Blank Slate

by Olivia Saxton

“It was that fancy champagne and Belgium caviar that did us in,” Bruce said with distress.

  “Belgium caviar?” Layla said with bewilderment. “Let me see the bill.”

  Bruce handed her the receipt. Then he pulled out his keys and turned on the keychain flashlight for her. He shined the light on the paper.

  She quietly read it as they waited with bated breath.

  “Well?” Alec hissed as he pulled at his collar.

  “Well, there isn’t really Belgium caviar out there. It was Beluga, top of the line, caviar. The most expensive you can get, and the platters were five hundred apiece. It says here you ordered four of them.”

  “Oh, god,” Alec groaned.

  “Cristal champagne isn’t the most expensive, but it’s up there, and you had two bottles.”

  “Nice going, Mr. I-Want-to-Pretend-to-Be-Somebody-I’m-Not,” Alec said to Bruce.

  “That was three hundred and eighty per bottle. Ooo, stuffed lobster. I’ve been meaning to try that here. Just one sorbet serving? You should have gotten two. One to clear your palates after the caviar,” she said as she kept looking at the receipt.

  Bruce snatched it out of her hand and turned off his flashlight.

  “Damn it, Bruce, I am not dipping into my life savings to pay for all this,” Alec snarled.

  “I figured you say that, so when Margo suggested we go to her house for a nightcap, I jumped at the invitation. I told them that we will meet them there, and to go ahead without us. We would settle up the bill. When I knew they were in the parking lot, I dove out of there and came out here to find you so we can get the hell out of here.”

  He caught his partner’s meaning. “Shit, we can’t skip out on a restaurant bill. At the very least, we’ll get reprimanded,” Alec said. “And I’m the son of a cop.”

  “Retired cop,” Bruce corrected.

  “He’s still a cop.”

  “Are you willing to pay for it, then?” Bruce asked.

  “No,” Alec sneered.

  “Well, I can’t cover it, even if I wanted to. All three of my credit cards are maxed out,” Bruce explained. “I scoped the place out real quick. If we walk out of the maze exit on the north side, we’ll be at a grassy noel. There’s a cement bench a few feet away from a fence that lines the parking lot. If we get a running start, we can jump on the bench so we can scale the fence.”

  “What? That’s ludicrous,” Lana said as her facial features twisted. “You two can hurt yourselves doing that.”

  “We’ve done stuff like that more than you know,” Alec said.

  “Alec, you don’t have a credit card to put the bill on?” Lana asked with disbelief on her face.

  “Of course I do, but it will take me forever to pay it off with the interest rate, and I will not dip into my savings for some mediocre double date,” Alec stated stubbornly.

  “Then, kiss her ass goodbye so we can get the hell out of here. It won’t take long for them to notice that we’re gone,” Bruce said.

  Alec pulled Layla into a hard kiss and quickly released her. “Get back before they notice that you’ve been gone too long. I’ll text you tomorrow.” And with that, Alec and Bruce raced through the maze.

  Alec followed his partner out the exit of the maze. Bruce curved to the right. The bench he had mentioned was ahead. There was a water fountain that was running. The sound of the trickling water could cover up any noise they might make.

  Bruce and Alec looked at each other. Then they started running side by side. Their run turned into a sprint. They placed one foot on the bench, using it to gain more height on their jump. They were able to grab the edges of the fence. They climbed over it, rolling over and down into the bushes and flowers below.

  “Shit. I just got this suit three months ago,” Alec complained as he scrambled to get off the branches of the bushes.

  Bruce just rolled off the two bushes that caught him and landed on the ground, crushing a large patch of purple and white flowers. He didn’t seem to mind though.

  They jogged through the parking lot to the SUV. Bruce hit the button on his key chain to unlock the doors when they got closer to it. They both opened the doors at the same time and hopped in. Bruce started the engine and put it in drive. He didn’t even stop long enough to put his seatbelt on. His partner maneuvered the SUV with quick ease through the parking lot. Tires screeched as they pulled out on the main road.

