Rolling the Dice

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Spring 1986

Laura Martinelli sighed with frustration as the voice of her boss, Paul Bishop, filled the receiver of the brick sized mobile phone in her hand. Not that she didn't want to talk to the owner of the Greenwood Realty Corp, but she had really hoped to talk to him, and not his recorded voice on the office answering machine. At two-thirty in the afternoon, Paul should've been at his desk, or at least had Alicia Martinez, his secretary, covering the phones. But then Laura recalled that it was Friday afternoon, and Paul liked to take a long lunch on Friday afternoons, and more times than not, he would take Alicia along with him. That they always ate at Clemenza's, which just happened to be down the street from the All-Star Motel was, the thirty-four-year-old brunette knew, just a coincidence. Just like it was a coincidence that the sun rose in the East every morning.

That the fifty-nine-year-old Realtor was screwing his twenty-four-year-old secretary really wasn't any of Laura's concern, at least not beyond how it affected the way business was run. It certainly didn't seem to bother Mrs. Bishop, who seemed to know all about it. Having met the fifty-five-year-old, Laura had formed the opinion that, while she didn't voice it, Martha Bishop looked on her husband's infidelity as a godsend, allowing her to abandon conjugal duties that she had long ago lost interest in. Laura couldn't understand how any woman could lose interest in sex like that, and hoped she never had the opportunity to learn.

But little of that mattered in her current predicament, Laura thought, except to explain why this contraption wasn't worth the ridiculous sum of money that Paul had spent on it at the local Radio Shack. In theory, of course, having a portable phone where your agents in the field could contact you did sound like a good idea, but it was pretty much useless if no one was there to pick up on the other end. Resisting the urge to hurl the handset into the woods, Laura considered who else she might call.

"I'm just about done here, ma'am," the young man in the soiled corduroy overalls said as he walked up to her. "Have you managed to get anyone to come out and pick you up yet?"

Laura again sighed, looking past the tow truck mechanic to where her company issue Ford Pinto had been hooked up to the back of his rig. Only being the driver, he hadn't been able to say what exactly was wrong with it, that would fall to the mechanic back at the station. Still, just the way he was shaking his head when he'd examined the engine made Laura think that whatever repairs it needed, they were going to be expensive. So, again, she was thankful that it was a company car.

Standing next to the tow truck was the reason Laura needed to find a ride back to town, Salvatore Romano and his wife, Sophie. The real estate agent had brought them out to take one more look at the old Stevenson house, a white elephant that she had been trying to unload for the last six months. Initially, it had looked that she had the Romanos on the hook for it, but they insisted on one last ride out to it before deciding. Unlike the previous forays, Mrs. Romano now rarely left her husband's side, so Laura had been unable to flash her tits at him in distraction whenever he came across anything that might prove detrimental to the sale.

Laura didn't view doing so as unethical; after all, if God had blessed her with a pair of double D's, was it her fault that men couldn't keep their eyes off them? Unfortunately, they had the opposite effect on Mrs. Romano, who had been much less blessed, and had had enough of her husband paying them so much attention. They'd ended the inspection with a "we'll have to think about it a bit more," which Laura knew meant that they'd already decided not to buy it. In a day or so, she'd get a phone call saying just that.

"Ma'am?" the driver repeated, again drawing attention to the fact that he was ready to leave.

"Just give me one more minute," Laura asked as she considered her options.

There was just about enough room in the front cab of the tow truck for the driver and two passengers, which of course had to be the Romanos. Laura had tried calling the local car service, only to be told that since she was so far out of town, they'd have to charge for the trip out there as well - an expense that she was certain Paul wouldn't let her put on the company account. She said she'd call them back.

For a few fleeting moments, she had considered calling Rusty Myers, the television repairman she'd been seeing the last few months, but then decided against it. With little in common other than both being divorced, Laura was already becoming tired of the relationship, if you could really call it that, and had almost made up her mind to end it. It was a decision she needed to make soon, she reminded herself, because even the sex, which was really all that was keeping it going, had become rather routine, if not actually boring. Putting herself in Rusty's debt would only make that harder.

