Macy marched from one end of the apartment to the other. Her bare feet were noiseless on the worn carpet. Even though she was bone weary, she repeated the loop, hoping the constant movement would alleviate the anxiety percolating in her stomach.
Nothing. She hadn’t heard from Avery all day. He’d said he had a plan and she hadn’t challenged him. First, because the expression on his face left her no room to question, but also because she still trusted him, and that troubled her. She smacked her forehead and repeated the pace.
Lately she worried she was becoming an empty-headed bimbo who would buy the Brooklyn Bridge from any well-dressed, good-looking man.
A quick glance at the cluttered kitchen table was the reminder she needed that whatever happened now was beyond her control. Whatever Avery decided to do, had to work. She needed to come up with some strategies of her own.
She flopped on the sofa and dropped her head in her hands. An image of her walking through the doors of English International and back into her office wasn’t as vivid as it was days ago. The edges of that happy day were faded, like decades-old paper. She couldn’t go back to the place that had treated her with so much callousness. She’d given so much to English, but when she needed someone to stand up for her, there wasn’t a soul. Instead a security guard escorted her to the door. The embarrassment was as raw now as it was the day it happened. There was no way to walk back into the office and hold her head up. No way.
“Are you going to keep walking back and forth until Avery calls you?” Gayle sat on the couch.
“I can’t sit still.” She wrung her hands. “I thought I’d hear something by now.”
“Okay, what’s the plan for talking to Michelle?” Gayle rubbed her hands together.
“Well, I can’t just walk up to her mother’s door and ask where Michelle lives. I’m sure she’s told her family she doesn’t want to see me.”
“Girl, I can get a wig for every occasion. Tomorrow, we can go up to the door and pretend we’re some of Michelle’s old friends dropping by for a visit. Her family won’t recognize you, and I don’t even know if any of them know me.”
Macy shook her head. “Gayle, your idea might be fine if we were still in junior high school and were having a little tiff with Michelle. But, this is serious. The next time I see Michelle, I’ve got to get her to talk. She has to tell me what she knows and how she’s involved.” Macy buried her face in her hands. She continued to take deep breaths.
“We can become two lady private investigators.” There was a hint of joviality in Gayle’s voice. The whole day had become an adventure for her.
“It can’t be hard. I just want to talk to her. I want to know why she quit and why she’s running from me.” Macy looked up. “I need to walk up on her when she isn’t expecting me, pin her down so she can’t get away.”
“You do know kidnapping is against the law, even if you think you have a good reason.”
“I’m not going to kidnap her. Just trick her,” Macy said. “And I need to do this alone.”
Gayle’s face fell. “Okay, I get it. You need to save yourself and all that crap.”
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate your offer. I’m just not sure your plan will work, and I have this big clock ticking in my ear.”
“Do it your way.” Gayle jumped up, ready to tackle the obstacle. “Now let’s go out for dinner. My treat.”
“I can’t. Suppose Avery drops by with some news.”
“Okay, I’ll order something in. I’ll choose.”
Macy could hear Gayle shuffling through the take-out menu drawer. Whatever Gayle picked would be fine since her appetite had disappeared hours ago.
“I’m thinking about formally quitting my job,” she called to her roommate. “This whole ordeal has taught me a lot of things about myself. I was so dependent on English I was willing to give up almost everything. I was living to work, instead of working to live.” She made her way into the kitchen. “Roxy treated me like a puppet and the first time, the very first time something happens, she didn’t even talk to me to get my side of the story, she didn’t stand up for me. And now I’m finding out she might have been the one to set me up.” Macy knew she was whining, but she didn’t have the strength to be stoic.
“What will you do?”
“I don’t know yet. But I know what I don’t want to do. I’m not going to put my life on hold for another big company.”
“What about Avery?”
She shrugged her shoulders. Whatever she said to Gayle, her roommate would twist her words to make her sound immature, insensitive, or downright loony for not giving him another chance in this male shortage world. The less she said the less ammunition she’d give Gayle.
Avery stood outside Celeste’s condo door. The last place he wanted to be. But the moment Macy mentioned her hunch about what was going on with the courier, he could almost see all the pieces coming together. This whole caper had to be orchestrated by Celeste. It had her stink all over it.
