by Nancy Warren
Her hand was shaking when she pointed at Toni. “I’ll stop you, you bitch.”
Chapter Fourteen
If I were two faced, would I be wearing this one? —Antonio Machado
Toni crept in late to Creative Marketing Strategies Using Social Media and then couldn’t concentrate anyway. She could imagine herself and Nicole as the subject of a lot of tweets and Facebook updates. Damn that Nicole. But in her deepest self she was ashamed that she’d let herself stoop to Nicole’s level. She cut out of the rest of the afternoon sessions and spent an hour in the hotel gym working off her frustrations, followed by a twenty-minute soothing face mask during which she listened to a motivational speaker on her iPod.
She picked up her phone and called Tiff. “Hi hun, how’s it going?”
“Good. Grandma’s rocking out to Iron Maiden.”
She chuckled, feeling better already. “I bet. And what did you do today?”
“Not much. Smoked some crack. Got a tattoo. Joined the Hell’s Angels. Pretty quiet day.”
“Don’t forget your bike helmet.”
Tiffany snorted. “You are such a mom.”
There was a short pause. “How bout you?” her daughter asked. “What did you do?”
“Not much. Got into a public brawl. Bitch-slapped another rep.”
“Yeah, right.”
If only she were joking. “Are you eating all right?”
“Sure. I explained the low calorie aspects of veganism to Grandma and now she’s totally into it. I think she’s becoming a vegan too.”
“You’d better join Lady Bianca, Tiff. You were born to sell.”
By the time she’d showered and re-done her make up, going a little heavier than usual and putting extra shimmer on her cheeks, almost in defiance, she felt a lot better.
Still, it was a somber group of her reps who met for dinner.
The lobby sported a marble statue of a horse, a landmark that made a good meeting spot to gather a group together to go out for a meal. Unfortunately, Nicole had chosen the same meeting spot. Naturally, she and Toni ignored each other. Where she’d slapped on extra make-up, Nicole had splashed out on her outfit. She wore a cream silk wrap dress and shoes that smote Toni with envy. They were cream and made of fine leather, sporting gold bows on the sides.
“If she paints a stripe of White-out across the front of her hair, she’s all set to be Cruella de Vil at Halloween,” Suzanne Mireille said into Toni’s ear, in her husky French-accented voice.
Toni chuckled, “Well, God love her. Somebody’s got to,” then turned to her friend and sales rep. “You heard about the fight?”
The shrug was pure Gallic. “Who didn’t? She’s not worth your time.”
“They’ve won, though. You know that. Stacy’s five grand makes them uncatchable now. I’m taking orders until eleven, but there’s no way I’ll get that kind of commitment in the next couple of hours.”
“So, we’ll win next year. Trust me, we all want to bring that nasty woman down,” Suzanne said. In various ways, all of Toni’s team echoed those sentiments, but it was still a quiet group dinner.
Orin Shelenbach approached her when she returned from dinner with her sales team. “Toni, I’m so glad I caught you,” he said with his usual Hollywood gushiness as though about to tell her that she’d won the side-by-side refrigerator and the self-cleaning oven. “Let me buy you a drink.”
She was tired, overwrought and knowing they’d lost the top sales spot to Nicole’s group had put a pall over dinner. She didn’t want to get her hand slapped for fighting in public, even if she did deserve it. But she knew Orin was only doing his job and she figured she might as well get the lecture over with. She put her own fake smile on and said to the group, “I’ll see you all in the morning.”
Suzanne looked as though she was going to say something, but thought better of it. She touched Toni’s shoulder in silent support and headed off with the rest of the girls.
“Let’s go out of the hotel. It’s so crowded in the bar here.”
For that she was grateful. At least he wasn’t going to dress her down in a bar full of curious women. He led her to a Starbucks attached to the mall across the street, which fortunately contained no Lady Bianca reps.
She waited until he’d brought her an iced tea and was sitting across from her at a round table by the window.
