by Jane Frances
“I know,” Joel grinned, primping his dark, curly locks. “A pure Adonis.”
“Prima donna more like it.” Lisa did a sweep of the new surrounds as the doors opened. Because of her trade, she instinctively looked at the flooring first. Banker maroon carpet greeted her eyes. As did a pair of expensive looking black pumps. They were attached to—Lisa had to let out a laugh as her gaze lifted further— her back lane neighbor. This was just too much of a coincidence. So Toni was her name. She hadn’t caught it on either of their previous meetings. At least she assumed it was Toni, her stance indicating she was waiting for their arrival. Lisa stretched out a hand. “Hi. Toni? Joel spoke to you on Saturday. We’re here to do a quote for some tiling.”
In turn Toni held out a hand to them, her expression unable to disguise her similar surprise.
Lisa got the feeling she was being openly scrutinized.
She was, and not only by Toni. The receptionist was staring at her like she’d never seen a woman in work boots before. Swallowing her discomfort, Lisa switched to business mode and said, “If you’d like to show us the areas you want tiled, we can start measuring up. We can get the other details after we’re finished.”
“Other details?” Toni gave a blank look, then Lisa’s meaning registered. “Oh, you mean the tile.” She took the few steps to the reception desk, picked up the samples and passed them over. “The two on the top are our favorites. We haven’t quite figured which one yet.”
“That’s okay.” Lisa flipped through the samples, turning them over before handing them to Joel. They weren’t whole tiles, but at least stickers on the reverse gave their specifications. “We can advise on what will best suit your needs.”
“Okay,” Lisa said. Toni watched in silence as Joel placed the samples back on the reception desk. “Point us in the right direction and we’ll get started.”
“Well, we want all this done.” A sweep of Toni’s arm encompassed the whole reception. She led them toward the hallway, pointing as she explained, “Then there’s the passage and the staff room. There’s also the bathroom, which is just past the staff room, and the photocopying room which is next to that.”
“And the offices?” Joel piped up, after he and Lisa had stolen a peek when passing an open office door. They had caught each other’s eye, Joel mouthing a silent, “Wow.” Lisa could almost hear the flutter of banknotes in his head. “Do you want them tiled as well?”
Toni looked a bit sheepish. “We haven’t quite decided on that yet either.”
Lisa sighed, wishing people would put a bit more thought into their needs. She couldn’t count the number of times they quoted on clients’ half-baked ideas, only to have them decide on something altogether different further down the track. “That’s okay. We can measure the whole lot then submit two quotes, one with the offices, one without.”
“Thanks.” Toni gave a nervous little cough and raked fingers through her hair. “I suppose I’ll let you get down to it then.”
“Okay.” Lisa was also used to this reaction, the client torn between leaving them to do their job, or to tag behind and keep talking. She generally preferred to be left alone for the process, not comfortable with having someone peer over her shoulder. “Would you like us to do your office first?”
Toni nodded, ushering them toward the office they had peeked at before. Once there she still seemed unsure whether to stay or go. She stayed, eventually moving to the entrance to avoid tripping over the tape measure.
“One down.” Joel flashed his most winning smile, letting the tape snap back into its casing with a satisfying metallic twang. “Two to go.”
“Umm,” Toni glanced a bit further down the hallway. “Could you do the office right at the end of the passage next? I just have to check Cathy hasn’t a client in with her.”
Lisa was busily scribbling figures onto her pad. The lead of her pencil snapped off as she jerked her head around. Coincidence could only go so far. Surely it couldn’t be the Cathy. But then again, it could be. Cathy had been with Toni on Friday night. And this was an accountancy practice. Cathy had been studying to be an accountant. As had Lisa. Lisa plunged into her memories, retrieving snippets of a conversation from many years prior. Cathy had said, “Think how good it will be Lisa. Our very own practice— Cathy Braithwaite and Lisa Smith: accountants extraordinaire.”
