Diamond Girl

by ANDREA SMITH

  (Lindsey)

  I was really looking forward to the end of my shift at Banion Pharmaceuticals. I had washed my hair and done a manicure and pedicure last night in my room. I was so looking forward to going to the movie tonight with Eric. His invitation had caught me a bit off-guard; I wasn’t sure that he had regarded me as dating material. I was only going into my sophomore year of college; he was at least six or seven years older by my estimation; I based that on all of the time he had spent in college changing majors.

  I loved talking to Eric; he seemed to know a little about almost everything, and a lot about certain things. I had almost come to regard him as a big brother type, only hotter. He was definitely hot! Maybe the older thing was where it was at; I certainly had struck out with my high school boyfriend, as well as Matt - the guy that I had been seeing briefly at Cornell. Matt had been too much of a partier and a player on top. After catching him in his hundredth lie, I made the decision to tell him to ‘fuck off.’

  Eric swung by the lab after he clocked out for the day. He crept up quietly behind me as I was signing off on some scrapped raw material.

  “Are we still on for this evening, Lindsey?”

  I jumped, totally caught off guard by his presence.

  “God!”

  I heard his sexy laugh. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t do that on purpose.”

  “Yes,” I laughed, my heartbeat returning to almost normal. “We are still on. You have the address, right?”

  “Absolutely. What do you have there?”

  “Oh, it’s just some expired raw material that I was told to tag out. It will be written off the inventory and disposed of with all of the other expired stuff I guess.”

  I affixed the red label with the chemical identification, batch number and date of disposal to the container.

  “So I will be by around sevenish to pick you up, Miss Lindsey.”

  “Don’t keep me waiting, Eric. My parents are looking forward to meeting you.”

  He rolled his eyes as he turned to leave. “Yeah, that’s always been my favorite part,” he mumbled.

  “You’ll do fine,” I called out after him, “My father will love you for going into pharmaceutical science period.”

  “Later Lindsey.”

  I sighed after he left; what a sweet - although a bit serious and uptight - guy. It was no big deal. We were just friends, for now.

  Once I clocked out, I hurried home in my VW Bug to get ready for this evening. I had already decided what I was going to wear. I had bought a cute pair of khaki capri pants; I had also purchased a peach colored cotton v-neck tee. My new heeled sandals would look great with the ensemble. I mentally reminded myself to accessorize with a light gold chain and bracelet.

  I took a quick shower when I got home and declined dinner with the folks. Mom balked at that a bit but I was too busy making myself look great for Eric. There I went again, presuming this was going to lead to a romance. I wouldn’t even see him after I returned to Cornell; still there was something to be said for a summer fling. I blushed at the thought.

  CHAPTER 34

  It was quarter to seven; I was just finishing up in the kitchen. I brushed a stray wisp of hair back from my face. I had put my hair into a ponytail as the day had heated up. Even with the air conditioning going full blast, I seemed to have issues with my bodily thermostat these days.

  Lindsey had been in and out of the kitchen at least a half dozen times wanting my opinion on this or that for her movie date. Every time I referred to it as a ‘date’ she got pissed.

  “It’s not a date, Mom. We are co-workers, barely friends. He doesn’t know anyone around here, that’s all.”

  (Yeah, yeah, yeah - right!)

  For all of her denial, she had certainly been fussing at Jack and me to make sure we looked presentable for ‘Eric the friend.’

  “Mom you are going to change your top, right?”

  “Bermuda shorts Daddy? Really?”

  I had changed into a summer dress and sandals, putting some blush and mascara on; dabbing a bit of color on my lips. Working in the yard had given me a light tan so this was as good as it was going to get. Lindsey had finally nagged Jack into putting on a pair of summer Dockers and a polo shirt.

  I heard the doorbell ring; Jack called out that he had it. Lindsey came down for one last nod of approval from me. As she walked down the hallway toward the entry I caught a glimpse of Eric from behind. He was tall, had dark hair that was neatly cut and was dressed eerily like Jack.

  (Holy Christ - I sure hope Lindsey is not looking for a guy like good ‘ole Dad!)

