When dinner was done and they were just getting started on the dishes the front door opened and Fran stepped into the room. She was wearing brown boots, blue jeans and a yellow and blue blouse with spaghetti straps, and she was carrying a Trader Joe’s bag in each hand. She looked over her shoulder, put her foot on the door, and pushed it just hard enough to close it
“Hi,” she said, ”how’s everything?”
“Okay,” Rick and Gloria said simultaneously
“Gloria, I hate to ask you this but do you have any dinner left?”
“Sure, help yourself.”
Fran got a plate and filled it up. “Can I sit here?”
“It’s all yours,” said Gloria, “we’re finished. What’s the matter, you seem kind of wound up.”
“I had a problem at work.”
“And?” said Gloria, spreading her hands and raising her eyebrows.
“And I might lose my job over it.” Fran cut off a piece of pork chop and started chewing.
“What happened? Did it involve Finch?”
“Who else?” Fran said around the food in her mouth.
Gloria, and then Rick, pulled up a seat at the table. “Randolph Finch is the chief resident at the hospital where we work,” said Fran. Rick nodded like he knew what a chief resident was.
“And to my chagrin,” said Fran, “before I knew much about him I brought him here for a night of very non-blissful sex. That was six months ago and, like a high school sophomore who got laid for the first time, he can’t stop talking about it. Anyway, today was my ‘I can’t take it anymore’ day. If you’d have been there Gloria, maybe you could have talked me out of it, but it was going to happen sooner or later.”
“What was going to happen? What did you do?”
“When I went into the cafeteria for lunch Finch and a couple of his resident buddies were already there. When they saw me they started smirking and laughing I lost it. I thought hey I’m a grown woman, I’m a nurse, I’m trying to help people here. I don’t have to put up with this. I’m going to give the dear doctor something to think about.
“So I bought two bowls of chili and crumpled a bunch of crackers in them. Then I poured in a little Mountain Dew - I didn’t want to burn the bastard - and filled up a large glass of Coke. I put it all on a tray I walked up to his table and pretended, probably not too convincingly, to trip. The chili and the coke hit him chest high. Some of it splattered up in his face but most ran down to his lap and down his legs.
“He was horrified. I don’t think he ever considered there might be consequences to his smirks and stories. He was real upset and started to get up. I told him to stay down or I’d hit him so hard he’d weep and piss his pants at the same time. He didn’t listen and kept coming so I hit him hard in the solar plexus and he collapsed back into the chair and didn’t get back up again. I told his buddies that it would be good to keep it quiet. Dr. Finch, I told them, is not going to want it spread around that he got his ass kicked by a woman and that it only took one punch.”
“That’s true,” said Gloria, “so probably nothing more is going to come of it. Finch will probably let it die a peaceful death.”
“Hopefully. But he knows I’ve been taking kickboxing classes and he could say I sucker punched him, embarrassed him in front of his friends, ruined his clothes, and threatened him, all of which is more or less true. Plus he could throw in a few lies and have his disciples swear they’re true.”
“Fran is this guy married?” said Rick.
“I didn’t know it when I had him over here but, yeah, he is.”
“How did you find out?”
“One of the administrators told me about it. He pulled the same thing on her and is still talking about it when he’s not talking about me.”
Rick said, “You should have your lawyer talk to him right away. Tell him something along the lines of he can expect to be sued for sexual harassment, libel and defamation of character. Tell him that there are two plaintiffs at present but there are probably more and it might turn into a class action suit. His friends will be put on the stand, and after a warning about the punishment administered to perjurers, they’ll be asked if Dr. Finch made it a habit to brag about his sexual conquests of women who worked at the hospital. He’ll be asked if he informed the women he had sex with that he was married. What will his wife think of all this? It will probably be pretty hard on her not to mention embarrassing.
“Your lawyer could ask him a few more questions that will put the fear of God in him. Of course the whole idea is to help him get rid of any thought of retaliation. A five minute chat in the parking lot or the lunch room would do the job.”
“The parking lot would be better, with a little luck nobody would see it – he wouldn’t have to play to anyone.”
“The parking lot then. Get him when he comes to work.”
“He starts work at 8am so probably arrives at 7:45am. He drives a silver 2011 BMW. I don’t know the model but it’s one of the smaller ones.”
