Paparazzi Ch. 01 of 02

I grinned. "So what do we do next -- send some samples to Sal's boss?"

"Oh, no," she said, "now we sit and bide our time. We want to let Sal's phony break-up/make-up story about Micki run its course. But don't get impatient," she added as she saw the scowl on my face, "when the time is right there won't be any escape for him."

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Ever since I'd learned about Starla's rape back in college, I'd deliberately been very circumspect around her. The last thing I wanted was to do something to upset her further. But since her revelation I had been encouraged to note a real improvement in her attitude. She seemed much more relaxed and happy, and several times I saw her smiling to herself and humming some tune as she walked through the office. All that made me think that now might be the right time to see if we could take our friendship to a different level.

After several false starts when my courage failed me, I saw my chance late one afternoon when I was working with her in her office and she was positively beaming. "You've certainly been in a good mood lately," I said, trying to turn the conversation away from work, "what's going on?"

She actually blushed! "I didn't think it was so obvious," she said. Then she gave me that wonderful smile of hers. "But there's a reason for it, and I want you to be the first to know. I'm engaged!" With that she held up her left hand to show me the diamond ring she was wearing.

I was stunned. I felt like I'd just taken a body blow. But she was smiling and waiting for me to say something, so I forced out, "Uh, congratulations, Starla. That's quite a surprise. I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."

She giggled. "We've been keeping it a secret, but we agreed last night that it's time to let everybody know." Then she looked through the door and her face took on an even bigger smile. "Oh, good, here's my fiancé now."

I swiveled around in my chair and stood just as an attractive woman in a dark business suit swept into the room. She went straight to Starla's side, embraced her and kissed her soundly as I stood there gaping.

Starla blushed again and then turned to me. "David, I'd like you to meet my fiancée, Hannah Mortenson. Hannah, this is my good friend and colleague David Cowan."

The woman thrust her hand out and gave me a firm handshake. She said something about having heard a lot about me, but there was such a roaring in my ears that I couldn't make out most of it. I simply smiled as best I could and nodded inanely. After a couple of minutes, Starla spoke up. "Hannah's taking me to a rally on women's rights, so we're going to slip out a little early. I'll see you tomorrow, David." With that the pair walked out, hand in hand.

I flopped back in the chair and sat there dumbfounded.