Chapter 10
Tristan scolded himself for having picked the restaurant where he and Irma would be enjoying a quiet lunch. He had thought that eating at the elegant Old El Paso Hacienda would be a nice place to get to start knowing each other. But he hadn’t counted on an advertising luncheon being held there. He had seen Tatiana step in but was certain that she, nor anyone else of Johnson Advertising, had seen him.
“Let’s go somewhere else,” he told Irma.
“Why?” she asked, puzzled.
“Too many people here. Too much noise,” he said, eyeing the banquet room Tatiana had stepped onto.
Don't get Tatiana wrong, she loved advertising luncheons. There were so many people to meet from other advertising agencies, marketing outlets, and so forth. The main dish was usually fancy chicken made with interesting sauces. But this year Tatiana was stuck at a table with Augusta and Suzanne since everyone else in their agency was dispersed to other tables. The organizers wanted to make certain they mingled and didn't solely stay with their own groups. The only salvation for Tatiana was that they had two other people at their table. Lauro and Dana told them they worked as advertising representatives for an El Paso newspaper.
“I told Kenneth, my husband,” said Augusta, looking at Lauro and Dana, "how these things go on forever. I can barely eat the food. I don't know why I bother to come.”
“I like these luncheons,” Dana stated. As usual, Augusta's first impression was not good, and Tatiana could tell Dana didn’t like her.
“You must not get out much,” declared Augusta.
“I'm an outside salesperson. I get out plenty,” retorted Dana, gritting her teeth.
“Do you like your job, Lauro?” asked Suzanne, abruptly jumping in.
Yeah, you go ahead and rescue her, that human crab, Tatiana said to herself.
“I love my job. I love meeting people,” he said smiling at Tatiana. “What about you, Tatiana? Beautiful name by the way. Do you like what you do?”
“My job is very hectic,” Augusta announced. “I have to keep everything organized in the agency, and then I have to go home and take care of everything there too. I—”
“I've heard so many good things about your agency, Suzanne,” Lauro said.
“That's because me and Suzanne work hard at making it one of the best agencies in El Paso,” blurted Augusta. “In fact, I—”
“All I've heard are accolades about you, Tatiana, and somebody named Nydia,” Lauro stated.
“Nydia and Tatiana are the best advertising team,” declared Suzanne.
“We work together because we're on the same wavelength,” expressed Tatiana.
Augusta's face became determined. “I—”
“I hope I get to meet Nydia,” Dana articulated. “One of our clients told us you both are the best he's ever worked with,” she said, looking at Tatiana. “You handle the Garcia account, don't you?”
“Yes,” Tatiana said.
“It's one of our best accounts.” Suzanne mentioned.
Lunch was served. To Tatiana's surprise, it wasn’t chicken. It was roast beef swimming in hot gravy and a side dish of garlic mashed potatoes. She was about to dig in when Augusta opened her venomous mouth.
“You're not going to eat that, are you?” Augusta sniffed.
“Why not?” Tatiana questioned.
“It's full of fat and carbs. I thought you were trying to lose weight,” Augusta stated.
Has she been talking to my dad?
“I'm not trying to lose weight,” Tatiana asserted angrily.
“I think you're fine the way you are,” Lauro said.
“A few pounds off your frame would do you some good,” Augusta stated. “You would look so much better.”
Tatiana had had enough of her. “Who said?”
Suzanne shifted in her chair nervously. “I think—”
“Why would I want to impress you, Augusta?” Tatiana asked. “Why should I care about what you think about my looks?”
Dana and Lauro gave each other a particular look as if they knew what it meant to work with someone like Augusta.
Augusta's nostrils were flaring. “It's not about what I think. It's about you caring enough about yourself to improve yourself.”
“Improve myself? Beauty is subjective. I know it's hard for you to believe, but I don't want to be a size zero like you, starving yourself all the time to be a lollipop.”
“I've never been attracted to skinny women,” Lauro stated.
Augusta stayed quiet as Suzanne tried to get her to speak through small talk. Lauro grinned at Tatiana while Dana gleefully ate her desert saying she too liked herself as she was. Tatiana glanced at her watch. Thankfully the luncheon was almost over.
For dinner, Nydia and Tatiana found themselves at El Rancho restaurant. Nydia had ended her relationship with her boyfriend and wanted company. Because it was evening and not lunch they ordered a pitcher of Margaritas.
“Marcus was cheating on me,” Nydia stated. She had started seen him a few weeks ago.
“How do you know?”
“I caught him last night. His lover was on top of him riding him like a horse. The idiot should've never given me keys to his apartment.”
“Do you know her?”
“Thankfully no. He tried to tell me it was a one time deal only, a mistake. But I know better.”
“You think he's done it before?”
“Heck, yeah. There were times I asked him where he was a particular night and he looked guilty and there were those long blonde strands of hair I started to find recently. He said they were his sister's.”
“What a jerk.”
Nydia’s cell phone rang, and she rolled her eyes when she saw the caller ID. Then she turned the ringer off and put the cell back in her purse.
“Is it him?” Tatiana asked.
“Bingo.”
“He wants you to take him back?”
“He swears he'll never do it to me again. He swears he’s madly in love with me. That he'll do anything to keep me.”
“Those flowers today in the office were from him?”
“You got it.”
“What are you going to do?”
Nydia shook her head. “He's out of my life.”
Tatiana felt a small amount of pity for Marcus even though she was still disgusted with his behavior. He seemed to her to be completely in love with Nydia but a little lost. She overshadowed him career-wise. Tatiana would catch him staring at Nydia's confident face with fascination. Now he had ruined their young relationship and knowing Nydia, Marcus would never be able to get back into her life, no matter how much he tried.
Nydia took a swig of her Margarita. “Enough about me. That chapter's closed. What's going on between you and Randy?”
Tatiana let out her anxieties, and it was like a water faucet overflowing. She kept her doubts inside for so long that they'd begun to feel like anchors. Nydia listened sympathetically.
“Do you want to move in with him?” Nydia asked.
“He keeps promising that eventually he’ll straighten out his life,” Tatiana said. “You know, I’ve been thinking about what Tristan said about him.”
“You have?”
“Maybe he was right,” sighed Tatiana.
“Randy seems to be a jerk.”
“Are there any men out there who like us verses worship us?”
“You've met my dad. You've met my brothers.”
Tatiana smiled. “Yes, I forget.”
“Don't do that. Don't forget or you'll be stuck with the same horrible relationships over and over because that's all you'll attract.”
Tatiana nodded. “Don't I know it?”
“What are you going to do about Randy?”
“It's time to end this. I should've done it a while back. I'm so stupid.”
“Stop that. Stop putting yourself through the ringer because of this.”
“I knew better, Nydia, but I wanted
to give him a chance.”
“Stop that! You can't self-flagellate after every mistake. You won't have a back left. Besides, I still think that opening up to life is better than closing off. I’m proud of you for opening yourself up to a relationship.”
Tatiana sighed deeply. No matter what her best friend said, letting Randy into her life had definitely been a huge mistake. One she wouldn’t repeat again. She’d be careful, very careful with her next romantic relationship.