Nor was taking the offer of the driver, who's embroidered name tag identified him as "Rick," to come back to pick her up after he'd dropped off the Romanos and the car, pointing out that this was his last run of the day anyway. If the barely eighteen-year-old hadn't been practically drooling over her breasts when he'd made the offer, she might have taken it more seriously. Laura got the impression that the kid, and he really was just a kid, was thinking that his generosity was, somehow, going to get him a better look at her boobs. If that was the case, then he was going to be sorely disappointed, so better to do that to him now rather than later.

'A pity you're not ten years older, kid,' Laura had thought before moving onto one final option, 'you might've gotten more than just a better look.'

Which now left her with her younger sister, Marisa, with whom, even though they lived together, she was barely on speaking terms right now. A late in life surprise to their parents, there was a fourteen-year gap between her and Marisa, and over the last decade she'd been more mother than sister to the rambunctious twenty-year old. Their latest point of contention was Marisa's new boyfriend, Walsh Connors, who Laura didn't approve of.

'Well, I hope I find her in a good mood at least,' Laura said as she dialed the number of the diner where Marisa worked.

"Alexander's," a female voice said as the call connected.

"May I speak to Marisa Martinelli, please?" Laura said.

"I'm sorry, she's already left for the day," the woman on the other end said.

"Damn," Laura said under her breath, glancing at her watch to confirm that it was still not yet four, the time Marisa normally finished.

"Is this Laura?" the voice unexpectedly asked.

"Yes," she replied, caught off guard for a moment.

"I thought I recognized your voice. It's Janet Madison," she said.

"Oh, hello Janet," Laura said automatically, even as the image of the tall, red haired twenty-eight-year-old appeared in her head.

"Marisa and I switched shifts today because she and Walsh were going to his parents' place down by Blueridge Lake for the weekend," Janet explained. "Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"I don't think so," Laura said, giving an explanation of her own as to why she was calling.

"They're probably halfway there by now," Janet pointed out, "they left about one-thirty."

"I guess I'll just have to figure out something else then," Laura said, a slight but noticeable dejection in her tone. "Thank you, Janet."

Laura was about to press the button that would disconnect the call when she heard the younger woman call out her name once more. Curious, she put the receiver back to her ear.

"Janet?" she said.

"Good, you're still there," Janet said, the urgency of her tone reflecting that she hadn't expected to catch her before she hung up.

"Was there something else that you wanted to say?" Laura asked.

"Actually, yes," Janet said. "I'm just about done with my shift anyway, so why don't I come out and get you?"

The offer surprised Laura, especially since she'd been under the impression that the younger woman didn't even like her. Despite the age difference, Janet and Marisa had, at least from appearances, become good friends, but whenever the redhead had to interact with Laura, she always came across as a bit aloof, if not downright distant. Just last month, when Marisa had invited her co-worker to dinner, that detachment inexplicably escalated to hostility when, just as they were sitting down to the antipasto, Janet suddenly announced that she needed to go, leaving Laura at a loss at how to convince her younger sister that she hadn't said anything to upset her guest. If anything, Laura had insisted, she'd gone out of her way to be on her very best behavior.

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that," Laura said, even as, despite their previous encounters, she hoped that she would.

"You're not asking, I'm offering," Janet said, pointing out the difference. "Besides, I owe Marisa a few favors; this is a way to pay at least one of them back. I'm sure that if she was here, she'd already be on her way to pick you up."

Laura wasn't as certain of that as Janet seemed to be, but knew enough not to say so. Instead, she again professed a reluctance to take the younger woman up on her offer.

"I'm not going to take no for an answer," Janet said firmly, dismissing any further argument. "Just explain to me exactly how I get out there."

Having dutifully declined twice, and thankful that she had been ignored both times, Laura waited while Janet got a pencil and paper, then gave careful directions on how to get out to the Stevenson house. She then listened carefully as Janet read them back to her.

