practising?”
Pandora eyed her speculatively for a moment before she replied. “We probably should get to know something about each other to make it authentic.”
Winter’s heart sank. Jessie oozed sexual magnetism when in pursuit of a woman—she’d seen her moves often enough— and it was unlikely Pandora could resist her charisma for long. She’d read somewhere that people tend to take a partner who is roughly as attractive as they are, and both Pandora and Jessie were knockouts.
With a mixture of despondency and regret, she rose from her chair. To have to si
t listening to their flirting would be too demoralizing. “You two go into the lounge, or out on the terrace if you prefer. It’s a nice day to be in the fresh air. I’ll clean up. Afterward, I have to email a document to a client. I shouldn’t be too long. In the meantime, you two get to know each other and work out what you…um…have to.”
Pandora cast her a look of surprise and rose quickly from her chair. “We’ll tidy up…you did the cooking.”
“No,” said Winter firmly. “I’ve got this.” She made a shooing gesture with her fingers. “Go.”
Jessie climbed languidly out of her chair. “Come on, Pandora, let’s sit on the terrace. When Winter uses that tone of voice you haven’t a hope of changing her mind.”
Pandora flicked a speck off her blouse. “Maybe you’ve never really tried.”
The cocky grin disappeared. “I think I know her a bit better than you.”
“No doubt, but sometimes old habits die hard. We all change as we grow older.”
Winter stared at her. Pandora wasn’t talking about the washing up, she was admonishing Jessie for the conversation between them earlier on the terrace. She’d clearly heard most of it and was standing up for her. Nobody had ever done that for her. Something shot through Winter, a warm feeling she’d never felt before.
With a sniff to fight back a tear at the unfamiliar rush of emotions, all she could do was smile before turning abruptly to seek the sanctuary of the kitchen.
Chapter Thirteen
With misgivings, Pandora watched Winter exit the room. She looked upset, which perturbed her much more than she was prepared to admit. The woman was getting under her skin. It had been a long time since anyone had come anywhere close to interesting her as much. Winter’s face was intriguing rather than pretty. She loved the bump on her nose, the tiny cleft in her chin, how her wide mouth curved into a shy smile and the way her head tilted like a bird when she was asked a question.
Pandora had never put much score on looks. She had met enough drop-dead gorgeous women to know that beauty was not necessarily goodness. Maybe she was just jaded with the trumpery of the nightclub scene, but it was so refreshing to find someone genuinely nice who wasn’t out to impress. A no-frills type of person—what you saw was what you got with her. Reserved as well, which made her just that much more alluring. But whatever it was that drew her to Winter was real. When she’d left the room, she’d taken all the warmth with her.
She turned her attention to Jessie, who sat relaxed in the brown rattan chair opposite, her outstretched legs crossed at the ankles. Her elbows on the armrests, Pandora quietly studied her. The doctor was sexy, charismatic, with a big soft spot for kids but no doubt had some personal issues.
“Tell me about yourself, Jessie,” she said encouragingly.
Jessie looked at her with an enquiring smile. “You know about my work. What else do want to know? I’m a pretty laid-back kind of gal.”
“If we’re going to make this believable, it would be advisable to say we’ve been dating for at least a month. Otherwise…and don’t take offence at this…Michael will presume I’m just one of your casual hook-ups. We have to make it plain it’s much more than that. He’s not to know we didn’t know each other before your first visit to the club. You were sitting next to me.”
Jessie flushed. “Righ—tttt.” She drew out the word, plainly cautious now. “I’m not complicated. I like foxy women, fast cars, and hard rock.”
“Well, that’s putting it in a nutshell,” said Pandora with a chuckle. “Favourite car?”
“Acura NSX.”
Pandora gave a sharp whistle. “Wow! You have one of those?”
“Nope, but I’m working on it. The new model costs north of two hundred and fifty thousand.”
“That’d take some serious saving. What about rock bands?”
“Queen is my all-time favourite…more modern, Linkin Park.”
“Good choices. I’m more into blues and easy listening, but I appreciate all music.” Pandora gave a secret smile. “So…where do you usually take your…ah…foxy dates?”
“To dinner, dancing. To bed.” Jessie’s eyes flashed an invitation. “You think we should go on a date?”
Pandora’s lips twitched. God, the woman was such a Fig Jam. “I don’t think it’d be necessary. But if I change my mind, maybe we should start with dinner. I like to work up to the rest.”
“Ah…you like to be chased a while,” said Jessie, looking amused.
“Just let’s say if I’m interested in someone, I prefer taking things steadily, making what follows count.”
“Never could see the point of waiting. Sex is a fabulous way to relax and we all need it.”
