by J. D. Griffo
When the elevator door opened it took her a moment to reconcile what she was seeing. The east wing on the third floor of St. Clare’s was currently under construction. To the right she saw the wooden frames of what would become the new cancer research center. Through the plastic sheets that were hung to contain the sawdust and noise, she saw several workers drilling, hammering, and using power tools Jinx didn’t recognize to build the space into the most prestigious, cutting-edge research facility in the East. At least that was according to the most recent press release St. Clare’s communications department had sent out.
To the left were the administrative offices, which had already been constructed and were being occupied. Human Resources, accounting, a large conference room, and the hospital administrator’s office, which was where Jinx was headed. The walls were painted a light gray, the couch and chairs in the small waiting area outside Human Resources were in a fabric of the same shade, and the coffee table in the corner of the room was glass and chrome. The only splash of color came courtesy of the three imitation Christmas trees that stood on the coffee table. The coned structures varied in height and each was painted a different shade of pink. Jinx was a traditionalist when it came to Christmas, so she disapproved.
Not as much as she disapproved of Bambi’s outfit.
Wyck had warned Jinx that Bambi was cartoonish, but she assumed he was making a bad pun. He wasn’t. Bambi was a full-figured woman, with an ample bosom, curvy hips, and a round face. Her makeup choices were bold, her black hair was teased, and her accessories were chunky. It was a dramatic look that matched her fashion sense.
She was wearing a tight-fitting Diane von Furstenberg wraparound dress in fire engine red, which did score her some points because it was Jinx’s favorite color. When Jinx spied the Cartier Panthère watch in yellow gold wrapped around Bambi’s right wrist, she thought she was seeing things. The watch had a retail value of about ten thousand dollars.
But it was Bambi’s shoes that made Jinx gasp out loud. She was wearing a vintage pair of Miss Wonderful’s red patent leather Pilgrim pumps with a gold buckle and a chunky heel. Jinx couldn’t contain herself.
“I absolutely love your shoes,” Jinx squealed.
“Thank you,” Bambi replied. “Life can be so boring most of the time, I like to spruce it up with my wardrobe.”
“You sound like my Aunt Joyce,” Jinx said.
“Joyce Ferrara?” Bambi asked.
“That’s the one,” Jinx replied.
“Who do you think I stole them from?” Bambi said.
Luckily, Jinx had acquired most of the answers to the questions she was asking in the first part of her interview because she kept mentally plotting ways she could return Bambi’s shoes to Joyce’s closet so she could have access to them. While one side of her brain was creating outfits to wear with the shoes she coveted, the other was listening to Bambi share facts about her life.
A recent widow, Bambi was fifty-seven years old and had held her current position for a little over six years. During her tenure she had spearheaded the hospital’s efforts to become a big player in medical research and boasted to Jinx that it was her idea for St. Clare’s to enter into a joint venture with the Sussex County Medical Center. The partnership allowed them to share costs, talent, and expertise. As a result, they would be doing clinical trials for two new cancer drugs in the upcoming year.
“That’s quite a feat,” Jinx said, pulling her thoughts away from her own feet. “Are you allowed to give me more information about the trials?”
“I can’t disclose any facts until after the public announcement is made in January,” Bambi said. “But you can definitely give your readers a tease of what’s to come.”
“Perfect,” Jinx said. “I’d like to do a follow-up with you once it’s okay to talk further. This is the kind of stuff I want to share with our readers and not just what you’ll be wearing to the Mistletoe Ball.”
Jinx hesitated a moment and then realized Bambi might be wearing something else that was stolen from Joyce’s closet. “On second thought, what will you be wearing to the Ball?”
“I haven’t bought a gown yet, but I’m doing that later today actually,” Bambi said. “I think this event is a good enough reason to splurge on a new dress.”
“Personally, I think any reason is good enough to splurge on a new dress,” Jinx said.
Their laughter stopped short when they were interrupted.
“Bambi, have you heard from my . . .” The woman stopped abruptly when she saw Bambi had company. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you had a meeting.”
