Chapter 7

Josephine O'Bannon loves her twin sister. Really, she does. Still seeing her get her happily ever after stings a little.

[7]

　

　

　

The next morning I opened my hotel door to find Tanner standing there. Behind him was a young hotel worker dressed in a black suit. He was holding a copy of the day’s newspaper and an urn of coffee.

 

“Where’s Nicole?” I asked. I’d gotten used to Nicole’s quirky demeanor and oddball look, I wasn’t expecting some new guy.

 

The kid smiled at me, a polite smile that spoke volumes about what he was doing here. He was smiling at me with my own phony smile. Over the past year or so I’d become an expert at spotting them.

 

He shrugged indifferently. “I think Nicole took the day off. She said something about taking a vacation to Columbia. She‘s a bit of a slacker.”

 

Tanner laughed. I looked at him to see him shaking his head. “She went down to Columbia to interview for future admittance into Medical school. The University, not the country. She wanted you to know she was taking the plunge today.”

 

I looked at the kid standing before me and saw his face turn beet reed. What a useless little s**t. A vacation to Columbia, really? How in the world could you confuse the two? What a moron. He doesn’t deserve a tip.

 

“Thank you.” I said reaching out and grabbing the coffee and newspaper. Then I used the universal line of non tippers. “I don’t have any change I’ll have to get you next time.”

 

I watched his smile falter just a little. He excused himself and disappeared down the hallway, no doubt cursing me for being a cheapskate.

 

“Little s**t.” I muttered to myself.

 

Tanner simply shook his head. “I’ll give you a little while to handle some business but we have a full schedule. I already got a call from the office, they’ve finished the security upgrades on your sister’s house. They want you to come by and sign off. After that we can shift home base from here to there.”

 

Moving? Already? I liked it here. I know it was a hotel, it wasn’t home but somehow this felt so much more natural. “Can we set that up for tomorrow?”

 

Tanner only nodded along. “That shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll plan on tomorrow night being our last night here.”

 

I wanted to find another reason to stall but with somebody else footing the bill I realized doing as I’m told was the safest thing to do. Then again moving into my sister’s house before her seemed like a crappy thing to do also.

 

“As long as it’s not bad manners to move in before my sister.”

 

Tanner laughed. “Not at all. Besides, the estate manager has already moved in.” He shrugged. “Along with two full time maids and a chef.”

 

Fancy pants. I guess they didn’t waste much time staffing the place. “I look forward to meeting them.”

 

Tanner didn’t waste time on more pleasantries. “Inform me when you’re ready to start the day ma’am.” Then he was gone. Mr. Personality.

 

I pushed the door shut and made myself a cup of coffee then got myself comfortable in the room’s easy chair. It was barely eight am and I found myself wondering what time Tanner got up every morning. He was a barrell of laughs. But then it did seem that Nicole had managed to rub off on him too. I was surprised to find out that she’d spoken with him about her trip to Columbia to talk about securing a spot in the medical school. She was just an undergrad but getting into medical school was a process that should start right away. Taking a meeting with the Med School Dean for guidance was the smart move. I wasn’t sure when she and Tanner had spoken about it though. Last night? How did I miss that?

 

The newspaper however was enough to make my stomach churn with nervousness. On the front page of the Arts and Entertainment section there was an article about Gabriella. Word was spreading about her slurs against Jo and her attempt at stealing away Luke. Nobody it seems likes a man stealer. The article was a hatchet job.

 

Half way through the article my name came up. According to the writer I was extremely angry at the French woman for her attempts to woo my sister’s guy. Supposedly I was extremely over protective of my more fragile sister and had decided to move to New York to be closer to her. It also mentioned I was being wooed by several New York medical practices. It was seemingly harsh but not mean spirited. I was the over protective sister. The fact that we were twins and shared a womb made this somewhat understandable it seems. Nobody had ever given me a hard time about it.

 

Gabriella however didn’t get off quite so easily. She was currently public enemy number one. The news it seems had hit France, where my sister was currently honeymooning, and half the populace was attempting to apologize. Even some French celebrities were publicly condemning Gabriella’s actions. Gabriella for her part was invisible. Her handlers were responding with no comments and from what I could tell there didn’t seem to be any way to spin it.

