Mixed Signals

  Chapter 2

  “You ready?” Susan did her usual seven taps on the bathroom door. Rachel often accused her of having obsessive compulsive disorder.

  “Two seconds!” Rachel called. She’d been late in arriving home thanks to Junior’s extra work hour. “This is too much.” She looked at herself in the mirror, thankful that she barely recognized her own face. After all, if she couldn’t even see herself, maybe no one else would, either. Her dark eyes looked even darker with smoky shadow all around them, and her hair cascaded down over her shoulders in tight curls. She took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door for the reveal.

  “I hate you.”

  Rachel laughed and tugged at the hem of the extremely short, body-hugging dress.

  “Stop that!” Susan chastised. “You need to show off those legs. How else are we going to draw the men over to me?”

  “I understand, now. I’m the bait!”

  Susan slapped her on the backside. “You’ve got it, babe. I’m gonna be a winner tonight. You look fab!”

  “What size is this dress, anyway?” Rachel yanked up the top.

  “Four. It’s not my fault your boobs are enormous.” Susan pulled on the top, exposing Rachel’s nipples.

  “Hey! What’s wrong with you?” Rachel wiggled back into the dress.

  “I’m bi, remember?”

  “No, you’re just nuts!” Rachel swept a curl behind her ear. “You look great, by the way. You need to get over this inferiority complex you’re carrying around. That could get heavy after a while.”

  Susan grabbed Rachel’s hands and spun her around. “I have all the confidence in the world with you hanging on my arm!” She pulled Rachel to her and gave her a sloppy kiss on the lips.

  Rachel pushed her away. “You’re really getting a little too into this bi thing, Sue.”

  Susan tilted her head and put a hand to her cheek. “A true actress becomes her part, Rachel.”

  “Let’s go before you break out in song.”

  Rachel peeked around the corner before heading to the elevator.

  “I hope no one sees us,” she whispered. “How would we explain away the trashy clothes?”

  Susan waved a hand through the air. “You worry about your reputation too much. Who cares what people think?”

  “Those of us who need to keep their jobs. It’s not everyone who can get by with three hundred bucks a week.”

  “Hey!” Susan pouted. “I make way more than three hundred a week. I work at an upscale salon, remember? Some of these chicks hand over five hundred just for a cut, color, and polish. And anyway, if you didn’t insist on living the high life in this swanky apartment building, you could get by on less, too.”

  “Close to work, remember? You know how Mr. Stanley hates it when I’m late.” Rachel adjusted the dress again. “This thing’s gonna bug me all night. I feel like my chest is bulging out the top.”

  The elevator door opened and two older men stepped aside so the girls could get in. Rachel could feel the eyes looking down her dress, and she turned to Susan for cover.

  The main floor finally lit up.

  “I should’ve brought a sweater or something.” Rachel was beginning to regret this idea.

  “No, way! You’re a magnet, and I plan on catching everything you pull in.” They slipped into the waiting taxi, and Susan tapped on the partition. “This is definitely better than riding on the stinking hot bus with all of those sweaty people.”

  The taxi swept through the city and eventually ended up in parts unfamiliar to either of them.

  “Where is this place?”

  The taxi swung up to the curb and stopped.

  “I guess we’re here.” Susan got out first and pulled Rachel out after her. “This is the spot. Third floor, Champagne Room.”

  The feel inside the building wasn’t what Rachel expected. “This place is really upscale. How did you get invited to this thing, anyway?”

  Susan grinned. “I have my ways!”

  The music drifting from the Champagne Room was interrupted every few seconds by spurts of laughter.

  “Sounds like fun.” Reaching for the door, Susan hesitated. “This may be it, Rach. I’ll walk through these doors as a virgin and exit…well, maybe not as an ex-virgin, but hopefully pretty close to it. You ready, lovey?”

  Leaving no chance for escape, Susan thrust open the door, dragging Rachel in behind her.

  A doorman dressed in black tails flogged them. “Do you have an invite? I need your names!”

  “Susan Reyes and Rachel Peters.”