  Jack was introducing himself, shaking his hand as they heard us approach. He turned to us, with his fake, congenial smile.

  “Here are my girls,” he said, giving Eric a dazzling grin. “Of course Lindsey you already know; this is my wife, Sammie.”

  “Samantha,” I corrected, smiling holding out my hand as Eric turned to face me. I felt my smile freeze.

  Those incredibly blue eyes took only a nanosecond to register recognition; then they froze up like blue ice; his smile never faltered.

  “Glad to meet you, Mrs. Dennison,” he said, “I’m Eric.” His hand captured mine and for a moment, I felt the brutal squeeze as he let me know he made the connection as if I couldn’t already tell that by his arctic glare.

  “Eric,” I repeated as if in a daze; he still hadn’t released my hand even though I was attempting to pull back. In a couple of seconds, it was going to be obvious to Jack and Lindsey.

  “I didn’t catch your last name Eric.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

  (Oh hell no! Did he just refer to me as a ‘ma’am’?)

  “Slater,” he said, “Eric Slater.”

  I was finally able to pull my hand from his grasp; instinctively I crossed my arms in front of my belly, anxious for his eyes to move on to anything or anyone but me. They didn’t though. I saw his gaze lower to my rounded little baby bump. It registered as his eyes returned to mine; ever so slightly his right eyebrow cocked questioningly. I hurried to break our gaze.

  “Eric, Lindsey tells us you attend Purdue? Are you from that area?” Jack had blessedly forced Slate’s attention from me.

  “No sir,” he answered politely, “I actually grew up in Virginia; I came to Indiana for college.”

  “I see,” Jack replied, “Well since tomorrow is the 4th, please come by for a cookout, won’t you?”

  I could see Lindsey beam at the idea; I wanted to puke. Eric/Slate gave one of his slow, lazy smiles to Jack.

  “Thank you sir, I’d love to.”

  “You look great, Lindsey. Ready?” he said to her in his slow, sexy voice that I thought had only been for me.

  “Yep,” she replied smiling up at him. “Good night Daddy; Good night Mom.”

  “You kids have fun,” Jack called after them as they crossed over the threshold. I wanted to strangle him with my bare hands. I noticed Slate had his hand on the small of Lindsey’s back as he escorted her outside to his waiting vehicle; the pick-up truck, no doubt. At that point I wanted to strangle him with my bare hands as well.

  “He seems like a nice enough fellow,” Jack commented after they had gone.

  “Hmmph,” I said rolling my eyes, “A little too old and worldly for Lindsey at this stage in her life.”

  “How can you tell that by the thirty seconds you were around him, Sammie?”

  “Call it ‘mother’s intuition,’ Jack.”

  I didn’t care to discuss it any further with ‘the mannequin’ so I retreated to my bedroom downstairs. I immediately phoned Brenda.

  “S’up girlfriend?” she giggled.

  (Okay, Brenda has obviously been starting her July 4th celebrating a day early.)

  “How many margaritas have you had, Bren?”

  “I don’t know, two maybe three, why?”

  “That’s not nearly enough for you to handle what I’m about to tell you. Guess who’s coming to dinner tomorrow with Lindsey?”


  CHAPTER 35

  I played it over and over again in my mind as I made the potato salad the following morning, and the deviled eggs, and the baked beans; I continued to play it over and over again as I filled a Jell-O mold of the American flag using red, white and blue Jell-O. What in the hell was Slate doing? Was this some sort of twisted revenge? Had he played me all along? If so why?

  Lindsey finally sauntered into the kitchen around eleven a.m. She was still in her summer pajamas.

  “Can I help you with anything, Mom?”

  “I’ve got everything pretty much done, sweetie. As soon as the brownies come out of the oven, I’ll give them a dusting of confectioner’s sugar and that should be it. You were out kind of late last night, weren’t you?”

  She poured herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge. “Gosh, I don’t know, Mom. I don’t think 11:30 is all that late.”

  “It was more like 11:45,” I replied.

  “Were you waiting up for me, Mom?” she asked with a smile crossing her face. “I’m almost nineteen you know.”