 

I contemplated my role in this. An offhand comment to Jill. She’d orchestrated this whole thing, probably with a simple phone call, and had given me all the credit. Or blame, as you have it. Yeah, I suppose I wanted somebody to do something, Gabriella shouldn’t be able to get away with doing what she did. Still I hadn’t expected it to be such a big deal. I expected rumors on the back page of some sleazy gossip magazine. I didn’t expect the reach to be so grand. It was unnerving, the power of Jo’s reputation. There was genuine love for her out there. This offront couldn’t, wouldn’t, be forgiven lightly. Gabriella was in serious trouble. Her reputation would be tarnished forever.

 

I sifted through more of the newspaper. There was news of all kinds that took my attention away from my life. Movies and parties on the other side of the country. I was surpised when news of my sister and her new husband was turning up in Hollywood. It turns out one of the many books hastily thrown together by an opportunistic writer was being turned into a film. I hadn’t read the book myself but from what I heard it was a flattering portrait of the two of them. Somewhat inaccurate but flattering none the less.

 

There had been several books, TV specials and half hour programs dedicated to them over the past year or so. Some of them interesting, some just out right exploitative. My favorites were the travel specials. Like Nicole it seems lots of people were interested in the journey itself. The many trips they’d taken through the years were of interest to many people. Although it was impossible to retrace the actual journey itself many people claimed to be destination spots. Most I assumed were hoaxes but there was some that were documented with photo’s and other proof. There was even a camp ground in South Dakota where’d they’d been documented witnesses in a murder investigation. They’d provided a description and a liscense plate of a speeding car that had later been tied to a murder. The culprit was currently serving a life sentence.

 

Stories like that only seemed to grow the legend. Every major tourist spot seemed to have a story these days. I had no idea what to make of any of it. I’d even heard a few stories of people claiming to have met Jo that I simply knew were not true. Still I refused to burst anybodies ballon. Jo had a policy of not confirming or denying any of it. According to her it would do more harm than good to do so. If somebody could boost business and eke out a better living why not let them. It was one of the small differences between us that set us apart. It was such a special thing for her and Luke that if I were her I would have been much more guarded about the whole thing. She was more than willing to share it all with everyone, even going so far as to let some of the people inject themselves into the adventures. According to her it was a little harmless exaggeration. It turns out she was right because her and Luke were beginning to reach Tall Tale status.

~

It took almost an hour but I was able to connect with every office on Jill’s prospective employer list and made a series of appointments to visit today. The first name on the list EMMG, a moniker for East Manhattan Medical Group, had asked me to come in right away to take a look around. EMMG was a concierge practice that catered to upscale society types on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A quick internet search revealed it was a midsized practice, five doctors total. One internist, one plastic surgeon, two family medicine specialists and a psychiatrist.

 

EMMG was housed on a whole floor of a medical building in an upscale area. A photo tour of the place showed bright spaces and a professionally decorated lobby. A web bio rattled off a list of professional accomplishments and I realized that although I was professionally qualified I wasn’t nearly as accomplished as the other doctors on staff.

 

Tanner and I head out to make the meeting. On the way I stopped and grabbed a bagel from a local coffee shop and snacked on the way. I hated eating in the car but being late had always been a pet peeve of mine. We reached the building twenty minutes early for my meeting and tour.

 

The building’s lobby was like so many I’d seen before. After passing my board exams I had grown a bit restless and had done some looking. I was offered several lucrative positions back in Texas but hadn’t accepted any so I could closely monitor my sister’s condition. It had been nearly four months since I’d practiced medicine and I was eager to get back to it.

 

Tanner and I silently rode the elevator to EMMG’s offices on the seventh floor and I was pleasantly surprised that not only were they the only tenants on the floor but that the elevator opened up into the lobby itself. I’d seen this in other office buildings and it had never seemed very practical to me. How did they lock up at night? Still the lobby I walked into was much larger and more upscale in person than it appeared on the internet. On line the lobby looked nice and fancy but it was one dimensional, phony. Realistically the place was opulent, fancier than any lobby I‘d been in before.

 

There was a large administration desk twenty feet from the elevator that sat in front of a makeshift wall that seemingly served no other purpose than to hold a large EMMG nameplate. There were two beautiful young brunettes sitting at the desk both dressed in identical black scrub sets. In the distance there were two middle aged women chatting on a sofa near a window and they both stopped their conversation to stare at me as I approached the reception desk. Both receptionists smiled politely at me and I returned the gesture.

 

“Dr. Josephine O’Bannon here to see Dr. Thomas. I’m a bit early.”