  Rachel winced. Why, oh why, did she use their real names? Glancing over the crowd, she realized they were way underdressed. The jewels and gold just dripped from every joint. The doorman gave them the wave and sent them off to mingle.

  “Sue. Take a look around. What do you see?”

  Oblivious, Susan scanned the room and turned her big doe eyes back to Rachel. “A lot of people? I don’t know, Rach. Don’t play games. Just tell me.”

  Rachel pulled her toward the refreshments. “Money, dope. Lots and lots of money. These people are loaded! Tell me, again, how you found yourself invited to something way above your caste?”

  Susan puckered her lip and pouted. “You’ll be mad.”

  There it was. Rachel closed her eyes and pinched her lips. She took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. “Just tell me so I can digest. I’ll decide later whether or not to kill you.”

  “I need a drink.” Susan picked up a glass and held it under the constant stream of champagne trickling down over the sides of the centerpiece. She filled her glass and drank it down in several quick gulps. “I kind of found it.”

  “What?” Rachel grabbed her arm and shook it. “What do you mean, you found it? Where?”

  The guilt was written all over Susan’s face. “Someone left their invitation at the salon, and you know me and my curiosity. All I had to do was call the number on the invitation and give them the special code along with our names. It was all really innocent, Rach. I swear! I didn’t think it was going to be this elite thing or I wouldn’t have suggested it. Rich people make me itch.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “Then you should be covered in hives right about now.” Turning her head, she pinched Susan’s elbow. “Don’t look now, but we’ve got company on the way over here.”

  “Shit, Rachel! What do we do?”

  “This is your idea. Use your acting skills.”

  “Hello, ladies!” A woman who looked to be in her fifties approached them. “You girls seem a little out of place all the way over here by yourselves. Why don’t you come and join us?” She motioned to a group occupying the opposite side of the room. “A few of the fellows have been eyeing you both, and they’d like to meet you.”

  A quick look-see told Rachel that the group consisted of nothing but senior citizens. “Um…where are all of the younger people?”

  The woman laughed. “This is a fifty and over group. I’m guessing you received the wrong invitation. The younger people usually meet at the beginning of the month. However, since you’re here, you may as well enjoy yourselves.”

  “Let’s just go,” whispered Susan.

  “Oh, no. You wanted to come and we’re staying.” Rachel linked her arm through Susan’s. “Maybe you’ll finally learn a lesson. Come, dear. Your party awaits.”

  “But, I don’t wanna lose my virginity to someone who’s nearly dust.”

  “You’re nearly dust, need I remind you?” They wove in and out between the small groups, gaining more and more attention as they went along.

  “They’re all staring at us.”

  “That’s because we’re not used to seeing skin younger than fifty around here.” A gentleman came up behind them and ran his fingers gown Susan’s shoulders. “I’m guessing you’re the bisexual ladies we’ve been expecting.

  Susan nodded. “That would be us.” She looked back over her shoulder and her mouth gaped open. “That would be
us,” she repeated.

  Rachel elbowed her. “You’ll have to forgive her. I don’t let her out of her cage very often.”

  He tipped his head back and chuckled quietly. “I’m Ross. My wife is around here somewhere. She actually picked you out for me.” Ross patted Susan on the shoulders. “Would you ladies like another drink?” He took Susan’s empty glass and sat it on the table.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “If that’s an old guy, then I want to be old, too!” Susan drooled after him as he sashayed away to get them more champagne. “Did you see him? He’s gorgeous! For an older guy,” she added quickly. “Maybe dust wouldn’t be so bad, after all.”

  “You’re not serious, are you? I thought you were kidding when you said you wanted to leave here a tainted woman!”

  Susan just batted her big eyes at Rachel. “I reserve the right to change my mind. You heard him, Rach. His wife picked me out. This is a sure thing!”

  “Yeah. Sure to be gross. Did you even stop to consider the little bugs he might be carrying around with him?”

  “Shhh! He’s coming back.”

  “Here’s your champagne, ladies! Would you like to meet my wife?” He guided them through the throng of people to an attractive woman sitting at a corner table. “Ladies, I’d like you to meet my wife, Viv. Viv this is…sorry I didn’t even ask you your names.”