They had spent many hours over many months discussing that dream to the last detail. These offices bore little resemblance to the picture Lisa found in the recesses of her memory, but some telltale touches were there. The Chesterfield lounge in the waiting area, the framed Escher prints which lined the hallway, and the stylized silver typeface of the business name on the wall behind the reception desk. Finally the name of the practice made sense. CBW. Crusty, Bald and Withered it was not. The use of the W was technically incorrect, but it had to be Cathy Braithwaite.
Joel waved a hand in front of Lisa’s face as she stared at Toni’s back. “Come on girlfriend,” he said in a low whisper which held the traces of a laugh. “We’ll be here ’til midnight if you keep perving at the customers.”
“Uh.” Lisa snapped back to reality. She hurried to the end of the passage, footsteps quickening as she passed the middle office, although Toni had already entered and shut the door.
The young woman frowning at some papers nearly jumped out of her skin when Lisa knocked on the half open door.
“Sorry to startle you.” Lisa wiped a hand over her brow, disconcerted to find she was sweating. “We’re here to measure up for the tiling. Can you spare a few minutes or shall we come back later?”
“No that’s okay.” The woman, Julie according to the name plate that sat at the front of her desk, stood and shuffled the papers into a pile. She placed a heavy text on top of them. “Toni said you’d be coming sometime this evening. I’ll just get out of your way.”
“She’s quite cute too.” Joel offered the end of his tape measure to Lisa. “Looks like this is going to be a good job. For you anyway.”
“Shut up Joel.” Lisa scowled as she pulled the tape and held it to the far wall. If her suspicions were correct and Cathy was the owner of the practice, there was no way she was going to take on this job. “I told you. I’m through with women.”
Once they had finished measuring Julie’s office, Lisa and Joel aimed for the third and final office. The door was still closed. Instead, they busied themselves with the other rooms and the hallway.
“Reception next.” Joel strode off, unaware of Lisa’s unease.
“We’re going to have to check if they want this moved or if we tile around it.” Joel was on his knees, examining the base of the curved reception console. “It looks like it may be fixed to the floor.”
“Uh-huh.” Lisa made a note of it on her pad, having begged another pencil from Joel. Sue, the receptionist, hovered a few feet away, openly watching her every move. Lisa took a quick glance at her watch. Twenty past six. Wasn’t it time for all good receptionists to be on their way home?
“That’s it I think.” Joel lifted his frame from the floor. “Just the one office left to do.” He turned to Sue. “Is it okay if we go and knock?”
“I’ll ring through for you.” Coming within a hair’s breadth of Lisa’s back, Sue reached for the phone. “The tilers are ready to measure up your office.” Returning the handset to its cradle, she turned back to Lisa, “They’ll be out in a minute.”
“Great.” Lisa shuffled sideways, moving away from Sue and closer to Joel. A roll of her shoulders relieved some tension. Lisa didn’t know why she was so tense. She had managed Cathy quite well on Friday night, albeit with quite a few beers under her belt. Although their next meeting was to be in the cold light of sobriety, their one-time relationship was old news, eleven years old news, and nothing to get all steamed up about.
Two figures rounded the corner and crossed the carpet. Lisa quickly realized Friday’s alcohol dulled eyes had left her unprepared. In the poor light at the end of her garden Cathy had app
eared just as the day Lisa left her, right down to the jeans and T-shirt. Now, it was evident the years had brought changes. The drop-dead gorgeous nineteen-year-old student had matured into a poised and elegant woman. She was still gorgeous. No, that wasn’t the right word. Cathy was . . . beautiful. Adulthood had defined the contours of her face and a light tan, not the deep gold of her younger years, drew the gaze to the eyes. Dark brown, almost black, they still shone with intelligence. That melting quality was also still in them, only tinged with something Lisa couldn’t define. Aware she was staring, Lisa reached to straighten the collar on her sports shirt, feeling quite unkempt in contrast to Cathy’s tailored pants and jacket.
“Hi Joel. Hi Lisa.” Cathy didn’t register surprise at Lisa’s presence. No doubt she had been forewarned by Toni. However Cathy’s palm was noticeably damp when Lisa clasped her outstretched hand. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”
“No problem.” Joel was blissfully unaware of the flock of butterflies crashing around in Lisa’s stomach, his smile easy as he accepted Cathy’s hand. “It will just take us a few minutes to measure your office. Then, if you have time, we can discuss tiles and the like.”
