Minty (6 page)

“Hey, take a break, I need to talk.”

She got up and followed Angela to the ladies rest room. It was a double room with a lounge leading into the normal rest room with stalls and sinks. She went in to wash her face. She really looked tired as she glanced in the mirror.

“Are you not sleeping again?” Angela was right beside her, so close she actually jumped. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Ah, Angela, can I ask you something very personal?”

Angela smiled at her in the mirror. “Sure, babe, I have something to ask you, but you first.”

“Well, this is embarrassing, but have you ever masturbated?” Minty looked down as her wet hands as she felt her face grow warm with a flush.

“Well sure, babe, who hasn’t?”

“Well, I never did, except I think I did last night, at least in my sleep.”

Angela looked over at her with sympathy. “Well hell girl, if you never did before, and I know you don’t have a boyfriend, your body just probably reacted. It made a request of its own. Not that unusual. By the way, speaking of men, well sort of, anyways, remember the hunks that bought us the drinks at Marty’s retirement party? Well, tall, dark, and handsome, who happens to be called Rex, has asked me out tonight. But there is a catch.”

Minty was already shaking her head no.

“No, Minty listen. This guy is really nice, plus he has money. I think the last three guys I dated, I had to pay for the dinners. Sorry, anyways I really, really want to go out with this guy.”

Minty was still shaking her head no, but now with a little more emphasis.

“Don’t say no yet, just listen to me. His friend is from out of town and he needs someone to keep his friend company, you know, just to even the table out. I already told him that it was a work night, so we could not stay out late, that you had a boyfriend, so you could go along but it would not be a serious date, just a nice evening out with friends. Please, doesn’t that sound safe? Don’t say no. It will be a couple of hours, a nice drink or two with a couple of guys that can pay their own way for a change.”

Minty looked at her friend. The silly woman had her hands together in a mock prayer, her mouth murmuring over and over, please, please, please.

“God, Angela, I haven’t been out in years. I have nothing to wear and I am so tired I can hardly hold my head up.”

“Look, come home with me. Just keep your jeans on, but I have a couple of really cute blouses that would be perfect for you. Also, the guys are going to pick us up at my place. That will help, because they won’t know where you live. And, oops, I already said yes.” Angela shrugged her shoulders and looked at Minty with wide eyes.

Minty let out a deep sigh. “Oh all right, but if anyone gets drunk, or starts groping, or telling dirty stories, I am out of there, taking a taxi home.”

“Deal.” Angela grinned from ear to ear.

She had very little recollection of the afternoon, but she joined Angela in her convertible. They were soon at Angela’s apartment that was on the first floor of a nice townhouse. Angela pulled her to a big closet and threw the doors open. Minty laughed at the explosion of color.

“Oh, Angela, these are not my style.” She looked at the beautiful reds, yellows and multi colored blues.

“You are so right, but wait, I have just the thing. It is back here.” Angela rooted around, pushing hangers from one side to another, then came out with a soft green gauze top. It was in layers of material so thin that you could see through each layer but, as one layer wrap slanted over another, it was a tease and nothing could be seen. It was cut in long uneven lengths so that some soft ribbons fell almost to her knees and some stopped at the waist, and the same happened when she put it on.

There really were no sleeves, just the soft material that moved over the shoulders, but if she put her arm straight out, her shoulders had only a thin strap. When she dropped her arms, the ribbons completely hid her from shoulder to waist. The satin ribbon that it all was attached to at the top, formed a soft V in front and back that framed her neck but was not too low to embarrass her. But no matter what she did she could not hide the straps of her bra.

“No, no, take off the bra. You won’t show anything through all those layers.” So Angela helped her remove the bra without taking the blouse. It was a woman thing.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She did have to admit she liked what she saw. The soft color and material brought a color to her skin that was a complement, even to the pale color from lack of sleep. She noticed that the color also had turned her eyes to the same green. That often happened with hazel eyes
—
sometimes they would be brown, sometimes a yellowish green, now a grass green.

“Okay, sweety, a little makeup to cover up the dark under the eyes and you are going to knock the socks off your date.”

She grabbed Angela’s hands. “It is not a date, remember. I will be out of there as soon as I feel the least bit uncomfortable.”

But Angela was already changing into a red dress that showed off both her legs and her bust line. So she applied makeup, took the brush to her hair and with a peek out front was ready as the doorbell rang.

“Wow, an Audi.”

The tall dark haired guy was smiling down at Angela as if he had already found his supper. Angela took time to lock the door as she accepted his offered arm. Minty followed them out to the curb and there he was, leaning against the car. She almost turned around right there, but he stood up and opened the back door of the car, smiling at her.

Angela was already being settled into the front seat. Minty could not think of any good reason to turn and run, so she entered the car, did not take his offered hand, but just slid into the roomy back seat. She found she could breathe as he just closed the door, walked around the car, and slid into the other side, leaving room so that he wasn’t touching her.

Angela was bubbling away in the front seat. Rex seemed to be answering, but she was in a daze, not able to register their words. Then she realized the man beside her had said something.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?” She tilted her head only a little towards him, but not towards his face. He was just too beautiful to stare at.

“I said my name is Alex. I understand yours is Minty. Very unusual.”

She finally looked over at him in the dark car, the lights of passing cars not quite reflecting into the back seat. He was looking at her, but she felt it wasn’t too intense, so she took a moment to examine who was sitting beside her.

