Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair (8 page)

Did he want an award for this
statement?

"Really?" she said.

Did he really think that his boring
banter was scoring him any points or was he just stupid?

How long would the unwanted guest stand
there and crowd her space?

In one last gulp, Bianca finished her
second drink and shifted her body away from Rod.

"Now that you've finished your drink,
how about we flee this joint and I take you somewhere
nice?"

He couldn't possibly be
serious.

"Excuse me?" she questioned.

"Let's ditch this place. I can tell you
have something that I want."

She stared at him, disbelief oozing
from her face, certain he could see it, if not feel it. So much she
wanted to let his invitation pass, but she just
couldn't.

"So," she said. "You see something you
like and that means you get to have it? Is that how it
works?"

"Basically, yes," he said confidently
as he gulped down a sip of beer. "So, how about it?" he asked
again.

She found herself thinking, wondering
what her hand would feel like slapped against his face. Though she
was not a violent person, somehow she could make an exception for
Mr. Rod Bigg.

Instead of telling him what she really
thought of him, she said, "I don't think so."

"Are you sure, I'm only going to ask
once."

Once was plenty because she had said
everything to him that she wanted to say. As far as she was
concerned, his questions deserved no more responses.

Bianca stood and hefted her purse upon
her shoulder, and just as she was about to step away, Rod stated
with a faded smile, "You don't know what you're
missing."

Without giving his statement any
thought, she stepped away and stood at the edge of the dance floor
where she enjoyed a better view of the vigorous dancers. When she
glanced back over at the bar, she saw Rod hitting on another woman.
It was people like Rod that kept Bianca from frequenting places
like this. It was her eventful conversation with Rod that helped
her see the evening for what it was―a disastrous night out, soon to
be buried away in her memory forever.

She'd given the night's adventure her
best effort. She endured the loneliness of sitting alone, sipping
drinks to pass the time and the unfortunate experience of being
annoyed by Mr. Bigg. She soon headed for the coatroom and collected
her coat. Just as she was slipping her arms through the sleeves of
her coat, Camina and Michelle approached her.

"You're leaving?" Michelle
asked.

"I'm going to go on home."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay a
little longer?" Michelle asked her. "You haven't even danced
yet."

Camina interjected. "Let her go. If she
doesn't want to stay, we can't make her."

"I'll call you tomorrow, Michelle, but
I'm going to go anyway."

"Now I feel bad," Michelle said to
Bianca.

"Please don't," Bianca said.

This must have been the highlight of
the evening for Camina as she now had concrete proof that Bianca
was not like she and Michelle at all. They were in a completely
different class. They were first-class as she was coach all the
way.

Upon reaching the outside, Bianca was
overcome with a sense of relief. The autumn air was just what she
needed as it always had a way of lessening the potent effects of
the alcohol in her system, something she was attuned to from lots
of experience.

She stood at the corner of Dearborn and
Ontario and flagged down a taxi. Though she made up her mind to go
straight home as she sat in the back seat of the taxi, she decided
to drop by Lee's place, if only to cleanse herself of her spoiled
evening.

At Lee's classy high-rise in the Gold
Coast, the doorman helped Bianca from the taxi and escorted her
inside. Through the revolving doors and across the marble floors,
Bianca headed towards the front desk and waited for the security
guard to announce her arrival to Lee.

Bianca stepped off the elevator and Lee
awaited her, wearing a dark suit fit for a prince.

"Hey, Sunshine," he said. "What do I
owe the pleasure of this surprise visit?"

His exquisite attire this time of
evening aroused suspicion. She found herself bitten by the bug of
jealousy, especially after his marvelous display of affection
towards her a few days ago.

As they headed towards his unit, she
said, "You look nice. Hot date?"

He stepped to her and kissed her cheek.
"I'm taking my father to see this new musical."

"I didn't know your father was in
town."

"He just got in this
morning."

Lee was very close with his father.
Despite the fact that they lived thousands of miles apart, they
spoke on the phone almost daily and saw each other several times a
year.

Upon reaching his condominium, Lee
stood in the hall mirror and straightened his tie. Bianca watched
him in admiration. He was an attractive man. Because it was a rare
occasion when she visited him, she had forgotten how nice his
placed looked as her eyes spiraled around the room. She took notice
of the floor-to-ceiling windows, the off-white European sofa and
octagon shaped coffee table. Eccentric paintings of make-believe
climates, sunshine and fallen snow hung on the wall, stylishly and
expensively framed.

"So, what's up?" he asked
her.

"Do you think I'm pretty,
Lee?"

"Of course you're pretty. Very
pretty."

She didn't respond.

"You don't agree?"

"I don't know sometimes," she
said.

"Did you come over here just to ask me
that?"

Bianca raised her shoulders, didn't
really know exactly where to begin. He was on his way out and would
not have much time to talk.

"Are you excited about your birthday
tomorrow?" he asked her.

"Not really."

A sigh of sadness oozed from Bianca's
lips. "I just stopped by to talk, just came from
Excalibur."

"You?"

"Don't look so surprised."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to
sound like that. I'm just surprised. I didn't think that was your
forte."

"Neither did I."

"You want to join me and my father, and
we can talk afterwards?"

"No. That's okay."

"Are you sure? You know, I can cancel
with my father if you want."

