Chapter 15
Suzanne and Bill decided against firing Judith. Tatiana and Nydia were much too valuable to the agency to allow them to leave over the Judith situation. And when Bill investigated the accusations towards Jack's sexual harassment of the women in the office, he found they were true. He convinced Suzanne that if any of the women decided to sue, the agency would be up the creek without a paddle, so it was Jack he ended up letting go.
Bill was secretly thrilled this happened. He had wanted an excuse to get rid of Jack. There would no longer be anyone undermining him, and Bill could now take care of the adult oriented accounts himself.
Normally, the firing of Jack instead of Judith would've made Tatiana and Nydia feel good about their workplace, but Augusta was at her worst. She was heard saying how unfair it was to men that women could bring up frivolous allegations against them.
“Poor Jack. He has his family to take care of,” Augusta chortled. “How's he supposed to do that without a job? Meanwhile, the people who should get fired are strutting around pleased about their lies and sinful behavior.”
Suzanne invited Augusta to lunch for a whole week to calm her down. This annoyed Tatiana and Nydia to no end because Suzanne took Augusta to El Rancho restaurant. Still, Nydia refused to eat anywhere else and asked to be seated in the opposite direction of Augusta.
“That bitch isn't going to throw me out of my favorite restaurant!” Nydia snarled.
One day, Augusta's foul mood suddenly turned into bliss, and this worried Tatiana even more than when she was being herself. When that woman is in a good mood, it can't be anything good. As it turned out, Augusta was pregnant.
“Kenneth is being a little difficult about it,” Augusta announced. “But a baby is a blessing. He's worried it will change our lives, but I told him not to worry about anything. I'll take care of the baby like I take care of Kenny, and he can still go bowling with his buddies as much as he wants because I know how much he loves it.”
Nydia didn't believe Augusta was telling the full story. During lunch at El Rancho, she told Tatiana and Judith, “Her marriage is on the rocks. That's why she got pregnant to hold on to him.”
“You think so?” Tatiana asked, surprised.
“I think you're right, Nydia,” Judith chimed in. “I've heard her on the phone with Kenneth asking why they don't do anything together. Why he's never at home. When she gets off the phone with him, she’ll be in a mood that's more rotten than usual.”
Petra walked up to them. “Ready to order?”
“We're waiting for Suzanne and Augusta to arrive, so we can decide where we'll actually sit,” Nydia stated.
Petra smiled mischievously. “You don't have to worry about them.”
“What do you mean?” Tatiana asked with curiosity.
Petra placed her hand on her hip. “They were banned from the restaurant. Or should I say, Augusta was banned.”
“What happened?” Nydia questioned, shocked.
“Augusta said the restaurant was like Mexico, a third world outhouse. She didn't realize the owner was at the next table having lunch with her kids. She was born in Mexico and doesn't appreciate her native country or her restaurant being put down. She told Augusta never to come back,” Petra explained.
“Suzanne must've been mortified to have been thrown out like that,” Judith asserted.
Petra grinned. “She tried to smooth things over, but the owner refused to back down.”
“We have our restaurant back!” Nydia exclaimed ecstatically.
As soon as they received their beverages, Tatiana raised her glass. “To us surviving the office.”
“You can say that again,” Nydia declared as all three clicked their glasses and drank their tea.
“How are you doing, Judith?” asked Tatiana.
“Excellent. Almost everybody has been super nice and Jack's gone. Suzanne still treats me weird but that's okay. I don't need her approval of who I am.”
“Just remember that Suzanne has her own deep seeded problems,” Nydia stated. “At least you know what you have to work on, but she hasn't figured out that she needs to use her own backbone instead of other people's.”
Tatiana nodded. “Ain't that the truth.”
“How's it working out with Tristan?” Nydia inquired as she drove Tatiana, Judith, and herself back to the office from the restaurant.
“Things aren't going so well with us,” explained Tatiana.
“What do you mean?” asked Judith.
Tatiana scratched her head. “The date went great, but the subsequent phone calls . . . I don't know.”
“I know what’s happening,” Nydia asserted.
“What?” asked Tatiana.
“You two blockheads aren't getting personal. What do you talk about?” Nydia asked.
“Weather, job experiences, and I don't know—stuff,” responded Tatiana.
“See, I knew it. I'm right!” exclaimed Nydia. “Both of you are so scared of relationships that you can't talk with each other. You talk around one another but not from within. For goodness sake, Tatiana, talk to him.”
Tatiana shook her head. “But—”
“Don't be so stubborn,” stated Nydia.
“But—”
“Don't let this one go. I'm telling you. Don't,” insisted Nydia.
That evening, Tatiana thought about what Nydia had told her about Tristan. Nydia may be my best friend but she can sure be annoying sometimes and a know-it-all to boot, Tatiana said to herself. She doesn't want to come to terms with the fact that Tristan and I aren’t meant for each other, and I’m going to put an end to this relationship as soon as he arrives at my place. They were supposed to be going out on a date, their second one, but what was the purpose to that?
Tatiana called the one person who would give her her blessing—her mother. She was the one person who would understand her reluctance about this relationship. Candida answered the phone on the second ring.
