Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair (28 page)

Maybe Camina killed Bruce, and maybe
she didn't.

Maybe Michelle killed Bruce, and maybe
she didn't. Maybe it was a man dressed in a wig, or maybe it
wasn't. It really didn't matter at this point. What was most
important was that Stuart exonerated her. Though Bianca knew she
was innocent, it was nice to know that even if she wasn't, her
cousin was on her side.

After Bianca dropped Stuart off at his
place, she made her way back to her apartment. Not much time passed
since she left Lee asleep on her sofa. For certain, he would be
awake when she returned, wondering about her
disappearance.

The thought of resuming her snuggled
position with him on the sofa brought a smile to her face, and she
wanted to continue where they left off.

She came through the front door, and
her eyes scanned the room for Lee, but he was nowhere in sight. She
called to him and closed the door behind her. Because she was
wearing his jacket and hat and held his keys in her hand, he could
not have gone far.

Again, she called to him, but before
she could call his name a third time, she saw Lee step across the
exit of the bedroom. He didn't seem suspicious of her
disappearance, and he didn't look worried. Instead, a warm smile
glowed across his face.

"Hi," she said. "I was looking for you.
I suppose you're wondering where I've been."

"Now, what makes you think that?" he
said to her.

She admired his cool subtleness,
seemingly not concerned at all. If only he knew what she had just
endured.

Bianca released the ponytail ring from
her hair and shuffled her fingers through her black hair. "I want
to tell you where I've been and everything that happened to me
tonight, but first, I just want to lie down next to you. Can we do
that?"

At first Lee wore a stern look on his
face, then it turned to a gentle smile. At that moment, she wanted
to make love to him, share her bed with him and her body, but
somehow it didn't seem right. The timing was off.

After all of her risqué acts with Bruce
and the infamous Rod Bigg, it wouldn't feel genuine. It would feel
more like a continuation of where she left off in her endeavor to
be someone else. And she wanted her experience with Lee to be a
real, lasting one, one that would continue for many years to
come.

And right now, she just wanted to lie
next to him, feel his presence, and feel at home with Lee
Travis.

Bianca arrived at work early on Monday,
wanting to put the pieces back together, and most of all to express
her gratitude to Lillian that she still had a job. Not being the
ideal employee for the last three weeks, she was appreciative of
Lillian's patience. She gave Bianca a second chance, and she wanted
Lillian to know just how much she appreciated it.

Though she continued to wear her new
clothes, she resumed wearing her hair back in a bun. That was how
she liked it, simple and out of her face.

That afternoon, Bianca and Michelle
ordered takeout for lunch and sat in the lunchroom. The subject of
Camina would come up, that being the sole topic of discussion at
the office. But Bianca had talked about it enough, and it was time
to put it behind her.

Michelle bit into her sandwich and
glanced across the table at Bianca. "I must say, I do miss the
blonde hair. It was so pretty on you."

"Well, maybe one day I will color it
again," Bianca said. "But for entirely different
reasons."

"Have you noticed how creepy it is
around here? I can't imagine what it's like for the men to use the
facilities after what happened to their colleague."

Bianca dreaded visions of the men's
room and the events that transpired there, not many days
ago.

She sipped on her iced tea and did not
say much.

"I went to see Camina," Michelle
said.

"Oh. How is she?"

"She looks okay. Even though I know
what she did was totally wrong, a part of me feels really bad for
her."

Bianca nodded. "Me too," Bianca said.
"And I keep asking myself why she did it, and I don't get
it."

"We talked about it," Michelle
said.

"What did she say?"

Michelle shook her head. "She just
snapped. It was as simple as that. You know she really thought
Bruce would leave his wife and marry her. I guess we all have our
breaking points."

"Yeah, but murder?"

"Think about what you just said,
Bianca."

Clueless, Bianca peered at
Michelle.

"Didn't your father snap one day, kill
your mother and then himself?"

Bianca thought back. "Yeah, he did, but
my father had an illness, he was manic depressive and was on
medication for a long time. What's Camina's excuse?"

"That's what I'm talking about. She
just snapped."

Sunday afternoon Bianca removed the
obituaries from the mantel and stored them away in her drawer. She
had held on to them long enough and believed that they were holding
her back.

In the kitchen, she prepared a
spaghetti dinner for Lee. Though she was no Martha Stewart, she
wanted to do great things for Lee and not only because he treated
her so well, but because he deserved it. For long enough, she
postponed wearing the watch that Lee gifted her, wanting to wait
for a special day. That day finally arrived. It was this day, the
day she planned to spend with Lee Travis.

While Lee was in the front room looking
over the books on the shelf, Bianca slipped into the bedroom and
snagged the watch from her dresser drawer. She buckled it onto her
wrist and returned to the kitchen.

Lee soon followed her into the kitchen
and buckled down on the bar stool at the counter.

