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After accepting the new card with Ms. Pope’s number on it, Stacy stood up, knowing that she’d been dismissed.
“How do I—”
“Turn left outside of my office and just keep straight. That will take you back to the door you entered through.”
Stacy wasn’t sure how that would work, but kept her mouth shut. With a single look back at the woman sitting behind the desk, she exited the office. She wanted to look inside another door, curious to find out what could be causing some of the inhuman sounds she heard coming from several of the rooms. But she heeded Tina’s warning and did not touch another door.
Who knew what she would find? Especially if Ms. Pope thought she was a vampire, and their twenty-something secretary was four hundred.
With another cold chill that attempted to keep her inside the hallway, she found herself walking through an open door. She was once again back inside of the warm chocolate sitting room.
“How...How is this possible?”
“Did Ms. Pope schedule you for another appointment?” Tina asked, her demeanor strictly business.
“No. I’m not sure if I am coming back.” Shaking her head, she wondered if she’d been slipped some kind of hallucinogenic drug. But then again, she didn’t remember eating or drinking anything since she entered the office.
Opening the outer door, she paused with one foot in the outside hallway. Looking over her shoulder, she took a deep breath. “Tina, exactly how old are you?”
The secretary’s head bowed. “I’ll be four hundred and twenty-five next month.”
Before the door closed behind her completely, she heard Tina get buzzed once again and respond, “I’ll be there at once.”
Outside of the building, Stacy paid special attention to the fourth floor, where the offices of BSC were stationed. There was nothing that betrayed anything special seemed to be hidden inside, that there was anything different about that floor. With the business card still in her hand, she shook her head. There was no way she would ever make a deal with the devil. Even if the devil was a beautiful woman who thought she was a vampire. That place had insanity plastered all over it. Looking at her watch, she sighed. If she didn’t hurry, she was going to be late for her shift.
Typically today was her day off, but a coworker who had never asked her for anything had practically begged her to switch days off with him. After the manager approved the swap, it had become a done deal. Stacy took comfort in the fact that if she were late, at least her coworker couldn’t be blamed for it. She hated to get other people in trouble.
Rushing through the city, the traffic seemed to be working for her rather than against. She even managed to get to work with a few minutes to spare. With a smile on her lips, she made her way through the store toward the back office where she would clock in. Passing swimwear, she paused.
She could see a couple making out near the changing area. It reminded her of how she and Thomas had been when their relationship—their marriage—had been new. She decided to let them get away with their necking for a few minutes. After all, why not let them have their fun, if they weren’t hurting anyone?
“Mmmm, I love the way that black suit looks on you,” a too-familiar voice said, giving her pause when she would have continued on her way. “It makes your ass look so delicious and your thighs so creamy. I could bury my head between them and feast for days.”
She decided to ignore the whole thing, to dismiss it as a regular customer. After all, it could be a coincidence that a man’s voice sounded like her husband’s. Especially since she’d been thinking about him so much the last few days, trying to decide what she wanted to do. But logic told her it couldn’t be him for two very good reasons. First, he’d told her he was on a business trip until the following day, and second, she knew for a fact that her husband found oral sex distasteful. She was about to walk away when the conversation continued.
“But that one is so expensive.” Stacy could almost hear the pout in the other woman’s voice. “It’s more than what I promised myself I’d spend.”
“Yeah, but my wife works here. I’ll just use her discount and add whatever else you need. I can’t wait to see you in that next weekend when we’re at that ‘mandatory work seminar’.” Both of them chuckled, and Stacy could almost hear the air quotes around the phrase.
Peeking around a rack of swimsuits, Stacy saw her husband before his face became obscured by the other woman as they kissed.
She was so angry she was shaking. Approaching the couple, she forced herself to stand there and watch them. Her arms were folded over her chest as she waited for them to come up for air.
When they finally stopped, she cleared her throat. The look on her husband’s face was priceless.
Without a word, she turned and stormed off. While she wished she were doing it because it would have him confused and not certain what to expect from her next, the truth was she was terrified that if she didn’t walk away, she’d be arrested for assaulting both of them.
Storming through the store, her manager stopped her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m leaving.”
“No, you’re going to go clock in, then clean up the dressing rooms and straighten up swimwear. Some woman left a ton of bathing suits all over the place.”
Running on autopilot, she did the first thing she could think of to get out of having to return to that section of the store. She couldn’t go back and watch her husband make a fool of himself with that whore. “Fuck you. I quit!”
Leaving the building, she climbed back into her car and pulled the crumpled business card off the floorboard. She drove to the closest fast food place.
The card firmly in her hand, she walked to the ancient payphone and inserted her coins. Dialing the number, she was surprised when she heard the voice of Ms. Pope instead of the friendly Tina. She hadn’t really believed it would take her to the woman’s direct line. “Hello, Stacy. Have you decided so soon?”