Cathy nodded, “Toni mentioned we had not quite done our homework properly. We’re new to this. Any advice you can offer would be most appreciated.”
“I’ll do the measuring.” Lisa hoped her voice didn’t sound pleading. “Save everyone waiting for us both.” She didn’t give Joel time to argue, plucking the tape from his hand and hurrying toward the passage.
Once in the safety of Cathy’s office Lisa re-orientated herself through a series of deep breaths. So she’s still beautiful. Breathe in. What did you expect? An old hag? Breathe out. She’s just a part of your past. Breathe in. Been there, done that. Over and done with. Finished. Breathe out.
Once steady, she glanced around, giving a long and low whistle. So this was where Cathy spent a large chunk of her time. The office was a good size bigger than Toni’s, which was a decent size. As in Toni’s office, plate glass offered a commanding view of the river and city. But the desk was bigger, the filing cabinets and bookshelves were more extensive and a peek through a doorway located to one side revealed a private bathroom. Lisa examined a business card plucked from a holder on the edge of Cathy’s desk. It was plain white with black text, a green stripe at the bottom and the letters CBW blind embossed in the top corner. Another touch from the blueprint. Placing the card back on the pile, Lisa wondered if a BMW, either dark blue or black, was lurking somewhere in the garage level of the building.
Speculations were forgotten as Lisa got to the task at hand. She quickly scribbled down the office dimensions then stood with pencil poised over her pad as she considered measuring the bathroom. Assuming it would also be part of the quote—if not it could be discarded—Lisa stepped in. Immediately a familiar scent struck her senses. Yves Saint Laurent’s Rive Gauche. It had once been Cathy’s favorite perfume. Maybe it still was. In the reception Lisa had noticed its slight fragrance. In the confines of the bathroom it lingered more strongly, evidence of a recent application.
Get a grip on yourself woman, Lisa thought to herself. She hurried through her task, forcing down the memory of inhaling that scent from an up close and personal perspective. Her professionalism demanded she ensure accuracy, not that it really mattered. There was no way she could do this job. Not when a whiff of perfume could make her heart pound.
The entire office contingent was in the reception by the time Lisa and Joel took their leave a few minutes after seven.
The doors of the lift had hardly closed before Sue swooned over the reception desk, fanning her face with one hand. “Did you see the legs on her? She could leave her steel-caps under my bed any day.”
Cathy feigned interest in the phone message pad. Sue continued. “And those eyes. I have never, ever seen blue like that.”
“Nice butt too,” said Julie.
Three heads turned in Julie’s direction, who immediately went crimson. “Well she has.” Still glowing, she tossed a few papers into her briefcase and clipped it shut.
Cathy had to laugh, more than a little pleased Julie was finally loosening up. Even if it was to participate in a mutual admiration session of her ex. “Toni,” she scolded, “It didn’t take you long to corrupt the innocent did it?”
“Just doing my job.” Toni smiled smugly and blew on her knuckles. “Anyway, you lot will have to keep your raging hormones under control. Lisa bats for the other side.”
Sue sighed audibly, “What a waste.”
“And how would you know?” Cathy kept her voice as steady as she could—what would Toni know? But, to be fair, Cathy hadn’t exactly been honest about her relationship with Lisa. Not that it was any of Toni’s business.
“Yeah Toni.” Sue wriggled her eyebrows, “How do you know? Did you make a pass at her in your office and she turned you down?”
Toni flashed Sue a glare that would strike down many with weaker constitutions. “I happen to be Lisa’s back door neighbor—”
“Ooh. Lucky you,” Sue interrupted. “Can I come and stay at your place for a while?”
“And I saw Lisa and Joel being very palsie-walsie.”
“What?” Cathy felt a ball of lead form in her stomach. Toni must have it wrong. The Lisa she had known would never . . . “When?”
“On Saturday. Remember I told you I popped around to pay for the pot?”
Cathy nodded.
“Well, Lisa was saying goodbye to Joel in her front yard. And I tell you—they are more than just business partners.”