She took a long, cold drink, then said, “I guess you heard what happened today.”
“I’m glad you brought that up, Toni. You created quite a sensation. I had Nicole almost in hysterics and, as you can imagine, there’s a lot of gossip. You know that as directors, you have to set an example for other reps.”
Typical that the woman had gone running to daddy to tell on Toni, as though she hadn’t behaved equally badly. “Nicole certainly seemed recovered enough from her hysterics to go for dinner with her team. And to gloat about getting the top sales spot. Again.”
He rubbed a thumb along his tanned jaw. Rumor was that he’d purchased his own tanning bed and used it every day. “She says you’re so jealous you’re trying to destroy her credibility.”
Toni took a long sip of tea. Cold. Tart. Made herself take a full breath before she answered. “I regret losing my temper with her in public. But, Orin, she’s pushing her sales reps to buy more stock than they’re comfortable with. One of her reps was in tears over it. That’s not how Lady Bianca works.”
“None of her reps are complaining, Toni. They love her.”
“They’re brainwashed.”
He sipped his own tea and then said, “This isn’t sour grapes because she beat you is it?”
“No. But I resent that she forced that poor woman to buy five thousand dollars worth of extra merchandise so they could win.”
“It wasn’t only that. Another of Nicole’s reps placed an order for ten thousand.”
She felt her eyes bug out. “Ten thousand dollars? A single rep? She’d have to sell twenty grand this month. That’s ludicrous.”
“It shows confidence in her sales ability that you have to admire. All your reps combined only brought in another four thousand today. Unless you get another eleven thousand in the next hour or so, she won fair and square.”
“Who put in a ten thousand dollar order?”
He looked at her from under his eyebrows. The posture put his chin closer to the crisp white shirt he wore to emphasize his tan. The reflection made her glad her foundation was SPF 15.
“You know I can’t tell you that.”
She looked out the window and across the highway. The hotel rose up in the night sky, ablaze with lights. Her girls had worked so hard. It wasn’t fair.
“We both lost our tempers,” she conceded. “It won’t happen again.”
He put his joined hands underneath his chin as though he were about to pray. His blue eyes grew solemn. “Nicole also tells me you’ve been threatening her.”
Now this was going too far. “She was the one who threatened me, Orin. And hundreds of reps heard her.”
“No. Not today. She says you’ve been sending her threatening emails.”
“Then she’s lying.” Toni always tried to be fair so she added, “Or crazy.”
“I told her it didn’t sound like something you’d do.” High praise indeed. “But she insists she’s been getting them for months.”
“They why didn’t she call me on it before now?”
“They are anonymous.”
“If they’re anonymous, why does she think they’re from me?” When he didn’t answer, she shook her head. “I’m a pretty direct person. If I have a problem with someone, I let them know it.” She tapped her fingernails against the table top. “Where are these emails?”
“I think she destroyed them. She wouldn’t want to keep negative energy in her work space.”
“Well, then she’d better Feng Shui her threats against me out of her space, too. I didn’t send her any threatening emails. Believe me.”
“Good. Look, I like you and Nicole but you have
to learn to co-exist.”
“We will. I’ll do everything in my power to avoid her. And when I see her I’ll pretend she’s invisible.”
“Toni –”
“It’s the best I can promise.”
At that moment the door opened and a quartet of Lady Bianca women entered. They saw Orin and eight eyes went wide. He was a celebrity of sorts at the convention, being so senior in the company and a man. Good looking even, if you liked the game show host type. He seemed to enjoy his position and usually spent as much time as he could rallying the troops.
“I’m going to head back now, Orin. Thanks for the tea.”
“Do you want me to walk back over with you?”
“No, thanks. Now that it’s cooler, I think I’ll take a walk. See you tomorrow.” And maybe the exercise and fresh air would help her temper simmer down.
As she opened the door to leave she heard Orin behind her saying, “And how are you lovely ladies tonight?”
