Breaking Into the Business (2 page)

He
looked like an angel. His face was perfection, with his strong jaw line, high cheekbones,
and those pretty blue eyes that sparkled even in the dark.

I
could have slapped myself. He was practically a child. Well, actually, he was
only five years younger than I was, but somehow that age gap seemed more than
it really was. Somehow, I couldn’t escape the slight feeling of creepiness as I
lusted after the pool boy.

I
tried to divert my gaze and actually managed to turn to the left for a split
second. When I turned back, I saw that he was now completely out of the pool.

And
he was completely naked.

I
gasped out loud. He noticed my presence for the first time and stepped back,
nearly falling back into the pool.

“Lana,
I’m sorry,” he said quickly. He stared back at me like a deer stuck in the
headlights. I almost blushed when I saw that the cleaning net wasn’t the only
thing he could clean the pool with.

He
didn’t even bother to cover himself up. What the hell? At some point in life,
had he lost all of his shame? I could barely manage to be naked in front of a
mirror and here he was just parading around my backyard without a stitch of
clothes.

“It’s
no problem, Derrick,” I said. I wanted to turn away, but I couldn’t. I suddenly
didn’t feel so creepy anymore.

He
walked over to where he had left his bathing suit on the side of the pool. I
got one or two more quick looks before he put it back on. No tan lines. So this
must be a frequent activity for him when cleaning pools.

“I’m
really, really sorry,” he repeated. “I don’t do this all the time.”

“I
promise that it’s okay,” I said.

“I
don’t do this all the time,” he said. “I got my suit wet and my seats are
cloth, so I was letting my suit dry out.”

“Seriously,
Derrick,” I said. “Stop apologizing.”

Had
his face not been so tan, he might have been blushing, but it was hard to tell.

“I
can go,” he said.

Poor
thing, I thought. He was more embarrassed than I was. That was an interesting
turn. I almost laughed out loud, but thought better of it. It would only make
things worse. I couldn’t let him leave, because there was no way to find
someone as cheap as him that did that good of a job. Not to mention the fact
that there were many worse things I would rather find in my pool.

“Are
you done cleaning the pool?” I asked.

“No,”
he shook his head. “But I’m sure you’ll want to find someone else.”

“Why
would I do that?”

“You
just caught me in your pool naked.”

I
shook my head. “I’m not replacing you. Skinny-dipping is not that big of a
deal. I’ve done it many times before.”

That
was a lie. Having kids at such an early age, had left Frank and me little time
for the traditional honeymoon phase of our relationship. Nevertheless, the lie
seemed to work.

“So
you’re really not that upset with me?”

“I’m
not going to say this again,” I said. “This is not that big of a deal.”

“Okay,”
he nodded, seeming to relent. “I guess I’ll finish up here.”

While
he finished up with the pool, I went back inside and grabbed two bottled waters.
When I returned to patio, he was depositing the last of the chemicals into the
pool.

I
sat down in a lounge chair and patted the one next to me. When he sat down, I
handed him one of the waters. I watched the rise and fall of his chest as he
drank the water. I had the sudden wish that he would pour the rest over
himself.

“I’m
really glad you didn’t fire me,” Derrick said when he finished. “I need this job
bad.”

“Is
everything okay?” I asked.

“Money
is just a little tight,” he answered. “Most of the people around here use the
bigger companies to maintain their pools. It’s hard for a guy like me to
compete.”

“Did
you ever apply to that college?” I asked.

“Still
saving up,” he said. “I check every semester, but the prices go up faster than
I can save the money. I think I might have enough to start when I get done this
summer.”

I
took a drink of my water and watched him stare out at the pool. He was such a smart
kid and just needed a break. If Frank was still here, and we could afford it, I
would definitely give him the money he needed to start his education. However,
I suspected that Derrick had more in his savings than I did.

“I
hope you get to go,” I said. “I wish I knew more people to refer you to.”

“You’ve
already gotten most of your friends to let me take care of their pools,” Derrick
said. “Without you, I don’t think I would have half the money saved that I do.”

“Good,”
I said with a nod.

I
liked helping people. When I had disposable income, I could do it more
frequently, but when it came to living off of savings, I had to be a little
more frugal because my children came first.

“So
seriously, you’re not mad at me?” Derrick asked again.

I
actually laughed out loud that time. “Think nothing of it. Just please make
sure not to do this when my kids are home.”

He
smiled. “Wait, so you’re giving me permission to skinny dip in your pool in the
future?”

“I
wouldn’t want you to get your cloth seats wet,” I said with a smirk. My
response was clever, but it was not what I wanted to say. It had been so long
since I had been with another man, and the urges were gnawing at my mind. What
I really wanted to say to him was, “Be careful, because next time, I might just
join you.”

Chapter Two

When I
finally went back in the house, my heart was beating so fast I thought it might
burst out of my chest. We had spent another half hour outside talking and the
entire time he had not bothered to put his shirt on. I was forced into staring
at him the whole time.

What
was wrong with me? When had I turned into this lecherous older woman? I really
needed girl time right now. Betsy and Pearl – especially Betsy – would tell me
the truth about this whole situation. Both of them were much more comfortable
with sex and they had been prodding me to get back into the saddle since Frank
had left.

Was
it really so bad that I was lusting after the pool boy? The fact that it was so
cliché was not lost on me. How many dirty movies had featured just this
scenario? Yet it had happened to me. Well, not really, because pornos had sex
in them, and the movie I had just made only had longing stares.

