After shaking a few more hands, Audrey was once again left alone with Michel, who guided her to the cubicles where they would work. Audrey was pleased to find out they were roomier than she’d imagined—square footage in St. Georges was obviously much cheaper than in Manhattan—and claimed the cubicle by the window as her own, placing her briefcase on the desk as if planting her flag. Michel explained that the four cubicles were sandwiched between the order managers and the graphic artists who designed their products so Audrey and her trainees would have access to a great team of knowledgeable and amicable people to answer their questions. Next he guided her to the conference room, where coffee and muffins were waiting for her and her team.
She gave him her most charming smile, genuinely grateful for the efforts he and his team had made to make her feel welcome. “Thank you, Michel. It looks like you’ve thought of everything.”
“You’re welcome. Listen, I know you don’t really want to be here and I totally understand why, but I promise I’ll do all I can to make it as easy as possible for you. So if you need anything, you know where to find me.” She was touched and nodded her understanding. “My goal is to make it so good you’ll want to stay. We’d love to have you here all the time. We could all benefit from working together on a daily basis, and I wouldn’t mind looking at you every day either.” He snorted a laugh and winked at her.
She had to control her urge to scream sexual harassment, remembering she wasn’t in Manhattan and people thought nothing of jokes like these here in St. Georges. She reminded herself that the way Michel had stared at her breasts while making that comment didn’t mean he had any less respect for her and her work. She decided to play the game. “Don’t count on it, my friend. There’d have to be more in it for me, and you know even if you ran around the planet twice your ass still wouldn’t do anything for me.”
He burst out in laughter and she joined him. She had to admit speaking so freely was somewhat liberating.
He composed himself and continued, as seriously as he could. “I know, but you haven’t seen your class yet. Wait till you see the boobs on Marjorie!”
“She’s twenty-two, you pig!”
He winked again and she had to laugh. Michel was happily married and she knew it. He liked to push women’s buttons with his immature macho humor until he got the kind of reaction he’d just managed to get out of Audrey.
“Speaking of the wolves, here they come. I will leave you to your class. And seriously, you know where to find me.” He nodded as he walked by Nancy and the trainees, who were entering the conference room. He turned around when he was behind the group and, for Audrey’s eyes only, wiggled his eyebrows as he used his hands to mimic a pair of large breasts in front of his chest before he disappeared. Audrey shook her head, but as she turned to greet her trainees, she couldn’t help but glance at the large bosom of the youngest woman, who she assumed was Marjorie. A shameful blush immediately heated her face, and she hoped no one noticed as Nancy started making introductions.
Her blush unfortunately only deepened when she shook hands with Sam Pomerleau. His hair was as unruly as when she’d first seen him, but he looked handsome in a deep purple shirt tucked into black trousers. His hand and his smile were warmer than Audrey expected, or maybe just warmer than she wanted them to be. Marjorie was a natural redhead, judging by the light skin and the freckles. She was perky and smiled eagerly. Ignoring her large breasts was difficult, but not because she was flaunting them. On the contrary she’d chosen a modest dark green turtleneck to complement black slacks for a professional outfit. Véronique was taller than Audrey by an inch or two and had a slim figure. Her olive skin, long, silky, dark hair and aquiline nose gave her a Mediterranean look, and if Audrey had been in Manhattan, she would have guessed she was of Italian descent. Being in St. Georges, however, she knew if there was Italian in her family tree, it was well hidden somewhere in the middle of her mostly French ancestry. She was intriguingly attractive, and something in the way she looked at Audrey made her believe the admiration was mutual.
After introductions were done, Nancy left the conference room, and Audrey went over the general company policies, core values and mission statement. She then followed Ben and the troop on a complete tour of the factory. She hadn’t set foot inside it for six years and was amazed at how much it had changed. The company had acquired new machinery and modernized older machinery. Audrey was shocked by how truly fascinated she was with the process.
