Changing Scenes (Changing Teams #2) (11 page)

Chapter Twenty

Donnie

We finally left my place on Sunday morning.

Now don’t get me wrong, we didn’t leave because we’d gotten bored with each other, but because my meager food supplies were running low. Add to that the terrible programming on cable, and getting out of my condo and into the world became our top priority.

“Why don’t we go to the restaurant for lunch?” I suggested. “Liam does brunch until three on Sundays. Afterward, we can go shopping, decide what we want to do about dinner.”

“Liam?” Astrid asked. “You let another man touch your ovens?”

“Liam is my sous chef,” I replied. “On my weekends off, he’s in charge.”

“Will he be stressed if he sees you in the dining room?” Astrid pressed.

“Not if he’s doing things the right way,” I said.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you mean the Donnie way?”

“You know it, babe.”

We teased each other for a few more minutes, but hunger won out. After a quick shower we hopped in my Jeep and drove the quarter mile to the restaurant. It was busy, as Sundays always were, but Christa’s grin when she saw us told me that it was good busy, not tear-your-hair-out-I-want-to-kill-these-people busy.

“Good morning,” Christa greeted. “Table in the bar?”

“Sure,” I said. We followed my boss, me keeping my hand on Astrid’s lower back.

“Nice to see you again, Astrid,” Christa said as we sat. “I’m surprised you let Donnie come here on his day off.”

“He says he’s not checking on Liam, but I don’t believe him,” Astrid said.

I eyed the two of them. “You women being friends is not okay,” I said, and they laughed some more.

“All right, Mr. Sensitive, we can behave,” Christa said once she calmed down. “Gabe will be your waiter.”

“Really?” I whined. Yeah, I actually whined. “No offense, C, but we could starve waiting for him.”

“You won’t starve for two reasons,” Christa said, holding up a finger. “One, there’s a buffet. Fill your own damn plate.” She held up a second finger. “And two, the other option is Leela.”

“Who’s Leela?” Astrid asked.

Christa raised an eyebrow. “Plates are at the buffet. Mimosa or Bloody Mary?”

“Bloody Mary,” Astrid replied, “and, about this Leela?”

“Drinks will be right over,” Christa said as she retreated behind the bar. Astrid turned to me and tilted her head to the side.

“Leela is one of the waitresses,” I began.

“I figured that,” Astrid said.

I bit back my snarky response; this was a crappy situation, and one Astrid shouldn’t have to deal with. If I’d known that Leela was working today I never would have brought Astrid by for brunch. “Anyway, we’ve known each other since school. That’s all.”

“Is she an ex?”

“We went on one date in the eleventh grade, and a second about five years ago,” I replied. “That’s it. Really.”

Astrid looked at me for a moment, then she nodded. “Well, let’s get some food, then.”

“You believe me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she countered. “I can think of a lot of words to describe you, Donnie, but liar isn’t one of them.”

I grabbed her hand, kissed her knuckles. “You got that right.”

We went up to the buffet and filled our plates with standard breakfast fare. I had to give it to Liam, he’d done a pretty good job; in addition to the eggs, bacon, and sausage, there were even a few quiches and some seafood selections. Astrid went for salmon and eggs, while I took a few slices of ham and some roast potatoes. When we returned to our table our drinks were waiting.

“This is amazing,” Astrid said after taking a long pull on her Bloody Mary. “I wish I had a swimming pool of this.”

“I bet I can arrange that.” In the midst of me imagining a naked Astrid in a wading pool filled with booze, my pal Leela appeared before us.

“Enjoying everything?” Leela chirped. “Are you satisfied with the buffet, or would you like to see some menus?”

I looked at Astrid, who shrugged. “I’m good.”

“Thanks, Leela, but we’re fine,” I said, and looked down at my plate.

“Don, are you working Monday?” Leela asked.

“Don’t I work every Monday?” I countered.

“Yeah, well, you’ve been doing some strange things lately.” Leela stuck her nose in the air and turned on her heel.

“What is her problem?” Astrid asked, loudly enough for Leela to pause and eavesdrop. “The time to make a play for your man is when he’s single, not having an awesome morning after breakfast with his girlfriend.”

Leela glanced over her shoulder and made a face, then she stalked into the kitchen. I looked at Astrid and shook my head. “That was mean.”

She shrugged. “I’m a New Yorker. We’re not subtle. And,” she added, leaning across the table, “who does she think she is saying that right in front of me? That girl needs manners.”

I looked toward the kitchen doors. “Yeah, she does.”

The rest of our meal was Leela-free, though we did have Gabe to contend with; I often wondered how a capable woman like Christa had borne someone who was utterly bad at everything. When he came by to take our orders—after about twenty minutes—he was genuinely confused to find us already eating. He reappeared a few minutes later with an appetizer plate.