  “That’s okay, Ross! I should have introduced myself. I’m Susan and this is Rachel.”

  Rachel grimaced at the way Susan fawned all over him. She had to admit, though, he was mighty good-looking for an old man.

  Viv held out her limp, white hand, and the light glinted on a diamond bracelet dangling from her wrist. “Nice to meet you ladies. Sit!” She motioned for Rachel to take a seat. “Why don’t you take Susan for a dance, Ross.”

  Without waiting for a reply, Ross whirled Susan off to the dance floor.

  Rachel felt Viv scouring her. “So. You’re bisexual.”

  “Um…not really. I’m just here for moral support.” Rachel cringed at the use of the word ‘moral’.

  Viv laughed. “Very witty!” She took a long drink of her champagne and motioned to the server to bring her another. “He actually had his eye on you, but I wouldn’t let him.”

  A streak of anti-panic rushed through Rachel. “Well, thanks. I appreciate the save.”

  Viv wrapped one of Rachel’s curls around her thin finger. “We have a rule. If I think the girl is too pretty, Ross can’t touch. And you’re too pretty.” Viv sighed. “I was beautiful once. Oh, I know,” she said, waving a hand through the air. “Ross still finds me attractive, but when I find him looking at the young ladies, I feel guilty because I’ve aged. It’s really not fair, you know. Age robs a woman of her beauty and gives it to the man.”

  Rachel was intrigued. “You don’t mind? It doesn’t bother you that he…does this?” She thought back to the time when she found out her fiancé of three years had been cheating on her for two and a half, and she couldn’t imagine a time when she’d think it was okay.

  “It did at first, but I got used to it. There are perks for me, too, you know. I don’t just sit on the sidelines.” She nodded toward a man sitting two tables over. “He and I are getting together later this evening. If Ross doesn’t hook up, he’ll come with me and we’ll make it a threesome.”

  Rachel wanted to crawl under the table. She felt like she was having a vivid sex talk with her mother. “Seriously? He’d allow it?”

  Viv looked surprised. “Allow? I’m not his property, Rachel. I do as I please. Always have. You’re forgetting. This lifestyle was my idea, and Ross appreciates it. Sometimes a little too much,” she said, motioning toward the dancing duo. She picked up her cell phone and snapped a few pictures of Ross and Susan.

  “But, how?”

  “Oh, you are a baby, aren’t you?” Viv dug down in her handbag and pulled out a crinkled photo. “This is Ross and I about twenty years ago.”

  The beauty looking back at Rachel could have been a model. “You were – are beautiful!”

  “Don’t look at me!” she chastised. “Look at Ross. Look how beautiful he is. Then look out there. He’s still just as beautiful. But, me … well, not so much anymore. Not like I was. I love Ross more than anything in this world, and I don’t want to lose him. If he were to cheat on me, I’d lose him because I could no longer trust him, but if I allow him his little flings, then it’s not really cheating, is it? You see where I’m going with this? It’s because I love him, and I want to keep him.”

  Rachel looked at Viv – really looked at her and finally understood what she was trying to say. There was almost a pathetic desperation in her eyes like she knew deep down inside that her husband would cheat on her without thinking twice if he could do it without getting caught. “That wouldn’t work for everybody, but if it’s working for you, then I’d say you’re lucky.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  Susan and Ross waltzed back to the table.

  “My goodness, Ross! Sit down before you fall down!” Viv fussed over him like a mother hen. “Take a sip of your champagne.”

  “If I drink much more of this, I’ll be an alcoholic!”

  Susan plunked down beside Rachel. “That was fun!”

  The endless cycle of Ross and Susan crashing for another drink before swirling off seemed to go on for hours, until Rachel finally reached her limit of ‘fun’.

  “Do you mind if I join you?” The invading man didn’t wait for an invite.

  Rachel didn’t look over at him, but he was so close she could practically feel the hairs on his arms grazing against her skin. Scooting closer to Susan didn’t help. He just sandwiched her a little tighter.

  “You here alone?”

  Normally, Rachel liked the smell of champagne, but mixed with the smell of cigars, it made her want to throw up.

  “N-no,” she stuttered. “I’m here with my friend. We’re gay.”

