Blind Ambitions

by Lolita Files

  He was not a poor man. He had never been poor. With that money, he had planned to give Bettina the world. But she had ruined it. If she had just waited a few more hours, she would have known that.

  Timing was everything.

  Devin picked up the phone and dialed Steve’s number, not knowing what he would say to him or why he was even making the call. He dialed *67 first, so his number couldn’t be displayed if Steve had caller ID. He waited and waited, but no one ever picked up. When it rolled over to voice mail, Devin terminated the call.

  Well, at least I have the number, he thought.

  He was going to tell Steve about Bettina. How she used men, especially men like him, for money and gain. Steve would leave her alone then. And she could come back to him.

  He dialed *67, then punched in Bettina’s number.

  She answered on the first ring. He immediately hung up.

  Perhaps he’s there with her.

  Devin’s mind raced wildly as he imagined what Bettina must be doing with Steve at that moment. He remembered the red satin scarves and the way he used to tie her up to the bed. He had done so just five days earlier, and she had loved it. When he spanked her with the cat-o’-nine-tails, she cried out for more lashings, more pain.

  When he imagined her red nails digging deep into Steve’s white back, he thought he would go insane.

  He got up from the computer, pacing the room. He couldn’t leave. It was after midnight, and he would have no explanation to give his wife. He didn’t care at this point, but it didn’t make any sense to go anywhere when there was nowhere for him to go.

  He couldn’t go to Bettina’s. She had secured parking and controlled access. He would have just ended up spending the night in front of her building, which served no purpose, either, other than to make him seem like a stalker or a trespasser.

  He sat down at the computer again, needing something to do with his nervous energy.

  InterPeek was still up on his screen.

  Out of restlessness, he typed in another name.

  Meredith Reynolds.

  The screen churned and changed, bringing up a series of linked pages of information. Devin scrolled through them, quickly at first, then slowing down as more things fascinated him.

  Somehow, he backed into a different name. Hazel Atkins. Curious, he dug some more.

  He kept probing and probing.

  The night began to fade into gray.

  Bettina’s phone rang first thing Monday morning at six.

  “Hello?”

  There was silence.

  “Goodbye,” she said.

  “Bettina!” a voice whispered. “Don’t hang up! I really need to talk to you!”

  She couldn’t believe he had the nerve.

  “What do you want, Devin? Or didn’t you ruin things enough? I can’t believe you have the audacity to call me, after what you did.”

  “You started it, Bettina. I was in love with you.”

  “You were in love with the sex. I doubt if you ever even noticed my face. I’m hanging up.”

  She clicked off the phone.

  He called right back.

  “Don’t do this!” he pleaded. “I was, am still, in love with you, and you have no right to say it was all about sex!”

  “Devin, you humiliated me in front of everyone at Massey-Weldon. I shared with you confidential information during an intimate moment, and you turned around and used it against me because I decided to break things off.”

  “I’m sorry. Really … I am.”

  “Too late for sorry. The die is cast.”

  “What if I have a way for you to humiliate Massey-Weldon back?” he offered.

  “Save your bullshit for the next fool. I’m finished.”

  “Bettina … I found out some stuff about Meredith. Some ugly stuff. She once killed a guy.”

  Bettina was now sitting up in bed. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

  “Devin, you’re reaching. Enough is enough. You fucked me over. There’s no turning back.”

  “I have the proof right here. I swear it. I have this software called InterPeek … it’s what private detectives use to do searches on people. I was bored last night and just started punching in names. Meredith’s produced the wildest shit I’ve ever seen.”

  Now Bettina was listening.

  “How do you know it’s Meredith at Massey-Weldon?”

  “Because it told me her address, phone number, and current place of employment first. She lives in Hollywood Hills, right?”

  “Yeah … she does.”

  Devin realized that he had her attention.

  “From there, I just kept digging and digging and digging. She changed her name almost twenty years ago. She used to be Hazel Atkins, from Boston. She has a long-ass juvenile rap sheet. Teen prostitution, petty larceny, grand theft auto.”

  Bettina’s mouth was wide open.

  “Get outta here!” she whispered. “Are you kidding me? This isn’t some ploy just to get back at me some more, is it? Because, if it is, Devin, I’m letting you know right now—”

  “No, Bettina. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Last time she was seen as Hazel, her name was on a lease in Hawthorne with an older man. He was, like, thirty years older than her. Some guy named Emerson Cody. Next thing you know, her name was changed. She even got a new social security number.”

  “Then how can you say she killed somebody?”

  “Because, I looked up info on Emerson Cody,” Devin said excitedly. “I went all into back issues of newspapers and stuff, and I found this blurb about him being hit over the head with a bottle, and hemorrhaging to death. His car was stolen, and his live-in girlfriend was missing. But I guess he was just some poor white-trash-looking guy who had a drinking problem, so the police never cared to dig into it too deep, and just kind of left it alone.”

  “Okay, so what makes you say she did it?” Bettina asked.