He adjusted his tie before ringing her doorbell. He’d called her that morning, and Celeste thought this was a date, which proved how delusional she was. Poor thing.
She opened the door. The signature tight dresses and her ridiculous high-heeled shoes made her look like a caricature of herself. Her bright red lipstick was like a siren call. If she’d stop trying so hard, she could be an attractive woman.
“Well hello, Avery. I was so surprised to get your call.” She pressed up on her toes to kiss him. He turned his cheek to her.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll fall off those heels? In your condition that could hurt the baby.”
“Look at you. Worrying about me.” She led him into the house. “I’m glad you called me. I still think you and I would make a perfect couple. Are you reconsidering my offer?” She moved to a beverage cart. With a highball glass cushioned in her palm, she held the glass in the air. “What can I fix for you?”
He took a seat on the closest chair. “I don’t want anything to drink right now. Why don’t we sit and talk for a moment?”
“Talk? Sound serious,” she said with a laugh.
“Take a seat, Celeste. I won’t take up too much of your time.” He relaxed into the sofa, leaving plenty of room for her to sit beside him.
“Aren’t we going somewhere? How about Ambience? I haven’t been there in a few days.” She sat beside him, a little too close. Her dress rode up her thighs, exposing her tanning booth glow.
Questioning people wasn’t difficult. Questioning someone who would rather opt for a lie than the truth required skill. He coaxed her into chatting, starting with the mundane. After they’d covered her health, his trip to Europe and her sister, the pleasantries were over.
“Did you know Macy was sent home a few days ago because of an audit issue?”
Celeste drew back. Her mouth opened just enough to see lipstick on her two front teeth. “She was sent home for stealing. Why are you being so delicate? Don’t tell me you have a thing for Miss Stuck-Up-To-The-Boss.”
“You don’t think she’s capable of stealing, do you?” Avery asked in a normal tone.
“Of course, I do. You know her mother lives from one paycheck to the next and calls Macy all the time asking for money. I’m not surprised at all that she was stealing from English. She was probably doing a whole lot more than we know.” Celeste crossed her arms over her chest after the self-righteous speech.
“Only you would think because someone isn’t affluent than they must be a thief. Why don’t you like Macy, Celeste?”
She jumped up from the sofa. “Do we have to talk about Macy? I thought we were going out.”
From his breast pocket, he pulled a few invoices. He spread them out on the coffee table, end to end.
“What’s all this?” she said.
“Go ahead. Take a look at them.”
She hesitated without taking her eyes off of him. “You’re so boring. I don’t want to look at your papers today. I want to go out.” She repeated.
He pointed to the papers on the table.
She picked up the invoice nearest her. Her eyes scanned the document for a moment before she put it back.
“Are you going to tell me why you brought English invoices here for me to see? Are we going out or not?” She tugged at her dress. Her eyes narrowed on him as if she dared him to ask another question.
He picked up two more invoices and held them out to her. Instead of taking them from him, she turned up her nose.
She batted her long fake lashes at him several times. “Why are you here, Avery?”
“I’m looking for some answers. The more I look at these invoices, the more I smell your hand in this.”
“Why are you looking at Macy’s accounts?” There was no mistaking the condescension in her voice.
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“I don’t know what these invoices have to do with anything.” She pushed the papers off the table, scattering them across the floor. “If we’re not going out, then I think you can leave now.”
“Are you sure this is how you want to play this? If you don’t want to answer my questions, I’ll find another way to get them.” He stood up.
“What is it about Macy that turns you on? You’re doing all this for her, aren’t you? From the moment you laid eyes on her, she’s had your nose wide open. You could do so much better.”
“I’d be lucky if Macy would have me. Tell me about the thug guy at Pipeline Courier. Does he have your nose wide open?”
Her mouth dropped open. Her face turned red. She pointed her long, lacquered index finger at him. “You made me a promise, and you had better keep it. What I do in my private life is none of your business. Macy is a thief. She stole the money. She was fired. She got what she deserved. Get over it.”
He stared at Celeste. A woman who could have almost anything in the world and she wasn’t happy. Nothing was ever going to please her because she was the kind of woman that had to keep clawing at something.