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I stayed over with Bliss. It was my first time spending the night at her apartment. We stayed for an hour after the club closed chatting with Maxwell and his boyfriend Avery. From now on we’ll have to plan our excursions to The Black Orchid on weekends.
I texted Inez to ask her to open the shop. Fortunately, my first appointment isn’t until noon but other artists who rent spaces have earlier appointments. When I get a call at 10 a.m. from an artist telling me she can’t get in I hurriedly dress.
Inez’s parking spot is empty. She isn’t even here, and I worry that something may have happened. When I call the phone goes straight to voicemail. I leave her a message. “Hey, Inez. Hope everything’s okay. Left you a message to open the shop but you aren’t here. Give me a shout if you’re going to be out today.”
She doesn’t call back. Again, that isn’t unusual. Inez isn’t above the occasional bender although she usually restricts her partying to the weekend. That’s one of the reasons I’ve kept her on despite the rift that grew between us when I left Club Cross. She’s dependable.
I had declined Bliss’ offer of breakfast as I rushed out the door. She didn’t doesn’t have to be at work until noon because there’s a staff meeting and would be working late.
On the way to my office, I stop in the hallway and look up at the picture. An idea pops into my head. Perhaps an updated version is in order, one with me and Bliss. I couldn’t hang it here, though, not with Inez still working in the shop. She was one of the Club Cross patrons who didn’t like that I did workshops at The Black Orchid. She hates Max, which had been a mystery until last night when he told me he had rejected her application to join The Black Orchid back when I was doing workshops there. The news had surprised me, but it’s not the kind of thing I’ll ever ask about.
After checking my email in the office, I head up to my apartment for a quick shower before getting to work. My first client is a young man from the local university who has been coming to me for the last couple of months so I can work on his sleeve. His goal is to get a doctorate in astronomy. I’ve been creating a galaxy on his arm. Today I’m working on a filling in a nebula I started two weeks ago. We pass the time talking about quantum physics and the possibility of time travel and whether man will ever establish a base on Mars.
Since Inez still hasn’t shown I ask one of the other artists if she can man the desk between appointments. I’m finished coloring in the nebula around three and go up front.
“Did Inez call?” I ask, although I know if she’d wanted to reach me, she’d just call my cell.
“No.” The other artist named Lill picks up a slip of paper. “But somebody from Westover Garden Center called.”
Bliss. She probably forgot her phone. I call the center and ask for her. I’m put on hold and a woman comes on the line and identifies herself as the assistant manager. She says she called because I’m listed as the contact person for Bliss.
“Has something happened?” I ask, worried.
“That’s why we called,” she said, her tone concerned. “Bliss hasn’t show up for work.”
I feel myself go number. I ask her to repeat what she just said in case there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.
“She’s not here,” the woman says. I mumble a thanks and call Bliss on my cell. It goes straight to voice mail. Again and again and again. Something’s wrong. I ask Lill to man the shop as I get in my truck and peel out of the lot.
Chapter fifteen
BLISS
Inez looks terrible. Heavy black circles shade her eyes. Her hair is a wild tangle, and she reeks of smoke. A burning cigarette dangles from her fingers. I don’t know what I’d expected when I heard a knock on my door, but it wasn’t this.
“Hey, Bliss. Can I come in?”
“I’m getting ready for work…”
“Please? It’s kind of important.” She’d glances nervously up and down the hall as if looking to see if anyone is there before turning back at me. “I really could use a friend.”
My inner voice screams not to do it but another voice – the nice, people-pleasing one that gets me into trouble - tells me that being nice to Inez might make things better for Tandy at work. Against my better judgement, I let her in although I do ask her to extinguish her cigarette. She takes one more drag before extinguishing it in one of my ferns; I bite my lip to keep from telling her how bad this is for the plant.
Inez exhales a plume of smoke as she crosses her arms. The vulnerable expression she wore in the doorway has been replaced by one of anger. “I’m just going to ask you straight up. Did you and Tandy go to The Black Orchid last night?”
I stare at her. “Inez, I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
She sniffs, wiped her nose on the sleeve of her leather jacket and put her hands on her hips. “I need to know.”
“Why?”
“Just answer me.”
Her tone is hard, her gaze harder. I look past her to where my phone is sitting on the table by the door. I need to call Tandy. She’ll know what to do. I rush towards my phone, only to feel myself shoved hard onto the floor. Inez grabs my phone and shoves it in her left pocket while pulling something else from her right. I stagger to my feet and take one step forward before stopping. I stare at the gun in her hand in disbelief.
“I didn’t want it to be like this.” Her voice is shaking. “But Tandy…” She shakes her head. “She just won’t listen. She just won’tsee…”
“See what?” I ask, trying to keep my voice calm. “What is it you want her to see?” I hold out a defensive hand while slowly rising from the floor.
