Out Of Love Part 7

"Don't I know it!"

She punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Thanks for sticking with us so long, Bill."

"My pleasure."

49.

Carmen turned and grabbed the door handle, only to find she had locked herself out of the suite. Her knock drew the expected response from Cathy.

"We don't want any."

"Good, because I don't have any."

Cathy opened the door and held out a small stack of messages. "You'd better get some because you're not finished."

"What do you mean I'm not finished? I didn't even get to eat lunch." She flipped through the messages, seeing only two that asked for a call back. "Did Durbin say what he wanted?"

Lenore was still at the conference table. "I saw him having lunch today with Art Conover."

Carmen sighed. "Great. He's going to try to squeeze me for a discount."

Cathy peered over her gla.s.ses. "Can you just throw in an extra consultation?"

"Bob Durbin's a jerk. If he wants to go with Conover, let him."

Lenore gave Cathy a quizzical look. "Why don't I give him a call? I bet we can work something out."

Carmen grabbed a seltzer from the refrigerator and twisted the top. As she took a hefty swig, she a.n.a.lyzed her reaction. The constant nuisance of Conover pitching her clients was like being nibbled to death by ducks. But it was Durbin who annoyed her more. She had long suspected he was sharing her reports with another agency and splitting the cost, a strict violation of their contract because it robbed her of a customer fee. On top of that, he had blown off Judith O'Shea. She spun around and spotted the Saks bag. She hadn't thought of Judith at all since the morning session.

"Carmen?"

"Yeah, go ahead and call him. Thanks." Carmen handed her the message and reached into the bag for Judith's card.

"Our dinner reservation's for seven thirty," Cathy said. "But 50 you have to put in an appearance at the c.o.c.ktail party downstairs.

That started ten minutes ago."

Carmen blew out a raspberry. "I'm so tired of being nice."

She slung her purse over her shoulder and started for the door.

"Just one more hour. Then you can take it out on us."

In the hallway, Carmen pushed the elevator b.u.t.ton and checked her appearance in the mirror as she waited. The woman looking back at her was tired. She had a right to look tired, having worked twelve days in a row to get ready for this weekend.

"Screw the tight b.u.t.t, Brooke. I'm sleeping in tomorrow."

The elevator opened and she climbed aboard. On the way down, she made small talk with fellow pa.s.sengers, several of whom mentioned her earlier presentation. When they reached the lobby, she fell in step toward the c.o.c.ktail party until her eye caught a familiar figure standing alone at the job board.

Judith O'Shea was checking the posts and making notes on a small pad. At a conference with more than a thousand attendees, it made no sense at all to Carmen that someone as nice as Judith wouldn't be surrounded by friends.

"TDG's got a couple of openings. Ever considered coming over to the dark side where the vendors are?" Carmen smiled as she peered over Judith's shoulder.

"G.o.d, you scared me."

"Sorry." She leaned a hip onto the table by the board. "And I'm sorry I didn't have more time to talk this morning. Things were kind of hectic."

"No, that was my fault. I should have had more sense than to bother you before your presentation . . . which was great, by the way."

"Thanks." Carmen nodded toward the board. "You're not happy where you are?"

Judith shook her head grimly. "I used to be, but the commission cuts are killing us. That's why I was hoping to talk to Bob Durbin yesterday."

51.

"Yours is one of the boutique agencies, right?"

"Yeah, we specialize in . . . gay and lesbian tours . . . things like that."

Carmen picked up on Judith's hesitation. It didn't mean she was a lesbian herself, but the odds just went way up. "Have you talked to Zeigler-Marsh?"

"I'd love to work at a place like that, but they're not advertising any openings."

"That doesn't mean anything." The next words came out before Carmen could stop herself. "I'm having dinner with some friends tonight down in Little Italy. Sofia will be there, and she's a partner at Z-M. Why don't you join us?"

"Oh, I can't horn in on you and your friends like that."

"Sure you can." The idea of her friends meeting Judith was growing on her. She wanted them to see what a nice person she was. "None of us are working tonight, though. We're just going out to have a good time."

"Well, if you're sure . . ."

"I'm sure." She gestured with her thumb in the direction of the ballroom, where the c.o.c.ktail party was well underway. "But I have to go show my face in there for a while. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I was going to stop in."