 

One of the women working the desk was on her feet and smiling before I had a chance to tell her I’d sit down and wait. Her gaze gravitated to Tanner and I decided to beat her to the punch.

 

“This is Tanner, he’s my security escort.”

 

Tanner simply stared at the woman coldy and she self consciously shifted her eyes back to me. “Okay, I’ll let Dr. Thomas know that you’re here. Can I offer you anything?”

 

I politely declined forgetting my Southern motto of always accept something even if only a glass of water. Tanner also declined and I decided to have a seat so as not to draw any more attention to myself. The two older ladies previously chatting on the sofa were staring at me openly now. I politely said hello and grabbed a seat across from them and shuffled through my cell phone.

 

There was a message from Jo, another text message. Apparently the Gabriella news had drawn her attention and she’d asked me a simple question, four simple words. What did you do? Great, now she was spending her honeymoon dealing with my impulsive drama.

 

I texted a short explanation back to her being sure not to leave out the part about it actually being Jill’s doing. Jo I knew wouldn’t confront Jill. She had settled into life as a Lucas and as far as the family was concerned Jill had discretion in situations such as these. And Jo simply didn’t see the need to make waves. She’d taken on life as a Lucas with gusto these past few months. Leading up to the wedding she’d taken media lessons and had been given a crash course in all things Lucas from the family business to the family confidants. I couldn’t envision her doing anything even remotely controversial these days. My blaming of Jill would be the end of it. Her sisterly love for me would keep her from even mentioning any of this to Jill.

 

It didn’t take Dr. Thomas long to come and greet me. He was a short and pudgy man with jet black hair, probably dyed, and rosy cheeks with glasses. He was hardly the sort of person I’d be expected to be greeted by in a place like this. Usually places like this threw their most attractive employees in your face as a sort of enticement when they were trying to woo you. Dr. Thomas was hardly the sort of man women found attractive. He wasn’t unattractive, he had a cute face but he was heavy and out of shape, a heart attack waiting to happen. He dressed the part of a successful man, a sleek black suit that was surely tailor made for him. His hair cut looked expensive too and he smiled like a million bucks. Still there was something missing. That ’it’ factor you couldn’t explain. There was no doubt he was the man in charge but I somehow felt he wasn’t cut out to be the face of the business.

 

“Dr. O’Bannon it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. When we heard you were looking at moving your practice to New York we were extremely excited.”

 

My practice? I didn’t have a practice. And surely if I did it wouldn’t be moving to New York. I would bring absolutely no patients with me. They had to understand that. The fact that I’d just finished my residency and only months ago had passed my board exams was common knowledge, at least it should be. When I passed my exams it had been reported in the media.

 

I decided to ignore it. What else was I supposed to do, correct him? That had to be bad interview etiquette. “It’s a pleasure, thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”

 

Dr. Thomas nodded politely and offered to show me around. The tour lasted nearly a half hour with Dr. Thomas taking the time to go over every single feature of the office. Despite HIS appearance the place was totally state of the art. The exam rooms were stocked with every toy you could imagine and lacked the cold professional and impersonal feel of a medical exam room. They almost felt like bedrooms. Almost. The exam tables and the computers and equipment settled you. It was professional yet eerily comfortable. I couldn’t imagine how they were able to pull it off, it had probably cost a small fortune in decorating fees.

 

And as one of the firm’s two current family medicine specialists he was able to give me an in depth explanation of what to expect working at EMMG. According to Dr. Thomas he was home most nights by six and was at a ninety percent participation rate with his children’s activities. He rarely missed anything important in his home life. Being away from home so much was a major complaint by most doctors but things were apparently different here. Most doctor’s wives would have killed for fifty percent. In Houston there were doctors I knew who didn’t make it home at all most nights, ninety percent of the time was unheard of.

 

As we walked through the place, Tanner trailing behind, he explained to me what my responsibilities would be. I’d be the emergency on call doctor most weekends, being the new blood in the office, for at least a year. I’d see an average of fifteen patients a day, a far cry for the twenty five or twenty six I would have been seeing back in Texas. I was also expected to keep in close contact with all my patients. Frequent calls and immediate responses to questions or concerns they may have was a must. It didn’t sound that bad actually, there was a very professional but laid back vibe in the office that I wouldn’t mind working in.

