White Chocolate Moments (19 page)

Nicky had leaned back in his seat, his eyes inscrutable as he watched her.

Arcineh could not tell what he was thinking, and when the silence continued, she expected the worst.

"Are you upset, Nicky? I don't have to quit: she said, beginning to recant. "I don't want to leave you in a bind:

"Listen to me, baby girl: he said in the accent she loved. "You don't belong in this business. Sure Chummel trained you, and you

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turned out to be a perfectionist with very fine hands, but this job is not for you:'

Arcineh's mouth opened.

"I'm just surprised that it took you this long to see that

For some reason, his words made her want to cry. She'd been so afraid of seeming ungrateful.

"Now don't go getting all watery on me Nicky said, but Arcineh knew he didn't mean it. "Come here he said, standing. They met in the middle of the living room, and Nicky's hug was warm and comforting.

"Thanks, Nicky," Arcineh barely managed.

This was the way Jalaina found them.

"What's up? Why is Arcie crying?"

"I just fired her," Nicky teased, but his sister just waved a hand at him in disbelief. She didn't take more than a minute to get the story from Arcineh, and then she took over.

"You need to take this week off, Arcie. Your hands and nails need to heal, and you need some new clothes. Come to the shop in the morning, and we'll get you all set."

"I can't do that, Jalaina. I just gave notice to Nicky:"

Both women looked at that man.

"I do need you tomorrow, Arcie, but the rest of the week is fine:'

"I was going to work two more weeks for you

"We'll be fine:'

Arcineh thanked him again, trying to take it all in. It was no easy task. Jalaina was talking at her usual pace, making plans for Arcineh's life as she went.

"It says here that you graduated in 1997 but that you were born in October of 1980. Are these dates correct?"

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"Yes, I was actually done in the middle of my junior year." "Why was that?"

"Well, I'd completed everything and there was no reason to stay"

"Did you not start college?" Mrs. Feldman asked, moving her eyes back to the application.

"No."

Arcineh felt herself begin to sweat. Kevin had made it sound as though she was a shoo-in, but this lady was tough. The woman's eyes came back to her face a few times, but nervous as she was, Arcineh simply sat in dignified silence.

That was Arcineh's undoing. Mrs. Feldman didn't like what she believed to be missing years on the application, and she didn't like how controlled and pretty Arcineh was.

"We'll call you if there's an opening" was all she was willing to say.

Arcineh left the building, thinking that tiling wasn't looking so bad after all.

"We won't give up," Kevin said on their date Friday night. "I'll keep asking around."

"She was tough, Kevin," Arcineh said. "I wish you had warned

me:,

"She didn't interview me, so I didn't know," he said regretfully, as the line to get in the theater moved slowly along.

"I feel like I did something wrong. I just don't know what:' Kevin put an arm around her. "You can't beat yourself up. It might not have been anything you did."

Arcineh looked up at him, and Kevin bent his head just enough to brush her lips with his own.

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"Not where I would have chosen for our first kiss," he said, his mouth in a crooked smile.

"But it was nice Arcineh said.

Kevin took that to heart. They sat near the back of the theater and kissed a few more times before the movie began.

"How long did you dance at Geneva's?" Tina asked in a soft voice on Monday night. Arcineh had been planning to put on her street shoes but turned to find the other woman behind her. They were alike in height and build, and for a moment, Arcineh only stared into Tina's eyes.

"How did you know?" she finally asked.

"It's written all over your moves. At least it is for me, but then I've been a fan of Geneva's for a very long time."

"She's good:' Arcineh agreed.

"So are you:' Tina said.

"Thank you:' Arcineh's responded graciously. "I've enjoyed your class:'

"I do have one other class you might want to try."

Arcineh waited.

"We meet after the Tuesday and Thursday sessions, and more when we have something special coming up. We'll be starting in a few minutes if you want to check us out."

"How many people?"

"Eight to twelve, depending on the time of year:"

Arcineh was too curious not to stay. She followed Tina into a part of the studio that she didn't know existed and knew instantly that this dance class was by invitation only. Geneva had a similar setup.

The darkness of the room was completely controlled with lights. There were no windows to the outside world. Up one side was a small

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balcony area with folding chairs. A small sound booth was on the opposite wall, and the front and back walls were all mirrored.

Arcineh didn't say a word, and neither did Tina. Seven women from the class she'd just been in trickled in, and one who had just arrived. Arcineh got a smile from Penny and Barb and a wink from Joanne before the music fired up and the women took their places. Tina was at the front of the room, calling changes to the women and the person in the sound booth. She also tended to hurl insults that made the women laugh.

Arcineh was easily the youngest one in the group, but she had nothing on these women. Watching them intently, she was greatly impressed with the hours they had so clearly put in. Moving in perfect rhythm to choreographed routines, Arcineh realized she had seen some of the moves before. Without being asked, and when she thought she understood, she joined in. She thought she'd been hooked in the advanced aerobics class, but she was about to understand true addiction.

Nicky and Libby were getting married, and changes were happening all over the house. Grandma and Marco would be going to live with Grandma's sister, something they were both thrilled over. Jalaina and Arcineh would be getting their own place. Arcineh was still looking for office work, and Jalaina had taken it upon herself to find their apartment. Arcineh nearly choked when she said she'd found the perfect one.

"It's where?" Arcineh asked, thinking she must have heard wrong.