  Chapter 32

  Normally, Alec would have told Bruce to drop him off at home and go ahead with the rest of his evening, but he wanted to know how Margo found out about him and Lana.

  Bobbi answered the door. “Hey, what took you guys so long?”

  “We stopped by a convenient store for gas,” Bruce said and kissed Bobbi on the cheek.

  She giggled as she let them in.

  Margo’s first floor was definitely set up for entertaining. She had an open floor plan. The walls were light brown. The color continued all the way into the kitchen. Lightly stained hardwood floors throughout, gold-colored granite countertops, and lightly stained wood for cabinets. The huge island had four custom-made bar stools in front of it. There was a sink on the island, too. Margo’s living room furniture was plush. Pink throw pillows decorated the white sofa and three chairs. She had glass-top tables, and the fireplace was gas. There was a small fire burning in it.

  Alec thought it was still a little warm for a fire, but it didn’t make the room overly hot. It added to the sophisticated ambiance of the dimmed lights.

  “Name your poison, boys,” Margo said as she lined up liquor bottles on the island.

  “I would love a beer. American beer,” Bruce said.

  “I got Bud Light,” Margo offered.

  “That’ll work. And don’t put it in a fancy glass. I’m drinking it right out of the bottle,” Bruce said proudly as he put his arm around Bobbi’s shoulder.

  “Alec?”

  “Rum and Coke, if you have it.”

  “I do.”

  Bobbi was already sipping on a glass of champagne.

  “Have a seat in the living room. I’ll be in with your drinks in a minute,” Margo said.

  Bruce and Bobbi went into the living room.

  Alec walked into the kitchen. “Let me help you.”

  Margo snickered. “You don’t want to help me. You want to talk to me alone about yours and Layla’s little secret.”

  Damn, is she always this blunt?

  “How did you figure it out so quickly?”

  “The day after Thanksgiving, I was power walking. Damien stopped me and asked how a dish Layla advised me on turned out. I didn’t call her on Thanksgiving evening about a dish. That’s when I figured that she got a call that she didn’t want her husband to know about. When I confronted her, I noticed a bad makeup job on her neck. Women apply makeup on that area of their neck to hide hickeys.”

  “Oh,” he said bashfully.

  She chuckled. “However,” she said softly. “I didn’t know who her secret lover was until tonight. As soon as she walked in, there was no other woman in the room as far as you were concerned. I could see it all over your face.”

  “I see. So, you’re just keeping this a secret out of the goodness of your heart?”

  “Well, Layla is a particular favorite of mine. I don’t want to hurt or embarrass her.”

  Alec nodded.

  Margo pulled out a glass from a cabinet. She already had a glass of champagne for herself on the counter. Alec wondered if it was the high-priced stuff they had at the country club. She put the glass under her icemaker. When she was done, she set it on the counter.

  “I take it that’s my glass?”

  “Yep,” she confirmed.

  “Just let me make it,” he said and grabbed the bottle of Bacardi on the island.

  As he poured the liquor, she asked, “So, how long have you been in love with her?”

  His eyebrow cocked up as he stopped pouring. “What makes you think I’m in love with her? We could just be having a little
fun.”

  Margo laughed. “Because men who are just having a fling with a woman don’t barge into the ladies’ room desperate to speak with their lover.”

  “Who did that?” Bruce asked as he entered the kitchen.

  “Nobody called for you,” Alec stated.

  “I want my beer,” Bruce said.

  Margo opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Bud Light. She picked up the bottle opener on the counter and popped the top. Then she turned around and handed it to Bruce.

  “Thanks,” he said and took a long slow swallow. “Ah, damn that’s good. Now, what is this I hear about a dude going into the girls’ bathroom?”

  “I had to go into the ladies’ room to tell someone something,” Alec said. “Happy?”

  “I don’t know if you had to come in,” Margo teased.

  “Oh, yeah? What was it like being in the ladies’ room?”

  “Unbelievable. They got a room in there where they can sit down or even lay down. There was a refrigerator, mirror, and a damn TV,” Alec answered. He was still astonished about it.

