Out Of Love Part 4

"I guess he couldn't help it if something came up."

"You're more forgiving than I would have been. Same thing with the waiter. That was pretty cla.s.sy, what you told his boss."

Judith couldn't believe this was really happening. Carmen Delallo was calling her cla.s.sy. "It was just an accident. I didn't want to see him get fired over it."

"Like I said, pretty cla.s.sy." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Carmen Delallo."

28.

"I recognize you." Judith indicated the picture on the brochure. She took Carmen's hand in her grip and held it long enough to marvel at both its softness and strength. "I'm Judith.

Judith O'Shea."

"Pleased to meet you." Carmen smiled and looked down at their joined hands, which forced Judith to finally let go. "Look, I just happened to have my raincoat with me. I thought we were going out for lunch, but my a.s.sistant booked us in here instead."

She held out the black overcoat. "Why don't you put this on so you can go up to your room and change?"

"Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I'm not staying here at the hotel. I'm a local."

"Then keep it and wear it home. I won't be going out today.

You can bring it back tomorrow."

She held it open and Judith gave in, standing up to push her arms through the sleeves and pull it closed in front. "I really appreciate this."

"It's no problem." Carmen straightened the collar and smoothed the fabric. "Looks great on you."

Actually, it was big through the shoulders, but the extra length was good since it went below her skirt hem. It felt expensive. "I'm afraid it's going to come back smelling like tomatoes."

"No big deal. It's washable."

In a nervous gesture, Judith stuck her hands into the pockets and pulled out a small stack of business cards. "Oops, these are yours." She took one for herself and smiled, tucking it back into the pocket. She would memorize it later, right down to the fax.

"Thanks. I'll need these to drum up business."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I've heard people talking this morning about your new service. They're excited about it."

They walked out of the restaurant and entered the hotel lobby, where several people made it a point to greet Carmen as they went by.

"I hope so. I'm giving a presentation on it tomorrow morning 29 at ten. Stop in if you're interested."

A presentation? Carmen Delallo was acting as though she was just an ordinary presenter. She was the plenary speaker for Sat.u.r.day, the convention's busiest day. "I'm sure we'll all be there taking notes. And I'll bring your raincoat then."

"Or you could just bring better weather." Carmen smiled one last time and turned to greet a man Judith recognized as the president of the a.s.sociation. Carmen was one of the most sought-after people at the convention.

And Judith was wearing her raincoat.

"What did I tell you?" Cathy asked, her voice low enough that no one else could hear.

"Unbelievable," Carmen answered. She stared across the lobby as Judith collected her own jacket and departed through the revolving gla.s.s door.

"Rainbow Getaways. What else could that mean?"

"Hawaii."

"Come on. Didn't you get any sense at all?"

"Mine doesn't work as well as yours. Go figure."

"I do not have gaydar!" Cathy said, lightly stomping her heel on Carmen's toe.

"Well, I certainly don't. But it's fine with me if you're right."

"What are you two conspiring about?"

Carmen and Cathy turned toward the familiar voice and shouted in unison, both holding out their arms for a hug.

"Sofia!"

The newcomer, stylishly dressed and wearing a Bluetooth earpiece, greeted her friends warmly.

"What's this?" Carmen gestured at the cell phone gadget.

"Afraid you'll miss a call from your broker?"

Sofia jabbed her in the ribs. "I'm working for the Secret Service now. You've been identified as a threat."

30.

"Of course I'm a threat. I plan to take over the world."

"Actually, I was checking my messages. In fact, I just got one for you."

"For me?"

"Brooke said to tell you to call her."

"She's calling you too?" Cathy's voice was tinged with concern. "Something big must be going on with her, Carmen. You'd better go call."

Carmen checked her watch. "I don't have time right now.

The next session starts in three minutes, and I'm supposed to meet the Cayman people after that for a drink."

Sofia grabbed her sleeve as she took a step in the direction of the meeting room. "We're all still on for dinner tomorrow night, aren't we?"

"I saw Priscilla this morning at her panel and she said yes."

Carmen tipped her head toward Cathy. "But I always have to clear everything with my handler."

Cathy didn't miss a beat. "That's right. I think I'm going to have Bill Hinkle bring her breakfast in bed."

Carmen made a face. "If that's what you're planning, I can think of someone else I'd rather have you line up." She nodded her head toward the revolving door.

Sofia glanced from one woman to the other with obvious interest. "Do you mean to tell me Carmen has her eye on somebody?"

"I'll let Cathy tell you all about it. I have to run."

31.

Chapter 4.

Judith closed her door and turned both locks. For a fleeting moment, she felt guilty for not going in to work after dropping off her soiled clothes at the cleaners. But then she reminded herself how Todd had insisted she and Celia take vacation time to attend the conference. So instead of feeling guilty, she would take advantage of the time off to get ready for the next two days.

