by Carrie Carr
Though Bianca's new look resembled Camina and Michelle's, it was not her intention to look like them at all, but more so like her late sister who happened to resemble both Michelle and Camina.
Camina appeared as if she were about to step away, when she suddenly stepped around to Bianca's desk. "I'm sorry things didn't work out for you the other night at the club. It must have been tough watching me and Michelle have such a good time while you sat there. Alone."
Bianca wore a mental venom protective shield to safeguard herself from Camina's poisonous words. She was not about to allow Camina to steal her joy and bring her down. "Oh, it wasn't so bad," Bianca said to her.
The congestion at Bianca's workstation brought an unexpected visitor─Bruce Colby.
"Bianca?" Bruce Colby bellowed. "I almost didn't recognize you."
It was no secret to anyone that Bruce had a thing for black women with blonde hair so Bianca was not surprised when she witnessed his eyes snaking through her straight blonde hair.
"You look wonderful," he stated.
"Thank you."
Bianca noticed Bruce peering at her in a way that he had never done before, a way that she never thought that he would. She had successfully captured the attention of Camina's prized possession and that was reward in itself.
The excitement soon died down and everyone vanished and returned to work, all except Michelle. Michelle seemed to still be in shock by Bianca's new persona.
Bianca plucked her compact mirror from her purse and studied herself. She then twirled the ends of her hair around her finger as if to doll herself up. Next, she added another coat of her glossy lipstick.
All the while, Michelle continually studied her as if Bianca were a science project. "Since you weren't here yesterday, I'd like to take you to lunch for your birthday."
Bianca was so wrapped up in the reflection of herself in her compact mirror that she didn't hear Michelle.
"Bianca, did you hear me?"
Bianca's face was locked with the compact mirror as she wiped the smudged eyeliner from her face with her pinky finger. "I'm sorry, something about lunch. Of course."
"And don't worry. Camina isn't coming with us this time."
It was as if Michelle knew of Bianca's plan to never have lunch with Camina again. But things were different now. Bianca was no longer intimidated by Camina's crass words.
"She can come with us. I can handle Camina."
"Are you sure?" Michelle asked her.
"Trust me. I can handle Camina."
"Well. I better get back to work." Michelle was about to walk away when Bianca called to her.
"Does your friend still want to meet me?"
"I'm sure he does. I'll get back with you."
"Don't take too long," Bianca said while she fiddled with her hair.
After a short silence, Michelle crept away silently.
Barely at her desk long enough to answer the phones, Bianca made three trips to the ladies room to fuss over her hair, which needed to always sit perfectly on her head. When she returned to her desk, the documents in her in-box from her boss were piling up. This was a telltale sign that it was time to do some work. After all, that was what they paid her for.
Most of the morning had elapsed so quickly, and the only thing that Bianca successfully completed was booting up her computer and positioning her desk radio to the perfect station.
Finally, Bianca got around to revising one of the five documents from her in-box. Right in the midst of printing the document, she glanced up and saw her boss, Lillian, standing at her desk. Lillian was a chunky woman who always wore black, no doubt, to hide the bulge that lurked underneath her expensive dresses.
"Do you have that letter I left for you this morning?"
Bianca failed to see Lillian all morning. She found it interesting that Lillian had yet to acknowledge her new appearance, but Bianca couldn't concern herself with such minor occurrences at the moment. She was more concerned about the whereabouts of the letter in question.
"Letter?" Bianca questioned.
"I left a tape for you to transcribe in your chair."
Bianca frantically fished for the missing tape. She searched underneath the scattered papers on her desk and through the documents in her in-box. Then mysteriously on the floor, she spotted the mini-cassette tape and felt as small as the ballpoint pen on her desk. She immediately reached down and picked it up. "This must be it."
Lillian exhaled what seemed to be a breath of frustration and a tinge of annoyance. "You think you could get that to me right away?"
"Of course."
When Lillian disappeared into her office, Bianca quickly transcribed the tape. So preoccupied with her new look, new hair and flattery from everyone, she forgot why she was there. In her mind, the morning seemed more like a social festivity than a workplace.
Upon completing the letter for her boss, Bianca delivered it to Lillian's office. She then grabbed her purse from her desk drawer and made another famous trip to the ladies room to see what her new double-breasted pantsuit would look like without the jacket. Not to mention it was time for another coat of her favorite glossy lipstick, which she adored so much.
In the ladies room, Bianca shot down the Chardonnay from her travel mug. She stood in front of the full-length mirror, unbuttoned her jacket, which revealed a silk blouse underneath. Just as Bianca turned to the side, admiring the shape of the loose-fitting pants on her narrow hips, Camina came through the door. Her arms were folded as she stepped behind Bianca.
Bianca studied Camina's reflection in the mirror. "Are you lost?"
Camina stepped forward with her arms still folded, and Bianca turned to face her. It was obvious that Camina wanted to say something, and Bianca decided to help her out. "What? Do like what you see? Is that it?"
"As a matter of fact, I don't," Camina said.
"You could have fooled me."