  “Get the fuck outta here!” Bruce exclaimed with shocked disgust.

  “What’s going on?” Bobbi asked.

  “Alec was telling me the secrets of ladies’ bathrooms. No wonder y’all are always going in there and never wanting to come out. Goddamn TVs! You’re probably in there watching Lifetime Movies.”

  Margo and Bobbi laughed hysterically.

  “This is bullshit. In the men’s room, we’re lucky that the urinals are clean and the stalls have doors on them,” Bruce complained.

  Margo slowed her laughing. She had tears in her eyes. “There are two lounge rooms in the country club ladies’ room, but that’s beside the point. They’re not all as nice as the one at the country club. In a half-decent place, you might have a changing table if you have a child, a couch, and a machine filled with feminine hygiene products.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Bruce said with disgust.

  Alec was shocked, too. “Yeah, I mean, some men’s rooms have condom machines, but they’re usually empty.”

  “Hell, I never seen a couch in one,” Bruce stated.

  “And we need to be our own security,” Alec said.

  “What do you mean?” Bruce asked.

  “Well, a burly, hard-faced woman threw me out as soon as she discovered me in there,” Alec answered.

  Bruce’s eyes widened. “Bullshit.”

  “I’m telling you the truth.”

  “Security?” Bobbi inquired.

  “The attendant,” Margo clarified.

  Bobbi laughed her head off.

  “There wasn’t even one of those in the country club men’s room,” Bruce stated.

  All in all, it was a good night. Alec and Bruce drank with the girls as they all told crazy stories from their misspent youth.

  They had more than a few drinks, so Margo offered Bruce and Alec a guest room. Bobbi slept in a room by herself. It was about six a.m. when the men headed home.

  Chapter 33

  Alec sat in his office chair staring out the window. He had only seen Lana once in two and a half weeks. They had texted and chatted quickly over the phone, but it just didn’t seem like they could find time for each other. If Alec wasn’t working overtime to wrap cases up before the New Year, Lana had some social obligation, was running a bunch of errands, or had a therapy session.

  It was getting ridiculous. He had yearned for her for over fifteen years, and now she was within reach, and they still weren’t back together.

  His cell rang.

  He turned around in the chair and picked it up off the desk. He didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway. It could have been a tip on a case. “Hello?”

  “You owe me thirty-eight hundred dollars!” the woman screamed.

  “What? Who is this?”

  “It’s Margo St. John. You know, the woman you took on a blind date and stiffed with the bill!”

  He didn’t recognize her voice because she was shrieking like a banshee. Then he realized that she was talking about the country club bill. “Um, how did you get my number?” he asked, hoping to stall so he could come up with a good excuse.

  “I called Layla and told her about the country club’s manager calling me about an unpaid dinner bill. She was kind enough to give me your number and step aside. If I didn’t have such a great reputation at that place, they would have never believed that you and that Neanderthal you call a friend suckered us.”

  Alec was shocked. “I can’t believe she gave you my number.”

  “It seemed like she wanted you to learn a lesson from this.”

  That sounds like her.

  “How come you didn’t call Bruce or Bobbi to call Bruce?”

  “I didn’t want to hurt Bobbi’s feelings. She likes Bruce a lot for some reason. Now, about the bill.”

  “We never meant for you to get stuck with it. Since we didn’t hear anything, we thought they wrote it off as a loss.”

  “Not likely. Half the waiters in there know me as a member, and they saw me with you.”

  “Oh, boy,” he groaned. He could see his boss now reaming him and Bruce out in his office.

  “I took care of it because I didn’t want to be associated with a scandal, but I want to be reimbursed,” she said sternly.

  “Now, wait a minute,” Alec began. “It was you and Bobbi who ordered the most expensive stuff on the menu. A three-course meal with modest alcohol would have been sufficient.”

  “Considering the fact that y’all suggested the place, I thought you two could afford it,” she said strongly. “Plus, Bruce is the son of some millionaire factory owner.”