  “With InterPeek, I can pull up information on people living and deceased. I punched in Emerson Cody’s name and got his old license plate number from the state of Massachusetts. Then I checked activity on it in California, and found that three months after Emerson’s death, the car was bought by a Meredith Reynolds. Two months after that, she sold the car to someone else.”

  “When did she do her name change?”

  “Three months after Emerson’s death.”

  “Oh my God!” Bettina exclaimed.

  “I know,” Devin replied, happy to have done something to draw her in. “Isn’t it wild?”

  Bettina had her knees raised. The comforter was pulled up to her chin. She checked the time. It was 6:20 A.M. Soon she’d have to be up and ready for her first day at work. Her feelings were mixed. She expected to be more excited than she was.

  “Do you want to use this?” he asked. “I mean, I know it’s my fault that you got fired, but I’m sure she probably embarrassed you pretty badly in the process.”

  “Don’t remind me, Devin. That was some low-down shit you pulled.”

  “I know, Bettina, but I’m crazy about you.”

  She grew quiet, her lips pressed together.

  “You know that, right?” he kept on. “I’ve never been this way about any woman in my life. Any woman. It’s like you’ve got my soul on lock, or something.”

  He was so Brooklyn. In a few short days, Bettina had almost forgotten just how Brooklyn he was.

  “None of that is relevant now,” she responded.

  “I finally got my commission,” he said.

  “Good,” she replied. “You should be really happy.”

  “I’m not happy without you to share it with me.”

  Bettina leaned her chin against her knees.

  “Let me make it up to you for ruining your job.”

  “How’s that?” she said. “There’s no way you can ever make up for that.”

  “Can’t we just talk about it? All I think about is you, Bettina. I don’t want anything else, if I can’t be with you.”


  She took in a deep breath and stretched out her legs.

  “Let’s take care of this Meredith thing first,” she said. “I want to do to that bitch just what she did to me.”

  “It’s on. You know I’m down for whatever. I can take off work today, if you want.”

  “Yeah, I want. Give me about three hours. Once I find out she’s in the office, I’m going to give her a call.”

  “Bet,” he said, “do you want me to bring the papers I printed out over?”

  She thought about it briefly, considering if Devin might actually try to hurt her. She honestly didn’t believe he would.

  “Alright, you can bring them. Don’t come until around eight-thirty. That will give me some time to get up, get dressed, and maybe eat a little something.”

  “You starting your new job today?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m supposed to.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there at eight-thirty sharp. I’ll bring you some breakfast, that way you won’t have to cook.”

  “Whatever,” Bettina said. “And, Devin … I’m warning you. Don’t try anything stupid when you get over here. This is about Meredith, and that’s it.”

  “Fine,” he replied. “Whatever you want.”

  She hung up the phone, a smile creeping across her face. She finally had her chance to get back at Meredith. Now that bitch would know what it felt like for Bettina to be slighted by her for so many years.

  She got up and went to her dresser. She had bought lingerie on Sunday. Not much, just enough to have options and a sufficient amount to get through the week.

  She reached in and took out a pair of pink lace panties and a pink lace bra, and headed to the shower.

  Devin sat in his office at home, printing out a second set of the data he had gathered on Meredith. His pulse was electric. He couldn’t believe that he had gotten Bettina to listen, let alone stay on the phone as long as she did. And now he was actually going over to her house. He walked quietly down the hall, to his bedroom. He tiptoed into the room, trying not to disturb his wife.

  She was already awake.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To take a shower,” he mumbled.

  She glanced over at the clock beside the bed.

  “It’s six-thirty. Why are you taking a shower at this hour?”

  He stopped walking and stood in front of the bed.

  “Because it’s Monday morning,” he said in a firm tone, “and I have some business to take care of. Do you mind?”

  She was silent.

  He moved away from the bed, towards the bathroom.

  “I’m not stupid, you know.” She was angry. “I’m tired of always being left by myself. I may as well be that way for real. It’s not like you’re ever really here for me and the children.”

  Devin was already inside, running the shower.

  He scrubbed away, humming a melodyless tune. He was so excited about seeing Bettina again. She was even going to let him come into her home.

  That InterPeek had been well worth the price. He felt like a real detective. One of those Philip Marlowe, film noir types.

  He soaped and rinsed, and rinsed and soaped, thinking of ways to kill the time until he could head to Santa Monica.

  · · ·

  Devin walked in with a bag filled with Styrofoam containers of food in one hand, and a folder filled with papers in the other.

  Bettina closed the door behind him.

  It was the first time they had been in each other’s presence since Friday morning. Bettina thought she would loathe him when she saw him. It surprised her to find that she didn’t.

  Devin wanted to hug her, but he knew his place. He put the bag on the kitchen counter.

  “I brought pancakes and sausages. I know how much you love sausage for breakfast.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  She was dressed for work, wearing an ice-blue minisuit.

  “You look great,” Devin said cautiously.

  “Thanks” was again all she replied.