Camina pivoted around Bianca like a piece of art for sale. "You've been drinking in here, haven't you?"
With a fake smile on Bianca's face, she turned, about to walk away. It was true. She had been drinking, but how did Camina know?
Surely Camina did not smell it on her.
"You really think you're something, don't you?" Camina asked.
"Not think, honey, I know," Bianca said before she made an elegant exit.
A half hour later, Bianca received a call from her boss, Lillian, wanting to see Bianca right away.
Bianca stood at the entrance of Lillian's office. Though the door was ajar, Bianca knocked. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes," Lillian said as she stood up from her desk. "Come in."
Bianca was clueless as to the purpose of this meeting, and she remained calm, as she would find out soon enough.
It wasn't until Lillian closed the door that Bianca realized it would probably not be good news.
"I wanted to talk to you about something."
Bianca pushed her hair behind her left ear and asked, "May I sit down?"
"Of course."
Bianca sat across from Lillian's desk and crossed her legs.
"This is not really my place, but since you do work for me, I just wanted to bring to your attention something that was brought to my attention. It's never been my policy to accuse anyone without first asking questions, so I'll just come right out and ask. Were you drinking in the women's room this morning?"
Right away, Bianca recognized this as the work of Camina, but she was not going to fall victim to Camina's petty tactics.
Calmly she stared directly in Lillian's direction. "No, I was not."
"I really don't care what you do when you're not here in this office, but since something like that can greatly affect your work, I thought I would bring it to your attention."
"I'm glad that you did," Bianca said. "And I'm also aware that it was Camina who told you that." Bianca stood up. "I don't know why Camina would tell you that, but it's not true."
"I didn't think it was, but I wanted to as
k you about it anyway."
Lillian could have come out and rightly accused her but she didn't. Instead she simply questioned her, which was one of the things Bianca liked about her─her sense of fairness. Yes, it was true that Bianca lied about the whole matter, but her boss didn't know that and didn't need to know.
Bianca thought it strange that Lillian never mentioned one word about her new look. It didn't much matter because everyone else's awareness made up for it. She felt empowered that Lillian believed her over Camina. Though she was glad, she didn't believe she quite deserved Lillian's trust.
On Bianca's way back to her desk, she made a stop in the lunchroom to buy a stick of gum from the vending machine. With her back to the door of the lunchroom, she turned and saw Bruce Colby coming towards her. He carried a prescription bottle in hand, probably his heart medication, which everyone in the firm knew about.
"Hi, Bruce."
"How are you, Bianca?" he asked as he proceeded to the water cooler.
It was time for Bianca to make her move. Here was a way to avenge Camina and have some fun at the same time. After already having captured his attention, now it was time to seal the deal.
Bruce stood at the water cooler and spilled the pill from the prescription bottle into his hand. Purposely, Bianca dropped the coins from her hand onto the floor, knowing Bruce would be watching. It was not enough that he was watching; she wanted him to know that she knew that he was watching. Slowly and meticulously, she arched her body forward to pick up the coins so that Bruce could see how her pants sensuously hugged her ass.
She took her sweet time picking up the coins, and then arched her body up to a full stand and turned her head so that their eyes locked with each other. Just as she suspected, Bruce's mouth hung open, a silent sullen look on his face as she approached him.
"See you," she said, before breezing past him.
As far as Bruce Colby was concerned, this was just the beginning of much more to come. Ordinarily, Bianca would never be interested in a married man. But Bruce was special.
He was Camina's beau, which made him the coveted prize. A victory such as that would surely strike Camina where she lived. Bianca's trifling behavior was not like her at all, but much more like the tactics of her late sister. And that was what her ploy was all about─to be as much like her sister as possible.
Around twelve-thirty that afternoon, Bianca, Camina and Michelle stood on the elevator on their way out for Bianca's belated birthday lunch.
It was evident that Camina and Bianca were not on each other's Christmas list. But Bianca knew why Camina chose to attend her birthday lunch this day. It wasn't because Camina wanted to participate in the birthday celebration; it was Camina's evil motive to torment Bianca with her harsh comments. But this time Bianca was well prepared for it.
They reached Nick's Fish Market on Madison Street. As usual, Bianca didn't have much to say. She allowed Camina and Michelle to do most of the talking while she did the listening. She patiently waited for just the right moment to verbalize a few choice thoughts for Camina.
After their food arrived, the conversation grew shorter and more spaced apart, exactly the moment Bianca had been waiting for.
Bianca wiped her mouth with the napkin from her lap and did not blink once. "You know, Lillian called me into her office today, wanted to know if I had been drinking in the ladies' room. You know anything about that, Camina?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Camina said.
"No?" Bianca asked with a double dose of sarcasm.
"Were you drinking in the ladies' room?" Michelle asked.
"Ask Camina," Bianca said.
Michelle stared across the table at Camina as if she was about to ask her something when Camina said, "I don't know what she's talking about, Michelle."
Michelle changed the subject. "Anyway, here I am at my desk, I have Dave breathing down my neck, standing over me waiting for me to finalize his letter, and he knows I hate that."