Damn,
I was boring.

I
heard Derrick start up his truck and leave. I went upstairs, showered, and
dressed for work. This was one of the few days where I had to go into the
office. That was the main reason I had stopped fixing myself up too often,
because most days, I stayed in my pajamas and worked from my home office.

Wrapping
a towel around me, I walked into my closet to pick out an outfit. After the
situation with Derrick, I decided that today I would dress a little nicer than
I normally do. By nicer, I meant younger.

I
found a black skirt tucked away on a shelf in the closet and slipped that on. I
don’t think I had worn it since Frank left, but it would finally see the light
of day again. A light blue top with a lower neckline matched the skirt, and a
pair of blue two-inch heels finished off the outfit.

As
I walked down the steps, my phone rang. My heart fluttered on the first ring.
The strange phone calls had started two months ago, and like clockwork, they
had continued every few days. At least this one was during the day.

I
stopped at the counter and looked down at the caller ID. Of course, it was
“unknown” like all of the ones before it. I considered letting it go to
voicemail, but I had tried that before, and the caller only hung up. At least
if I answered, there was a slight chance the person on the other line might
finally decide to talk to me.

So
I reached down and picked the phone up. I answered and waited for the person on
the other end to say something, but like all of the ones before, all I got was
heavy breathing. Occasionally, other background noises could be heard, but
nothing to identify who the caller was or from where they were calling.

“Hello,”
I said again.

Still
nothing.

“Please
tell me why you keep calling here,” I said, just as I had all of the others
times. I decided to step it up a little. “I’ve got the police monitoring my
phone line now and they’re tracing your call as we speak.”

Obviously,
the caller wasn’t buying it, because he stayed on the line, just breathing
deeply.

Finally,
I just hung up the phone and screamed. I screamed so loud, I thought the
neighbors might call the cops. The frustrating helplessness about these calls
always got under my skin.

I
wish I knew who this was that kept calling the house. When they had started, I
assumed that it was Frank’s creepy way of checking on us to make sure we were
still alive. I had no idea where he was or what he was up to, and in fact, I
hadn’t seen him since the day he left. Our divorce had been handled through
attorneys and we signed at separate meetings.

That
was the only explanation that I could come up with. All of my bills were
current, so they couldn’t be creditors, unless Frank had taken out credit cards
that I didn’t know about. Of course, a creditor would announce themselves if
they called. I had heard horror stories of collection companies resorting to
nasty efforts to get their money, but I didn’t think that heavy breathing was
their latest method.

I
couldn’t dwell on it too much, because I needed to get to the office. My
manuscripts were due and I had to pick up another stack from the pile.

I
found my makeup bag in my office and applied a little lipstick and eyeliner. I
smacked my lips and stared in the mirror, quite pleased with myself about the
way I looked. If only, some cute, single men were in the office that was in my
desired age range.

As
I passed the high school, I thought of Jake and Mallory. So far, I had kept
them from finding out about the phone calls. I had been careful not to talk
about it in front of them because the last thing I needed was for them to
stress over this.

No,
this was my burden to carry. I was their mother, and the parent that had
stayed. Whatever I did in life, their needs came first. Somehow, I had to
figure out what those calls were about and put a stop to it.

Chapter Three

One
fortunate aspect of being late was that traffic had already dissipated by that
time. I got onto the toll way and made my way to the office. Somehow, leaving
my little subdivision was a breath of fresh air.

When
I walked into the office, dozens of people were milling about, and luckily,
nobody noticed my entrance. That was one of the many reasons I considered
myself average. I could blend into a crowd, even in my hussy get up.

My
assigned cubicle was off to the side of the office, away from the big wigs
whose window offices lined the far wall. The offices in that area were reserved
for their secretaries and the acquisition editors whose job it was to bring in
new authors.

Unfortunately,
I was a lonely manuscript editor. I had an assortment of authors from the
depths of our publishing house’s C-List and D-List ranks. The volume for each
title was low, but the company felt that if we could crank enough out, there were
some profits to be made.

Exclusive
editors were assigned to big name authors, and those coveted jobs were all
placed near acquisitions in the office, well away from the lowly job of
manuscript editors.

When
I set my purse down on my desk, I heard a chair squeak next to me. My
cube-neighbor, Ben Turner, poked his head over the top.

“Hey,
Lana,” he said.

“Hello,
Ben,” I smiled.

“Glad
you could grace us with your presence,” he said.

I
rolled my eyes and smirked. He was a nice boy in his junior year of college.
During the summer before his freshman year, he showed up at the front desk with
folders full of his literary accomplishments and he had begged for a job. One
of the big wigs just happened to be walking into the office and Ben had hounded
him. The particular executive couldn’t be bothered, so he hired him on the
spot.

“So
the meeting is already adjourned?” I asked. Of course, I already knew the
answer to that question.

“Yes,”
Ben said.

“Are
they listening to you yet?” I asked.

“I’m
making some headway,” he said. “They still don’t like the fact that my proposal
gives the authors a significant amount of their royalties for the e-book.”

Even
though Ben was just eleven years younger than I was, he was clearly from a
different generation. The company should have championed that fact, but instead
they chose to ignore his ideas. The publishing world was changing fast, and with
the rise of the e-book and the ease of self-publishing, the traditional
publishers were taking a hit. Authors, many of them big names, were leaving
after contract expirations and setting out on their own, with the promise of a
larger percentage of the royalties.