Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair (7 page)

"You're welcome," he said.

He made it perfectly clear even before
he played the song that he accepted her decision not to pursue a
romantic relationship. Though he failed to change her mind, he
showed her a side of himself that she was happy to have
experienced.

And there was nothing else to
say.

Absolutely nothing.

Chapter 5

MID-MORNING AT THE OFFICE, Bianca
strolled into the ladies' room and Camina soon followed behind her,
her long skirt hugging her narrow hips.

"Hello," Bianca said as she turned to
see Camina behind her.

Camina didn't respond right away,
instead, she stepped before the full-length mirror and adjusted the
shoulder pads on her jacket. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said the
other day. It wasn't very nice. I hope I didn't hurt your
feelings."

Though the words sounded good, they
oozed through Camina's mouth in a condescending and superficial
tone.

"No, you didn't hurt my feelings,"
Bianca said.

Camina was about to walk away, then
doubled backed. "Listen, Michelle and I are going over to Excalibur
this evening after work. Why don't you come with us?"

This was a first.

Camina never once invited Bianca
anywhere, and Bianca couldn't help but wonder what her motives
were. Though she believed good existed in everyone, no matter how
small, Bianca found it difficult to add Camina to that
category.

"Thanks, but I can't."

Camina examined Bianca as if trying to
pick her brain. Then, in a very calm tone, Camina asked her, "Why
not?"

"I just have other things to
do."

"Really?" Camina asked. "Do you ever
have any fun, Bianca? Do you even know how to have fun?"

After a long silence, Camina said, "I
tried," and then stepped away.

Camina's words struck a nerve with
Bianca and moved her to rethink the invitation. Why she had
appraised Camina's heartless words as credible she would never
understand. But it didn't matter who voiced the words, it was the
words themselves that left an impression on Bianca's
mind.

Had Bianca forgotten how to have
fun?

Was her life going to always only
consist of work and her watercolor class?

Bianca now reconsidered Camina's
invitation to join her and Michelle at Excalibur. Just recently,
Bianca complained to her doctor about the lack of excitement in her
life. And now, here was an opportunity presenting itself, and
Bianca chose to remain in her immobile cage and things never
changed. The more she reconsidered the idea of going out with them,
the more it appealed to her. It would do her some good to do
something different for a change.

What harm could it do?

When Bianca reached her organized desk,
she felt a presence behind her, and upon turning around, she saw
that it was Michelle, looking as pretty as ever, having not seen
her all morning.

"Oh, hi," Bianca said. "I didn't think
you were here today."

"I've been researching files all
morning." Michelle paused. "Camina told me that you and she had a
little chat. She wasn't ragging on you again, was she?"

As much as Bianca appreciated how
Michelle stood up for her, for some reason today, she found it
pretentious and unconvincing. "She invited me out with you two
tonight, and I'm thinking of going."

Quick to respond, Michelle said. "Don't
be intimidated by Camina, Bianca. You don't have to go if you don't
want to."

"I know that," Bianca said, her voice
elevated. "She doesn't intimidate me, and will you stop speaking to
me like I'm a little kid. I can take care of myself."

Bianca witnessed a flushed look on
Michelle's face.

"I'm sorry," Michelle said, seemingly
saddened by Bianca's words. As Michelle strutted away, Bianca went
after her and stepped in front of her.

"Wait," Bianca said. "I didn't mean
that. I just don't like―"

"You don't have to apologize. I'd love
for you to come with us tonight. I just know that's not your kind
of thing."

"Maybe it's not my kind of thing
because I never do it."

"So does that mean you're going to come
with us?"

"I think so."

Just as Bianca began to feel somewhat
excited about the possibility of actually going out on the town
with Michelle and Camina, she saw Bruce Colby and one of his
colleagues coming down the hall. Only seconds passed before
Michelle headed in the other direction. "I'll see you later," she
said to Bianca. But before Michelle could get away, Bianca caught
up to her fast at her desk.

"Okay, Michelle, what is it with you
and Bruce Colby?"

"Whatever are you talking about?"
Michelle asked as she slouched down into her desk chair. Michelle
was so obvious that it made Bianca laugh.

"Are you going to tell me?" Bianca
asked her.

"I can't.'

"You can't or you won't?"

"I'm not going to." Michelle picked up
the phone and began dialing a number before Bianca yanked the phone
from her hand.

"Why?" Bianca insisted. "Why won't you
tell me?"

As if transported to never-never land,
Michelle didn't answer for a long time.

"Michelle? Did you hear me?"

"I'll tell you. But not
here."

"Where then?"

"I don't know, but not
here."

"I'm going to hold you to it," Bianca
said before she walked away.

Bianca was not flattered when she,
Michelle and Camina reached the doors of Excalibur and only Bianca
was asked to present her ID while Michelle and Camina whizzed right
through. Just one more reason to feel alienated and singled out, a
telltale sign of events to come.

With the dance floor jammed packed,
wall-to-wall men, and not an empty seat in sight, this was the
nightlife in every sense of the word and Bianca remembered why she
didn't frequent these places. The music was much too loud, loud
enough to overpower the negative chatter that ran rampant in her
head. This was obviously not her thing, and she feared it would be
a long night.

Both Michelle and Camina wore tailored
designer dresses that complemented their slim physiques, while
alongside, Bianca sported her red and white polk-a-dot dress that
seemed to hang off her body.