He was impeccably dressed
—
polished loafers, knife creased slacks in a dark color, a white shirt open at the collar showing the muscles in the neck, the chest exposed at the folded back brilliance as it sat neatly against the dark jacket. The jacket seemed to be made of soft leather, but he wore no jewelry except for a very large ring on the first finger of the hand that rested on his leg. He was a very large man, but she felt it was all muscle, no excess weight on this man. He must work out every day.

Then there was the face, which was framed by the blond hair that he wore long, curled against the collar. She could see the unusual blue eyes, the shape of the chin along with the bold nose. It was what you saw on the carved statues in Rome. Too beautiful, yet all masculine. The one item that made her look away quickly was the mouth. There was where the threat lay. Anyone who was foolish enough to look at the good looks of this man and think he might be a weak momma’s boy with all that pretty face, only had to look at that mouth. She did not know why, but somehow she felt the threat was all written on those lips. This man was very dangerous.

Finally she felt it rude not to answer. “We don’t get to name ourselves
—
someone else looks at us as babes and attaches a title.” She looked out the window wondering where they were going.

“Your parents didn’t explain to you how they chose it?”

She resisted the impulse to look at him again. “I am an orphan. It was on a card that was with me when I was turned in at a local orphanage.” She felt of pang of regret, sadness as she repeated what she told people many times over the years.

She heard him take a deep breath as if he were absorbing some strange smell. “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to remind you of something sad.”

The smooth sedan was pulling into a parking lot. She realized they were actually at the local pub where Marty’s retirement party had been held. She heard the voices in the front seat.

“I thought you would be more comfortable going someplace you knew. Is that okay?”

Of course Angela was exuberant with agreement, unbuckling as she was leaning all over the driver. Yep. at least one of them was happy, comfortable. She sat, waiting while Alex got out to come around and opened her door. He held out his hand to help her out of the car but she couldn’t take it. It was not him
—
she didn’t hold onto anyone. So she slid out and hurried to follow Angela with her tall, dark and handsome. What was his name
—
yes, Rex.

There was the problem of the door, the holdup with people trying to leave as they were trying to go in. The door opened out and they finally could step through. She was behind Rex with Alex behind her. His arm over her holding the door open. Rex stopped and she was trapped between the two of them. Rex stepped back and there was nowhere to move as Alex stepped forward and she was pressed between the two large men.

Panic hit her instantly, a cramp in her stomach, no breath in her lungs, her arms frozen down at her side. She felt the large man behind her press tighter, he must have thought that they were moving, but Rex didn’t move. She could feel the heat of his body against her from hips to shoulder. If she could draw air in and breath she would scream, but she wasn’t breathing and if something did not happen fast she was going to faint.

She heard that deep intake of breath from Alex, as if he had caught some strange smell. She would even believe if she could see his face that his nostrils might have flared out. But just before her knees gave out Rex moved forward. There was air before her. She stumbled, automatically moving her foot out to keep from falling. Alex grabbed her elbow.

“Careful.”

She heard his deep voice say only the one word, in almost a whisper, then he let go. She was so grateful to move away, so thankful that he didn’t maintain contact, that she rushed forward into the dim interior of the long low room.

Angela led them immediately to the back of the row of booths. The last booth was larger, made for 6 normal people, but would be more comfortable for the two larger males that had brought them to the restaurant. Angela swung her hips, smiling at everyone, as she slipped in and Rex took his place beside her.

Minty stopped, looking at the long vinyl seat she was supposed to slide into. She would be trapped, shut in by this large man behind her. Her heart was still pounding from the contact at the door. She didn’t think she could do this.

Angela giggled then looked up. “Hey, sweety, need to visit the little girl’s room? It is right over there.” She pointed to a dark corner.

Good idea. She nodded
yes,
and weaved away toward the dark corner. She found the inset with the cheap metal sign, the standard symbol of a stick woman on a door. She pushed in. Gratefully she blinked, as the light was brilliant.

The restroom was clean but really tacky. She turned, locked the door and looked around. One old toilet, one chipped but clean sink. Dark wood paneling with lots of names and initials carved, waist high, all the way around the small room.

The one light overhead was too large for the small area. It bathed the room in beautiful glaring light. She just stood, absorbed the light and let it settle her down. She felt her blood pressure go down, her pulse return to normal, her heart slow down and beat normally. She pulled the chemical air deeply into her lungs until she was sure she would be able to go on/ finally she heard the door handle jingle and a knock. She had to leave, but she would be okay for a while. She could always return here.

When she got to the booth, Alex got up, making room for her, but he looked at her for a long time when she sat down. That made her uncomfortable again. It was almost as if he sensed that she had found some strength, but that was impossible, so she shrugged his stare off, looking at the drink in front of her.

It was the green liquor with ice chips. There were also several types of appetizers on the table. They sat and talked, Alex, Rex, and Angela. She listened but did not join in, If someone had asked her what the conversation was about, she couldn’t have told them, as none of the words stayed with her. She took a sip of the sweet mint drink, but the hot liquid made her empty stomach recoil. She knew she couldn’t take any more. She was aware of Alex sitting next to her in the booth. “You aren’t eating.” He said this as he leaned forward, drawing a plate towards her. This also pushed his leg against hers. She moved her leg away.

“Sorry, I don’t want to spoil anything for Angela, but my stomach is a little upset.” She reached out, slid the plate over towards him, then sat back into the corner.

“That blouse is lovely on you, your perfect color.” His voice was low. She knew that the two sitting across, in the din of noise in the bar couldn’t hear him. His voice was for her ears alone.