Dark Perception: The Corde Noire Series (11 page)

Melinda sighed
and tried to find the words to explain the jumble of emotions
eating away at her.

“
Ellie, do you think it’s possible that when I think I’m
reading someone else’s thoughts, they’re actually my
own?”

Ellie
pensively nodded. “Possible, but not likely. You’re a very
competent psychic. You have enough experience to tell the
difference. Why do you ask?”

“
The other night, Nathan came over to welcome me to the
building. He brought champagne and … I kept seeing these images of
us … you know, together.”

Ellie grinned,
letting go a light snicker. “I get the idea.”

“
But Nathan didn’t act like he was imagining those things. If
anything, he was cool and almost distant with me.”

“
Did he touch you?”

Melinda
repositioned her backpack on her shoulder. “He kissed me good night
on the cheek … other than that, we—”

“
What did you feel when he kissed you?” Ellie cut
in.

Melinda
blushed and covered her face with her hands.

“
Oh, boy! You’ve got it bad.” Ellie’s raucous cackle bounced
off the tiled floor and bricked walls.

Melinda
noticed a few shoppers looking their way, amplifying the burn of
her cheeks. “Ellie, it’s not funny!”

Ellie wiped
away a tear. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to see a man make
you turn that shade of red? I’d hoped Jack might bring some color
to your cheeks, but to discover our esteemed Mr. Cole has done it,
well …”

“
Nathan is my boss, and I—”

“
He
probably wants you just as much as you want him,” Ellie
interjected.

“
I
can’t have him, Ellie.”

“
But do you want him, Melinda?”

Do
I want him?
Every
time she saw Nathan, her stomach did somersaults, her heart beat
faster, and the burning in her gut grew more intense. Melinda knew
the signs; so why had she been ignoring them?

“
He’s smarter, richer, and a whole lot more sophisticated than
I’ll ever be,” she argued. “Why would Nathan want me?”

“
Did it ever occur to you this job was just a way to get you
into bed?” Ellie proposed.

Melinda
appeared dumbfounded. “That’s what Jack said! Nathan wouldn’t go to
all that trouble to—”

“
He’s a man, honey. Of course he’d go to all that trouble. The
more trouble, the better. It means he’s willing to work hard to
keep you.” Ellie patted her arm while clucking like a mother hen.
“You want some advice? Go after him. Men love it when someone they
want turns the game on them. Keeps them guessing.”

Melinda played
with the strap on her backpack. “If I wanted to go after a man like
Nathan, how exactly would I do that?” She raised her green eyes to
her friend and grinned.

Ellie nodded
to Saks Fifth Avenue. “You can start with some sexy new clothes,
shoes, and definitely makeup.”

Melinda rolled
her eyes at the mention of makeup.

Ellie tugged
at Melinda’s long braid of red hair. “We’ll need to do something
about this, too.”

Melinda
grabbed for her braid. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

“
It’s too long. It should fall at your shoulders and not your
waist. We need to find you a stylist to help you with your
hair.”

“
Maybe Nathan likes me as I am.”

“
He
wouldn’t have suggested the shopping spree if he was into your …”
Ellie’s hand waved down Melinda’s shabby outfit. “Whatever this is.
Honestly, Melinda, dressing like you do is fine for the tourists,
but you’re going have to step things up a little.”

Melinda gaped
down at her long-sleeved white shirt. “I did step it up … I didn’t
put on a T-shirt.”

Ellie shook
her head, appearing exasperated. “If you want this man, you’re
going have to fight for him. The way women fight is to look their
best so their man won’t want anyone else.”

“
This is pointless.” Melinda flung her hands into the air. “I
don’t know anything about clothes or makeup or how to wear my hair.
I never had to do any of this crap with Jack. He wanted me just the
way I am.”

“
But you didn’t want him, remember?”

“
I
know.” She stuck the toe of her tennis shoe in a gouge on the
dark-tiled floor. “How is he? Have you seen him lately?”

“
I’ve seen him.” Ellie glimpsed the wide Saks Fifth Avenue
entrance. “I even gave him your new address, but it may be a while
before he gets the courage to come and see you. He’ll come around.
Jack always comes around.”

“
That was before …”

Ellie edged
closer to her. “If you want it to stop, Melinda, all you have to do
is walk away. Tell Nathan you quit and you can go back to the
Square. Is that what you really want?”

Melinda
adamantly shook her head. “I’m not ready to walk away, not yet,
anyway. Is that a bad thing?”

“
No, it’s a very good thing.” Ellie pushed Melinda toward Saks
Fifth Avenue. “Just play your cards right and clean up your
appearance. That should get Nathan Cole’s attention.”

Melinda
glanced over her shoulder at Ellie. “Then what?”

Ellie shook
her head. “One step at a time, kiddo. One step at a
time.”

* *
*

The following
morning, Melinda donned her new gray pantsuit, pulled her
shoulder-length red hair back in a barrette, and applied a light
touch of makeup, just like the lady at the makeup counter had
showed her. When she stepped back from her bathroom mirror, she was
stunned by the change in her appearance. The woman staring back at
her was no longer the dewy-eyed girl who had first moved to New
Orleans three years ago. Ellie had been right. The old Melinda
would never have been able to hold the interest of a man like
Nathan Cole.

Clutching her new black purse and the brown leather
briefcase—Ellie had insisted on them—Melinda headed out her
apartment door. When she reached the lobby, Melinda searched the
assortment of plush forest green armchairs
for Nathan.

“
He took his car and went
on ahead to your meeting, Miss Harris,” Phil called out from his
Queen Anne desk. “He had me call Bob to take you over to Poydras
Street.”