"Near the financial district. Start looking for work there." "What about your job and how far we'll be from everyone?" "We can see them whenever we want, and I've got a new job. I'm

telling you, this is a good thing."

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Jalaina had to do some talking, but Arcineh listened. She thought about everything she knew concerning the financial district, even the fact that Bryant Marble was not too far from there. Jalaina knew all about her past, but she'd never seen the location of her grandfather's company.

"What's the matter?" Jalaina suddenly asked.

"Just thinking:' Arcineh said truthfully, her mind having gone back to her days working for Carlee. Unbidden, she remembered the advice Carlee had given her about finding work outside of Bryant. In her mind, a light had come on.

"The apartment's fine," Arcineh suddenly said, things falling together all at once.

"Really? You mean that?" Jalaina was overjoyed.

"Yes. I'll be headed down there in the morning to find work."

Breakfast was a normal part of the day for the Ciofani family, and so Arcineh's new family was the first to see her next plan. She arrived at the dining room table when everyone was eating, but after one look at her, they stopped.

Her hair pulled back as tightly as she could manage into a plain, nondescript bun and a pair of thick-framed glasses on her face were only the beginning. Arcineh had found a woman's suit in a pale blue. It wasn't completely out of fashion, but almost. The skirt stopped just below her knees, and the shoes she'd found were just shy of orthopedic.

"What have you done?" Grandma was the first to find her voice.

"I've gotten desperate. This will get me a job:'

"Arcie," Jalaina began, "those glasses--and what did you do with your breasts?"

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Arcineh did a small turn. "Isn't it the most dreadful suit? It completely covers my figure:'

"Not completely:' Jalaina said dryly, having teased Arcineh about her curvy dancer's derriere in the past.

"What do you think?" Arcineh asked with a huge smile, having ignored Jalaina.

"Don't smile with those beautiful teeth, Arcie," was Nicky's only warning. "It ruins the whole effect:'

The table laughed before continuing with the meal. Arcineh wasn't overly hungry. She was excited, and it was a bit of a commute, so she wanted to get on the move.

Arcineh would never know that she was hired at Rugby Shades, a high-end manufacturer of sunglasses, out of pity The woman who did the first interview thought she was perfect for filing, a low- profile job for such a young mouse of a woman whose presentation of herself needed work.

"Can you start tomorrow?" the woman in charge of hiring asked.

"Yes, I can," Arcineh said, trying to keep from jumping in the air.

"Be here at 8:00 tomorrow morning, and I'll show you where to go. You'll be on your feet most of the day, so be sure your shoes are comfortable:'

"Thank you:'

"You're welcome, Arcie. I hope you enjoy the work:'

At the moment Arcineh didn't care. She was back in an office. Just the smell of the building delighted her. She had to force herself not to think of Bryant, just four blocks away, because that only brought thoughts of Sam, and that would have her in tears. For the moment she would concentrate on work, and that started in the morning.

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"Okay, Arcie," Vanessa, her boss, explained when they arrived in the filing office. "Our system is simple, but it might take a little getting used to:'

Vanessa began to explain, and Arcineh followed along. Her job
was
simple. Requests would come from all over the building. The files were to be pulled and taken to the person who requested them. They had to be signed for. At times someone else would deliver them or pick them up, but usually Arcineh would be expected to make the delivery herself. It would be slow some days and utterly harrowing at others times.

Arcineh was left on her own by lunchtime, and even though she had some questions, by the end of the day, she knew she would land on her feet.

The girls carried the last of the boxes into their first-floor apartment, sat down on the sofa, and sighed.

"We did it:' Jalaina said.

Arcineh looked around. "Why was it so tiring when we have so little?"

"I don't know. At least we got to bring our beds:'

"Did we remember sheets?" Arcineh suddenly asked.

"I don't think so:' Jalaina said, and her face was so funny to Arcineh that she began to giggle. Hearing the sound, Jalaina joined her. Too little sleep and too much work made everything too funny. The two laughed until they couldn't move, but it didn't change their contentment. They had their own place.

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"You call this dancing?" Tina shouted from the front of the room, bringing a smile to everyone's face. "We've got a performance in two weeks. Are we going to be ready?"

The beat of a song vibrated around the room, and although the ladies had smiled, no one had lost time. The music switched to another song, this one with a more pronounced beat, and the ladies moved with the ease of breathing. A moment or two of a pounding march, and the music cut. The ladies froze until Tina shouted.

"Yes! That was perfect. Woo hoo, ladies!" Tina clapped like a one-man audience. A few women from the earlier class had gained permission to sit in the balcony, and they clapped as well.

'All right, that's a wrap. Be at the care center on Saturday at 10:30. Have a safe drive home, ladies:'

"Tina?" Arcineh caught her as soon as they broke. "I don't have a way to get to the care center. Is there someone I can ride with?"

Tina studied her. Arcineh was a fascinating woman in Tina's view, a mystery and remarkably talented in the studio, but there was something almost sad about her. Much as Tina wanted to know about her, she knew it was not her place to ask questions.

"I can take you. Where do you live?'

"Not too far from here, but I can get myself here if you want me to meet you:'

"Ten o'clock?"

"I'll be here:'

The women said goodnight, but Tina was still thinking about her. Curious as she was, she would never probe and run the risk of having Arcineh quit.

(DSO

Arcineh pushed a cart of files into the elevator and pushed the fourth-floor button. She knew that was where the owner's office was,

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but she'd never been up there. Historically they sent someone down from that floor, but not today.