 

After all this I was shown what would be my office if I accepted an offer. I couldn’t believe it, it looked like an office straight out of a movie. A large corner office with a view out of this world and a large wooden bookcase filled with medical books and current medical journals. It had a sofa with a coffee table and a large flat screen TV mounted to the wall. I fell in love with the place at first glance and a look at Tanner revealed even he was impressed.

 

Jill had mentioned that my starting salary would be extremely generous. I didn’t ask her what it was but when Dr. Thomas threw out a number like a boomerang I was intrigued. Extremely intrigued. It was fifty percent more than I’d been offered back in Texas.

 

I understood the concept of concierge medicine, most people were required to pay an upfront fee to join and because of that they received special service. Same or next day office visits along with attention lavished on them. From what I heard the treatment was addictive. Once you tried it you could never go back to the same old status quo. Still the whole thing seemed to be pandering to wealthy people to me.

 

“Is it true you offer house calls?” I asked. It was something I’d read on the website. In home visits available! Doctors rarely did that anymore.

 

Dr. Thomas nodded. “It’s reserved for our gold standard clients. They pay a higher yearly enrollement fee and are given certain considerations. It’s usually only reserved for people with a certain economic background. Most people don’t mind coming down to the office. Some of our psychiatric patients enjoy this feature, they prefer to be treated in private. Discreetly.”

 

All I could do was nod. Rich people could do whatever they wanted with their money I supposed. “So the bulk of your patients are simply run of the mill cold and flu patients?”

 

Dr. Thomas nodded. “OUR patients will be, yes. Occasionally something serious will happen and we’ll have to hang out with them at the hospital and hold their hands but nothing you won’t be able to handle. Our psychiatry and plastic surgery practices are really starting to grow. We’re actually looking at adding another Psychiatrist to our ranks. They get the offices with the fewest windows, apparently it’s some sort of treatment protocol. Not that I mind getting a corner office. I like my office more than I liked my first apartment.”

 

I laughed. My apartment in Houston was a shoe box. Speaking of that how would I handle getting my things back to New York? What about my apartment lease? My car? My furniture? What would happen to all of that stuff?

 

“We also offer several lifestyle services. Personally tailored in depth exercise regiments along with nutritional programs upon request. Marital counseling and crisis intervention. Evaluations for adoptions along with coordination with IVF procedures.”

 

This caught my attention. “You have a Fertility specialist on staff?”

 

“My partner is an OB-GYN, he’s scaled back his hours quite a bit but he handles all of the firm’s pregnancy concerns. It brings him into the office a few hours a week but for all intents and purposes he’s retired. His wife’s career began to eclipse his and he took a few steps away to focus on the family. She runs a 500. They have small children and apparently the wife wants them home schooled for the first few years.”

 

I assumed he meant a Fortune 500 company.

 

He cleared his throat. “You may know her, Claudia Lucas-Steele. I believe your sister married her cousin.”

 

Claudia Lucas-Steele was Luke’s cousin. Her father Gregory Lucas had died years ago in the Vietnam war as a helicopter pilot. The VP had taken his children along with their mother, his older brother’s widow, under his wing and looked out for them. Claudia and her brother Gregory Jr. had grown up on the Lucas family compound in Connecticut. When they came of age they joined the world, Claudia had gone to Childress like all the other Lucas girls before her and Gregory had gone to a boarding school in upstate Connecticut. Claudia was currently the head of the family’s flagship company Lucas Petroleum, Greg Jr. operated the charity Luke’s father started before he died in a plane crash when Luke was seventeen.

 

I had only met Claudia briefly but when I did I got the feeling she didn’t care for me. Luke’s sister Patti pulled me aside later and let me know that I shouldn’t take it personally. Claudia was distant with everyone, including her husband William. Apparently she had a chip on her shoulder because Luke had been born a genius and along with his sister had nearly tripled the family fortune, thereby eclipsing anything she had done or would ever do with Lucas Petro. It seemed a bit petty when she’d told me but after a while I’d began to understand how she felt. Profits were up five fold but nobody would ever notice because of the Supernova shining in the corner. It was frustrating, poor Claudia had just never learned to hide it.

 

“I know Claudia.” I said doing my best not to let my feelings betray me.

 

Dr. Thomas seemed to understand and smiled politely at me. Bad mouthing his partner’s wife, who just so happens to be one of the wealthiest women in the world seemed a bad idea. Especially to a woman he barely knew who’s sister just married into the family.

 

“So what do you think so far?” He asked me.

 

I was impressed and couldn’t hide THAT. “I have to look at a few other places today, make some more visits but I will confess I’m on the line to use an old fisherman’s reference.”