  “Bi,” Susan piped up. “We’re bi.” She grabbed the back of Rachel’s neck and planted a smoking hot kiss on her lips.

  Rachel pulled away and glared at her newest ex best friend. “We’re actually getting ready to leave.”

  “So soon?” Ross grabbed Susan’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “One more dance for the road.”

  With champagne in her veins, Susan was off to take Ross out for another airing, leaving Rachel practically sitting in the lap of the stinky, old man.

  “This is Rachel,” Viv offered as she snapped a few more pictures. “Rachel, this is George. He’s from everywhere, and we only see him once or twice a year.”

  George pushed the chair away to give Rachel some room. “So, you’re bi? And so pretty, too.” He leaned down close to her ear. “When’s the last time you tried my species?”

  Rachel looked to Viv for help, but it was too late. The mystery man from two tables over whisked Viv off for a dance. Making arrangements for their threesome, most likely. Rachel shuddered and turned back to George. She’d have to be direct.

  “I’m only here because my friend wanted to come. Curiosity, you know. So, I’m not really interested in making a night of it.”

  George raised his brows, and a big grin spread across his face. “So, that’s the game. I can play that, too.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. It was hopeless. “You’ve caught me, George.”

  He bellowed heartily and motioned for the waiter. “A few more drinks, please.”

  Rachel noticed the simple, gold band around his ring finger. “Where’s your partner?”

  “Mine?” George looked disgusted. “I don’t bring my wife to these things. She’s too busy with her own interests.”

  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to read between the lines. “She doesn’t know, does she?”

  George reared back, a look of shock mixed with amusement spread across his face. “Well…I suppose…no. No, she doesn’t. Does that make me evil?”

  Rachel shrugged. “Do you feel evil?”

  ?
??Sometimes.”

  “Then you’re Satan himself, George. Time to go to confession.”

  “I just like to have a little fun, and she never lets me go out.”

  Rachel raised a brow and grinned. “Maybe that’s because she doesn’t trust you, George. How did you get out alone tonight?” The answer to that was simple.

  “I lied.” Guilt wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how George looked. He put his face in the palm of his hands. “She’s visiting family on the other side of town tonight. I’m supposed to be at an old friends place. He’s covering for me.”

  He didn’t need to say anything else. They were all the same. Buddy covers the indiscretion, wife made out to be the problem, cycle continues until he gets caught.

  “Well, George, I can tell you one thing for certain. Honesty is best. You lie, you lose. End of story.”

  “You sound like you have experience in this sort of thing. Is that why you went bi?”

  Rachel nearly choked on her champagne. “Um…yeah. I guess.”

  “You’ve really ruined this evening for me, young lady.” George shook his head. “I had big plans and now I don’t think I could go through with them even if the little blue pill did its job.”

  The level of personal information being thrown around the room was insane. “I don’t think I needed to know that, George.”

  George nudged her arm. “I thought this was confession?”

  Rachel laughed out loud. Though she tried hard not to, she found that she liked George. He expected nothing from her. The fact that he probably couldn’t get it even if he did want it helped a little, too.

  “Well, as long as I’m confessing, I may as well tell you that I’ve never actually taken part in the ‘festivities’ of these things.” He waved his hands thought the air.

  “Then, why?”

  He shrugged and looked down. “I just come for the drinks and the thrill of doing something dangerous, I suppose. Life gets pretty boring after sixty, young lady – the dinner parties, the formal events, the black ties that cut off the circulation. And once you retire? Prunes and naps and pension plans. You can only travel so much before you itch to get back into something worthwhile. I just need to test myself every once in a while to see if I’ve still got it, and when I find that I don’t – as I always do – I head on home and thank my wife for sticking by this sorry, old goat.”

  “Kind of like a reminder.”

  “Exactly! By the way,” he said. “Did anyone ever tell you that you have really nice-?”

  “Yes,” Rachel interrupted. “It’s like they can’t see what’s above my neck.”

  At first, George looked confused, and then he looked down and back up at her face. “I was going to say eyes,” he said sheepishly. “But, now that you’ve mentioned it.”