The ball of lead in Cathy’s stomach grew larger and heavier. No wonder Lisa seemed so uncomfortable on her return to the reception. She probably hadn’t told Joel about her past and was sweating it out in case Cathy dropped a bombshell.
“It’s getting late.” Unable to control her anger at Toni for telling her something she just did not want to know, she snapped at Sue, “What the hell are you still doing here anyway?”
Startled at the change in tone, Sue took a moment to reply. “I was just taking a professional interest in the office improvements.”
“Well I hope I don’t see it appear as overtime on your timesheet.” Nodding a goodbye to Julie and ignoring Toni completely, Cathy turned on her heel. The whole floor reverberated with the slam of her office door.
Cathy paced the floor, immediately regretful for not maintaining her composure. Toni would be knocking at any moment, wanting to know all the details. Sure enough, a hesitant tap came only seconds later.
Cathy slumped into her chair. “Come in Toni.” She nodded to one of the chairs in front of her desk. “I suppose you’re wondering what all that was about?”
Toni nodded, settling carefully, as if any sudden movement would spark another outburst.
Cathy played with the mouse, rolling it in small circles on its pad. She looked at it and not Toni as she blurted, “Lisa and I were lovers at University. We were together for nearly two years. Obviously we broke up, and no, I don’t want to go into the details. Lisa dropped out and last Friday was the first time I’ve seen her since she left me. As you can imagine, finding she’s left the family was a bit of a shock. I didn’t handle it very well and I’m sorry.”
Breathing hard from her revelation, Cathy lifted her gaze to see what reaction it had received. Toni sat stock still, her eyes wide. “I had no idea.”
“It was a long time ago Toni.” Cathy tried to convey an insignificance she didn’t feel. “I never saw the need to tell you, or anyone, about it.”
Toni shifted in her seat, mouth opening and closing a couple of times before she spoke. “People change Cathy. I knew a lot of women who had lesbian relationships while at Uni. It was almost the done thing, you know, to experiment. But once they graduated, they went with men.”
“I know.” Cathy could name a few in her own circle of friends who had done just that. “But I was so sure Lisa was, you know, born and bred.”
“You cer
tainly don’t think it had anything to do with you, do you?”
“No,” Cathy lied, turning her attention back to her mouse. She didn’t know what to think. She’d been Lisa’s first girlfriend. Maybe she’d also been her last. “Like I said, it was just a bit of a shock.”
When Cathy lifted her eyes again she found Toni giving her careful consideration. “Would you like me to phone and say we’ve changed our minds about the tiling?”
The hopeful ring in Toni’s suggestion was unmistakable, despite its shroud of concern. Once again Cathy kicked herself for having lost control on Friday night. She dearly loved the woman sitting across from her, but she just didn’t feel that way about her. Canceling Lisa and Joel’s quote at this stage would only give Toni the wrong impression—again. “I don’t think that’s necessary. If Lisa hasn’t told Joel about her past, I doubt they’ll submit a quote that we’d accept.”
Toni nodded slowly. “I guess so.”
“Come on.” Cathy retrieved her briefcase from under the desk and rose from her seat. Toni could keep her talking for the next hour if she wasn’t careful and Cathy wanted to be alone with her own thoughts. “Enough of the ancient history. It’s getting late and I want to go home.”
Finally out of an atmosphere which she felt was closing in on her, Lisa breathed a bit easier.
A bit.
She knew she was in for a serve from Joel. As predicted, instead of heading to his Ute parked across the street, he followed Lisa to hers. “Okay. Fess up.”
“To what?” Lisa unlocked her door and climbed in. She pulled at the lock on the passenger door and Joel climbed in beside her.
“To why you would make a suggestion that probably lost us hundreds of dollars. The noise factor—really.”
Lisa shrugged. “It was a fair comment. I imagine accountants need to make their clients feel at ease when talking about money. I happen to think having chairs scraping against a tiled floor would make them edgy. Carpet is a much better option for the offices.”
“I still don’t get it.” Joel threw his hands up in despair. “You’ve never done anything like that before. Don’t you want this job or something?”
