The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-16

"Well, I can't really quit my job!" Louise protested.

Terri nodded sympathetically. "I know, Lou. I was being facetious."

Louise's frustration wasn't mitigated by Terri's attempt at humor. "Okay, but what am I supposed to do?"

"You're going to get through this."

"How?"

Terri thought for a moment. "Well, I guess we'll have to come up with a plan." 

"What kind of plan?" Louise was incredulous but wanted to hear Terri's idea.

"Let's think about this for a moment," Terri pondered. "He's not going to be working here permanently, is he?"

"No."

"So, if we can get you through the next few months, you should be okay." 

"Easier said than done!" Louise muttered.

"Okay, but hear me out," Terri urged. "First of all, no socializing. You go to work and you talk to him only when necessary. Then, you go home!"

"Okay," Louise agreed. "All business, no socializing."

"No cocktail parties or happy hours!"

"That might be hard to manage," Louise argued. "The company holds official off-site events sometimes."

"Okay, well, then afterward you go straight home to Walter."

"Sure," Louise agreed. "Unless he's traveling."

"Louise, that doesn't matter!" Terri scolded.

"You're right," Louise agreed. "Maybe I can come and crash at your place if he's away."

"You are welcome any time, Lou. Oh, and absolutely no overtime! No late nights in the office."

"Yes! I mean, no!" Louise agreed. "I mean ... if I have extra work to do, I'll just do it at home."

"Good girl!" Terri exclaimed.

"Thanks."

Terri thought for a moment. "You know that he's going to be waiting for you to slip up?"

"Yeah, I think I'm pretty much aware of that."

"You can't let your guard down," Terri said firmly. "Don't go all weak and mushy - not even for a minute - or you're going to find yourself in trouble."

"Terr, I'm not an idiot!"

"I know, Lou, but you have a history with the guy. You can't switch that off just because you want to."

"Yeah, I know."

"Don't worry," Terri assured her. "He'll be gone before you know it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Louise exclaimed.

"You don't have to be sorry, Lou!"

"No, not about that!" Louise explained. "I mean, I didn't want tonight to be about my problems."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I wanted to talk about you and what you're going through."

Terri was surprised by the sudden change in the direction of the conversation, but she also felt a bit relieved. "Oh, okay..."

"Is Douglas still bothering you?"

"Oh, I ... I haven't heard from him again."

"Do you think it was just a one-time thing, him calling?"

"I don't know what to think, Lou!" Terri said in a hushed voice. "Douglas is ... obsessive, shall we say?"

"I would have said nuts, but that's a nice way to put it."

"Well, he hasn't called and he hasn't jumped out from behind the bushes..."

"Oh, that sounds scary!" Louise interjected.

"You have no idea," Terri confirmed. "He might be up to something. I just don't know."

"Well, you know that if you have trouble you can call me. Or you can come over," Louise assured her. "Walter definitely won't mind."

"Thanks!" Terri replied. "That's very considerate. But there's something else that I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh, sure!" 

"I don't want you to get upset."

"Um, okay. I don't think I will," Louise said. "What is it?"

"I kind of went on a date," Terri said slowly. "With Francisco."

"You mean Riccardo?" Louise asked. "At the ballet."

"No, I mean Francisco."

"Francisco, the horse farm guy?" Louise asked awkwardly. "With the Ferrari?"

"With the Ferrari," Terri confirmed.

"But I thought..." Louise reasoned. "What happened at the ballet?"

Terri shook her head. "It was a setup!"

"What? Louise shrieked. "No!"

"Yep! Bait and switch!" Terri said. "Riccardo was supposedly busy with clients. Eventually, I got Frank to admit that he was the one that wanted to go out with me."

"Oh, that is crazy! Why would they do that?" 

"Um, well I guess partly because of you," Terri replied soberly.

"Me? What?"

"Okay, so, Frank's version, which I'm still not sure that I believe, is that he was afraid that I wouldn't go out with him if I thought that you were still interested."

"No way!" Louise protested. "I was NEVER interested!"

"Louise!"

"What? I was never into him! - Okay, well maybe for like, five minutes after I found out that Walter had cheated on me."

"I think it may have been a little more than that," Terri observed.

"Okay, but I was not, like, really into him," Louise assured her. "He was just ... a distraction when I was going through a really bad time."

"I know," Terri said. "It was  a misunderstanding."

"But wait, so..."

"So, Riccardo asked me on a date, but it was really Francisco that wanted to go out with me."

"Holy cow!"

"They set me up."

"Oh, you must have been pissed!" Louise exclaimed.

"I was LIVID!"

"So, what? You told him off, and that was it?"

"Not exactly," Terri admitted.

"Terri! What happened?"

Terri shook her head. "Oh, boy!"

"What's going on?"

"Okay, well, I admit that I was seriously pissed. I mean, I was so angry I found it hard to speak. But I wanted to hear his explanation."

"Okay, so...?"

"Well - I don't know - when he explained why he did it, he just sounded really sincere."

"Really sincere?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh my God, Terri! You just told me not to go all soft and mushy on Antonio, and here, you fell for this guy's ploy hook, line, and sinker."

"Okay, I guess I did," Terri admitted as she flashed a girlish smile.

"Did you see him again after that?"

"Well..." That was all that Terri needed to say.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Louise was laughing uncontrollably now. 

"What?"

"Oh my God!" Louise shrieked. "How many times?"

"A few times."

"Oh my goodness! Really?" Louise was unable to control her excitement.

"And we kind of spent the weekend together."

"Terri, I can't believe you!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure I believe it either," Terri admitted in a more somber voice.

Louise gasped. "The blonde!"

"Yeah."

"Oh, no! Terri, we had no idea when we told you about that."

"It's okay. It turns out that it's just his ex-wife in town to talk about the kid's college or something."

"Did you know that she was coming?"

"He didn't tell me."

"Oh, no! I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, well, I'm supposed to meet him for lunch tomorrow. He says he wants to explain."

"You know, I'm sorry, Terri. I want you to be happy and everything, but this guy is a total manipulator."

"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling," Terri admitted. "By the way, he sent me about an acre of flowers today."

"At the office?"

"Yeah," Terri sighed.

"Total manipulator!" Louise said with a wink.

"Yeah, but I could probably deal with a little more of that kind of manipulation."

    

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

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