“Not to worry,” Bambi said, all smiles. “I think the interview is wrapping up.”
“Aren’t you the doctor who treated my grandmother’s boyfriend, Sloan McLelland?” Jinx asked. “He had a brain injury and you had to induce a coma.”
The woman’s stunning good looks and platinum blond hair didn’t fit into the stereotypical look of a doctor, but that was her occupation.
“Yes, of course,” the doctor said. “You’re Alberta’s granddaughter, Jinx.”
“Dr. Kylie Manzini is one of our best,” Bambi said.
“I’m going to see Sloan soon, he has his yearly follow-up,” Kylie said. “I trust all is okay and he hasn’t had any repercussions.”
“He’s perfectly healthy and still courting my Gram,” Jinx said.
“I’m so glad to hear it,” Kylie said. “Give my best to him and your grandmother. Bambi, I’ll check in with you later.”
After Kylie left the room Bambi leaned forward on her desk. “I didn’t want to say anything while she was in the room because she’s not one of those doctors who has a huge ego, but Kylie is going to lead our research team.”
“I thought she was a surgeon,” Jinx replied.
“She’s career transitioning,” Bambi said. “Her new focus will be managing the drug trials and making breakthroughs to combat cancer.”
“That sounds like incredibly important work,” Jinx said.
“It is,” Bambi agreed. “Come il cacio sui maccheroni.”
“Despite my heritage, my Italian isn’t so good,” Jinx said. “Did you just say, ‘It’s like cheese on macaroni?’”
“Your Italian is better than you think! That’s exactly what I said!” Bambi squealed. “It’s the literal translation, colloquially it means ‘Just what the doctor ordered.’ And confidentially speaking between the two of us style mavens, Dr. Manzini needs to carve out a better balance between work and family life.”
“I don’t think I could ever separate the two,” Jinx said. “My family and work lives often merge into one.”
“You’re young,” Bambi said. “Give it some time and you’ll rearrange your priorities. I did.”
Jinx knew that she could give it all the time in the world, she wouldn’t want to have a life that wasn’t chock-full of her relatives. She also knew that she had to get those shoes back if it was the last thing she did.
“Benny, my photographer, will be taking photos of you tomorrow, but could I get one with you now?” Jinx asked. “Your outfit is gorgeous and the red will really pop against the black curtains.”
“I’d like to hem and haw about hating a photo shoot, but who am I kidding? I love being in the spotlight,” Bambi confessed. “Should I touch up my makeup?”
Jinx didn’t think it was possible to touch up her red matte lipstick, bronze eye shadow, and maroon rouge any further without making her look like a clown. “I wouldn’t touch a thing.”
Bambi stood against the black taffeta curtains that hung in front of the bay of windows on the left side of the office. As Jinx aimed her phone, she realized the curtains weren’t concealing windows, but a sliding glass door that must lead to the outdoor patio. Bambi put both hands on her hips to create a powerful, Wonder Woman stance, and just as Jinx snapped the photo, someone out on the patio walked into the frame.
“Sorry, let me take one more shot,” Jinx said. “Someone got in the photo.”
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Bambi’s powerful expression faded for a moment. “It must have been one of the girls in accounting. Some of them still go out to the patio to smoke.”
“At a cancer lab?” Jinx said.
“You’d be surprised by the things people get away with at work,” Bambi said.
* * *
Now that Sergio had been found, his family was able to turn their attention to Christmas and the upcoming Mistletoe Ball, which promised to be the event of the season. A relic from Tranquility’s past, the Ball was making a comeback after thirty-two years. And it was all thanks to Joyce.
In the beginning of its establishment, Tranquility was a vacation spot, a place where families from cities like Hoboken, Jersey City, and even New York, would come to spend a few weeks every summer by Memory Lake to escape the oppressive heat. In fact, before the town was officially declared a town it was simply known as Memory Lake because other than the lake and a few cottages, there was little else in the area. It wasn’t until a few years later that Aldo Nunzicola, a butcher from Hoboken, christened the original three hundred acres Tranquility.