  Bettina pulled the containers out of the bag. She opened the lid on the first one. It had pancakes and sausage, just like he said. She put it to the side. She opened the second one. It had grits, eggs, bacon, and biscuits.

  “Is this one yours?”

  “I got it for both of us. I thought we could share it all.”

  Bettina opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out two forks. She handed one to him.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  This minimal exchange went on for a few more moments, until Bettina and Devin were sitting beside each other on bar stools at the kitchen counter, eating the food.

  He opened the folder, showing her all he’d found.

  They lingered for a long time over breakfast and the printouts, laughing and scheming as they plotted Meredith’s undoing.

  By the time Bettina checked the clock, it was nine-thirty. She was late for her first day of work. She hadn’t even called in. By the time she drove there, it would be something after ten. Her gut instinct told her not to bother going in at all that day. She could call later and tell them something. Then, tomorrow, she could start fresh again.

  “I’m not going in,” she told Devin.

  “Good,” he said. “Then let’s give ol’ girl a call, and get this thing rolling.”

  Meredith sat listening on the phone as Bettina and Devin ran down their litany of demands.

  It had taken Bettina a few moments to track her down. When she was told that Meredith wasn’t in the office, Bettina pulled out her Day-Timer, where she kept the numbers of all of Massey-Weldon’s people-that-mattered, and called her at home.

  Meredith had found their demands funny at first. That is, until Bettina said the name Hazel Atkins. After that, Meredith listened, trying to figure out which way to proceed for her best interests.

  “I want at least five months’ severance,” Bettina said. “One month for every year that I spent with the company. And I want it given to me in a lump sum, not some biweekly disbursement that I’ve got to wait for in the mail.”

  “But I’m not due back at the office until tomorrow,” Meredith protested.

  “You can make a phone call to Human Resources and Payroll right now. They’ll approve the severance just on your verbal request. I’ve seen it done before. Besides, you’re the damn head of Entertainment and Development.”

  They made her put them on hold while she made the call. Meredith wasn’t even sure if she could do it. She didn’t know if Anna had done anything yet to impact her authority.

  Bettina and Devin waited. She came back to them, saying it had been approved.

  “I want them to send the check over today,” Bettina added.

  “Well, why didn’t you tell me that when I first spoke to them,” Meredith spat. “I don’t know if they can cut it that fast.”

  “Call them back and make it happen,” Devin said.

  Meredith unhappily obliged.

  “The check will be delivered to your residence no later than three o’clock,” she said glumly when she clicked back over to them.

  “Act like you’re happy about it,” Bettina said. “Come on … show me some enthusiasm!”

  “Your check will be delivered by no later than three, Bettina!” Meredith said in a singsongy voice.

  She wondered how she had gotten to this moment in her life. She’d known it was bound to come up, sooner or later, but she certainly didn’t expect it in the form of the foolishness she was enduring now.

  “Meredith, what kind of credit card do you have?” Devin asked.

  “I beg your pardon?” she returned.

  “You heard me,” he said. “What kind of credit card do you have?”

  She huffed.

  “I have more than one. I mainly use my platinum card.”

  “I have one of those,” he said. “The limit on it is stupid, right?”

  “Excuse me?”

  Bettina laughed.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he
replied. “This is what we want you to do. We want you to take out two billboards. One on La Cienega somewhere between Manchester and Wilshire, and another one on Wilshire between Doheny and La Brea. Charge them to your platinum card. You can do it right now on the phone.”

  “You two are nuts!” she screamed. “This whole thing has gone way too far!”

  “Fine,” Devin said. “I’ll just call up my boy in the LAPD, get these papers over to him, and start things rolling. Nice talking to you, Meredith.”

  “Wait!” she exclaimed, wanting to get their demands over with. She had her own drama to create shortly after two o’clock. “What do you want me to put on the billboards?”

  “That’s more like it,” Devin said. “Well, they both should read: ‘I’m so sorry for the lies that I told. Bettina, you were the best employee I ever worked with. Love, Meredith Reynolds.’”

  “I’m not going to put my last name!” she hissed. “My reputation in this town will be over!”

  “It will be over one way or another,” Bettina replied. “Either by criminal procedure or public acknowledgment of what you did to me. Both are humiliating, but I think you’ll find one a little bit more drastic than the other.”

  Meredith sighed.

  “Give me the number,” she said.

  “Make sure you call them while we’re still on the phone,” Devin said. He read the phone number to her. “We’ll be right here waiting when you click back.”

  Meredith pulled out her wallet, which was beside the bed where she was sitting. She removed the platinum card and clicked over to the other line.

  As she dialed, it occurred to her how rapidly her world was crumbling around her. After this was over, she would have to do something.

  Quick.

  “That was fun,” Devin said, smiling.

  “Yes, it was.”

  Bettina was sitting on her couch, fingering the severance check that had been delivered just moments before.

  “Did I make up for getting you fired?” he asked, still sitting at the kitchen counter.

  Bettina studied the dollar amount of the check. Twelve thousand five hundred dollars. More than enough to completely replenish her lingerie supply and replace her bed with a new one.