  “I know how old you are Lindsey, I was there, remember?”

  “Just sayin.”

  “Did you have a nice time?”

  “Sure did. Eric is nice and funny, too.”

  (Funny? Funny? Had Slate suddenly acquired a sense of humor after he parted with his long locks?)

  “What do you mean ‘funny’?”

  “He said that you and I look more like ‘sisters’ than mother-daughter. Isn’t that a hoot?”

  “A laugh riot,” I commented, “Maybe he is trying to impress you by complimenting your parents.”

  “Maybe,” she said thoughtfully, “But he didn’t have any compliments for Daddy; said he looked kind of uptight. He sure was surprised when I told him you would be thirty-six in a week or so.”

  I choked on the iced tea I was sipping.

  “You told him my age?”

  “Sure why not? It’s not a secret is it?”

  “Honey, once past thirty it isn’t polite to advertise someone’s age. Speaking of which, isn’t Eric a bit old for you?”

  “Geez, Mom. We’re not getting engaged or married, just hanging out a little bit this summer. Eric says he can’t commit to anyone until he gets through with all his schooling and interning. I get that.”

  “That sounds sensible to me,” I agreed. “So, he didn’t get fresh with you or anything last night?”

  “No mother, he did not get fresh. I can’t believe you would even ask me that!”

  Lindsey was clearly getting irritated with my questions. I needed to chill. I had to figure out what Slate’s deal was without putting Lindsey in the middle. I would be furious beyond reason if I discovered he was, in some way, using Lindsey as some pawn in a scheme. None of this made sense. Brenda had been too tipsy the night before to offer much help or speculation. Perhaps I needed to find out directly from the source. I would try to get Slate – Eric, whoever the hell he was these days, alone to find out exactly what he was up to and why.

  Jack had been out most of the afternoon. He still had not returned. He was only supposed to be getting beer, wine, hamburger, brats and hot dogs. I couldn’t figure out why it was taking hours to do this. My parents arrived at 3:00 p.m. They were early (as usual). The cook-out wasn’t scheduled until 5:00 p.m.

  I had showered earlier in the afternoon. I was wearing my hair up on top of my head with a few wispy tendrils hanging down. I dressed in another sun dress that did a bit more to hide my growing baby bump. I certainly didn’t want Slate’s attention to be focused on that the whole evening.

  I noticed Lindsey had dressed in some tight little shorts and a tank top that accentuated her cute figure. She kept her hair shorter than mine; it was just past the bottom of her earlobes. She had brushed a portion of the front and sides up into a sprout ponytail. She looked cute and wholesome; there was no doubt about it. Slate had better leave her the hell alone!

  As soon as my parents had greeted Lindsey, they headed down the hall and into the kitchen where I was making up a relish tray of snacks.

  Daddy gave me one of his notorious bear hugs as soon as he walked in; telling me how proud he was of the fine job that I had done with Lindsey; reiterating was a good man Jack was.

  (Gag, gag - barf!!)

  “Where the hell is Jack?” he bellowed, “I could use a cold beer.”

  “Should be here anytime, Daddy; take a seat on the patio. Lindsey is getting the lawn chairs out of the garage. When Jack gets here, we will start the grill.”

  “Okay,” he hollered back, “Need a cold one before long, though.”

  Mom wasted no time cornering me in the kitchen as I made a fresh pitcher of lemonade. I knew that she was going to lay a guilt trip on me as only a mother can.

  “Well dear, I’m glad you decided to share the good news about the impending birth of a new grandchild with everyone with the exception of Daddy and me.”

  (Ouch! Right in the gut!)

  “Mom, I’m really sorry; the truth is you guys travel so much I can’t keep up with where you are one minute before you are going on to yet another vacation spot.”

  “That is nonsense Samantha and you know it.”

  (Wow! That was so not like Mom to buy my lame excuses. She hated to believe the worst in anyone, especially family.)

  “Mom - I don’t know what else to say other than I am sorry; it was thoughtless of me I know.”

  “Can I ask you something Samantha and will you promise to be totally honest with your answer?”

  (This is different . . .)