After a while some of the families spent the Christmas holiday here as a way to avoid the hustle and bustle of the city during what was supposed to be a reflective time of year. They would have sleigh rides through what is now Tranquility Park, sing Christmas carols on the land upon which St. Winifred’s was built, and even skate on the frozen surface of Memory Lake. Despite its idyllic setting, most of the families came from good, blue-collar stock: small business owners, dock workers, manual laborers, and as far from high society as the sidewalk is from the top of the Empire State Building. They all came from similar backgrounds and they all understood the importance of family, both their own and the larger community.
What started out as simple pot-luck dinners held at a different family home each year evolved into a large celebration held at the biggest house in Tranquility, owned by Giuseppe Viccio, an ironworker from Guttenberg with seven kids, a wife, and two sets of in-laws. The party was held as soon as the families got to Tranquility as a way to start the holiday season and soon came to be known as the Viccio Ball. Since vischio is the Italian word for mistletoe, it was an easy metamorphosis for the annual gala to quickly find its more festive moniker, the Mistletoe Ball.
Each year the Ball got bigger as more families flocked to Tranquility to spend the Christmas season in more peaceful surroundings. At the same time, the town was beginning to transform into a year-round municipality and not just a vacation spot for two weeks out of the year. In quick succession mainstays were erected: Tranquility Arms, Tranquility Library, Tranquility Police Station, Tranquility Park, the original Tranquility Diner, St. Winifred’s of the Holy Well, and, most important of all, St. Clare’s Hospital.
After several decades excitement for the Mistletoe Ball turned into apathy, and what was once the premiere event in the town became another obligation. As the population grew and people became busier with their lives and commitments, interest in the Ball waned. Communities splintered into clusters of individual groups, and what had once been a can’t-miss event was, until recently, a a very distant memory.
That was all about to change, thanks to Joyce’s stroke of genius.
As a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Clare’s Hospital, Joyce headed the committee in charge of commemorating its upcoming centennial anniversary, which would also serve as a fundraiser for the new research initiative. The hospital’s birthday was December 10, so Joyce thought it would be fun to create a celebration that would also serve as a holiday kickoff, an event that would not only highlight the hospital as a Tranquility landmark but bring the people of the community together. What better way to do that than to connect Tranquility’s past with its future? Resurrecting the Mistletoe Ball was the perfect way to honor the town’s history and usher in a whole new era.
It would also mark a major change for the Ferrara family. Lisa Marie had agreed that since the event was next week, they would stay and attend. Alberta, ever the realist, didn’t read too much into her daughter’s decision because Sergio had made it clear that he wouldn’t return to Florida without first reconnecting with Natalie, and Lisa Marie wasn’t about to return home without her son in the back seat of her Subaru. No matter the reason, her daughter’s decision to extend her visit made Alberta realize that this would be the first holiday season in more than a decade that she’d get to spend with her entire family. It was a time to celebrate.
The only issue that arose was when Lisa Marie found out the Mistletoe Ball was a black-tie affair. She told her mother that with her and Tommy away from work, they didn’t have the extra money to buy fancy clothes to attend some Christmas party. As the matriarch of the family, Alberta said that she had an easy solution, she would pay for everyone’s new outfits.
The clause in Carmela’s will stipulating that Alberta couldn’t bequeath her money or her house to anyone was almost over. The language in the will, however, never stated that Alberta couldn’t shower her family with gifts. Which is why Sloan had taken Tommy to the Tranquility Tux Rental Company to get fitted for a tuxedo with Alberta’s credit card. Being the natty gentleman he was, Sloan owned his own tux, and being the blue-collar guy Tommy was, he refused to allow Alberta to buy him a brand-new tux; a rental would suit his needs perfectly.