Ain’t that a fact, thought Pandora as a mental picture of Winter naked on her bed appeared. She quickly hunted the image away to concentrate on Jessie. “I take it you don’t like to get involved?”
“Everyone who goes home with me knows the score.”
“Then you don’t really date per se? You like meeting women at bars?”
“Occasionally I take someone out. But to this point I—” Her words trailed off and her expression changed from bold to uncertain in an instant. “Damn it, Pandora, you’re making it sound like I’m some cold-hearted womanizer. I just like things uncomplicated and fun. What’s wrong with that?”
“Hey. There’s nothing wrong with that. I didn’t mean to be critical. I’m just trying to understand a few things.”
“What things?” asked Jessie, stiffening.
“For a start…why you spoke to Winter like that. You seem to think you have carte blanche with your own love life, but she shouldn’t have choices. Seems to me she’s a hell-of-a-nice person who deserves a bit more understanding from a friend.”
Jessie opened her mouth, then snapped it closed. An angry flush spread across her face. “It’s none of your business.”
“Okay…point taken. I’m sorry if it sounded like I was prying, but I couldn’t avoid hearing your argument. It seems to me like you’ve got some unresolved issues with Winter and her ex. Who exactly is this Christine?”
“Christine Dumont.” The words were spat out. “She’s a news reader on Channel Seven, and one of the hosts of their morning show.”
Pandora stared at her. “That Christine! She’s the ex?”
“Uh-huh. I take it you’ve watched her.”
“Who hasn’t. She’s been around for years.” Dumont was one of television’s biggest stars, a striking, well-groomed woman who was an accomplished interviewer and very photogenic. The cameras loved her. She didn’t appeal much to Pandora though, too narcissistic and pushy for her taste. One of those news commentators who thought they ran the country, constantly criticising politicians over frivolous matters. Certainly not a good fit for a woman like Winter. In fact it was hard to imagine them together.
She’d even met her once. About four months ago, Dumont had come to the Fox with some of the Seven network’s crew for a celebration. What the occasion was she couldn’t quite recall, but she remembered the TV star very well. Yuri, perpetually on the lookout for an opportunity to give the club a plug, had requested she join them for a few drinks after her last song. Late in the night, she was having a great time with the vibrant media crew when Dumont had made a whisky-soaked aggressive pass. After Pandora had prised the woman’s grasping fingers from around her thigh, she ignored the expletive that followed and went off home.
She eyed Jessie curiously. “What was your problem with her?”
“They were never suited…right from the beginning the woman was an overbearing prissy princess. Then Winter asked her to move in with her. Shit, even when she was spending her money like water, she didn’t toss her out.”
“But she did in the end. Or was it the other way around?”
Jessie snorted. “That bitch wouldn’t have left her cash cow. No, it was Winter who broke it off. She told Chris to get out when she caught her fucking the pool boy in the garden bungalow.”
Pandora swa
llowed the lump that suddenly materialized in her throat. Poor Winter. She probably wouldn’t have seen it coming either. Suddenly, the dynamics of the triangle began to take shape. Jessie was very possessive of Winter. What their friendship meant to her wasn’t quite clear, but it must have hit her hard when Winter moved on with her life with another woman. She doubted Jessie harboured any sexual feelings for Winter, or vice versa, for there were no vibes they had anything other than a very close friendship. If she were to hazard a guess, she looked on Winter more as family.
Christine would have hated Jessie in return. She liked to control—that was obvious in her interviews—but there was no way she would have been able to manipulate this brash, confident doctor. The only way to dominate Winter was to take her away from Jessie’s influence. And she would have done that subtly and methodically, without Winter even realizing it was happening.
“She sounds like your worst nightmare. Winter must have been devastated when she caught them?”
“Not really. Upset by the cheating naturally but was relieved to have a way out of the relationship. She told me after two years there wasn’t much love left and Christine was very difficult to live with. I read between the lines that she was a bully. I had no idea things had become so bad.”
Though Pandora felt a wave of empathy for Winter, she had difficulty ignoring the happy urge to smile at the news she wasn’t pining for her ex. Then knowing she needed to get off the subject of Winter or Jessie would become annoyed, she said in a soothing voice, “You weren’t expected to know, so don’t beat yourself up over it. We all have to be responsible for our own choices. Now tell me about your family.”
To her surprise, Jessie began to squirm in the seat, sucking in air like she was trying to stop throwing up. “I don’t often talk about my childhood. It isn’t—” She halted mid-track, then hesitated for a moment before she slowly drew her legs up until her feet were planted squarely on the floor. “Goddamn it—why the heck not? I’d really like to get to know you better, Pandora, so I want you to know where I’m coming from.”