  He didn’t want to snitch on Bruce, but he wasn’t going to get stuck with this. “Look, it was your girl Bobbi who asked Bruce to take her to the country club. I was just along for the ride like you were.”

  “I should have known. Bruce is full of shit, isn’t he? Damn it. It’s too late to warn Bobbi about him now. If I say a word against him, she’ll accuse me of being jealous or something. Shit,” she spat out with irritation.

  He felt bad for Margo. He knew she was between a rock and a hard place. As a man, he felt like a jerk. Only players and users would let a woman down on a date. “I tell you what; I’ll reimburse you for half. Will that make it right?” Half he could afford; plus, he knew he could get half of what he was going to give to Margo back from Bruce.

  She was quiet for a moment. “That, and I need you to do me a favor.”

  “What is it?”

  “I have been invited to two . . . pretty prestigious Christmas parties this Saturday in the neighborhood. We can practically walk to them. I don’t want to go alone, so I’ll need a date to both.”

  He was surprised. “Margo, you’re an attractive woman. I’m sure you can get a date to these parties.”

  “I got a small black book of guys, but they’ll expect sex later, and I’m not in the mood for that. Now, I’ve met three new guys during the past few weeks, but I don’t feel like fighting them off at a nice Christmas party.”

  “Oh, so basically you want me to escort you because you know I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

  “Well, when it comes to me, that is,” she said in a teasing tone. “One of the parties is at the Mileses house.”

  His eyebrows went up as he sat up in his chair. “Really?” he said with intrigue.

  “Yes, really,” she said with a smirk in her voice.

  “Well, I suppose I can agree to your terms, but don’t tell Layla that you’re bringing me. I want to surprise her.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, she could have at least warned me that you were on a war path. Now, it’s time for payback.”

  “This is going to be wild,” she said with excitement.

  “One can only hope,” Alec said with a smirk.

  ****

  Therapy was going slow. Layla had only had two new memories in the last two weeks. One was when she was
in high school on the cheerleading squad. The other was of her, Alec, Bruce, and a blonde, who hadn’t been in any of her previous memories, at the beach. She wasn’t sure what beach it was, but it looked like they were having fun swimming in the ocean.

  “Well, Layla, it looks like we’re hitting a wall,” Victoria stated as she made notes on her legal pad. “What would help is if you can get another piece of your past to jog other memories to the surface.”

  She thought for a moment. “Well, Alec said that he had my mother’s phone number. He hasn’t told her or anyone in my family that I am alive. Then again, I’m not sure if I’m ready to speak to her. She’s still legally married to my father, but they are separated.”

  “You hadn’t talked about your family since that one memory you had of them.”

  “It’s kind of a sad ending. Alec told me over two weeks ago that a year after I disappeared, my parents separated. It got to the point that my mother couldn’t stand being around my father anymore. You see, when I went missing and the FBI dropped the active case, Alec called my parents and told them what happened. In hindsight, he made a mistake. My father got angry and traveled to New York to confront Carter. Well, more like kill him.”

  “Literally?”

  “Yes. My father found Carter in one of his legitimate restaurants and pulled a gun on him. My father is old. He wasn’t quick enough pulling the gun out, and Carter’s goons were on him like white on rice. Carter recognized who he was. He got in my father’s face. He smirked at him as he ordered the guys to take him to the back alley and teach him a lesson. They beat him within an inch of his life. If that wasn’t bad enough, they crippled him. He’s in a wheelchair now, paralyzed from the waist down.”

  “Alec told you this?”

  “Yes. My father told him the story when Alec went to see him in DC. My father had asked to see him, and Alec showed up. Alec said that he believed he owed my father that much. Alec had been surprised when he showed up and a nurse answered the door and my mother was gone. My father was an ornery cuss, from what I remember, to start with. I’m sure he was ten times worse being in a wheelchair. My mother had told him that life was too short to keep dealing with his crap and walked out. She lives in Hampton, Virginia, now. Alec said that’s where she’s from, and she has lots of family there. My sister, Tina, wrote my dad off when my mother left.”