“All you have to do is get your lawyer on it. The sooner the better, before he puts together a sinister plan designed to get you fired.”
Fran looked sheepishly at Rick and said, “I don’t have a lawyer. I’ve never needed one before and, to be honest, I can’t afford one.”
“Oh.”
They were all quiet for a moment and then Gloria said, “You could do it Rick. You’re a lawyer.”
“Not until I pass the bar exam.”
“But you’ll be taking it soon, right?”
“Yes, but I can’t practice until I’ve passed, just like you couldn’t practice nursing until you graduated from nursing school.”
“You’ve graduated from law school,” said Fran.
“The both of you are hopeless,” said Rick, “but alright, against my better judgment, I’ll do it. A quick shakedown in a parking lot, both illegal and pro bono, will be my first act as a ‘sort of attorney.’ There’s no way but up from here.”
Rick thought for a moment and then said, “One of you is going to have to come with me to point this doc out. I’m not giving the spiel to the wrong guy. Also I’ve got to get a suit and tie.”
“I’ll do it if you want,” said Fran. “Just give me the keys and the address. It’s in La Jolla right?”
“Yes. You don’t mind because I could do it?”
“I’m happy to do it. After all you wouldn’t need the clothes if it wasn’t for me.”
Rick gave her the keys and explained how to get there and where to locate the clothes.
“Who’s going to go with me tomorrow and point the guy out?” said Rick.
“I will, unless you want to Gloria.”
“No, you do it.”
Fran said, “As soon as I finish eating I’ll head for your house and get your clothes. If we leave tomorrow at 7am will have plenty of time to catch Finch.”
“Okay, I’ll be ready. Oh yeah, bring a white shirt too please. Leave the suit and the rest draped over the couch and I’ll get.”
When Rick and Gloria got into bed she said, “That was nice of you to offer to do that for Fran.”
“I can’t claim much credit after the arm twisting the two of you applied.”
“We were a little shameless I suppose. Sorry about that.”
“No worries. If I really didn’t want to do it I wouldn’t have. Actually, in a way, I’m looking forward to it.”
Frank called Bobby at 8:15 am.
“What are you up to today?”
“I’m going to show my face at our places of business, all three of them. Make sure we’re still washing cars.”
“Why do you bother? We get reports once a week, everything’s fine.”
“If ownership doesn’t show interest in the business pretty soon the employees won’t either.”
“Where did you learn that, in one of your NBA night courses?”
“It’s MBA night courses.”
“I knew that.”
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“Oh really? What does it stand for?”
“National Basketball Association.”
“Very funny Frank. But I didn’t learn it in a night course, I read it in a novel called ‘Strip’ by Thomas Perry.”
“And you believed it?”
“Why not? It makes sense.”
“Did the guy in the book own a strip club?”
“Yeah, a couple of them.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but a lot of guys might find a strip club easier to be interested in then a car wash.”
“True, but we don’t own a strip club. What did you call for Frank?”
“I’m going to get a room at the Pechanga so I can play some cards and watch out for the tow truck driver and the girlie girl. Also I’ll probably have some friends come up. You want to come? I’ll get you a room.”
Bobby knew that “friends” or “visitors” were never hookers or common whores. They were high class call girls that were beautiful, expensive and highly skilled sexually. They also made frequent visits to the gynecologist to insure they were free of any STDs.
Bobby’s job was to just “be there” in case of any problems but there never were any. What Frank was worried about was the law. Prostitution was illegal and if Frank was caught in the arms of one or two call girls – no matter how beautiful, highly skilled, and STD free they were – it would be a parole violation and Frank would be back to 808 Union Street.
So if there was a problem along those lines Bobby was supposed to say that the girls were friends of his and the girls were supposed to agree. “Yes officer, it was Bobby who invited us here and we just used our beautiful, supple, highly skilled, young bodies to thank him. We also thanked Mr. Salucci but there was no money involved. Absolutely not.”
Frank knew that none of the girls had ever been busted for prostitution so it would be very hard to prove. Still it was nice to have Bobby along.
Bobby said, “When do you want to get the room and for how long?”
“This afternoon for two nights.”
“Alright, I’ll go.”
“Great. It will be fun.”