Meanwhile, Freddy and Sergio had gone to Wilhelm’s, a trendy menswear boutique, where they could buy new tuxes and accessories for the Ball. Alberta had already made a visit and told Wilhelm himself to send her the bill directly. Although Sergio was being chaperoned, Lisa Marie and Tommy were still nervous about letting their wayward son out of their sight, so Jinx quelled their fears by instructing Freddy not to take his eyes off her brother or she would kill him. Freddy knew that his girlfriend wasn’t exaggerating.
Just as she started her car in the hospital parking lot, Jinx got a text from Freddy. Actually, several texts. Sergio’s getting antsy. Keeps looking at his phone. I think he’s gonna bolt. Jinx texted back, On my way.
* * *
Most people didn’t consider Jinx’s Chevy Cruze a sportscar, but she would disagree. She made it to Wilhelm’s in seven minutes when the trip should’ve taken fifteen. From her parking spot across the street she had a perfect view of the front door of the men’s shop and she didn’t have to wait long to see Sergio walk out of the shop by himself, quickly turn left, and run up the street. Slowly, Jinx pulled her car out onto the street to follow her brother. She didn’t worry that he would see her because he didn’t know what kind of car she drove, but even if he did, he appeared to be so focused he wouldn’t have noticed her if she drove up beside him, beeped, and told him to hop in.
Her phone rang and it was Freddy. She put her boyfriend on speaker, and before he could speak, she cried, “I’m on his tail.”
“You found him!” Freddy yelled.
“I got here just as he was leaving the store,” Jinx said.
“Dude! You’re amazing. I came out of the dressing room and the next thing I knew he’d given me the slip,” Freddy explained.
“It’s all right,” Jinx said. “I’m not going to let him out of my sight.”
“Did he hail a cab?” Freddy asked.
“No, he’s on foot,” Jinx said. “And I think I know exactly where he’s going.”
Jinx kept following Sergio, who had slowed down a bit to a jog but was still moving across town, away from the center to the more residential area. Right in between the two sections of town, however, was his destination. Jinx parked across the street from the Tranquility Arms and waited for her brother to do what she knew he would: enter one of the rooms.
Her heart beating a little faster than normal, Jinx walked over to the Arms, smashing the snowy ground with her boots, and when she was standing outside room 8, she banged on the door as loudly as she could. When she didn’t get an answer she did her best to match the high pitch and high volume of the manager’s voice.
“This is Sanjay!” Jinx bellowed.
“I need you to open up this door right now. Open up, I say!”
When Sergio opened the door he was stunned to see his sister instead of the hotel manager. Jinx, however, was not at all surprised to see a young woman lounging on the bed behind him. She knew in her gut that the woman was none other than Natalie.
CHAPTER 13
Breve orazione penetra.
“You must be Natalie,” Jinx said.
“And you must be this bad omen Sergio’s told me so much about,” Natalie replied.
“I could be your bad omen if you don’t start explaining yourself,” Jinx said. “What are you doing here and what do you want from my brother?”
In response, Natalie threw her head back on the pillow and laughed. Her throaty cackle filled up the room, a sound filled with ridicule, derision, and disrespect. She might be flat on her back, but Natalie was the type who looked down at the world from high atop her own self-made perch. Unfortunately, Jinx could tell she was also the type who made every man on the ground want to look up at her.
Natalie wasn’t merely pretty, she was Hollywood starlet beautiful. Fresh face, perfect figure, and just the teensiest bit trashy. Jinx thought her father had described her quite accurately, though her long legs, currently stretched out on the bed, made her look taller than her five foot five height, at least when viewed horizontally. Jinx had learned it wasn’t wise to judge someone by their appearance, but she made an exception this time. She grew up with a lot of Natalies in Florida, so without ever having met her before, Jinx knew exactly what this girl was like.
Natalie Vespa was a bad girl.
All throughout high school and college, Jinx had seen those girls in action. Making sure that even if they were wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt or running to cheerleader practice at the crack of dawn, they were impeccably groomed. Wearing just enough makeup to look natural, smelling like a spring breeze in a field of jasmine, and always showing just the right amount of flesh to ensure a stare and ignite a fantasy. It was a manufactured look that attracted a lot of potential buyers.