 

Dr. Thomas smiled. “You fish?”

 

“I’m from the south Dr. Thomas, I was born casting a reel.”

 

“Well we have a cabin up in Colorado that we own that you’d have access to. We have a retreat once a year where we all head down for a few days. Sometimes we bring the families, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we just say we’re going fishing and we head out to Vegas instead.”

 

I laughed playfully. “I think you just sank that hook in deeper doctor.”

~

It wasn’t until I was back in the car that I checked my cellphone to see if Jo had responded to my text. She hadn’t. Instead I had a phone message from a New York area code. I listened to the voice mail and was a bit surprised to find out it was Jill. I couldn’t imagine what she wanted this time.

 

Josie, it’s Jill. I need you to stop by the house for a few minutes. We’re at the place on Park Avenue. The doorman will send you right up. She gave me an address and told me to stop by as soon as I got the message. I assumed this meant, drop everything and head on over, so that’s exactly what I did.

 

I wanted to scoff at being summoned but I remembered what Jill had done to Gabriella. She probably only made one phone call and the woman, once one of the most revered models in the world, was public enemy number one. I decided once again to do as I was told.

 

I told the driver about our change in plans and as per his usual he didn’t ask questions. It didn’t take us long to get to where we were going but the second we got there I felt out of place. I had heard a lot about Park Avenue over the years. When you watch TV and movies and somebody rich is involved if they live in New York it’s always on Park Avenue. It had grown to be some abstract thing. Some place you never expected to experience if you were an outsider.

 

The reality was it looked like most streets in the city. Cars and taxicabs driving by, people walking around. Only the vibe was different. Every other person on the street was distinct in some way. Young women who looked like students walking tiny puppies on large leashes. Women pushing strollers, men carrying briefcases. When I climbed out of the SUV I came face to face with a woman in a full length fur coat. She was wearing huge sunglasses with her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. By the looks of her she had to be in her forties but something inside me said that was a topic that was off limits during a conversation. She was dressed like you’d expect to see Paris Hilton dressed or some other twenty something party girl. A short blue skirt with white nylons and an expensive looking yellow top. She looked like a freak but I didn’t let on to how ridiculous I thought she looked, she was staring at me. She stared at me momentarily, a flash of recognition coming across her face, and stopped in her tracks.

 

“JoAnne or Josephine?” she asked me.

 

“Josephine.” Was all I said. I hated speaking to strangers. Having strangers know my name would never get comfortable. And people tended to ask this question quite a bit, Jo or Josie, even when the answer was obvious. Jo was in a wheelchair, that was common knowledge. Not to mention she was on her honeymoon, also common knowledge.

   

She simply nodded with understanding. “Mimi. Quartermane.” She split the name up into two parts as if she were speaking about two different people. I found it a bit weird but didn’t blink. “We simply must have lunch,” she continued.

 

“Of course.” I said hesitantly. “We should do that,” I lied having no intention of sitting down and breaking bread with this stranger.

 

Mimi. Quartermane. Smiled at me. “Great I’ll call Patti and have Jill set it up. The girls in the league will be thrilled to have you.”

 

Great, there was a league now? She leaned into me and kissed me on the cheek. It was awkward and forced and completely uncomfortable and inappropriate but that didn’t stop her from making her lips comfortable on my face.

 

“Oh well I better get inside you don’t keep Patti waiting.”

 

Mimi seemed to find this amusing. “No, you don’t. Tell the mistress of the universe I said hello.”

 

I agreed and awkwardly excused myself to duck inside. The lobby to the building wasn’t unlike the many lobby’s I’d been in before. Marble floors, a man at a desk in uniform, various closed doors and a bank of elevators. For Park Avenue it didn’t look at all spectacular.

 

“Dr. O’Bannon.” The man in uniform was quickly on his feet and extending his arm towards the elevator. “Right this way please.” He was around the desk and heading to the elevator like lighting. I was impressed by his speed. He looked to be nearly fifty yet he was as spry as a teenager. I decided not to bring it up, it seemed offensive and my b***h status needed a little coddling. Insulting octogenarians didn’t seem like a good way to convince the world I wasn’t a vicious dictator.

 

He flashed some kind of key card against a panel and punched a number into a key pad and waited with me silently until the elevator door opened. Once it did he nodded stiff and professional like and thanked ME before walking away.