A long, brisk walk through the hotel grounds and down a couple of side streets and back again calmed Toni enough that she could return to the hotel and hopefully get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, she was sure, she’d have her equilibrium back. And one day, she’d probably laugh about that ridiculous fight.
It was late but she wasn’t tired. Maybe she’d watch a movie on TV to relax. Normally when she couldn’t sleep she worked on her business, but tonight she couldn’t summon the enthusiasm.
Toni’s steps echoed as she made her way across the deserted lobby heading for her room. It was funny being so alone when the place was crowded all day. She knew there were thousands of people in the building, but none were visible. Probably a few were still in the bar, but she had no interest in checking.
The elevators yawned, silver escalator steps slid up and down empty. The coffee bar that had been hopping all day was dark and shrouded. Her heels made so much noise on the marble floor they sounded like tap shoes.
She, however, did not feel like dancing.
She was mad. Mad at Nicole for putting her in this position, mad at Orin for calling her on her bad behavior but most of all mad at herself for snapping earlier today.
As she walked she realized she’d had too much iced tea and the liquid made its presence felt. She could wait until she reached her room but she had a morbid fear of getting stuck in an elevator and having to pee.
She detoured into the conference level washroom where so much primping, gossiping and consoling went on during the day. It was oddly silent at this time of night and without all the women in there it seemed awfully big -- a huge marble tomb.
Oh, no, not empty, she realized, seeing a pair of shoes under the door of one stall. Definitely a Lady Bianca rep, though, if the cream pumps were any indication. Then she recognized the gold bow ornament on the side of the shoes and knew they didn’t belong to any old Lady Bianca rep. Unless Payless was running a sale on cream pumps with a bow buckle -- and somehow she doubted those shoes came from any discount store, she’d managed to get some alone time with the only person in the entire organization she really truly loathed.
Nicole Freedman.
Toni delicately chose a stall far from Nicole’s. Did her thing and came out. While she was washing her hands she studied her reflection in the mirror and was horrified at how dry her lips looked. Facing Nicole one on one at almost midnight was bad enough, but she would not do it with dry, cracking lips. When she got upstairs she’d exfoliate them with a package of the hotel’s sugar and a little of the almond oil she never traveled without. A little sugar mixed with the oil scrubbed on the lips and they’d be free of the roughness. A few days of extra lip balm and her lips would be as dewy and fresh as new berries.
She unzipped her bag and dug out a restorative lip gloss that contained aloe, vitamin E and beeswax all in a pale raspberry tone with just a hint of sparkle. She swiped the product over her lips, straightened her jacket and turned when an odd feeling like a draft from an open window gave her goose bumps.
Nicole’s stall had been quiet and still for a while.
The shoes were the right color and had the bows but Toni couldn’t imagine Nicole, even on the toilet, letting her legs sprawl like that.
None of her business if Nicole was having a problem. She took a step away then found she couldn’t leave without making sure whoever was in there was okay.
“Nicole?” she called softly. “Is that you?”
There was no answer.
“Nicole?” A little louder this time.
Nothing.
“I know you’re angry with me, but I wish you’d answer me. Then I can leave.”
This was ridiculous and undignified. She raised her gaze to the shiny tiled ceiling. “Nicole? Do you need some help?”
Nothing. Utter silence. Maybe it wasn’t Nicole.
“Whoever is in the bathroom, are you all right?”
Still nothing. Toni did not want to intrude if the woman was having a crying jag or something and desperate to be left alone, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. She stepped closer to the stall and noticed that the door wasn’t latched shut.
The hairs on the back of her neck rose as she walked forward, hearing her heels clack on the tile floor.
For some strange reason, she whispered. “Are you okay?”
She was in front of the door. There was maybe half an inch of space gaping where it wasn’t fully closed. She swallowed. “I’m coming in. Stop me if you don’t want me to.”
