"Why does it seem like we've been down this road before before?" Terri asked. She wore a dark pinstriped suit with an azure dress shirt and dangling gold earrings. Men throughout the restaurant turned to get a better look at her. Terri didn't notice.
"Yeah," Jo quipped, "it's like déjà vu all over again." Jo was wearing white jeans and a loose black sweater over a spaghetti-strap top. The sweater matched the tone and luster of her thick curls.
"Listen to you with the sports references!" Terri was genuinely impressed.
Jo smiled. "My dad's a Yankees fan."
"Are you guys through?" Louise asked with annoyance.
"Ouch! What's up with you?" Terri asked. "Bad day?"
"You could say that," Louise said coldly. She was dressed in a jade satin blouse with tight black pants. Her blond hair fell to her shoulders in a single graceful wave.
"An old friend just walked back into her life," Jo said.
"Who?"
Louise gave Terri an aggravated look through the corner of her eye."
"No!" Terri gasped.
"Latin lover," Jo confirmed.
"Oh, my God!" Terri exclaimed. "When?"
"Remember when we talked on the phone this morning?" Louise asked.
"Yeah?"
"Well, when I hung up, he was standing right behind me."
"No way!" Terri blurted out as she sat down. "Did you know that he was going to be there?"
"I found out yesterday," Louise said. "I tried to call you."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Lou!" Terri felt badly now that she hadn't returned Louise's calls earlier.
"It's okay."
"Where have you been?" Jo prodded.
"I visited my folks for a couple of days," Terri said. "Sorry! It was bad timing."
"Okay, well, we're here now," Louise observed. "So, let's drink something."
"That sounds like a good idea," Terri agreed.
Jo interrupted. "You need a plan, Lou!"
"Yeah, what are you going to do?"
"Resign," Louise deadpanned.
"Yeah, that might just be your best option," Terri said.
"Thanks!" said Louise.
"I'm kidding!"
"I know."
"Do you have to work with him," Jo asked, "or is he just kind of floating around the office."
"I'm not sure yet," Louise replied. "Whatever he's doing, I'm not involved. Not yet, anyway. But that could change."
Terri cut to the heart of the matter. "How did you feel when you saw him?"
"I felt ... shocked ... confused. I mean, I knew that he was coming back sometime. But actually seeing him ... it felt like a kick in the gut."
"I imagine!" Terri empathized.
"How long is he going to be here?" Jo asked.
"A couple of months, I think."
"Holy crap! That's a long time!" Terri observed.
"Yeah, it is." Louise was staring at the ice in her empty glass.
Terri signaled to the waiter. "Could I have a white wine, and..." she motioned around the table, "...whatever they're having?"
"Sure, Miss!" The waiter raced off as quickly as he had appeared.
"Okay, so shit-for-brains is here, working in your office again," Terri said summarizing what they had discussed. "And he's going to be here for a while it sounds like. - What did he say to you?"
"Well, first, he asked me if it was you on the phone."
"Oh, my God! So, he was totally spying on you!" Jo said.
"That's really bad!" Terri said. "Really bad!"
"Yeah, totally low-class!" Jo observed.
"Then what happened?"
"He said that he wanted to say 'hello'," Louise recounted.
"And you said 'hello'?" Terri asked.
"No! I snapped. I told him that he should have called me."
"Oh, good move!"
"Yeah," Jo said. "That works on so many levels."
"What was his response?"
"I think I caught him off guard," Louise said.
"Good!" Jo said.
"Yeah, definitely good!" Terri added.
"No, it's not good," Louise said. "I'm going to have to put up with this for two more months."
The drinks arrived, but suddenly no one felt like drinking.
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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