Goddd, this was the third time she caught Paige off-guard! “Sure, uhh…whatever! You’re very beautiful!”
“Well so are you! Too bad you have to wear business formal today; the one thing about my job (that I hate) is the uniform. Yuck! I look terrible in brown!”
Paige thought, “I can’t see this sweetie looking terrible in anything!” But out loud she said, “I like to look good for people when I’m working, but business is still business.”
Marie ignored that and whipped around, “My butt looks best in jeans like these, don’t you think?”
Paige laughed and said, “Good fitting jeans always bring out the best in a butt, that’s for sure!”
Marie was giggling now, “Your butt is nicer than mine, and I’m not being modest. And just so you know, I think you look so cute when you blush; hahaha…it’s really easy to make you!”
“Wowww,” said Paige jokingly, and she checked her watch. “You know what? We have two other condos to see today; how do you see this one?”
“It’s okay, but nothing special. Shall we head out to the next one?”
Relieved that she had changed the subject, Paige said, “Great, let’s go and you follow me to the next one, it’s only about two blocks away.”
The second condo wasn’t much better, and the mystery of their earlier conversation was starting to fade. Everything that happened during the second condo tour was completely “normal.” But when they headed out to their cars for the trip to the third address, Marie shifted the gears. “You know what, Paige? I’m tired and I’m hungry; let’s skip the third one for today and pick it up tomorrow.”
“Sure we can do that; I happen to know that the this third one won’t make your short list anyway. I’ve shown it before and it’s no better than these two…AND it’s farther away from the zoo; I have some ideas we can explore; I’ll do a little research tonight.”
“That would be great, but you know what? I’m new here, maybe you could recommend a place to eat; something good…not fast-food.”
“Manino’s is good, very good food, and a nice variety on the menu. It’s pretty close to here, just down the street.”
Marie laughed that laugh again, “In this small town, EVERYTHING is just down the street!”
Paige smiled, “I guess that’s true, but the good part of that being it won’t take you long to figure out where everything is!”
Then Marie surprised her, “I don’t know anyone in town either, maybe you’d like to join me for dinner…my treat, of course!”
Half of Paige was pleased; half of her was saying, “Go home and help your mother with the kids.” Her curious half was whispering, “Yes, but your mother expects you to be late!” Her naughty side was saying, “This is weird, but you like it; let’s see what this woman wants!”
Her naughty side didn’t always win…but this time it did. She knew that if she didn’t go, her curiosity would eat her alive all night! Since it was a Tuesday, Manino’s wasn’t crowded; they got a corner table right away, and two Mai Tai’s later they both were feeling pretty mellow. By the time they were half-finished, all the chit-chat bases had been covered. Both of them were divorced and Marie had a three year-old daughter back in Detroit. Her sister was watching little Michelle for the week while Marie went house-hunting. Paige was enthralled with her new friend’s light-hearted manner, her terrific sense of humor; and best of all, Marie seemed completely unaware of how beautiful she was! And…That voice! Jesus! Paige was hypnotized by it. Once or twice she reflected back on a movie she had seen years ago; “Love Potion #9” with Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan, where the potion affected the user’s voice and everyone immediately fell supernaturally in love with the speaker. Paige thought of that and the goosebumps started again!
She was lost in that reverie when Marie’s voice broke through it, “Paige? PAIGE!”
“Huhh? Uhh, yes?”
Marie giggled, “Wow, where were you?”
“Oh, I..I’m sorry,” Paige picked up her drink and took a sip, “Uh…I was just wondering if my mother was okay with the kids.”
“Know what? You’re a bad liar,” said Marie with a smile, “That was no look of concern on your face, it was more like the look a girl has when she just got laid!” Paige choked at that one and water leaked out her nose. Marie was busting a gut now, “Was I right? Were you thinking about later tonight with Chad?”
That was nowhere near correct, of course, but now she didn’t have to be honest. After twenty seconds of wiping her nose, she laughed, “Maybe I was, Ms. Smart Ass, not that it’s any of your business!”
“Well, if we’re going to be friends, you better know that I just say what I’m thinking…no beating around the bush with this bitch!”
Paige smiled again at Marie’s choice of words; she knew right then and there that they were going to be friends. But there was another thought lurking underneath as well; what “kind” of friends was still to be determined. Her hormones were really stirring now, but she needed to get home. After agreeing to meet at 1:00 pm the next day, she climbed into her car and pulled out of the parking lot. Marie’s looks, her questions, her teasing, and her seductive voice had pushed a lot of Paige’s buttons for sure. Her body was tingling with desire and quickly accelerating toward flaming lust!
Fortunately when she got home, her mother had gotten Jimmy and Jamie, the younger two children, to bed; Sophia and Olivia were in the living room watching TV. Taking off her jacket, she said, “Hi kids, how was your day?” Both girls looked up and Olivia gave her a “thumbs up” sign indicating they were engrossed in their show but couldn’t talk. “Okay, good,” Paige continued, “where’s Grandma?”
“Asleep,” said Olivia, pointing over the back of the sofa toward the bedroom that Paige and her mother shared.
Paige smiled, “Oh my God,” she thought, “this situation just might work out!” She looked in on her mother; sure enough, the lights were out and she could hear Mom breathing deeply somewhere in the darkened room. She slipped out onto the back porch and punched Chad’s number.
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