"Good. My a.s.sistant, Cathy Rosen-well, she's also one of my best friends-is making the taxi arrangements. I'll tell her to find you when we're ready to leave."

"That'll be great."

"See you in a few, then." Carmen spun away, her mind already working on how she was going to explain her impulsive invitation to her friends.

As Carmen walked away, Judith replayed the conversation in her head. She couldn't believe she had just been invited to have dinner with not only the keynote speaker at the conference, but 52 also a partner at Zeigler-Marsh, who just happened to be the vice president of the a.s.sociation. She wanted to pinch herself. Never in her life had she kept company with people like that. How ironic that all the good things happening to her right now were the result of disasters-Bob Durbin canceling their interview and Jose the waiter dumping soup in her lap.

She looked numbly back at the job board. Was Carmen really serious about her applying for an opening at TDG? There was a posting for an account rep . . . another for a software programmer. She was neither, so it didn't matter if Carmen had meant it or not. Besides, TDG was in Chicago.

Judith folded her notes and stuffed them into her coat pocket.

From the job board, she had three new possibilities in the New York area, two in corporate travel departments and one at an airline club lounge at JFK. And now Carmen had suggested there may be a chance to get on at Zeigler-Marsh, one of the biggest agencies in the country. No question which was the best opportunity.

Inside the ballroom, Judith breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted Celia and Denise at a table near the center of the room.

She would have hated standing around by herself waiting for Cathy's cue that it was time to go.

"Hey, you guys mind if I join you?"

"Of course not," Celia answered. "This is a great spot. All the waiters come by here with the hors d'oeuvres."

Denise stood and rested her hands on Celia's shoulders in what looked like a gesture of affection. "I was just going to the bar, Judith. Would you like a gla.s.s of wine?"

"Yes, thank you. Whatever you're having." She pulled out a few bills.

"It's an open bar. The airlines are sponsoring this."

Judith peeled off three ones. "Tip the bartender, then."

When she disappeared into the crowd, Celia whispered excitedly, "What do you think of Denise?"

53.

"You mean Denise who's practically all over you?" Judith grinned, happy to see that her friend had hooked up with someone nice. "I think she's cute."

"She is, isn't she?" Celia checked over her shoulder to make sure Denise wasn't nearby. "I had no idea it was even happening till this afternoon when we were talking about me maybe getting that job at the network. She said she hoped I didn't have a problem with going out with somebody from work."

"That's really great, Cee. I thought I saw something between you two-"

"Excuse me, Judith?"

They looked up to see a smiling Cathy Rosen.

"Hi, Cathy."

"Sorry to interrupt. I just talked to Carmen and she said you were coming with us tonight. I wanted to let you know that we'll be taking two taxis. You can ride with me if that's all right."

"Of course."

"Great. I'll give you the signal in about fifteen minutes."

"I'll be watching."

As she walked away, Denise returned and placed a gla.s.s of wine in front of her. Judith became aware of Celia's fingers digging into her forearm.

"Did I just imagine all that, or are you actually going to dinner with Carmen Delallo?"

"It's not a big deal or anything. I was just talking to her and-"

There was no point continuing in this vein. She wasn't kidding anyone. "I might as well tell you guys the whole sordid tale." She went on to relate the story of her humiliating experience in the restaurant and Carmen's rescue.

"I bet she thinks you're hot."

Celia and Denise giggled with mischief, causing Judith to cover her face with her hands. "Stop, you're embarra.s.sing me."

"Well, it might be true. You never know." Celia grinned at her smugly. "You two would make a cute couple, don't you 54 think?"

Denise nodded. "Maybe we can double date."

"You guys are killing me." Judith had enjoyed that fantasy too, but refused to give it serious credence. There was no legiti-mate reason to think Carmen was a lesbian, or if she were, that she was interested.

55.

Chapter 6.

"You invited her to dinner?" Priscilla stared across the ballroom as Cathy spoke to Judith. "What's going on inside that head of yours?"

"Nothing at all," Sofia answered instead, lightly rapping her knuckles against Carmen's head. "Because there's nothing in there."

"I felt bad for her. Bob Durbin blew her off."