Insatiable

Leisha was reaching out to feel Meena’s forehead again when a young man, his skin almost as dark as Leisha’s and his black hair clipped into a light fade-a creation of Leisha’s, Meena didn’t doubt, since it suited his face shape perfectly-appeared in front of Leisha’s station.

“Oh my God, Meena!” he cried with a huge smile. “And Jack Bauer the Second! I’m so glad to see you both!” He walked right over to her, lifted Jack Bauer from her lap, and began coddling him. Jack lapped his face excitedly. “Leisha told me the good news!”

Meena recognized him as Roberto, one of BAO’s stylists-in-training.

But she had no idea what he was talking about.

“Good news?” she echoed as she leaned back in her chair.

“About Insatiable,” Roberto said as he rubbed Jack Bauer’s ears. “Finally getting some vampires on it. I’m so excited! It’s about time. I just love that Gregory Bane. I’m glued to the screen every time he comes on. Him and that other guy, from those vampire movies based on those books? Oh my God, they’re so hot. I want them to make a vampire sandwich out of me.”

Meena threw an aggrieved look at Leisha.

“Oh,” she said. “Right.”

“Oh, and I took your advice, remember, last time you were in here? I told Felipe no way was I going to Morocco for our a

Meena gave Roberto a watery smile. All she could think of, of course, were the people who had been there having their breakfast and who had freaking died…the ones she hadn’t saved. Just like Angie Harwood.

“I’m glad you had a nice time in the Bahamas,” Meena said as Leisha mugged at her owlishly behind Roberto’s back.

“Oh, are you kidding me?” Roberto beamed. “It was the best. Listen, so who’s going to hook up with the vampire on Insatiable? Is it going to be Victoria Worthington Stone or Tabby? Because I really think you guys should let Tabby get some. She’s like the oldest teen virgin on television-”

“Roberto,” Leisha said, interrupting him. Her patience for her fellow employees had never been high, but since her pregnancy it had been ebbing lower and lower. “I’m thirsty. Why don’t you run on back and get Meena and me a couple of seltzers? And a bowl of water for Jack Bauer.”

“Oh, no problem, sweetie,” Roberto said. With obvious reluctance, he put Jack Bauer back down on Meena’s lap. “You want some fruit or something?”

“Mango?” Leisha smiled. When Leisha smiled, no one could deny her anything. It had been that way since she and Meena were kids. “Cut it into the little squares; you know, how you did last time. That was so good.”

“No problem,” Roberto said. He scurried off to fulfill Leisha’s wish.

Leisha turned her dark, thick-lashed gaze on Meena.

“Okay,” she said. “He’s gone. Sorry about that. Thanks for saving his ass with the Morocco thing, by the way. I actually would have missed him if he’d have been blown to smithereens with all those other people. And not just because he brings me freshly sliced mango. Anyway, back to Lucien. So…irresistibly drawn to the stu

Meena blushed again.

“Well, for one thing, he took me on a private after-hours tour of the Met,” she said. “That’s where I first saw him looking so sad…and I don’t know…it just…it felt right. I really like this guy, Leish.”

Leisha stared at her. “Uh-oh,” she said. “I do not like that look in your eye, Meena. You don’t just like this guy. You love him. Even worse…you want to save him. Admit it!”

“So what if I do?” Meena looked down at the top of Jack Bauer’s head and sighed. “It doesn’t matter. He’s going back to Romania.”

“When?” Leisha asked.

“I don’t know,” Meena said with a shrug. “I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to be that girl, you know?”

“You mean you didn’t want to be yourself?” Leisha asked.

“Shut up.” Then Meena brightened. “He asked me to the symphony tonight.”

Leisha made a face. “Oh, ugh! Does he even know the real you at all?”

“I love the symphony,” Meena said in protest. “I happen to be extremely cultured. I played the clarinet in sixth grade.”

“Um, badly, if I remember,” Leisha said. “You were like twentieth chair. Out of twenty-one.”

“Says the person who sat in the twenty-first chair,” Meena retorted wryly.

“So he doesn’t know about this”-Leisha tapped her head-“either?”

Meena made a face. “Why would I tell him about that? I’m not going to mess this up like I’ve messed up every other relationship with a guy I’ve ever had.”

Leisha frowned. “Meena. Seriously. If you want this to go anywhere, you’ve got to be honest with him. You can’t play games. Your ability is a huge part of who you are-”

“But not the only part,” Meena cried.

“You mean like the part where you don’t ever want to have kids?” Leisha asked pointedly.

Meena’s eyes widened. She was speechless.

“I’m not trying to be hurtful,” Leisha insisted. She wasn’t teasing anymore. “I think you’re amazing. Why else would I have picked you to be my best friend, instead of Lori Delorenzo? She had way better hair than you did. I think you’re generous-so much so that it gets you in trouble sometimes. You care about total strangers-again, to the point that you go out of your way to help them, which I think is a little above and beyond. And you’re fu

“Like with David?” Meena gave a sarcastic laugh. “I don’t think so. Maybe I’ll just ease him into getting to know the real Meena Harper a little bit at a time.”

“Yeah, well, it sounds like he got to know at least a pretty good part of Meena Harper last night,” Leisha said with a sarcastic laugh of her own. Then she sobered. “Seriously, though, Meena. I know I bitch about Adam, but the reason we’ve lasted this long is because he’s the first guy I’ve ever been with who I’ve been able to just be myself around, no holds barred. If you can’t be who you really are with this guy, you might as well just keep being alone.”

Meena looked at her friend thoughtfully. Leisha had a point…a good one.

The scary part was that she didn’t know how much Meena was holding back from her… Meena was just going to have to tell her.

And judging from the size of her belly and the level of alarm bells that went off in Meena’s head every time Leisha mentioned the baby, it was going to have to be soon.

“Hey,” Leisha said, glancing at her watch. “Shouldn’t you be at work or something?”

“Yeah,” Meena said slowly. “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about… Can I leave Jack here until after work, then come pick him up? You know how everyone loves him-”

Roberto, coming back with a bowl of water for Meena’s dog and a plate of perfectly cubed mango for Leisha, overheard this last part and gasped. “Yes, please!” he cried. “We’ll babysit the puppy!”