Out Of Love Part 5

"Yeah, it looks like you transposed the numbers or something, and it affects about eight or ten slides in the next part."

Carmen sighed. "We've checked those numbers twenty 35 times. How'd you find it?"

"I didn't. I was going over the presentation down in the booth and Raul looked over my shoulder and said it was wrong. He remembered it from the printout."

"He remembered one number out of thousands from a printout?"

"The guy's got a photographic memory or something. I bet him he was wrong and we logged on and looked it up. The little s.h.i.t was right."

Carmen laughed. "Remind me to give the little s.h.i.t a bonus.

That would have been a disaster because you know as well as I do the magazine people are going to be in the audience tomorrow."

Richard made a few more changes to the program and saved the doc.u.ment. "That should do it. I'll get out of your hair now."

"You're not bothering me. Take as long as you need."

"I'm done. We're meeting here in the morning to go over it one last time, right?"

"I think Cathy said eight o'clock. She'll order breakfast for everybody."

"I don't even want to think about food. Raul dragged me to Chevy's in the Village and I ate way too much Tex-Mex."

"Wish I'd gone with you guys. I went to the steak place on the top floor with the Texas group, but Cathy was there and made me get fish."

"I'm sure it was better for you."

Carmen snarled. "You're all in this together, aren't you?"

"Cathy says our mission at TDG is to deprive you of joy."

"It's working."

Richard closed the cover on the laptop. "Okay, I'm out of here."

"Thanks. I'll see you in the morning."

Carmen threw the safety latch on the door as he left. Because the suite was their staging area, practically everyone on the staff had a key card, but now that she was settling in for the night, she 36 wanted her privacy.

She collected her shoes and carried them into her bedroom.

As she got undressed, she thought of Brooke, who had left another message for her while she was at dinner. She dug for her cell phone and clicked two numbers on her speed dial. Her friend answered at once.

"It's me . . . Yeah, I'm sorry. It's really hectic here." With her free hand, she awkwardly tugged off her skirt and tossed it over a chair. The pantyhose proved even more of a one-handed challenge. "Hold on, I'm going to put you on speaker phone. I'm here by myself, but I'm trying to get ready for bed."

"I'm just glad you finally got a chance to call," Brooke said.

"I've been dying to talk to you about something important."

Brooke sounded very unsure of herself, prompting Carmen to worry that Cathy had been right about things between Brooke and Geoffrey. She hated inserting herself in the middle of their home life, but she had never felt Geoffrey Nance was right for her friend. He was nice enough, and she appreciated how well he treated the girls, but Brooke needed someone who could boost her confidence and make her feel loved. Geoffrey was too wrapped up in himself and his engineering work to do that.

"I'm always here to listen. You know that. But what I say shouldn't matter as much as how you feel about things yourself."

"But it does matter, Carmen. Every time I make a decision by myself, I f.u.c.k it up."

"That's not true. I can think of two things you didn't f.u.c.k up, and I bet you're looking at their pictures right now." In her mind's eye, she could picture Brooke in the family room of her suburban Chicago home. That was her s.p.a.ce, where she watched television, read or talked on the phone. Geoffrey's was his office in the attic.

"I got lucky with them. Besides, you had a pretty big hand in their lives too."

Carmen couldn't argue with that, having taken in Brooke and 37 her daughters for almost four years when Brooke left her first husband. Not only was she G.o.dmother to the oldest, Healey, she had been a surrogate parent to both girls while Brooke recovered from the emotional trauma of her divorce. Despite the circ.u.mstances, Carmen remembered it as one of the happiest times of her life, and she was as close to all of them as she was to her own family.

"So what's up, sweetie? What can I do for you?" She braced herself for bad news.

"You know how much time I've put into redecorating our house? I can't remember when you were over here last, but I'm finished with the living room and the kitchen, and I just have the girls' bedrooms left on the main floor."

Carmen wasn't sure she had heard right. "I . . . you . . . I think you told me about it." What was so urgent about redecorating her house?

"I've been spending a lot of time at Chicago Living, that inte-rior design store on Monroe. I took you there to show you the fabric for the sofa."

Dragged would have been a better word. "I remember. The red."

"It was tomato."

Of course it was. How stupid could she be?

"Anyway, the woman that worked there . . . her name's Gisele Martin"-Brooke used the French p.r.o.nunciation-"always said I had a very good eye for what looked good together."

"I've always thought that. You did a great job on my place."

She had given Brooke free rein to decorate her apartment on Lincoln Park.