Into the sea of night clubbers, they
headed towards the bar, the smell of alcohol in the air. It wasn't
until Bianca noticed the attention from the men at the bar directed
towards Camina and Michelle that Bianca's plain attire hit
her.

Very casually, trying hard not to be
obvious, Bianca glanced at Michelle and Camina, then glanced down
at her dress. A whopping difference in her appearance versus theirs
was evident. And it was not just because of her plain dress. It was
Bianca's hair neatly pulled back into a bun and her bare face that
set her apart, while straight bleached blonde tresses draped down
the shoulders of Camina and Michelle.

A sting of discomfort set in, and
Bianca's first thought was to hit the road, but quickly dispelled
the thought. After having come this far, she wasn't turning back
now, at least not yet. It wasn't like she planned to meet anyone
anyway.

As they reached the bar, Bianca felt
the vibrations of the blaring bass underneath her feet and knew
that she would not be able to endure much more of this, even with
her concentrated effort to do so. What was most important was that
she send a clear signal to Michelle and Camina that she did know
how to have fun and was not that much different from
them.

Bianca listened to Camina and Michelle
rate the attractiveness of the men on a scale from one to eleven
and wondered how men would rate her. Would she be labeled a three
or a four?

Feeling totally out of place and ready
to leave, two professional-looking gentlemen, wearing dark suits
and ties, approached them all at the bar. Right away, one of the
gentleman wearing designer glasses smiled at Camina and held out
his hand to her. "Would you like to dance?"

Without a moment's thought, Camina was
quick to follow his lead and off they went. The other blue-eyed
gentleman, who was not as tall, glanced over at Bianca, before
abruptly diverting his attention to Michelle. "How about it?" he
asked Michelle.

Michelle wrapped her purse around her
body. "Sure," Michelle said as her eyes shot to Bianca. "I won't be
long."

A tinge of jealousy swept through
Bianca's heart as she glared at the gentleman escorting Michelle to
the dance floor. Lucky for Bianca, she found a seat at the bar and
tried her best to remain positive about the evening. If all else
failed, she would have the bartender to keep her
company.

She ordered a white wine, then swiveled
her chair around, gawking at Camina and Michelle on the dance
floor. They seemed to be having a whale of a time, which was good
for them because she definitely was not having fun herself. The
only thing left for her to do was watch Camina and Michelle, sort
of live through them, if only for a short time.

The loud music penetrated every barrier
of her ears while she studied the spirited gentlemen who danced
with Camina and Michelle. It didn't take a genius to understand why
no one had asked her to dance. She was simply too plain looking.
Not that she necessarily wanted to dance, still the same, it would
have been nice to have been chosen.

Her upsetting thoughts continued to
escalate at a rapid pace and she considered walking out and never
returning. Quickly, she caught hold of her discomfort and put it to
rest, but kept it close by just in case she needed it
later.

For the next several minutes, Bianca
would sit at the bar, sipping her white wine, in no hurry to finish
it. She needed to have some reason to sit at the bar alone. Just
when she began to feel somewhat at ease, she caught a glimpse of a
man across the bar giving her the I'm watching you eye. She avoided
eye contact with him by shifting her eyes towards the dance floor
instead. His interest in her had come a little too late because at
that point, she just wanted to go home and lose herself in a good
book and forget that this evening ever happened.

Just when she thought that she had
somehow, on a subconscious level, shunned him away, she saw him
approaching her from the corner of her eye.

A tinge of nervousness grumbled in her
stomach and she swiveled her chair in the opposite direction so
that her back faced his approach. Not much time elapsed before he
came to the other side and positioned himself directly in front of
her. "Hello," he said.

"Hello."

Bianca perused his faded jeans and worn
out leather jacket, much too rugged for her taste. He had dark wavy
hair and shiny brown eyes to match. He extended his hand to her and
said, "I'm Rod. Rod Bigg."

Was he serious?

Rod Bigg? What kind of move was he
trying to pull on her?

She hesitated for a moment, then shook
his hand. "Bianca."

If her spirits had been sunnier, she
may have found his name comical, but tonight was different. She was
in no mood for racy comments.

"You don't mind if I sit down, do you?"
he asked.

Before she could even answer, to her
dismay, he seated himself next to her. His name alone had told her
all that she needed to know. As he very obviously scrutinized her
crossed legs, she so much wanted to say to him, I see
you.

"Let me guess, you don't come here
often do you?" he asked her.

"Why do you think that?"

His eyes made a stop at the top of her
dress and remained there. He couldn't be any more obvious. "I think
it's obvious," he said.

His straightforwardness and easygoing
persona demonstrated an air about him, which she found a tad
offensive and somewhat repelling. She finished the last bit of her
drink and shifted her body away from him.

"Let me get you another
drink?"

Before Bianca could even respond, Rod
had already signaled to the bartender and ordered another drink for
her. "So what do you do?" he asked her.

"Why?"

"Just trying to make
conversation."

"I'm a legal secretary."

He nodded as if he approved, not that
it mattered to Bianca one way or the other.

Over on the dance floor, Bianca
observed Camina and Michelle still hammering away to the music, and
she feared they might be out there forever.

"Looking for your sisters," Rod
asked.

Bianca flashed him a subtle look of
curiosity, and before she could attempt to answer him, he said. "I
saw all three of you when you came in."

She was about to inform him that they
were not sisters, then realized that it wasn't worth the
bother.

After a short silence with no words
exchanged between them, he said, "Yeah, I'm a stock broker, make
lots of money."