July (Calendar Girl #7)(14)

“Oh honey,” I rubbed her arm.

“How sad is that? I’m loyal to a man who doesn’t give a hoot about me and yet, he’s all I’ve got.”

Grabbing Heather by the biceps I tugged her into my arms and hugged her. She held on tight. Interestingly enough, her touch didn’t send me into a mini panic attack. Tears poured down her cheeks as she clung to me and sniffed against my neck. I patted her hair and told her over and over that it was going to be okay. Eventually, the sobs turned into giggles. Pulling back, I wiped the tears running down her cheeks with my thumbs and looked her in the eye.

“You are smart, beautiful, and Anton cares more about what you think than you know. Just talk to him.”

She sighed deeply and nodded curtly. “I will. Thanks, Mia.”

“It will work out as it’s supposed to but only if you’re honest with yourself and Anton. He can’t know how you feel if you don’t tell him. And he’s definitely not going to change anything unless he’s aware of your needs and the fact that you’ve got other opportunities to consider.”

“Do you think he’ll be mad?” she asked as we walked to the elevator. I pressed the button, and it whirred to life somewhere above us.

“You know him better than I do. I think he’ll be very concerned that you’ve not gotten through to him and you’re considering leaving without giving him the opportunity to make things right. From what I gather, you’re the only one he listens to.”

Heather shook her head. “Nope. He does what he wants when he wants.”

“I think that’s a bit harsh and a smidge untrue.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe.”

I smiled and walked through Anton’s penthouse as the doors opened. “Come on girl, let’s see what the devil is up to with Ms. Dancing with the Stars.”

Heather snorted. “Girl, don’t let her hear you say that. She’s liable to kick your ass! I heard she’s got a mighty hot temper.”

“Heather, honey, so do I. So. Do. I.”





Chapter 5


When we entered the penthouse, Anton and Maria were not sitting idly at the table. No, they were in the center of the living room having a dance off.

“Then your character does this...”Maria did a series of complicated steps, rolled her body, circled her hips, touched the floor and bounced back up into another body roll followed by slamming her high-heeled foot down making a loud snap sound. “...right at the ride it baby ride.”

Anton mimicked exactly what she did, only when he did the moves, all three of us were mesmerized. Standing in a pair of loose linen pants and absolutely nothing else but a diamond encrusted heart dangling around his sweaty torso, he was a thing of beauty. Masculine living, breathing, art at its finest.

Heather cleared her throat. Two sets of eyes zeroed in on the two of us.

“Need us for anything?” The timid sound of her voice annoyed me. That was nowhere near getting her any credibility with the two hot-head, type A personalities before us.

I butted in bravely. “What Heather means is, she has some ideas she was working on with the last choreographer that she’d like to share with the rest of the class.” I glanced at Anton, and he watched me and tilted his head. I made a hello-come-on gesture with my eyes and slight shifts of my shoulders.

It took a minute, but he finally got the message. He picked up a hand towel that was dangling over the couch and wiped the sweat off his face. “Oh yeah, H? How come you didn’t say before?” His eyebrows narrowed in an unspoken accusation.

Heather’s mouth tightened and her jaw locked. “Anton, I tried many times to tell you my ideas. You told me to work out anything with the choreographer, and you’d see the end result.”

That’s when Maria and I both took in the staring contest the two of them had going on. “Mi amiga, since you have hired me as the new choreographer, how about you tell me your ideas and we can bounce them off one another over dinner. Suena bien?”

“I can call in some takeout?” I offered.

“That’s my job,” Heather sighed.

I shook my head. “Not tonight it’s not. How does sushi sound?” I practically danced in my pants, which really was more a jumble of limbs complete with a shoulder shimmy. Maria watched the display and then groaned whispering in Spanish, so low I could barely hear it, “Tengo mi trabajo por de lante.”

“What did she say?” I pointed an accusing finger at Maria while speaking to Heather. Maria’s eyes lit up with mischief and a saucy grin.

Heather clapped me on the shoulder and handed me her credit card. “Relax. She just said something about having her work cut out for her. Nothing offensive.”

Shooting daggers her way, I snarled. “I’ve got my eyes on you.”

Both Anton and Maria laughed and walked towards the kitchen. “Drink, Mia?” Anton called out.

“Yeah, whatever you’re having is fine.”

I turned and headed to the sitting room. I pulled out my phone bringing up the Grub Hub app. Right off the bat Yummy Chinese and Sushi Bar popped up with over a hundred Yelp ratings as well as an average of five stars. And the kisser…free delivery! Winner winner, sushi dinner!

***

“No, no, no, you’re not getting it!” Heather’s words were biting and fueled by the top shelf vodka we’d been imbibing. She stood and walked to the center of the room. A third round of fruity martinis was laid out on the table in front of us, courtesy of a Mia’s-badass-bartending-skills special. I patted myself on the back and waited for Heather to make her point. “My vision was a very Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean meets Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl.”