Bobby was going over his options and had just about decided to get a book from the gift shop when an attractive woman with long brown hair and lots of necklaces and bracelets rushed into the lobby and headed for the bank of elevators. Bobby eyes, and those of every male in the area, stayed on her until she stepped into the elevator and was gone. Bobby wondered if she was a visitor and gave it 70/30 in favor. She wasn’t showing enough skin to be a sure thing but Bobby had seen a lot of pros, especially since he started babysitting Frank back before he’d done his stint in federal prison, and he had confidence in his ability to recognize a visitor when he say one.
Bobby moved across the lobby near the entrance so he could see the elevators. Ten minutes later the girl got off and started walking toward the front door. She wasn’t in a hurry now and walked across the lobby like a model down the runway: cool, beautiful, detached, in control. Bobby stood up and called to her, “Hey beautiful, how did things work out?”
The girl, who wasn’t used to being interrupted on the runway, was clearly surprised. She came to an abrupt stop, her wooden bracelets stopped clacking and her necklaces ceased jangling. Her skirt wrapping around her nylon covered legs and then dropped straight. She looked around until she saw Bobby Greco standing a few yards away with a grin as wide as Oklahoma. “Excuse me?” she said, with a half curious, half annoyed look, “Were you addressing me?”
Greco didn’t hesitate. “I was addressing you. I saw you come in a few minutes ago like you were late for an appointment with the first lady and now you’re leaving, not rushed at all, content, happy. So I asked you if everything worked out.”
Now she was more annoyed then curious. “And how is that any of your business?”
“It’s not my business, I can’t argue with that. But surely you realize that men want to meet beautiful woman and to do that they have to talk to them, they have to approach them, so they do, even though it can be awkward. The only difference between me and the dozen other guys who watched you go in and out of that elevator is I took a chance and talked to you. The rest of them didn’t but I’m pretty sure most of them wanted to.”
“Well, aren’t you a sweet talker.” Her voice still had an edge but Bobby could see she’d softened a little.
He smiled and said, “I’m glad you think so,” and then, “Would you like to sit down for a minute.”
They sat in the lobby and talked a little, and she told him her name was Michele.
“Just Michele? No last name?”
“I like first names. Look at it this way, of all the guys you said wanted to talk to me, you’re the only one that knows my first name.”
“That’s true. I’m going to be thankful for that. Would you like to get a drink or a coffee?”
“Yes, thanks,” she said. “You have a room here?”
“I do.”
“How’s the room service?”
“I haven’t tried it yet.”
“Let’s see what they can do.”
Michele took his arm and they walked to the elevator. Once inside Bobby punched number 7 and they started up. “What room are you in?” Michele asked.
“726.”
“Ah,” she said with a nod.
They got off at the seventh floor and when they passed room 724 Michele straighten up and leaned her head toward the door on the off chance she might hear something. Bobby smiled. “The doors are pretty thick and probably close to sound proof.”
Michele didn’t say anything. When they reached 726 Bobby opened the door and held it for Michele.
Once in Bobby said, “I have some Scotch or we can get something else from room service.”
“Scotch is fine – two fingers, neat.”
Greco poured two fingers of Scotch in a small water glass and handed it to her. Then he filled a glass a little over half full with ice and poured Scotch to the top of the rocks. They held out their glasses and clinked them.
“Please, have a seat,” said Greco with a sweep of his hand. The room had two queen sized beds, a desk with two captain’s chairs and a stand with a large screen TV. Michele sat on the inside corner of the bed nearest the door and Greco took a chair five feet away.
Greco held up his drink and said, “You’re tougher than me, I need ice with my Scotch.”
Michele laughed but stayed silent. A minute later she said, “Do you know who is in room 724?”
“Yes. How about you, do you know?”
“Yes, sort of. I got a call to meet someone there but when I arrived a few minutes late a girl came to the door and told me that Mr. Salucci already had two escorts and didn’t need any more, but thank you for coming. I would have been upset but she gave me an envelope with my fee and a generous tip.”
“That was nice of him.”
“Yes it was. Actually that’s how it’s supposed to work if you have to cancel, but you’d be surprised how many men cancel and don’t pay. So how do you know Mr. Salucci?”
