Part 7 (1/2)
”Don't I know it!”
She punched him lightly on the shoulder. ”Thanks for sticking with us so long, Bill.”
”My pleasure.”
49.
Carmen turned and grabbed the door handle, only to find she had locked herself out of the suite. Her knock drew the expected response from Cathy.
”We don't want any.”
”Good, because I don't have any.”
Cathy opened the door and held out a small stack of messages. ”You'd better get some because you're not finished.”
”What do you mean I'm not finished? I didn't even get to eat lunch.” She flipped through the messages, seeing only two that asked for a call back. ”Did Durbin say what he wanted?”
Lenore was still at the conference table. ”I saw him having lunch today with Art Conover.”
Carmen sighed. ”Great. He's going to try to squeeze me for a discount.”
Cathy peered over her gla.s.ses. ”Can you just throw in an extra consultation?”
”Bob Durbin's a jerk. If he wants to go with Conover, let him.”
Lenore gave Cathy a quizzical look. ”Why don't I give him a call? I bet we can work something out.”
Carmen grabbed a seltzer from the refrigerator and twisted the top. As she took a hefty swig, she a.n.a.lyzed her reaction. The constant nuisance of Conover pitching her clients was like being nibbled to death by ducks. But it was Durbin who annoyed her more. She had long suspected he was sharing her reports with another agency and splitting the cost, a strict violation of their contract because it robbed her of a customer fee. On top of that, he had blown off Judith O'Shea. She spun around and spotted the Saks bag. She hadn't thought of Judith at all since the morning session.
”Carmen?”
”Yeah, go ahead and call him. Thanks.” Carmen handed her the message and reached into the bag for Judith's card.
”Our dinner reservation's for seven thirty,” Cathy said. ”But 50 you have to put in an appearance at the c.o.c.ktail party downstairs.
That started ten minutes ago.”
Carmen blew out a raspberry. ”I'm so tired of being nice.”
She slung her purse over her shoulder and started for the door.
”Just one more hour. Then you can take it out on us.”
In the hallway, Carmen pushed the elevator b.u.t.ton and checked her appearance in the mirror as she waited. The woman looking back at her was tired. She had a right to look tired, having worked twelve days in a row to get ready for this weekend.
”Screw the tight b.u.t.t, Brooke. I'm sleeping in tomorrow.”
The elevator opened and she climbed aboard. On the way down, she made small talk with fellow pa.s.sengers, several of whom mentioned her earlier presentation. When they reached the lobby, she fell in step toward the c.o.c.ktail party until her eye caught a familiar figure standing alone at the job board.
Judith O'Shea was checking the posts and making notes on a small pad. At a conference with more than a thousand attendees, it made no sense at all to Carmen that someone as nice as Judith wouldn't be surrounded by friends.
”TDG's got a couple of openings. Ever considered coming over to the dark side where the vendors are?” Carmen smiled as she peered over Judith's shoulder.
”G.o.d, you scared me.”
”Sorry.” She leaned a hip onto the table by the board. ”And I'm sorry I didn't have more time to talk this morning. Things were kind of hectic.”
”No, that was my fault. I should have had more sense than to bother you before your presentation . . . which was great, by the way.”
”Thanks.” Carmen nodded toward the board. ”You're not happy where you are?”
Judith shook her head grimly. ”I used to be, but the commission cuts are killing us. That's why I was hoping to talk to Bob Durbin yesterday.”
51.
”Yours is one of the boutique agencies, right?”
”Yeah, we specialize in . . . gay and lesbian tours . . . things like that.”
Carmen picked up on Judith's hesitation. It didn't mean she was a lesbian herself, but the odds just went way up. ”Have you talked to Zeigler-Marsh?”
”I'd love to work at a place like that, but they're not advertising any openings.”
”That doesn't mean anything.” The next words came out before Carmen could stop herself. ”I'm having dinner with some friends tonight down in Little Italy. Sofia will be there, and she's a partner at Z-M. Why don't you join us?”
”Oh, I can't horn in on you and your friends like that.”
”Sure you can.” The idea of her friends meeting Judith was growing on her. She wanted them to see what a nice person she was. ”None of us are working tonight, though. We're just going out to have a good time.”
”Well, if you're sure . . .”
”I'm sure.” She gestured with her thumb in the direction of the ballroom, where the c.o.c.ktail party was well underway. ”But I have to go show my face in there for a while. Are you coming?”
”Yeah, I was going to stop in.”