While the water boiled for the
spaghetti, she poured Lee and herself some juice after having done
away with her days of Chardonnay, at least for a few days anyway.
She seated herself across from him, studying him carefully. His
nose was buried into the book in front of him. This was a sweet man
with so much to offer, and despite being previously engaged to her
sister, despite him being shorter than she was, despite everything,
he was all hers, and not because she chose him, but because he had
already chosen her.

She didn't think there would ever be
days like this, days when she would be this happy, this contented.
Things truly did get better in time, she thought as she continued
to stare at Lee, admiration in her eyes.

Lee seemed to sense her eyes perusing
him and he glanced up. "What did I do?"

"Nothing. I was just
wondering?"

"About?"

"About that clock that you gave me. No
one ever gave me a clock before, and I was just wondering why. Why
a clock of all things?"

"Did you look at the
inscription?"

"There's an inscription?" she asked
him.

"There's an inscription."

Bianca raced into the other room,
grabbed the clock and returned to the kitchen. She then turned the
clock over and written in really tiny scripted words, which Bianca
read aloud, were the words: "Just a matter of time before you'll be
mine."

Lee smiled. "I know it's corny, but
it's from the heart."

"This is so sweet. I can't believe this
inscription has been there all along, and this is the first time
that I've seen it."

Bianca set the clock on the kitchen
table and began cutting the green peppers and onions for her
spaghetti dinner.

"You know, you don't have to do this,"
Lee said.

"I don't have to do what?"

"Cook for me. I know it's not your
forte. We can always order out."

"You're not afraid of my cooking, are
you?"

"Well, now that you brought it
up."

After they shared a good laugh, she was
intrigued and wanted to know everything about him. "Lee, you have a
really wonderful relationship with your father, but I have never
heard you say anything about your mother."

Lee closed the book in front of him and
Bianca witnessed the discomfort on his face.

"You don't have to tell me," she
said.

"No, I don't mind. My mother wasn't
ready to be a mother. I was what you call an unplanned pregnancy,
and she didn't want to be tied down. So she left."

"Really?"

"I hardly ever think about it, so you
see there's not much to say about her."

"Where is she now?"

Lee shifted his eyes away from her and
didn't answer.

"Is she alive?" Bianca
asked.

"I'm sure she is."

"Did your father tell you that?" she
asked.

"Not exactly, but I can read between
the lines, and I already forgave her for it, a long time
ago."

She and Lee were so much alike. After
wasting so much time with the crying, suffering and the acting out,
finally, she met someone who understood her pain, who loved her
despite everything, and she refused to waste any more time. Things
could change in an instant, which they had for her. But for this
moment, she was glad to be who she was. And after all she endured,
she wouldn't change a thing.

"I want you to listen to something for
me," Bianca said as she led Lee into the front room. Lee remained
silent as he eased down on the sofa, with a curious look about
him.

Bianca stood at the entertainment
center and slid the Bee Gees CD into the disc player. Soon the
sounds and words of the magnificent song, I Just Want to Be Your
Everything echoed throughout the room. Lee's eyes gazed up at
Bianca, mesmerized.

He had once played that same song for
her, but the true essence of the words belonged to him, possibly
written with someone like him in mind.

Bianca seated herself next to him on
the sofa and grasped his hand into hers, all the while sharing a
warm smile. With her eyes locked in with his, she discovered that
this was where she wanted to be, in the presence of Lee Travis, and
nowhere else.

With the mellow sounds emanating
throughout the room, she scooted closer to him and was practically
in his lap. He was that someone, not necessarily the someone she
searched for all of her life, but that someone she was grateful to
have found, that someone who brought her to this place of
happiness, contentment and peace.

It was strange how much had changed
since Bianca turned thirty, and not necessarily for the worst, but
for the absolute best.

Later that evening, Bianca was fast
asleep in Lee's arms when she was awakened by a voice from the
other room.

It was Sandy.

Filled with delight and anticipation,
Bianca slid from underneath Lee's arms and escaped into the next
room.

"Bianca?" the voice called
out.

The voice was coming from the bathroom.
As soon as Bianca stepped before the bathroom mirror, a ravishing
image of Sandy appeared. Gold earrings dangled from Sandy's ears
and her straight blonde hair was even more beautiful than
ever.

"Sandy, you're back," Bianca said with
delight. "I thought you were gone forever."

"That'll never happen."

"Well, where were you? I called to you
day after day. Did you not hear me?"

"I heard you," Sandy said. "But I knew
you had things to take care of, and I wanted you to do it all by
yourself."

"Thanks, Sandy. I guess you know
everything that happened, huh?"

"Yes, and I must say, I am very proud
of you."

"You are?"

"Yes, very much. So how does it feel to
be thirty?" Sandy asked her.

"It's the best. The absolute
best."

* * *

About the Author

Carrie Carr is an author, freelance
writer and screenwriter.

She lives in Illinois.

[email protected]

carriecarrsblog.wordpress.com