“You know we didn’t order that,” I said.

“Yeah, well, talk to Liam,” Gabe said. “Since he knows you’re here, he’s showing off.”

Gabe set down the platter and wandered off, so I checked out what he’d brought us. It was some bruschetta, roasted eggplant with pita, and shrimp cocktail. It wasn’t a bad assortment, but I was sure Astrid was already stuffed. “We look pretty disorganized right now, huh?”

“A little.” Astrid swiped a shrimp, dunked it in cocktail sauce and ate it. “Good thing you made me so hungry.”

“Really.” I grinned and grabbed some bruschetta. “I thought you’d be full after all that.”

“Are you kidding? I could eat for days.”

As if on cue, Dianne appeared with a platter of desserts. “Hey guys,” she said, gathering up our buffet plates and setting them on the bar to make room for the desserts. “What’s shaking?” she asked, dragging over a chair and joining us.

“Are you all trying to feed us to death?” I asked. “Christa is going to freak.”

“Hey, you’re lucky I got here before Liam,” Dianne said. “He’s whipping up some kind of chef’s special for you.”

I groaned and rubbed my eyes; I’d wanted to impress Astrid with how well my kitchen ran, not illustrate how all the employees were crazy. “Why?” I asked. “None of you ever freak out like this.”

“Maybe Liam has a thing for you too,” Astrid suggested. Great, my girlfriend thought this was hilarious.

“Liam only has eyes for Gabe,” I corrected, “Much to Dianne’s dismay.”

“And Liam’s dismay,” Dianne said. “Gabe’s a pretty hetero guy, as far as I can tell.”

I eyed Dianne, wondering if and when she’d figure out that her carrying a torch for the owner’s son was getting her exactly nowhere. “So what’d you bring us?” I asked, gesturing toward the dessert tray.

Dianne turned toward Astrid, and explained, “Sorry for all the stuff. I didn’t know what you’d like, so I brought a bit of everything.”

“It all looks great,” Astrid said. “Thank you for bringing it over.”

“We’re not really this crazy,” Dianne continued. “It’s just that Don’s always going out of his way to help us, and we want to return the favor. Food is what we’re good at, you know?”

“Do I ever,” Astrid replied. “And I agree, Donnie’s pretty great.”

Dianne grinned, and after we selected a piece of chocolate lava cake, Dianne took the rest of her creations and left. “I bet you think we’re all nuts,” I said.

Astrid fed me a forkful of cake. “More like a family. It’s nice.”

I fed her some cake. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Chapter

Twenty-One

Donnie

When my alarm went off Monday morning, I reached over to turn it off and did a double take at the time—five a.m., two hours earlier than I usually woke up. Then Astrid moved beside me, and I remembered that I had to drive her back to the city.

I watched her for a moment, her face buried in the pillow and her silky hair spread around her. No, make that pillows; she’d stolen mine some time during the night, along with most of the blankets. I didn’t mind; I’d give up pillows and blankets for the rest of my life if it meant having her beside me every morning.

“Babe,” I said, nudging her shoulder. “Up and at ’em.”

“No,” she whined. “Too early for awake. Sleep now.”

“We need to get moving if I’m gonna drive you home.” I moved her hair and kissed the soft spot behind her ear. “Unless you want to stay another day?”

One bright green eye blinked open. “Trying to keep me down here with you?”

“You know it.”

She laughed, then she pulled me against her. Finally, I was under the blankets too. “While my time here at Chez Donato has been excellent, I also have work today.”

“Naked work?” I asked, then I wanted to bite my tongue. Man, I hoped she’d take that as a joke.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. “If you want to go around picturing me naked all day, be my guest.”

“Hell, I was going to do that anyway.”

She swatted my shoulder and we laughed, then we kissed, then I rolled her beneath me and shoved her thighs apart.

“I thought we had to get going,” Astrid said while I nuzzled her neck.

“We got time for a quickie,” I said.

“Well, all right.”

***

Two and a half hours later I pulled up in front of Astrid’s building. After the best morning sex in the history of mornings, we’d grabbed a shower and run out the door. The traffic wasn’t too bad that early, and it looked like I’d get to the restaurant almost on time. Worst part was I didn’t even care if I made it, didn’t care if Christa and Liam and the rest freaked out wondering where I was. Astrid was worth being a few minutes late. She was worth everything.

“Call me when you’re done tonight?” I asked as Astrid got her bags together.

“I will,” she promised. “Remember, you’re supposed to imagine me naked all day.”

I grinned. “Not a problem, babe.”

