“Fine!” Sidra capitulated. She desperately didn’t want the office gossip to be about how she’d found her soul mate in England and was now too upset to see anyone else. She hated being fodder for any kind of gossip, much less the pity of her peers. “What time?”
Mindy jumped up, clapping her hands with excitement. “Great! I’ll stop by tonight before closing!”
She rushed out of Sidra’s office before her friend could figure out another excuse, almost skipping down the hallway. Sidra thought about calling her back and canceling, genuinely not wanting to go out and see anyone tonight, but it was Friday evening and she was tired of spending her nights waiting by the phone for a certain horse trainer to call her.
If only he hadn’t said he would call! She pulled her latest designs out from under a stack of vendor submissions and tried to focus on her work. But she couldn’t get the note out of her mind. Those words were vicious and evil she thought as she spun her chair around so she was facing her drafting table. She had to finish these plans quickly if she was going out with Mindy tonight and she was so behind it was ridiculous.
Because she was so angry and frustrated about the evening’s plans plus Rashid’s continued silence, she went a bit crazy with her thoughts on her current client’s living room and dining room combination. As she stared at the end result several hours later, she wasn’t sure if she could submit this to the client. It wasn’t nearly as conservative as she thought the client might want but it was definitely unique.
“Time to go!” Mindy sing-songed as she swept into Sidra’s office, plucking her coat off the back of Sidra’s door and bringing it to her. “No more work for today. It’s time to have a little fun.”
Sidra took the coat and started to come up with an excuse for the night but Mindy saw the look and raised her hand. “Don’t even go there. You’re coming, Tom and Jonas are already at the bar and you’re going to have a good time. He’s handsome, a lawyer and interesting so give it up and let’s go,” she said and pushed Sidra’s purse into her arms with a grin.
Sidra sighed and nodded. “Fine. Let’s go.”
They walked the block and a half to the Willard hotel chatting about the clients they’d dealt with during the week. Or more specifically, Mindy chatted, Sidra listened. Mindy didn’t appear to notice Sidra’s silence and just kept talking and walking as if nothing were wrong.
Mindy walked right up to a very handsome man and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck as if she hadn’t seen him for years. Sidra stood behind her, awkwardly watching and wishing she were anywhere else but here. When Mindy finally pulled herself away from the man, she turned with a wide smile to Sidra and made the introductions. “Sidra, this is my boyfriend, Jonas.” Turning to the man behind Jonas, she said, “And this is Tom, the gorgeous and wildly successful lawyer who is going to marry you and take you away from all the tedium of dealing with our obnoxious, demanding clients.”
Sidra laughed self-consciously and shook Tom’s hand, wondering about Mindy’s introduction. Personally, Sidra enjoyed dealing with the various clients, although there was always one or two that were a bit irritating and demanding. The rest were genuinely nice people who just needed help creating their dream environment, which is why they hired a designer.
Sidra turned to the man standing beside Jonas, glad that he was smiling and looking interested despite Mindy. His light brown eyes were looking at her as if she was an attractive woman and it was a soothing balm to her bruised ego. “It’s very nice to meet you, Tom. I apologize for Mindy’s introduction. I guess she has a bit of a Cinderella complex.”
Tom laughed and took Sidra’s hand in his warm one and smiled back. “She throws a great party so I guess I’ll ignore her for now.”
Both of them glanced at Mindy who was still smiling from ear to ear, watching the two of them closely. “Let’s get a drink” she said and sprung up on her toes, spinning around and heading towards the bar.
It took a while, but Sidra slowly started to relax. Tim was a nice guy and handsome in a very wholesome way. She could tell that he was very intelligent and enjoyed practicing law, getting excited as he discussed some of his cases. If she was a bit bored as he explained the intricacies, she pushed that aside, trying to give the guy a chance since this was a blind date. He was trying a bit too hard to impress, she thought.
Sidra glanced at her watch and was relieved that it was already nine-thirty. She was just about to tell Mindy that she needed to head home, feeling exhausted after having been up since five o’clock that morning and in the office by six, working almost non-stop throughout the day, minus her moments of staring into space while thinking angry thoughts about Rashid. But something caught her eye and she turned to her left. She gasped and a shooting stab of pain caused her to jerk when she looked across the bar and found Rashid walking through the elegant lobby with a woman behind him. The woman was ultra sophisticated with gorgeous blond hair and a black suit that twisted around her body in some sort of elaborate button system. It made Sidra’s black dress feel gauche and childish.
Sidra couldn’t believe the betrayal she felt and had to look twice to make sure it was Rashid. When she blinked and saw him again, she wanted to stand up, rush over to where he was walking and slap him as hard as she could. Even that thought shocked her because she had never condoned violence but she felt so much anger, she wanted to do physical harm to the man who had betrayed her so painfully three weeks ago.
She felt sick and angry, hot and furious all at the same time. Instead of acting on those feelings though, she carefully reached down and found her black, clutch purse. “I’m sorry, but I have to go,” she said. In the back of her mind, she knew that her face was stiff and the three others around the table were looking at her oddly, but she couldn’t help it. She tucked her purse under her arm and stood up, turning in the opposite direction of Rashid and his latest lady-love.
How had she been such a fool! He probably had a different woman every weekend. Possibly every night! Perhaps she should be happy that she’d kept his attention for three mornings.
And then a thought occurred to her and she felt sickened. Had he been out with another woman the night before he spent his mornings with her? Had she just been his wake up woman?
Her hand automatically went to her stomach and she searched frantically for the bathrooms, afraid she was going to throw up at the thought of Rashid in another woman’s arms just hours before he made love to her.