No response.
She pushed the door open. And then wished she hadn’t.
It was Nicole. Or, more accurately, what was left of Nicole. She was in the same outfit she’d been wearing earlier. The gorgeous cream dress.
Nicole’s head was back and her eyes were open so it looked as though she were counting ceiling tiles..
But she wasn’t counting ceiling tiles.
There was a blood-soaked hole in her chest and protruding from it was the black handle of a knife. “Oh, no.”
Not again.
Chapter Fifteen
Every man at the bottom of his heart believes that he is a born detective. —John Buchan
Toni discovered two things while she was standing there. One: reading about a person discovering a dead body or watching it on television is very different from actually doing it. Two: she was not as brave as she thought.
She knew she had to find out whether Nicole was still alive which meant she had to touch the woman. Toni thought the chances that there was life in that body were slim, given the wound and the amount of blood that soaked the cream silk, but obviously, it was important to be sure. Imagine if she could have saved Nicole’s life and didn’t because she was too scared.
For a second, Toni thought she heard Nicole breathing, then realized she was wheezing loud enough for both of them. Reaching forward, Toni felt under Nicole’s ear and down her neck trying to locate the same pulse point she monitored on herself while exercising. She discovered it’s not easy to find another person’s pulse, especially when your own is banging away inside your head like the entire cast of Stomp on speed.
She felt around a bit, pushing her middle and ring fingers into flesh that was cool and rubbery but she didn’t feel anything. She kept her eyes turned away from that awful knife hilt on the left side of her chest. Around where her heart must be. Toni reached for her cell phone and backed away.
She bumped into something. She would have screamed but terror clogged her throat. She spun around only to see that the door had shut behind her. In her panic, Toni dropped her cell phone, which sounded like an explosion as the metal device hit the floor tile then slid under the stall and into the next one. She bolted out of Nicole’s stall and dove to the floor to retrieve her phone.
She called 911. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to punch the numbers in three times before she got it right.
She knew she should stay until the police arrived, so she paced the bathroom floor a few times telling her
self to calm down. She didn’t want to look but as she paced Nicole’s legs kept coming into her range of vision under the stall, like the Wicked Witch of the East’s after Dorothy’s house falls on her and all you can see is her lower legs and her shoes.
Then Toni did the oddest thing which ever afterward she would associate with shock. She went back to the stall and pushed Nicole’s knees and ankles together and neatened up her skirt. It was crazy, interfering with a body like that, but she couldn’t stop herself. If she had an enemy in the world it was Nicole, but she thought of how much her appearance mattered to her and how mortified she’d be to have strangers seeing her sprawled out like that.
Toni couldn’t bring her back to life, but at least she could ensure she was sitting modestly when the police arrived. Maybe doing this one kindness after death would help balance the negative things she’d thought about the woman in life.
Nicole hadn’t started to stiffen yet. And there was no stubble on her legs Toni noticed when she smoothed her skirt. She rose, her stomach rebelling against the smell. She’d have thought a murder scene would smell like a butcher’s shop, but it didn’t. God help her, the blood smell was fresher and she caught a hint of metal in the air.
As Toni backed away to wash her hands yet again she realized that Nicole, who was as fastidious as Toni about her appearance, wasn’t wearing her pantyhose.
It was so quiet in that bathroom. Toni was scared to walk out of there and scared to remain. What if Nicole’s killer came back?
She wanted very badly to run up to her room. Sprint in fact, then burrow into the bedclothes and stick a pillow over her head. Logic told her the killer was not going to come back to the bathroom, but logic didn’t stop her heart from banging or her hands from shaking. However, she found she couldn’t leave Nicole. Maybe it was guilt from their fight that afternoon, but she felt oddly protective.
Luckily, she didn’t have to stand guard for long, nor did the killer return. Around seven minutes after she placed the call the first uniformed officers arrived. Once the cops were on scene Toni started to breathe normally again.