The tour lasted until lunchtime, when the entire company had been invited to join them in the cafeteria to share pizza. Audrey found that part slightly overwhelming and was relieved when the lunch hour was finally over. She sent Marjorie and Véronique with Ben and the supervisors of each department for a more thorough look at the different steps of production. Because Sam already knew more than she did about production but absolutely nothing about sales and customer service, she reluctantly decided he would be better off staying with her and observing as she attempted to take back control of her inbox. The task would be difficult because she’d been unable to sit at her new desk all morning and the inbox she’d cleaned Sunday night was already showing sixty-three unread emails.
Sam rolled a chair up next to Audrey and sat quietly. His expression was worried, and he seemed intimidated by the number of emails. She quickly went through each message, starting with those she could easily file away, like shipping confirmations or order acknowledgments.
“Don’t worry, yours won’t look like that at first, and I’ll show you how to handle it. It’s not as bad as it looks,” she explained. “I won’t go into details right now because we’ll go over that a little later, but for now you can observe and let me know if you have any questions.”
“Okay. But you’re going too damn fast.”
He chuckled, and she realized she’d already been through twenty emails. “Oh, sorry. Just getting rid of the easy stuff.” She slowed down purposefully and he started asking questions. She didn’t feel as nervous sitting next to him as she thought she would and didn’t understand why she thought it would be so strange or difficult. After all, there was no neon sign above her head flashing the words I want your wife. Part of the uneasiness certainly came from the fact she wasn’t sure he knew who she was: their neighbor and the woman with whom his son stayed three nights a week.
She felt like an impostor and decided to clear the air, but as she was about to open her mouth he interrupted her. “By the way, I wanted to tell you I really appreciate what you’re doing for us. Felix seems to like you a lot, and you’re a big help for Marielle, so thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Felix is a wonderful boy, and Marielle…”
“Marielle is a great woman. She…we’re all going through a rough time, and I’m glad you’re there for them.”
“It’s nothing, really.”
“No, it’s far from nothing. It’s a lot.” He hesitated before continuing. “How is Marielle, anyway? Do you think she’s doing okay?”
“Yeah, she’s doing okay. I mean, it’s tough of course, but she’s doing okay.”
“Good. Thank you, Audrey.” He smiled at her, and she saw in his hazel eyes that he meant every word. He was truly grateful to her for being there for his wife and his son.
Audrey suddenly felt as though she could throw up. Guilt grabbed her and sucked her in like quicksand. To distract herself, she focused on her computer screen. For fuck’s sake, she thought, stop being so damn nice. We’re not supposed to like each other.
* * *
“Felix! What is Ralph doing here?” Marielle’s tone wasn’t angry but definitely puzzled as Felix entered the house followed by the familiar little, fluffy dog.
“It’s late, Mom. Walph is probably very hungry.”
She glanced at her watch and had to admit she agreed with her son. It was past six thirty and Audrey wasn’t home yet. Poor Audrey. Her first day of training must have been hell.
Ralph followed Felix to the fridge, where the boy examine
d the shelves. Marielle guessed he was in search of something he thought a dog might eat.
“Don’t feed him anything, Felix. He’s used to his own food and he could get sick. How did you get him out of Audrey’s house, anyway?”
Felix looked down sheepishly as he closed the door of the fridge. “The back door wasn’t locked. I freed him.”
Marielle had to use all her willpower not to laugh, though she wanted to be clear it was completely inappropriate for her son to open Audrey’s door, unlocked though it may have been. “Felix, I know you wanted to free your buddy, but you can’t go and open Audrey’s door whenever you feel like it. It’s not polite. She probably just forgot to lock it. You understand?”
“Yes Mom.” He crouched to pet Ralph and looked into his round black eyes to comfort him. “I’m sorry, Walph. I can’t feed you. Mom says you’ll be sick.”
She sighed, heartbroken. Felix seemed so sad, and the dog did look as though he was starving.