"I can't let you do that." She smiled
and headed towards the front door. "We can talk tomorrow." She
moved her purse upon her shoulder, all the while thinking Lee was
on the other side of the room. But when she turned, she found him
standing directly behind her, causing their bodies to meet in a
swift jam.

Bianca's forehead flourished with
perspiration and out of nowhere, she found a web of courage thrive
through her and said, "I love you, Lee."

An unusual smile covered Lee's
face.

"You believe that, don't you?" she
asked him.

Lee nodded.

Bianca opened the door, slipped through
and didn't look back. She wasn't at all sure what possessed her to
make such a bold revelation to Lee. Of course she loved Lee, but
how did she love him? That was the question.

To top off Bianca's unfortunate evening
at Excalibur, tomorrow was her thirtieth birthday. Those were the
first thoughts to spring to mind when she returned to her dark
apartment. She was going to be thirty and she was not yet married,
and it bothered her. Marriage never seemed that important to her
until she lost her family. Then it became very important. But how
was she going to get married when she wasn't even dating
seriously?

After she showered and slipped into her
burgundy bathrobe, she popped in one of her favorite detective
movies and snuggled up on the sofa in her living room. She could
not continue at this pace, drinking all the time, doing the same
things, and living the same humdrum existence. Something needed to
change, and the change she sought would have to come from the
inside.

Bianca held the remote control in hand,
increasing the volume as she absorbed herself in the movie before
her. Ten minutes into the movie, she zeroed in on a scene: A
gorgeous woman was being questioned about the murder of her
boyfriend. Though Bianca had viewed the movie numerous times, she
was mesmerized by the nonchalant and callous manner in which the
female suspect answered the detective's questions. Bianca was
bewitched by her.

Suddenly, it hit her, like a
long-awaited epiphany blooming into fruition. That woman was the
who she wanted to be, the female character on screen before her.
This woman reminded her of her late sister in a dark and disturbing
sort of way. Not that her sister was ever a suspect to a murder, it
would not be out of the realm of possibility to find her sister in
such a notorious situation.

Bianca kept her eyes focused on the
woman in the movie when suddenly she heard her sister Sandy calling
out to her from the hall mirror.

"Biancaaaaaaa?
Biancaaaaaaa?"

Bianca quickly hurried to the hall
mirror, and a beautiful and breathtaking image of Sandy appeared in
Bianca's reflection. Sandy's timing could not have been more
perfect as Bianca so needed to talk to her.

"Tonight was just horrible,
Sandy."

"Was it that bitch, Camina, or that
jerk, Rod?"

"How do you know about them?" Bianca
questioned.

"We're sisters, remember."

"People would never disrespect you the
way that they disrespect me," Bianca said.

"It will get better. I
promise."

"I guess. It's been months since you
left me, and since then my life has been so dull. It's so dull
without you."

"What about your birthday? That'll be
exciting."

"Not without you, it won't. I'm so
bored, Sandy. I think I'm in a lull."

"What are you going to do about it?"
Sandy asked her.

"I do have a few ideas. I'm in the
process of putting something together."

"I can't wait to hear about it," Sandy
said. "We'll talk again soon. Okay."

"But I want to talk to you
now."

"Soon Bianca. We'll talk
soon."

Moments later, Sandy was
gone.

Bianca stood before the hall mirror,
hoping Sandy's image would reappear. But after ten minutes, Sandy
failed to appear.

Bianca resumed her comfortable position
on the sofa. For long and continuous moments, she spaced out,
remembering the nasty comments that reverberated from Camina's
mouth. The more she remembered, the more her anger elevated. Why
had she allowed herself to be so different, so separate from
everyone else?

Why had she been singled out as the
ugly duckling?

Why had she allowed Camina to speak
such harsh words against her even if they did deserve
merit?

Why had she allowed Michelle to speak
for her like she was some frail potato?

Bianca's memories elapsed back to when
she was a little girl, recalling how her late, but naughty sister
reaped all the attention at home and from men.

But not Bianca.

She was the quiet one who everyone
liked but paid little attention to. Her sister lived a carefree
life, did what she wanted to do and was well respected and still
very much loved for it. Though Bianca found no comfort in these
distant memories, somehow the memories inspired her to stand up for
herself. Her memories made her desire to change even stronger, and,
more importantly, the courage to stop complaining and actually do
something.

For several days she considered
reinventing herself, but it wasn't until that very moment that she
knew she had to do it.

Never again would she allow herself to
be ridiculed by Camina.

Never again would she allow a stranger
in a bar or, any man for that matter, to insult her and not suffer
the consequences.

Never again would she retire to an
empty boring apartment while everyone else was out living and
enjoying life.

And now for the first time, she knew
exactly how to do it, and it would be totally painless.

Chapter 6

A DRASTIC OCCURRENCE TRANSPORTED BIANCA
into this dark cloud of immobility, and only a drastic move, maybe
even outrageous one, could rescue her from it.

And she was ready─so ready.

In every way she would be like her
sister. She would dress like her sister, act like her sister and
become her sister. There was also a good chance that she might even
get a tattoo, something she never thought about before. No longer
would she be Bianca, she would be BeeBee. She was reminded of a
movie, Thief of Hearts, where this character had two different
personalities. When the character was with her husband, she was
Mickey, but when she was with her boyfriend, she was Michelle. The
name BeeBee also possessed a naughty ring to it, which Bianca
liked, as she was more than capable for the task at
hand.