 

Thoroughly dismissed I stepped inside and leaned in to press a button before realizing I had no idea where I was going, although all this turned out to be irrelevant because there were no floor buttons. All I got was clear metal walls, clean enough to show me my warped reflection. The doors slid closed silently and the electric hum kicked in. I felt a gentle shift of gravity’s pull and within mere seconds the door was opening again.

 

I was let off into a small hallway comprised of two dueling paintings. One of them was a dark themed painting of a woman staring out a window. It was dreary, all grey skies and hard lines. The painting on the opposite wall was bright and colorful, but it was all shapes and abstract, I couldn’t make heads or tails out of what it was supposed to be. I hated art for precisely this reason. My grandpa had a painting of dogs playing poker in his den and THAT was the extent of my art knowledge. Simple, fun, and obvious.

 

Also in the room was a tiny wooden table directly under the depressing painting. Sitting on top of it was a large white vase filled with a large bouquet of flowers, red, yellow and purple Tulips. Down at the end of the short room was a door.

 

I gave the door a rapt knock and a old Hispanic woman in a maid’s uniform pulled it open just enough to poke her head out.

 

“Yes,” the woman asked with a hint of skepticism.

 

“I’m here to see Jill.”

 

The woman stared at me with curiosity before pulling the door closer to her body, blocking my path and my view. “And you are,” she asked behind a thick accent.

 

Seriously? She seriously didn’t know who I was? Give me a break, she recognized me. Everybody recognized me. “Dr. Josephine O’Bannon.”

 

The old Hispanic woman continued to stare at me, her eyes peering at me as if my forehead were made of glass. I stood taking in her gaze like afternoon sunshine but she still didn’t move, didn’t blink. I stared at her old wrinkled and weathered face, jet black hair and cloudy brown eyes. Her thin and calloused fingers gripped the door tightly blocking my entrance. I waited for what seemed like an eternity but still nothing.

 

“Are you gonna let me the hell inside or do I have to stand here all morning?” I finally asked, my frustration getting the better of me. What was this woman’s deal anyway?

 

“It’s okay Estelle. She’s in the club.” I finally heard Jill say in the background.

 

Estelle quickly moved her arm and let me into the house. In the background Jill was getting herself comfortable on a large black sofa. She was in a pair of flimsy flannel pajama’s and holding a cup of coffee. Sitting beside her in a long yellow robe was Patti. I could see by the uncomfortable look on her face that she was the reason I’d been standing in the hallway like an idiot.

 

“Josie come in,” Jill said leaning into Patti’s body like she had surely done many times. Patti shifted uncomfortably beneath Jill’s weight but Jill only buried herself further into her.

 

“You wanted to see me.” I asked.

 

Jill laughed. “You make it sound like I’m some mafia don. I just wanted to check in with you, see how things were going.”

 

“I’m doing okay,” I said.

 

“That’s not what we heard. We heard you’ve gotten in pretty good with Geno Ambrosi,” Patti said with an emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

 

Nicole’s dad? How would they have heard that? That only happened last night and it wasn’t like we were out on the town.

 

“It’s not like that. I just,” I started to say before Jill cut me off.

 

“It’s not a bad thing,” she told me, the softness in her voice putting my mind at ease. The last thing I wanted to do was offend anyone. For all I know these two families were mortal enemies and I’d just committed some grand faux paus in the blood feud between the two clans.

 

I nodded more relaxed but still uncomfortable by the questions. “His daughter works at the hotel as a bellhop. She’s a fan of Jo’s and we started talking about her future. She wants to become a doctor so I gave her some encouragement. She signing up for Columbia today. Or at least she’s trying to.”

 

“She works as a bellhop?” Patti asked with a snicker. “All these kids today taking an active roll in the family businesses.”

 

Jill nodded. “Doyle’s influence. All of a sudden it’s cool to care about the family legacy.”

 

Patti shrugged. “He’s just lucky he found JoAnne. Any other girl would have had him knee deep in Gucci and Prada. They sure as hell wouldn’t have encouraged him to send work back home to look after the multi-billion dollar company he owns. They would have had him on a beach somewhere drinking umbrella drinks. He‘s lucky he found the one woman on the planet weirder than he is.” She looked at me diplomatically. “No offense.”

 

I didn’t freak out, I couldn’t. He was her brother as much as Jo was my sister and as far as I was concerned we were the only two people on the planet allowed to bash them with no repercussions. Anyway I had no idea what they were talking about and took the cue to keep my mouth shut.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with learning your family business from the ground up.” Jill defended.