“I’m sure it won’t be long,” she said to reassure herself as much as her son. “Go play outside with Ralph, and let me know as soon as Audrey gets home. We’ll walk him back to her before she looks for him, okay?”
“Okay.”
Marielle didn’t flinch when he slammed the door, and she went back to folding the load of laundry she’d just taken out of the dryer, realizing she’d jumped at the first excuse to see Audrey. She needed to see her. It had been two days since Audrey had come out to her, and Marielle needed to prove to both of them that it wouldn’t change anything about their friendship. The more time went by and the more she thought about it, the less certain she was that their friendship could remain the same, so she had to prove it would. Right now.
On the one hand she knew Audrey’s sexuality had no logical bearing on their friendship. After all, straight men and women could be friends. The fact she preferred women sexually didn’t mean she was attracted to Marielle. She was so beautiful she probably dated the kind of women you saw in magazines. Manhattan was filled with the gorgeous top-model types who most likely threw themselves at Audrey’s feet every day, so why on earth would she have any interest in her overweight and boringly ordinary self? No, she’d told Audrey she wasn’t scared of her and she truly meant it.
On the other hand, looks and feelings had passed between them that Marielle believed could at least partially be explained by Audrey’s sexuality. She’d caught Audrey gazing at her breasts a few times, but even the way Audrey looked into her eyes was different. None of her friends had ever looked at her that way. But what troubled her most wasn’t the way Audrey looked at her but the way she’d caught herself looking at Audrey and the effect Audrey’s mere presence had on her. Marielle had chosen to ignore the strange sensations that traveled through her body each time they shared a simple hug, thinking they happened because she felt so close to her new friend and so comfortable with her. She’d rationalized not being able to take her eyes away from Audrey by telling herself no one could look away from such beauty. But knowing Audrey was gay was forcing her to question all her previous explanations and justifications. Before finding out, Marielle would have easily dismissed the pang of jealousy that had just now hit her belly at the thought of Audrey walking the streets of Manhattan holding hands with a series of top models. Jealousy was common in friendship, but now she had to wonder why, if her feelings were nothing more than those of a jealous friend, she cared about Audrey holding hands at all, with gorgeous women or otherwise.
“She’s home, Mom!”
Marielle dropped the towel she was attempting to fold for the third time and ran outside. She started walking toward Audrey’s house but stopped in her tracks when Audrey came out of her car. Marielle had always seen Audrey in basic jeans and workout gear. Looking at her in a stylish power suit and high heels took her breath away. Audrey looked as though she’d come straight out of a fashion magazine, just like all the women she’d dated in Marielle’s imagination. Marielle was unable to move until Audrey disappeared behind her front door. Damn it, she thought, what the hell is wrong with me?
Felix, followed by Ralph, was already knocking at Audrey’s door. She took a quick inventory of her outfit: jeans and loose-fitting, button-down shirt. She shrugged with mild disgust and resumed walking, ignoring the storm of confusing emotions brewing in her stomach.
* * *
“Ralph, I’m home! Let’s go outside.” The first day of training had gone much better than expected but had also been longer. Audrey had sent Marjorie, Véronique and Sam home around four thirty and had stayed behind to answer clients’ emails and solve a few issues she hadn’t been able to settle during the day. Before she knew it, Michel had stopped at her desk to say good night and she realized it was six thirty. She’d driven home as fast as she could, convinced poor Ralph’s bladder would certainly explode.
“Ralph?” She barely had time to worry before she heard a knock at the door. She went to open it and smiled at the pair in front of her: Felix and Ralph. “Hey there!”
“I’m sorry, Audrey, I know I shouldn’t have opened the door. I won’t do it again.”
Marielle appeared behind them just as Felix was finishing his heartfelt apology. Audrey had been at the receiving end of several admiring looks all through the day, but the one that had just crossed Marielle’s blushing face was by far the most flattering—and the only one that counted, Audrey thought.