It wasn't as if she had a lot to do to prepare. Mostly, she wanted to look over the panel descriptions to antic.i.p.ate which sessions Bob Durbin might attend. Then she could intercept him and set up another interview. The worst possible outcome for the weekend was coming away without at least a prospect for a new job.

She spread the conference materials on her futon, which she folded each morning to the upright couch position. Page four of the detailed conference agenda gave a little background on the 32 main speakers, and her eyes were drawn immediately to a stunning head shot of Carmen Delallo. She pulled out the brochure she had been reading at lunch and compared the photos, both of which were serious and businesslike. Carmen was definitely pho-togenic, but she was even more beautiful in person. Maybe that was because she had been smiling in the restaurant. Perfect teeth . . . perfect lips.

She shook her head in a futile attempt to clear her wandering thoughts. Carmen was that kind of beautiful. The blurb next to the picture didn't yield much that wasn't common knowledge. It was more about the work of The Delallo Group than Carmen herself. Basically, the company had two divisions, called TDG Syndicated and TDG Custom. The syndicated studies, like the annual reports they provided on national and regional trends, were available to anyone who paid the subscription fee. That's what Myrna used to get for Rainbow Getaways. The custom studies were specially designed for individual clients, tailored to give them a compet.i.tive advantage.

At the bottom of the blurb was a URL for the company's Web site.

Judith pushed the papers aside and went to her desk in the alcove beneath the loft. From the bottom cabinet, she drew out her laptop computer and settled into a swivel armchair by the window. In moments, she was surfing the Internet, paging through the staff bios they had penned themselves.

Carmen wrote that she had lived in Chicago all her life, attending DePaul for a bachelor's degree in social and behavioral sciences, and Northwestern for her MBA. She was the third of six children . . . a lifelong Bulls fan . . . and she loved her work.

The rest of the piece she devoted to praising her staff and thanking her longtime customers for pushing TDG to be the best.

Judith clicked on the tab for Cathy Rosen and saw that she too had attended DePaul, which made her wonder if the two had been cla.s.smates. Cathy's heavier frame and graying hair made 33 her look older than Carmen, but not by much. Husband Hank was a history professor at Loyola, and they had three children and two grandchildren . . .

Clicking through to the next staffer, Judith recognized Lenore Yates as the TDG a.s.sociate who had presented on a panel that morning. The Web site said she was senior a.s.sociate, but she had been introduced today as vice president. Unlike Carmen and Cathy, she had gone to Yale. She and her husband Troy were marathoners, sailboarders and eco-tourists . . .

Richard Henderson . . . University of Illinois . . . wife and two sons . . . little league baseball coach . . .

Kristy Burgess . . . Loyola . . . four Pekingese show dogs . . .

Raul Sanchez . . . first baby . . .

The list went on and on until something leapt out at Judith and she paged back to Carmen's bio. Surely she did more than work and watch Bulls basketball games. And where was the info on her family? No husband or children? No one important enough to mention?

It was hard to imagine the charming woman who had so kindly come to her rescue in the restaurant had nothing more in her life than her business. Sure, successful people dedicated long hours to their jobs, but someone as warm and personable as Carmen would need relationships with others.

Maybe she was single . . . or perhaps she didn't think her personal life was anyone's business. Carmen Delallo as an available lesbian made a nice fantasy.

Judith wondered what her life was like. Everyone at the conference seemed to know her, so she must travel a lot to meet with clients. Obviously, she made a lot of money through her business-her Burberry raincoat probably cost several hundred dollars-but Judith guessed she earned every penny, not only by working hard but by innovation. No one else antic.i.p.ated the market curve the way she did, or knew what tools travel agents needed before even they did.

34.

Myrna always swore by TDG's annual reports, and she had regular phone contact with someone at the company to talk about the peculiarities of the gay and lesbian market. She always said TDG's expertise helped her maximize Rainbow's limited advertising and marketing resources. Judith wished now she had fought harder with Todd to maintain their subscription.

She picked up the conference agenda again and scanned through the sessions for Sat.u.r.day. She no longer cared about hooking up with Bob Durbin-she would follow up with him when the conference was over. He would have fewer distractions then anyway. But how many more chances would she have to see and talk to someone like Carmen Delallo?

Besides, she had a built-in excuse to seek her out tomorrow.

She had her raincoat.

Carmen entered her suite and sent her shoes flying across the room into a stack of cardboard boxes.

"Whoa!"

"Hey, Richard. I didn't know you were here. Lucky for you I didn't lead with my bra."

One of the things Carmen cherished about her company was its family atmosphere. Through years of working together, TDG's staff had shared weddings, divorces, babies and funerals, and Carmen wasn't afraid to let her hair down and be herself with these people she had hired and come to love. She was more guarded when it came to clients, unless it was an old friend like Priscilla or Sofia.

"I'm working on the slides for tomorrow. There was a mistake in the third part where we show the magazine reach."

"A mistake?"