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She was acutely aware that Mike’s wrinkled suit jacket concealed the drape of his blue cotton oxford shirt across his thick shoulders and that his middle-aged spread hid the way it tucked into his baggy pants, and despaired over her negative imaging – but at least she’d tried.
He was reminiscent and sympathetic about her father, and grateful that she’d stick with them until a new accountant could be found. It was a good meeting, over all.
On the way home she stopped briefly to pick up the monthly checks, deposits and sales invoices from Al’s Auto Repair, Royal Bowling and finally Garden Palace Chinese Restaurant, where she was always treated more like a guest than an employee. She traded Mrs. Chin a nice, flat, empty file folder for one that bulged witii business receipts.
„Every month I pick up your folder, Mrs. Chin, and every month it gets fatter.“
„That is good. A fat folder means good business,“ she said in rapid, clear, perfect English. She was barely five feet tall and Charlotte always felt the need to stoop in her presence. „Soon we will open restaurant number two, down the hill, under the Space Needle. Then we will give you two fat folders every month. Do you like hot and spicy?“ Before Charlotte could answer, the woman pushed a large brown paper bag at her, saying, „Please try my kung pao shrimp this time. You are not allergic, are you? You can tell me if you like it when you come back next month.“
„You don’t have to keep doing this, Mrs. Chin.“
„You do not have to pick up the folder. I have cousins in Renton who have to deliver the receipts themselves. I want to feed you for the pick up.“
„I like to walk, so it’s no…“
„Walking will make you hungry. So let me feed you.“
„Thank you.“
„You are welcome.“ She frowned briefly. „You are not married. Do you have a steady gentleman friend?“
Oh no. Was Set Me Up tattooed on her forehead?
„Not exactly,“ she said, hoping to ward off the inevitable without actually lying.
„I have a son who is ready to marry. He has been to college for a business degree. He can cook and clean and he lives alone. I am looking for a good wife for him.“
Lie! Lie! Lie!
„Well, I am sort of seeing someone. Someone new. Too new to tell really.“
„Good. That is good. But if it does not work out, you come back and date my son.“
„I will. Thank you.“
Mrs. Chin nodded and looked pleased.
Charlotte made one more stop, going several blocks out of her way, to the largest drugstore in the area. They had every magazine under the sun, and she plucked out several indiscriminately, as she combed the many copies for a recent GQ.
Suits and sport jackets, tuxedos and khaki slacks, button down and polo shirts. Is this how Mel wanted to dress? She contemplated a thick, white cable knit sweater she thought Mel would fill better than the model did and lingered – quite a while – over an ad for a pair of button-up-the-front jeans that lifted her eyebrows half-way up her forehead with the way they fit the bare-chested model. And it wasn’t so much the blue-and-gray striped oxford shirt as the way it was open down the front of a broad and muscled chest with a flat, ridged stomach and the thin line of dark hair ru
Did Mel’s chest look like this? Would the dark hair be coarse or downy soft? Would his skin be hot and smooth with hard pads of muscle beneath?
Oh my. She snapped the magazine closed. Big, deep breath. She glanced around to see if anyone watched as her cheeks flushed with heat, like some pervert in the magazine section of an adult bookstore. She gathered her things quickly, deciding it might be best to let Mel pick out his own clothes.
A few minutes later, watching the clerk fit a seven-inch stack of magazines into a bag for her, Charlotte trembled inside and out. She was excited. She couldn’t wait to get back to Mel. He’d be pleased and proud of her for taking this first step, minuscule as it was. On her own. Without him. He’d smile that smile that made her insides lurch and tell her she was being bold, that she was finally doing the right thing, getting her life back on track.
She rushed out of the store in time to see a tall, well-built man in jeans and a white cable knit sweater with a black sports jacket on over it, jogging gracefully across the street toward her in large, sparkling red shoes.
She started to laugh.
He slowed down when he saw her, his face full of smiles, stopped three feet away, held out his arms and turned in a circle for her to see.
„Look at me,“ he kept saying. „Just look at me. I couldn’t wait to see you. I’m a hunk, right? Look at me.
Real clothes. They feel amazing and they’re warm. I look fantastic, don’t I?“
„Yes. You do. I’m… I’m sorry about the shoes. I didn’t even think about – “
She fell silent when he suddenly took her by the shoulders. „Baby steps, Charlotte. One thing at a time. To me this says I’m sticking around, that you believe in me, that you’re begi
He laughed at her expression and stepped away. They fell into an easy pace uphill toward home.
„Okay. Not sugar. But I’m still pretty impressed with the guts it took for you jump the hurdle, Charlotte. Most people ignore the voice inside them all their life. They play it safe, too afraid to take a chance on their dreams, and they regret it until the day they die. But not you. Not my Charlotte Gibson. You give your voice a body, and designer clothes… and body hair…“ He whipped an evil and highly amused glanced her way. She felt fire in her cheeks. „And you listen. I admit, I had my doubts about you. You are a True Believer but up to now you gave me no reason to believe you were any different than most people.“ He looked down as he slid his hand over the front of his sweater. „Up until now.“
He was like watching a little boy on his birthday. His obvious happiness brought a deep joy that settled around her heart like the gathering of rain clouds in a drought. And with it came hope, solid and true, like an object she could hold in her hand. There was something new and exciting in her life, and her world was on the verge of change. She could feel it. She was excited and scared… and so ready.
„And you were right this morning,“ he said, being generous in return. „I was unreasonable – you ignore someone long enough they get that way, you know. But you were right. This isn’t the best time to drop the business ball and run off willy-nilly to play Barbie Gets A Makeover.“
„Barbie?“
„Your transformation isn’t going to happen overnight anyway. It shouldn’t. We want to feel comfortable with the changes we make, one at a time, grow into the new you. There’ll be plenty of time for that and to get the business settled again. Together, there isn’t anything we can’t handle, given a little time and a good attitude. Right?“
„Right.“
„Right. We’ve already seen what all work and no play has done to you. All play and no work would make Charlotte… poor… and anxious and desperate. Depressed and frightened. Did I mention poor?“
She smiled and a woman walking toward her on the sidewalk smiled back.
„Besides, this is all about balance, isn’t it? Yin and yang. Good and evil. Right and wrong. Work and play. You and me. We’re a team. You listen to me, I listen to you, and together we build a new, well-balanced, well-dressed, well-groomed, considerably more attractive and confident businesswoman with a social life. How hard can it be?“