 

“He didn’t do any of that,” Patti replied. “He went sightseeing, then he went to college and joined a fraternity, after he got a job stocking shelves at a supermarket. That has nothing to do with being a bellhop or any of this other nonsense people are doing. All of a sudden everybody wants to change the world. Or worse, put off college for a year and travel. As if that‘s not going to end badly for some of them.”

 

“They’re kids Pat, they’re optimistic. Besides the Ambrosi girl is weird anyway. Remember what she looked like the last time we saw her. Pink hair and white face paint.”

 

“Well at least she’s trying.” Patti said finally giving in to Jill’s argument. “I expected her to want to join some rock band or something.”

 

I almost laughed out loud. Nicole would probably get that for the rest of her life. Or at least as long as she dressed herself up like Marilyn Manson.

   

“She is trying, and Josie got her back on track, that must be why Geno comped her stay.”

 

“He what?” I asked.

 

Jill finally turned her attention back to me. “He comped your stay. It’s free, I went to take care of it this morning and I was told it wasn’t necessary. And not only that but he called Patti and asked her to speak to you. He wants you to find a place for her in your new office. Filling out paperwork or whatever. Part time, he’d cover her pay of course.”

I didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know if she’d be open to that.”

 

Patti shook her head. “If you’re going to mentor her you have to be more decisive. You can‘t be so wishy washy.”

 

Mentor? Since when had I decided to do that?

“Look, Josie, in situations like this we handle things with the utmost delicacy. When a family sends their child into another family to learn, that child’s education becomes their responsibility. When I came to the Lucas family to work instead of staying with my own it was a huge deal. My father got serious progress reports from Patti’s uncle. It wasn’t taken lightly. I was sent to Childress, then to Harvard and given a spot at Lucas Tech. My family was a little upset at first because they thought I’d be working at Lucas Petroleum but once Lucas Tech took off they calmed down. They’ve offered to take one of the Lucas kids in but the VP has been resistant up until now, it looks as if his youngest daughter Sandra is receptive, she‘s in law school. Until now most of the kids have gone one or two ways. Family business or service, he was scared to upset the apple cart. In our world sending your kid off to learn with somebody else is a big deal. Ambrosi doesn’t take this lightly. Whatever you’re doing with his daughter he likes it and she looks up to you. He’s asking you to do this and it would be a mistake to say no.”

 

Patti nodded. “Besides, it’ll be good for you. People are already clamoring for your allegiance.”

 

“My allegiance,” I asked, a deer in headlights.

 

Jill sipped her coffee then nodded. “Social allegiance. You’ve made quite the splash. The locals will be cozying up to you anytime now. It’s the southern belle thing I think. They like the accent, it’s sexy.”

 

I hadn’t realized my accent was so pronounced. In Texas nobody mentioned it at all. It was like it wasn’t a thing. Here I could the see the hint of a smile when I spoke to people, the interest and amusement as if I were about to say something funny. Were they laughing with me or at me?

 

Patti poked Jill’s side. “Stop it. I don‘t want to hear how you think some other woman‘s voice is sexy.”

 

“It is. Don’t tell me it doesn’t make you tingle.”

 

Patti chuckled. “Only you can make me tingle.”

 

Suddenly I felt like I was eavesdropping on some secret bedroom talk. I didn’t mind that they were lesbians. That had nothing to do with me really, it was just odd that they were suddenly so comfortable with me that they were having sexy chats with me in the room.

 

Of all the information on the web about Patti Lucas-Hearns I had never once heard that she was gay. It wasn’t even rumored on internet gossip blogs. She was married to a handsome and distinguished man named Conrad that had given her two equally cute children. A girl named Katherine who was sixteen and off at boarding school. Her son CJ, Conrad Junior, was thirteen and the splitting image of his father. Tall blonde and movie star handsome. He lived in the city, probably here in fact, and went to a seriously expensive and elite private school.

 

“Can I ask a question?” It stumbled stupidly out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying. I wanted to know but I didn’t want to ask. Being nosy wasn’t a good idea. Jill had stressed that I should be minding my own business already. The last thing I needed was to tick her off.

 

“What?” Patti asked me with an arched brow. She was staring at me, burning holes through me behind cold blue eyes.

 

“Does your husband know about you two? Does anybody?” I didn’t see the need in pretending I didn’t want to know.  The damage was done, pretending not to be interested, or worse, noble, seemed stupid.