"I hate that too." Camina said.
"Then Mitchell comes over to me. He sees that I'm in the middle of a rush and he asks me if a fax came in, as if he can't go to the fax room or even call to see for himself. So I ask him if he can give me five minutes to finish up with Dave. You know what he said, don't you? No."
"Some of them are like that, but not Bruce," Camina said with a brush of confidence in her eyes.
"Lawyers. You can't work for them and why should you have to?" Michelle said. "I bet Bruce wouldn't be so sweet if it weren't for those perks you so willfully offer, then the real Bruce would come out. You'd see he's just like all the rest."
"Bruce isn't like that," Camina said. "In fact, I don't think he'd want anyone working for him but me."
"Honey, Bruce will fire and hire in the blink of an eye, just like the rest of them," Michelle said.
"Not me he wouldn't."
"You just keep thinking that if it makes you feel better."
For a moment, Bianca actually felt sorry for Camina. Camina naively bought into the fantasy that secretaries really meant something to the attorneys they worked for. Bianca learned a long time ago that secretaries were just a service and nothing more. Outside of the service they provided, they were absolutely useless to them.
And poor Camina was clueless.
Bianca sipped her water, peered over at Camina, and then returned her glass to the table. "Bruce has a thing for blondes, doesn't he?"
"What?" Camina asked, astonished.
"You heard me," Bianca said. "I mean, look at the pattern. You. His wife. And me. I'm sensing a pattern here."
Camina's nostrils flared, and Bianca could tell that she had struck a fragile nerve.
As usual Michelle was the voice of reason. "I can tell where this is going, ladies, and let's not."
Camina ignored Michelle's words, pushed her plate to the center of the table. "Look, bitch. I don't know what kind of game you're playing with your cheap clothes, fake nails and poorly-bleached hair, but I can tell you right now, Bruce has no interest in you, blonde hair or not. You're not his type."
"That's not what I heard," Bianca said to Camina.
"Well, someone told you wrong."
"Besides, I'm everyone's type," Bianca said calmly. "And for the record, your opinion of me means absolutely nothing."
Camina rolled her eyes at Bianca, grabbed her purse, threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table and headed for the door;
Bianca's mission was accomplished.
She said what she wanted to say and planted the seed of worry in Camina's brain. But Bianca was not done just yet.
There was more to come. Much, much more.
En route to her appointment with Dr. Kern, Bianca felt the time had come when she no longer needed to meet with him. But she wasn't sure just how to convey that message to him without sounding pompous or ungrateful.
She sat on the sofa in his office, absorbing the silence as she so often did. She no longer felt the need to lie back on his sofa as she had successfully graduated past that stage. She was feeling much better, and her life was changing, hopefully for the better.
Dr. Kern was famous for allowing her to start the sessions, something she reluctantly grew accustomed to. Though she didn't expect him to make reference to her new look, she hoped that he would.
In order for Dr. Kern to take her seriously and actually believe that she no longer needed his help, she would have to clear up this business with her sister. If he thought that she was really having conversations with her dead sister, he would want her to continue with him indefinitely. Not that he could force her to do anything she didn't want to do, still she wanted to leave on the best of terms and with his approval.
Before Bianca could share with him how well she had been doing, Dr. Kern surprised her by speaking first. "You're looking well. I take it things are going pretty good for you."
"Wonderful, couldn't be better."
"Any more visits from your sister?"
Bianca smiled, the
n laughed, glad that he mentioned her sister.
"Did I say something funny?" he asked.
She crossed her legs. "I made up that story about my sister."
"Did you now?"
"Of course. How could she visit me when she's in her grave?"
"So there was no image of her in the mirror?"
"Of course not."
"Are you sure you're not making this up?"
Bianca didn't answer his question right away. Instead, she uncrossed her legs. "I have been feeling a lot better, and I'm wondering if I need to continue my visits with you."
"When did you come up with this idea?"
"Just recently."
"Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"Yes, I do."
"You know Bianca, there are still a lot of other topics for us to discuss."
"Like what?"
"Well. A couple of weeks ago, you mentioned that your life lacked excitement and that you missed dating, even alluded to sex."
Bianca couldn't believe her ears. Did he not really want her to end their sessions because he would miss her, or did he just think she was a troubled case in need of extensive therapy?
It really didn't matter because she knew what she wanted, and she knew what she needed. And she didn't need to continue her sessions with him any longer. Not sure how to answer his question, she paused for thought, then said, "Yes, I did mention wanting excitement and wanting to date and that is certainly something I'm looking forward to."
"Are there any prospects?" he asked.
"Not really."
If she didn't know better, she might think Dr. Kern harbored special feelings for her.
"Well, Bianca, ultimately, you will make the decision as to whether to continue with me or not. I just want you to think about it before you make a final decision. Will you do that? Will you think about it?"
"Yes, Dr. Kern, I will give it some serious thought.
She agreed to think about it only to appease him even though the final decision was made, and she anticipated her next session would be her last.