“Hi. So, yeah, your back door was unlocked, apparently. But I told my little man here it wasn’t appropriate for him to open it.”
Audrey took the time to smile and fully recognize how perfect a greeting Marielle’s beautiful face was after such a long day. Their gazes locked for a few long moments before Audrey turned her attention to Felix and ruffled his hair. “Oh no, buddy, don’t be sorry. I’m so happy you let him out. I bet he needed to go potty really bad, huh?”
“Yes, he did!” Felix’s guilt-heavy pout suddenly disappeared, and he smiled proudly at Audrey. “I freed him.”
“Yes, you did. You know what? You did me and Ralph a huge favor. Would it be okay if I left the door unlocked all the time and you came to let him out every day after school? It would be so very, very helpful.”
His smile broadened. “Yes, I can do that,” he said with enthusiasm.
“If you prefer not leaving the door unlocked all the time, you can give me a key. I’ll come with him after school.”
Audrey turned back to Marielle. “That might be a better idea, but I don’t want to impose.”
“Don’t be silly. You’re doing so much for us; it’s about time we do something for you. Just give me the key.”
Audrey rummaged through her pocketbook and found a spare key, which Marielle then slid inside the back pocket of her jeans. Her blouse barely touched her skin, hiding the curves Audrey craved to see. The raspberry-colored fabric was almost see-through, and she softly gasped when she saw the hint of a black bra. She quickly brought her attention back to Marielle’s face, where she caught the same appreciative gaze she’d seen in her eyes earlier, but then her expression turned into one of concern.
“So how was your first day, anyway? You must be exhausted.”
“Good. Much better than I thought, actually. I really am tired though. And hungry.”
“Hungry, of course! Felix and I just had lasagna, but there’s plenty left. Why don’t you come over and I’ll fix you a plate? Then we can come back and you can run yourself a bath while I put this little monster to bed.”
“I have to admit homemade lasagna sounds much better than the Lean Cuisine I was about to pop into the microwave.”
“Great! Come on over, then, but bring some of Ralph’s food or my son will think you’re trying to starve him for sure.”
Audrey laughed before turning to Felix. “Is that so? All right, buddy. Do you want to help me? I’ll show you where his food is so you can feed him any time you think he’s hungry, okay?” She winked at Marielle, who nodded her understanding that adult supervision might be n
eeded to avoid overfeeding the dog.
A few minutes later, a happy boy was carefully carrying a bowl full of dry food to his house with an excited little dog at his heels and both women just a few feet behind. Audrey took advantage of their relative privacy to ask the question she’d been dying to know the answer to all day. “Did you know Sam is one of my trainees?”
Marielle turned to her, eyes wide with shock, which reassured her. “No, I had no idea. He mentioned a promotion but didn’t go into details. Is he doing okay?”
“I think he’ll do great.”
“Good for him.” Marielle had turned to look into Audrey’s eyes when she spoke, and her gaze lingered again. “I’m sorry, I know I keep staring. It’s just…the makeup. It really makes your eyes pop. And the suit…Wow. You’re really stunning, Audrey.”
“Thank you.” She breathed the words, suddenly finding speech difficult. She knew she was blushing, but not as much as Marielle. Fortunately they were at the door and Marielle had to move in front of her to open it and let Felix in with his precious cargo, successfully breaking the tension. Marielle immediately busied herself fixing a plate of lasagna while Ralph attacked the bowl of food Felix carefully set down on the floor by the dining room table. The boy seemed amused by the dog’s appetite. Audrey took off her pumps—an action she found almost orgasmic—and walked barefoot toward the dining room. She assessed the décor as she removed her jacket and placed it on the back of a dining chair.
“Not exactly like your house, huh? It’s so old.” Marielle seemed embarrassed by her home, which saddened Audrey.
“Actually, I was thinking it’s quite big. It has a lot of…”
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