  Rachel blushed. “Sorry. I’m just used to people focusing on everything except my eyes. And thanks,” she added. “I got them from my dad.”

  “What does your dad think about your life choices? Being bi, I mean.”

  A pang of regret shot through her. “He died when I was five. Cancer.”

  George looked like he wanted to eat his shoe. “I’m sorry to hear that. He would’ve been proud of how you turned out. You seem like a smart girl, Rachel. And you have a conscience. That’s hard to find in this day and age.”

  Yeah. A conscience. That same conscience had allowed people to walk all over her in the course of her twenty-eight years.

  “I don’t know, George. Sometimes I wish I could be like everyone else. Barge my way through life to get what I want and not care who I step on to do it.”

  “You’ll find in life that you gain more respect and more true friends by being exactly the way you are. Don’t change a thing.”

  Rachel stood up and pulled down her skirt. “Maybe you should take your own advice.”

  “You’re not leaving already?” George was on his feet and looking like he wanted to cry. “This is the most fun I’ve had at one of these things in years.”

  “That’s not saying much, George. Maybe you should retire the lifestyle. It doesn’t seem to be working for you.” She waved to Susan. “It was really nice meeting you. Seriously.” She looked in his sad, puppy dog eyes and grinned. “Don’t do this to me, George. You’re just exploiting that conscience you know I have.”

  “If you’re leaving, I’m leaving.”

  “I’m leaving.”

  “Who’s leaving?” With the champagne making quick work of her, Susan stumbled into Rachel.

  “We’re leaving. Me, you, and George.”

  Susan covered her mouth and snickered. “Oh, my god, Rach! You’ve hooked up!” She peeked over Rachel’s shoulder. “He’s not as good looking as Ross, but who cares. I’ll take anything right about now.”

  “Oh, come on, dummy. I’m taking you home.”

  Rachel got on one side and George on the other and they guided Susan through the dwindling crowds and out into the hall. The cool air felt great.

  “You won’t mind if I’m a virgin, will you George? Ross refused me when I told him. Wasn’t that just rude?” Susan leaned her head on George’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

  George looked over at Rachel, his mind going a mile a minute.

  “Don’t even think about it, George! You’re reforming, remember?”

  “You take all the fun out of everything,” he pouted. “You’re a lot like my wife. Hey,” he said, looking at Rachel. “Maybe I don’t have it so bad, after all.”

  “I hope that’s not just the champagne talking.” Why did she have to care what happened in George’s life? She hated herself for wanting to fix everything. Some things, she learned, just can’t be fixed, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to try. “Where to, George? We’ll share a taxi.”

  “Oh, no,” he said, waving his hands. “I’ll drop you two girls off first. I’m going to remain a mystery man and fade into the darkness.”

  “Then we’ll just go to my place. I can’t trust this girl in her inebriated condition. She’s so desperate to give up her virginity that I might find myself a godmother in nine months.”

  Rachel breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her overprice apartment building come into view. “Well, George, it’s been nice. Too bad our friendship was so short-lived. I think we could have become good drinking pals.”

  George hobbled around to the opposite door and helped Rachel extract Susan from the taxi.

  “I’m up,” she mumbled. “Now, let me go back to sleep.”

  “How much, George?” Rachel craned her neck to see the fare amount.

  “Oh, no. I’m getting this, young lady. You just get your gal pal in bed.” An evil grin spread across his face. “That came out wrong. I’ll wait until I see you go in.”

  Rachel gave him a quick peck on the cheek. It was the least she could do after he helped them escape the geriatrics party.

  He rubbed briskly over the spot. “Lipstick,” he explained. “If I’m reforming, I’ve got to do it right.”

  “Good luck, George!”

  All the way up the steps and the entire time she undressed Susan and tucked her into bed, Rachel couldn’t stop thinking about George. There was something about him that she just couldn’t put her finger on – something alluring, in a strange, twisted way. George was like the ‘every man’. You could fit just about every personality type into him and he’d still be George.

  With her friend snoring loudly beside her, Rachel lay awake, glad that she’d taken the opportunity to follow her on another wacky adventure. Life was never boring with Susan around.