  I looked over at her as I poured both of us a glass of lemonade. She had a very serious look on her face; it was if she had wanted to ask this question for a very long time but dreaded the answer.

  “Of course I will, Mom.”

  “Did your Daddy and I make a mistake in forcing you into a marriage with Jack?”

  (Holy Christ - I had no clue she was going to hit me with something that deep; I was not prepared for this question even though I knew the answer without batting an eye.)

  “Mom,” I said, hoping the sincerity in my voice made up for the fact that there was not an honest answer I could give that wouldn’t tear her up. “You and Daddy did what you thought was best for all concerned. Jack has been a wonderful father to Lindsey.”

  “That’s not an answer, Samantha,” she snapped, almost loudly. “You promised to tell me the truth.”

  I sat down across from her at the kitchen table and took her hand into mine.

  “Mom, I’m not sure if I can answer it honestly; I will try, though. I don’t know for certain if Lindsey would have turned out so well had she not had Jack’s love and attention. I also don’t know whether Jack would have given her as much love and attention had we not married and had he not been given his position at Banion which afforded us things for the family. I can tell you that I don’t love Jack, though I was fully prepared to love him. I can tell you that it is very doubtful as to whether Jack has ever loved me.”

  “I knew it,” she said with a sob, hanging her head, “I knew it was a mistake on our part. Forgive us please, Samantha? I know your father will never see that as being a mistake, but I did. Can you forgive me for not standing up to him for once in my life for my little girl?”

  (Now she was making me bawl like a baby!)

  “Oh Mom,” I said, leaning over and hugging her to me, “There is no need to ask me for forgiveness. I had choices after that I could have made; should have made, and didn’t.”

  “No,” she said, still upset, “Parents should never put their children in a position to be hurt like that. It was wrong. Just know that whatever you do in the future, you will have my total support, okay?”

  I nodded, wiping a stray tear from my cheek. She leaned in close as if she had a secret to share.

  “This baby is not Jack’s, is it?”

  Her eyes almost looked hopeful; as if by some chance it made my escape from Jack easier, which per
haps it did. I smiled back, squeezing her hand.

  “No Mom,” I said, “This baby is not Jack’s. He had a vasectomy years ago. Lindsey doesn’t know this yet.”

  She patted my hand as I saw her smile for the first time since she had come in to see me.

  “Your secret is safe with me for as long as it needs to be, Samantha.”

  CHAPTER 36

  (Eric/Slate)

  I had been a fucking wreck all night after seeing Sunny; Sammie - whatever the fuck her name was when I went to pick up my little co-ed friend. Jesus Christ! How in the hell was I supposed to process this turn of events? I hoped that I had maintained my cool; Lindsey had not acted as if anything was wrong. My head was spinning upon leaving the multi-million dollar mansion, they called home. What the fuck?

  I could barely focus on the movie; coffee afterwards had seemed to drone on and on. I was pretty sure that Lindsey wasn’t suspicious of the questions I asked about her mother; I had been picking her brain for a few weeks about her dad. That had been much easier. I simply made it looked as if he was a mentor of monumental proportions to someone like me just coming up the ranks. She had loved talking about Daddy.

  She said her mom was getting ready to turn thirty-six; I had to smile. I bet Sunny had a hissy fit when and if she found out that Lindsey had shared that info with me. Chicks were funny about aging; what the fuck? Sunny looked to be more like twenty-five than thirty-five. I could almost guarantee that Sunny had grilled her poor daughter about our ‘faux’ date.

  I had wanted to kick the rat bastard’s ass all over their ten acres when I put two and two together last evening. What a fucking wasteroid, hitting his wife like I knew that he had in the past; I was certain that Lindsey hadn’t a clue about that part of it. I couldn’t see her loving ‘Daddy’ so much if she knew how he treated her mother.

  The truth was, this was the part of my job that I hated more than anything; duping nice people to find out information. Lindsey was a nice kid; an only child for Chrissake. She was sweet and innocent; but there was no way I had given her any indication I was anything other than a friend or confidante. I figured kids growing up as an only child needed as many confidantes as possible.