 

“YOU know.” Jill said with a sly grin. “That’s probably all we should say. Don’t want to be the topic of conversations now do we?”

 

It made sense. If I had to assume nobody knew anything, the odds of me blurting it out by accident seemed unlikely.

 

“Okay,” I said defeated. I decided to quit while I was ahead.

 

“What’s on the agenda for today, I need a favor.” Jill said. The comfort between the two women had grown because now Patti was stroking Jill’s hair.

 

“I’m doing a few more interviews and I’m shopping with Sister Margaret this afternoon.”

 

“Really?” Patti asked seemingly shocked. “You’re hanging out with the nun?”

 

All I could do was shrug. “I like her. She makes me laugh.”

 

Jill gave Patti a surprised look. “She seems like a buzz kill to me. She was always that way growing up, talking about Jesus all the time. She was weird.”

 

Patti laughed. “Not weird, devoted to God. It’s not that weird in hindsight seeing what she chose to do with herself. There’s worse things you can do I suppose. It’s not that strange all things considered. What is strange is that Josie wants to hang out with her.”

 

“I went to church yesterday too.” I added.

 

Jill laughed. “That can’t hurt.”

 

“Uncle Harvey will love to hear that. A few pictures of you shopping with his daughter and going to church and you’ll be his new best friend.” Patti seemed genuinely amused but I didn’t see how they couldn’t know Sister Margaret was a hoot and a half. I had a blast hanging out with her.

 

“Sister Margaret’s cool, she’s great, I’m surprised you guys don’t spend more time with her.”

 

Jill looked over at Patti with a knowing smirk. “What do you think Jesus would say about our twenty years of sin and lust?”

 

“Something about us going to hell I’m sure.”

 

I watched them giggle together like school girls. They looked extremely comfortable together and I found myself wondering how twenty years of love and commitment could be wrong. Sure it was weird, they both had kids with men. I assumed their husbands were probably gay too. How could they not be? I couldn’t imagine any guy being okay with the situation as it was. Spanish vinyeards and cuddling on couches. Maids who were super protective of her bosses secrets, it all seemed so controlled and confined, the husbands had to be gay.

 

“Anyway. Clint Baker needs an escort to a Charity thing. It will be a nice coming out party for you.”

 

Oh great and let me guess, it’s tomorrow night. “When?”

 

“Tomorrow.” Jill said bursting my ballon.

 

Of course. Not only was I expected to break a date with a super sexy guy but I was now going to have to hang out with Clint. Mr. ‘my reputation comes first’ Baker.

 

“I sort of had a thing tomorrow.”

 

Jill frowned. “Can you reschedule? This is a favor, a huge one. Clint needs a beautiful woman on his arm but he needs someone who can hold their own in a room full of bigshots. And seeing as how as far as the public is concerned you two are dating it makes sense that beautiful woman be you.”

 

I opened my mouth to protest.

 

“Do it. It’s for the family. The Bakers are going to make big allies one day. They’re looking at getting Clint into politics and one day he’s going to be somebody important. A congressmen, a Senator. If you do this for us it will show us all something. It‘ll show us you‘re a team player.”

 

How do you say no to that? I wasn’t even technically part of this family and here I was doing all the dirty work while Jo cavorted in Paris with her handsome rich new husband. I got the s****y end of this deal, clearly.

 

“Fine.”

 

“Great.” Jill said with a smile. “If it makes you feel any better I’ll buy you a nice dress.”

 

More clothes. I was whoring myself out for designer duds now. Well if I was going to sell myself I may as well charge an arm and a leg. I was going to buy the most expensive dress I could find.

 

“Do either of you know Mimi?” I asked.

 

Patti and Jill both spoke up, saying “Quartermane” at the same time.

 

I laughed. “That’s her.”

 

“I just ran into her outside. She said she was going to call you guys about me and her having lunch.”

 

Patti laughed. “Oh God hold out for better friends. Those types are gossipy piranhas.”

 

Jill rolled her eyes. “She’s fine, she sits at the top of the old rich lady food chain. She runs the Lilac League. Which is basically rich ladies drinking and talking about clothes. Everybody has to join one of these things. I’m a member myself.”

 

I looked over at Patti but she shook her head.

 

“No way. I hate that stuff. I’ll leave it up to you ladies to get drunk at noon and talk about Christian Dior.”