"Thank you. So Gisele asked me if I would be interested in working for them. They have a lot of clients who sell real estate and they decorate some of the models and upscale homes so they'll be attractive to potential buyers. It's called staging, and she says I can work part-time or full-time, whatever I want."

38.

"Wow, that's fantastic!"

"You really think so?"

"It sounds like it's right up your alley." Except Brooke had never had a job in her life. "What do you think about it?"

"It's exciting. I can't get it out of my head."

Carmen carried her cell phone into the bathroom and began taking off her makeup. "What does Geoffrey have to say about it?"

"I haven't talked to him. I wanted to talk to you first."

Carmen knew she shouldn't feel good about that, but she liked being the first person on Brooke's list of people to call when she needed to talk something out. "Would you have fun with it?"

"Are you kidding? I can't believe they would pay me to do something like that. It's a dream job."

"Actually, I think dream job is an oxymoron."

"That's easy for you to say. You haven't sat at home watching your a.s.s grow for thirty years."

"Neither have you, Brooke. You've always had plenty to do with the girls. And you volunteered all those years at the library and the March of Dimes." Carmen wet a washcloth and wiped her face. "Besides, if your a.s.s has grown, what does that make mine?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, I really don't. Lots of women go back to work once their kids are grown."

"Well, that's one of the problems. Amie's just seventeen. I was there for Healey all through high school, and I'm worried how Amie will feel."

"Did you talk to her?"

"She said it didn't matter, but you know kids. They're all waiting till they hit thirty to tell you how you f.u.c.ked up their lives."

Carmen laughed at the image, not caring that Brooke was 39 probably being serious. "If one of your kids ever says that, tell her it was the four years you lived with me. Who knows? You might even be right."

"My kids were never happier."

"I know, but all that happiness has to be bad for you, doesn't it?"

"You crack me up, Carmen."

"So go on. Tell them you'll take it. If Amie starts to feel cheated, maybe I can help out a little."

"I know she'd like that."

Carmen toweled her face. "Okay, I have to brush my teeth now so you do all the talking. Tell me what you'd have to do in your job. Oh, and did they say how much they'd pay?"

Brooke rattled off all the details. She was especially excited about the salary and potential for benefits. Right now, she was on Geoffrey's insurance, but it was nice to have an option in case something happened. That last bit got Carmen's attention, and she had to ask.

"How are things with Geoffrey?"

Brooke hesitated before answering, giving Carmen the chance to rinse her mouth. "Okay, I guess. We always get along better when he brings home a lot of work. He just goes upstairs and I don't see him till he comes to bed."

Carmen shook her head, holding back a discouraged sigh.

She hated knowing Brooke was unhappy, but there wasn't anything she could do. "Have you guys thought about talking to somebody?"

"I don't think Geoffrey would go."

"You could always go without him."

"I guess . . . hold on." Brooke left the line to take another call.

Moments later, she was back. "Police benevolent fund. I wasn't benevolent. Did you see Sofia today?"

"I did. She looks great, as usual."

"I'm so jealous. I wish I was there with all of you."

40.

"Why don't you get on a plane tomorrow? We're having dinner in Little Italy tomorrow night."

"I can't. Amie's got a band concert tomorrow night. She's been practicing for months. Even Geoffrey's going."

"I forgot about that. She invited me too."

"It's probably a good thing you're out of town. I think Anthony's going to be there."

Carmen cringed at the idea of running into Brooke's ex-husband. Their last few exchanges-twelve years ago, right after the divorce-had been acrimonious, with Carmen refusing to pa.s.s on Anthony's messages or allow him to come to her house. She didn't know how Brooke could stand to be in the same room with him after the way he had behaved.

"I bet I'm keeping you up," Brooke said. "You're an hour ahead of me there, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm getting into bed. But we can talk as long as you want."

"Tell me what's going on at your conference."

"Not much. I've had meetings all day . . . dinner with clients . . . that kind of thing." For a fleeting moment, she considered telling Brooke about meeting Judith O'Shea, but something stopped her, an uncomfortable feeling she didn't want to share.

"And I'm giving the keynote presentation tomorrow morning. I get to put on my blue silk suit and play big shot."

"I love you in that blue suit. G.o.d, you're going to have everybody there eating out of your hand."

"I hope so." Carmen couldn't stifle a yawn.

"Okay, I heard that. I'm hanging up now."

"You should take the job."

"I think so too. Thanks for calling me back."

"Anytime, sweetie. Love you."