“
Thanks, Phil, and just call me Melinda.” She paused and bit
down on her lower lip. “Did Mr. Cole leave any other instructions
for me?” she voiced with a hint of apprehension.

“
Just that he would see you at the meeting and for me to call
Bob.” Phil gave her an unusual smile as he appraised her
outfit.

A shimmer of
light from the street bounced around the lobby as the black
Mercedes pulled in front of the building.

“
There’s Bob, right on time,” Phil remarked.

Melinda tugged
at the long strap on her purse.

“
Don’t look so scared. He’s really not a bad guy.”

Melinda stared
at him, a bit confused. “Who’s not a bad guy?”

“
Mr. Cole. That’s why you look like you’re about to jump out
of your skin, right? First day on the job jitters. Relax. Mr. Cole
is really easy to work for. He only asks that you do your
job.”

Melinda almost
laughed out loud. “My job? But what if I can’t do my
job?”

Phil shook his
head, chuckling. “You’ll be fine. He wouldn’t have hired you if he
thought you couldn’t get the job done.”

Melinda wanted
desperately to tell Phil why Nathan had hired her, and that the
best people in her line of work usually had reality television
shows, but she rushed for the door instead.

In the early
morning sunshine, she felt better. The heaviness that had been
pressing down on her in the lobby instantly lifted.

“
Good morning, Miss Melinda.” Bob opened the back door of the
car for her.

Before Melinda
climbed in, she stopped at the curb and looked back at The
Shallows. As she peered up the red-bricked building, the heaviness
returned. She closed her eyes and tried to allow the energy around
her to flow into the center of her chest. As the darkness cleared
in her mind, she envisioned intermittent faces—dark faces—with
their mouths wide open as if trying to scream.

No
wonder I’m jumpy.

The drive over
to Poydras Street only took a few minutes, and Melinda questioned
if it would have been easier for her to walk. Having lived in the
French Quarter for so many years without the benefit of a car, she
had been used to hoofing it everywhere she needed to go.

Gazing up at
the thin, gray skyscraper, Melinda wondered if she had not made the
biggest mistake of her life—just like Jack had warned. What did she
know about existing in this kind of world? Did she honestly think
she could sit in a room with hardened business professionals and
not feel completely out of place?

“
I’m to remind you the
meeting is on the sixty-second floor at the offices of Rutgers and
Meyer Architectural Firm,” Bob informed her as she stepped from the
car. “Mr. Cole said he will be driving you back from the meeting,
so you have a good day, Miss Melinda.”

She
gripped her briefcase in her
hand
. “Bob, do me a favor. Just call me
Melinda.”

Bob gave her a reassuring pat on the
arm. “You’ll do great, Melinda.”

Slowly, she
proceeded to the glass and steel front entrance of the towering
building while assorted professionally-dressed men and women
scurried around her. As Melinda strode across the ultra-modern
lobby with its shiny silver sculptures, she began to
tremble.

“
This has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever
done.”

Chapter 8

The
offices of
Rutgers and Meyer Architectural
Firm were located right outside of the elevator on the sixty-second
floor. There was a small reception area with a few red leather
chairs and an oval cherry coffee table covered with magazines. Cut
into the wall opposite the entrance was a square window with
frosted glass. Melinda had not even approached the window when the
glass slid open and a round-faced brunette smiled at
her.

“
Are you Miss
Harris?”

Melinda just nodded.

“
Mr. Cole is waiting for
you in the conference room. Just go through that door, down the
hall, and it’s the last set of doors on your right.”

Melinda noticed an oak door to the
left and then looked back at the brunette. “Thank you.”

“
Would you like some
coffee, Miss Harris?” the brunette called out.

Melinda figured the less she put in
her stomach, the better her chances of not throwing up in the
middle of the meeting. “No, thank you,” she told the woman, and
then hurried for the door.

The conference room was at the end of
a long hallway and marked by double doors with elegant brass
handles. As soon as Melinda stepped into the room, she saw Nathan
standing in front of a picture window that looked out over the
French Quarter. When he saw her, he smiled. All the apprehension
she had been struggling with since getting out of bed instantly
evaporated.

“
Right on time,” he said,
coming toward her.

In a double-breasted, blue pinstripe
suit with a yellow silk tie, he smelled of his enticing cologne. He
kissed her cheek, and she could have sworn the images suddenly
filling her head were his. There were flashes of her naked body
laid out on a king-sized, black walnut, four-poster bed with her
red hair fanned out behind her.

“
You look fantastic,” he
whispered to her. “I can see my money was well spent.”

A surge of pride swept through her. “I
didn’t go hog wild, but I did make a dent in your credit card.” She
glanced about the room, noting the long conference table and
plethora of empty red leather desk chairs. “Are we the first ones
here?”

Nathan nodded. “I wanted to give us a
chance to talk before the meeting.”

Melinda placed her purse and briefcase
on the table. “Talk about what?”

“
These are the offices of
the architects drawing up the plans for that abandoned power plant
I told you about. They have an investor from Dallas who is real
interested in putting money into the project. His name is Bud
Moore, and I want you to tell me what you feel about him. Is he
trustworthy, or out to steal the property from me?”

Melinda placed her hand over her
nervous stomach. “I’ll do my best.”

“
Good girl.” Nathan patted
her shoulder. “I’m going to introduce you as my assistant, so just
pretend you’re taking notes throughout the meeting. After we’re
done here, we can talk.”

Melinda opened her briefcase and
pulled out a yellow legal pad and pen.

“
You even got a briefcase.
I’m impressed.”

Melinda held the pad and pen in her
hand. “A friend suggested it.”

Nathan frowned at her. “Not Jack, I
hope.”

She hugged her legal pad. “No, I
haven’t spoken to Jack since I left the Quarter.”