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Astrid

After an exhausting Monday at Al’s—which involved an overtired me either forgetting my orders entirely, or spilling drinks hither and yon—Tuesday’s shift went rather well. I’d had a good night’s sleep, and, save for missing Donnie, I was on top of my game.

My phone buzzed; when I saw that it was my agency calling I just assumed they had finally gotten some new leads and wanted to book me. You know what they say about people who assume. “Hey Mindy,” I greeted.

“Hey.” She was silent for a moment. “So, you walked for Kendra Saunders last week?”

“I sure did,” I replied. “Did you see it?”

“Oh, we saw,” she replied. “Everybody saw.”

I stopped walking. “And?”

“And if you thought John was pissed before, he’s Genghis Kahn now.”

“What the hell does he have to be mad about?” I demanded. “I did not sign the non-compete clause, and he is well aware of that. I can work for whomever I damn well please.”

“I know, I know,” Mindy said. “The problem is that since the show went over so well the phone’s been ringing off the hook with offers for you.”

“Has it.” I smiled and leaned against a brick wall. “Let me guess, he’s pissed because if he keeps punishing me, he won’t make as much money.”

“Pretty much.”

“What about my shoot Thursday?” I had a big—four thousand dollar big—session scheduled with a top photographer. People still bought his stuff in books and magazines instead of grabbing it free off the internet, the man was so brilliant.

“It’s good to go. Why?”

“Maybe I’ll cancel and book myself someplace else.”

“Don’t you dare,” Mindy warned. “We’ll be stuck with all sorts of fees and cancellation charges, and John might be forced to let you go. Are you trying to hurt him, or yourself?”

I winced; Mindy always was the pragmatic one. “Tell me the truth, what’s wrong with your brother? Someone drop him on his head as a baby?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

“Switched at birth, then,” I continued. “It’s why you have red hair and his is blond.”

“I dye my hair.”

“To hide the truth!”

Mindy laughed. “Okay, okay. Listen, just do the shoot Thursday, and please, please,
please
call me before you book anything on your own.”

“You’re sure he hasn’t messed with my shoot?”

“Positive.” I imagined Mindy miming the Girl Scout salute. “And that may or may not be because I confiscated all the contact information.”

It was my turn to laugh. “All right then, I will be there. And I promise I will call if anyone contacts me for work.”

“Thank you, Astrid.”

“Smack your brother for me.”

“I will.”

I ended the call, shoved my phone in my pocket, and resumed walking. When I’d thought my session was in jeopardy my heart almost stopped; that fee would cover my rent, phone, Visa Number One, my personal loan…and nothing else. Crap, I was still poor. Still, a poor woman with a roof over her head was better than a poor woman out on the street.

My phone buzzed again, this time with Britt’s number. “Hey, girl.”

“Whatcha doing Friday?” she asked.

“Probably sleeping. Me and Donnie’s midnight rendezvous is every Thursday.”

“Yeah, raw clams are wicked sexy. Anyway, Jorge has our first dress fitting scheduled for Friday at two, and you know how he is if everyone’s not punctual.”

“Do I ever,” I mumbled. “Um, how much will the dress be?”

“For you? Nada. Sam and I are covering them.”

Thank heaven. “Can you guys really afford that?”

“Honestly? No, but it’s not like Mel can afford anything, and if we pay for her dress we can’t really not pay for yours. Besides, Jorge’s giving us a great deal.”

“I bet Matilda put him up to that.” Matilda was Jorge’s wife, and they had recently found out they were expecting. Ever since the news got out, Jorge had been wrapped even tighter around Matilda’s finger. “Text me the details and I’ll be there.”

“Yay,” Britt squealed. “See you then.”

I ended the call and resumed walking. Man, things had to change, and change quickly. I couldn’t live this way, stressing if I could afford a dress for my best friend’s wedding and dodging bill collectors left and right. Maybe if I did really well at the session on Thursday the photographer would speak to John, and he’d start booking me again. Maybe this mess would all be fixed come January.

My phone buzzed again, this time with an email from Visa Number Two. I swiped it open, and learned that the last monthly charge they’d sucked out of my account—the one that had left me with a negative balance—had been recalled by the bank, and I swore. I remembered reading that letter, that my account had gone negative so many times that my overdraft coverage had been voided. So, in addition to last month’s charge, there was this month’s charge and a late fee. Not to mention whatever fees my bank was charging me.

I wanted to scream. How was I ever going to get out of this hole? It was one stupid fee after another, piling on one after the other until I couldn’t breathe. That straw that broke the camel’s back? I’d gotten it ten straws ago.

I squared my shoulders and hailed a cab. Once I’d been picked up I called up the notepad on my phone and made a list of people to contact. Screw John and his tantrums, from now on I was getting my own work. It was that or starve.