Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(24)
Her mother hesitantly held her hand out and Claire took it in her own and gave it a light squeeze.
“Evelyn, Claire is a friend who is joining us for lunch today; I hope that’s ok with you.” Not waiting for a reply, Louise stepped forward and gently led her mother back to her favorite chair in the living area and then continued on to the kitchen.
Sometimes it was actually easier to be a stranger to her mother rather than have to pretend she was Chrissie. These lapses of memory could last for her entire visit or her mother could slip in and out several times; which was exhausting to keep up with.
“What can I help you with Louise?” inquired Claire.
“I don’t need any help honey, just have a seat and relax while I finish the sauce up.” Claire took a seat on the sofa and noticed that her mother was already engrossed in watching Family Feud. Claire discussed the contestants with her and enjoyed seeing how animated she became even if it was over a game show.
The spaghetti was mouthwatering and Claire quickly cleaned her plate and helped herself to seconds. Even being a stranger to her mother, Claire still enjoyed the afternoon and evening with them more than she had in quite some time. All too soon it was time to go home. She gave Louise another hug and also chanced giving her mother a quick one.
Still smiling after the enjoyable evening, Claire pulled into the lot of her apartment building and paused; maybe Billy was watching her space. Deciding to use the visitor’s parking at the end of the complex, Claire locked up and quickly headed towards her door. There was no sign of Billy, and she opened her door and shut it with a feeling of triumph. Giving a big fist pump, Claire had to laugh at herself. Maybe her luck was changing after all.
Chapter Ten
Claire entered her office on Monday morning feeling apprehensive about what was to come. Would this be the day that Jason confronted her about her job at Partiez Plus? She would have no choice in the matter if he forced her hand; she would have to quit her job with Partiez and then look for another job to fill the income gap. She would have to work more hours to come close to matching what she made working for Pam on the weekends. Jason’s door was still shut leaving Claire to wonder if he was in yet this morning.
She noticed a note from Jason on her desk as she slid into her seat. Quickly skimming the note, Claire felt a smile break out. Yes indeed, her luck did seem to be turning; Jason was going to be out of the office today. The note instructed her to check her email for a list of tasks that needed to be completed, and that he would not be in the office until tomorrow morning.
Claire worked steadily all morning and only paused to grab a drink and pack of crackers out of vending before getting back to work. Around 2 pm, Suzy came breezing through the door. Claire stopped the email she was composing and carefully studied Suzy’s face. Amazing, you’d never know what happened to her this weekend; she looked exactly the same as she did every day.
A grin tugged at her lips as she read Suzy’s t-shirt one more time to make sure she had it right. The shirt was bright orange and had Little Caesar’s Pizza in small white writing at the bottom. In bold, black print, it had their slogan ‘Hot and Ready.’ She’d paired the eye catching shirt with a pair of snug black jeans, a chain belt, and a pair of stiletto heels. Only Suzy could make an outfit like that seem perfectly normal.
“Where is hot buns at?”
She laughed despite herself and said, “He’s out of the office today.”
“So remember we’re going out to dinner tonight, right? Jeff had a little money in our joint account, so we’re going to spend every last dime of it on a fancy-shmancy meal at that new restaurant, The Ivy,” said Suzy with what could only be called an evil smile.
“Oh wow, I’ve heard of it, and I’m not dressed for anything that fancy,” replied Claire regretfully.
“No worries, I’ve got everything covered. I brought two dresses with me today; they’re hanging in my office.”
“Suz, I can’t wear your clothes; they’ll be too short for me.”
“It’s a dress silly, there’s no such thing as a dress that’s too short, it will be fine. I have the matching shoes as well, and I know we both wear the same size, so we’re all set.”
Suzy looked so pleased with herself; Claire didn’t have the heart to argue with her. If it kept that smile on Suzy’s face, then she would wear a garbage bag tonight if she had to. Suzy arranged to meet her in the restroom down the hall at five where they’d both change and leave straight from work for their six o’clock reservations at Ivy.
Claire pushed send on her last email and prepared to pack her desk up for the day. This really was an enjoyable afternoon. With Jason gone, Claire cleared up most of her backlogs of work with only a few interruptions. Quickly noting she had five minutes to lock up and meet Suzy, Claire grabbed her purse, turned off the lights and locked the door. For security reasons, the office was always locked when Jason and Claire were gone. The supervisor of the cleaning crew had a key for nightly cleaning, but that was the only other person allowed in the office.
Suzy was already in the restroom when she arrived. “Hey girlfriend, I have our dresses all ready. Your dress is in the pink cover so go ahead and grab that one and try it on.” Suzy grabbed the leopard-skin cover-up which apparently contained her dress and walked into a stall while Claire unzipped the pink cover-up to inspect her dress. She was relieved to see that it contained a dark-green silk dress which looked innocent to her eyes. Please, please don’t let it be spandex. Claire went into the other stall and slipped her clothes off and the dress on.