“We own a few car washes together but if you don’t mind I’d rather not talk about it, about work, on my day off.”
“Okay. So what do you want to do with the rest of your day off?”
“Well I’m enjoying talking to you.”
“I’m enjoying talking to you, too.”
“Besides having a coffee brought by room service, what did you have in mind when you, can I say, invited yourself up to my room?”
“Of course you can say that, that’s what I did right?”
“Yes. It was a nice surprise.”
“I think the reason I wanted to come up with you is fairly obvious, Bobby. You know that I was going to see your partner and you know why your partner has girls up to his room, right?”
Bobby nodded.
“Well…? Michele stood up, and with her eyes fixed on Bobby’s, started unbuttoning her blouse.<
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Bobby didn’t want to ask the question but he figured he had to. “Should we talk about money?”
When her blouse half unbuttoned Michele pulled it over her head and faced Bobby in a black, semi-see-through bra that held her full breasts in perfect position. “Do you think I’m going to pay to sleep with you?”
He smiled and said, “That would be a first for me, but no, that’s not what I was thinking.”
Bobby watched her slip off her skirt and deftly step out of it without removing her high heels. “I know,” she said, as she tossed the skirt on the bed behind her, “I was just teasing you.”
She stood up straight in her high heels and matching panties and bra. Bobby looked at her and thought, God was having a great day when he made this one. “Did you ever think about modeling for Victoria’s Secret?”
“As a matter of fact I did, but I came to the conclusion that it might get to hot in all that lingerie and I might…” Michele reached behind her, unhooked her bra and slid it off, revealing a set of magnificent breasts, “…take something off at the wrong time and ruin the commercial.”
“I could see that happening,” said Bobby, trying not to stare. “It would be the most remembered ‘blooper’ in television history.”
Michele laughed then stepped over to the bed near the window and pulled down the covers. She removed the rest of her clothes and got into bed, sliding to the far side. She wiggled her butt and said, “Umm comfy.”
Then she looked up at Bobby, smiled, and patted the spot next to her. He was out of his clothes and in beside her faster than he thought possible.
When they were finished Michele brought Bobby’s face to her breasts and stroked the back of his head. It felt nice, like everything else she’d done. He wished he knew more about her but finding out that she was incredible in bed was a good start.
Michele gently pulled away and laid down next to Bobby.
“When we were talking earlier did you want to ask me why I wasn’t going to charge you for…our ‘quality time’ together?” Did you figure it might have something to do with Frank already paying me?”
“Yes, I wanted to ask and yes, I thought it might have.”
“That didn’t have much to do with it, except to make me available. You know, since I didn’t have to be there I could be here with you.”
“So why did you do it? For free, I mean?”
“Because I liked you. I got a kick out of how you went after me in the lobby, it was flattering. I probably shouldn’t tell you this but I thought if you enjoyed it enough you might become a regular client.”
Rick smiled, “It was extremely enjoyable.”
Michele nodded demurely. “Thank you.” A few seconds later she said, “Another reason is I had you pegged as a guy that might make me see stares.”
“Did you? You sounded like you were enjoying things.”
Michele snuggled up to Bobby and closed her eyes. “Seeing stars doesn’t make me sound like that. I only sound like that when I see the Milky Way.”
Michele was on top moving slowly and Bobby lay on his back watching her. She moved rhythmically, her hips pushing back and forth. Bobby eyes took in her beautiful face and her long thick curly hair, her luscious breasts and flat stomach, her slender arms with the wooden bracelets. He couldn’t remember having ever seen a more beautiful woman.
She closed her eyes and put her hands behind her head and began moving faster. Bobby watched her, entranced by her beauty and wondered why he couldn’t hear her wooden bracelets clacking together… then he heard a loud knock at the door.
“Housekeeping,” a female voice announced.
“Tomorrow,” said Bobby, loud enough to carry through the door.
Michele was gone. There was a hand written message on a hotel note pad. Greco picked it up and read it:
“Bobby, thanks for the wonderful time. Hope to see you again.” It was signed and had her telephone number under her name.
Bobby tore the note off the note pad and then copied the name and number to a new page. He folder the paper and put it in his wallet and put the ordinal note in his suitcase. He didn’t want to lose it.
* * *
Chapter 6