“Is everything okay?” Candida asked.
“I wanted to ask you about Claudio,” Tatiana rushed. “I bet he's turned out to be a real jerk, right?”
“No, actually he's a good person. What's this phone call about, Tati?”
“So you're still seeing this man?”
“We do a lot together. That doesn't bother you, does it?”
Tatiana let out a breath. “No, of course not. I'm happy for you, Mama.”
“What's wrong then?”
“Nothing. I'll see you soon okay.”
“Are you sure—”
“Everything is fine. I'll see you soon. I've got to go.”
What's up with this? How is it that I can't count on my mother's negativity toward men?
Tatiana sincerely thought she could count on at least one ‘men are mierda’ phrases. When you can't count on your mother saying that men are shit, what's the world coming to? I'm going to have to do the dirty work myself, thought Tatiana.
As soon as Tristan arrived at her apartment, she sat him on the sofa. He looked at her suspiciously.
“Tristan, we need to talk,” Tatiana declared.
“Okay.”
“I think we both know that this isn't working out.”
He crossed his arms in front of him. “Really?”
“Why make this more painful than it needs to be. We might as well face facts.”
“Facts?”
“I'm sorry, but it's not working. I hope you understand.”
“Okay, bye,” retorted Tristan, abruptly standing up and stepping to the door.
Tatiana followed him. “Thank you for making this easy. It's what reasonable adults do.”
“Reasonable adults?”
“Yes.”
Tristan yanked his hand off the door knob and suddenly turned around, shaking his head. “What am I doing? This isn't reasonable. This is complete mitote. Complete bull!”
“Excuse me?”
“What do yo
u mean we're not working out?” he questioned, flaring up.
“All we do is talk about nothing important. Neither trusts each other to say something deep about ourselves. Is that reason enough for you?”
He strode back to the sofa and sat back down. “What do you want to know?”
“This is silly, Tristan. Let's just chalk this up to two ships that passed through the night.”
“No.”
“You need to leave.”
Tristan's voice turned gentle. “Don't throw me out. I'll leave soon enough. I'll never force my presence on you, but I need to understand what's going on here and if I'm not mistaken, so do you.”
It's getting really uncomfortable now. She, however, due to a reason that escaped her didn’t insist that he leave.
“Talk to me, Tatiana.”
“For one thing, I don't understand why you're here.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, baffled.
“You disliked me so much when you first met me. I'm still the same person. What changed?”
“You want to know what changed?”
“Yes,” Tatiana answered.
“I got my head out of my ass.”
“What?”
“Just for the record, I didn't dislike you when I first met you,” Tristan stated, penetrating his eyes into hers. “I didn't know how to take you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. I thought you'd be a snob and a user of men.”
“You meet me once and assume that?” Tatiana asked angrily.
“I've had a bad history with women.”
“Is that a reason to assume such awful things about me?” Tatiana grumbled.
“I was wrong. I know that now, but you haven't exactly had easy relations with the opposite sex either, right?” Tristan questioned.
“No.”
“That's what I thought. When you cornered me that day and told me off, I realized you were a fellow heartbreak survivor.”
“That's a good way of putting it,” Tatiana murmured.
“You say we don't talk about anything substantial. I'll tell you about my horrible childhood if you want.”
“Tell me.”
“Are you sure? Wouldn't you want to talk about something pleasant instead?” Tristan asked.
“No.”
“My mother ran off with another man when I was eight, leaving me behind. I never heard from her again, and my dad raised me. Let's just say he was less than favorable toward womankind. He never married again saying women were God's punishment on men. I don't have to tell you what that situation did to my psyche.”
Men can be broken watermelons too, Tatiana said to herself. Their hearts can also be exposed and bleeding. What a realization.
“I'm sorry,” Tatiana murmured. “I know how it feels to have had a difficult upbringing.”
“As long as you know that about me, you should also know that I've been married.”
“You have?”
“She left me for another man,” Tristan declared, grumbling.
We're all broken in one way or another.
“Why did she do that?” Tatiana questioned.
“I wasn't exciting enough, not suave, not slick. He was an ex con on a motorcycle, and I couldn't compete with that. I'm a plain guy. I don't have a lot of bells and whistles. I'm not a knight in shining armor. I'm flesh and blood.”
“There's nothing wrong with that you, Tristan.”
“I started a business ten years ago and grew it into a success, but I'm not a big time financier or a high roller. I enjoy having good credit, my own home and responsibilities that I make sure I live up to. I'm a boring guy. There's nothing James Dean about me.”
Tatiana smiled and sat next to him. “James Dean seemed troubled to me. I don't romanticize his death.”
He nodded. “So now tell me your secrets, Tatiana.”
“I hope you're ready for this.”
“I'm ready for anything.”
“I also grew up in a broken home. My dad didn't want me at first, and he disparaged women often. My mom did the same with men. They divorced, but the wounds of their terrible relationship never healed inside of me. I went on to date the most inappropriate men for myself. It's been one bad relationship after another.”
He smiled. “I knew we were in the same club.”
Tatiana kissed him then.