"If I don't get lost, I should be out there about five-thirty," Janet said once the directions had been confirmed.

"I'll be here," Laura had replied, thinking once she'd ended the call what a stupid thing that had been to say. Where the hell else would she be?

In saying goodbye to the Romanos, again apologizing for the car trouble, Laura maintained the fiction that they might still be interested in the house behind them. It was never smart to burn your bridges, she'd been taught, and even if they didn't want this one, the couple were still looking for a new home.

Then she turned to Rick and, once more verifying the contact information for the garage the car was being taken to, broke the bad news to him that she'd managed to arrange a ride home for herself after all. As she did so, she noticed his eyes drop downward for one last look at her bust, which she didn't begrudge him because that was as close as he was ever going to get to it.

After watching them pull away, Laura checked the battery charge on the phone because, once you started using it, it was only good for about ninety minutes, and even that, she'd learned, was problematic. Satisfied that she still had at least half that, Laura again dialed the office and, much to her surprise, this time Alicia answered.

Told that Paul had gone to get his hair cut after lunch, Laura dictated a note to him, adding the garage contact information to what she had left on the machine earlier. Alicia expressed indignation when Laura asked her to read the note back to her twice, the secretary having transposed one of the numbers the first time.

"What do you think I am, some sort of airhead?" Alicia had said after being asked to read it back again.

Laura thought the bleach blonde had that half right, because 'head' certainly had something to do with why she had been hired in the first place. Still, she resisted the urge to say so. Instead she placated Alicia by thanking her for her thoroughness once she had read it back the second time, which seemed to make her happy enough.

Not expecting Paul to call her back, especially since the charges for each call, incoming or outgoing, ran as much as fifty cents a minute, Laura switched the phone to standby mode. The electricity in the house, like the phone service, had been turned off weeks ago by the current owners to save money, so it was better to conserve the battery in case she needed to use it later. If anything, she'd check in with the office when she finally got home.

Now there was nothing to do but wait, which turned out to be a lot easier than Laura might have imagined. Only a few minutes after settling into one of the Adirondack chairs up on the porch, the tired brunette let the cool afternoon breeze and peaceful quiet take hold, causing her to drift into a much-welcomed sleep.

-=-=-=-=-

Her sleep lasted until she was awakened by the sound of a car pulling into the gravel covered driveway. Laura didn't recognize the Peacock Blue Suzuki Samurai, but as it came to a stop she saw Janet behind the wheel. Checking her watch, she saw that she'd been asleep nearly two hours.

"You weren't kidding when you said this was pretty far off the beaten track," Janet said as she climbed out of the small, off-road 4x4. "I almost missed that turn off back on County 4."

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you for doing this," Laura said as she stepped down from the porch.

As she did, Laura noticed that Janet had taken the time to change, not that she could fault her for that. Still, her manner of dress suggested that the girl had plans for the evening; instead of the plain diner skirt and blouse she'd seen her sister wear, she was wearing a much shorter skirt and a top that seemed a size too small, causing Janet's not so modest bust to appear even larger. Additionally, even from a distance, Laura could tell that the younger woman wasn't wearing a bra beneath it. The ensemble was a sharp contrast to the conservative blazer and business skirt that Laura wore.

"No problem," Janet said as she approached her, a smile on her face, "I really didn't have any plans for the evening anyway."

"I find that hard to believe," Laura replied, thinking that this certainly hadn't been the way she'd dressed when she'd come to dinner.

"I know, it's sad, but true," Janet replied, an exaggerated pout on her face. "You're the only one on my dance card tonight."

Even if she really didn't have anything better to do, it didn't make Laura feel any less obligated to Janet. She was already thinking of how she could repay her when she was reminded by a low rumble in her stomach that she'd skipped lunch. Perhaps the younger woman would let her buy her dinner.

"You hungry?" Janet unexpectedly asked, making Laura wonder if that stomach rumble had been louder than she thought. "I didn't think to ask before if you'd eaten or not, so I stopped at the Burger Barn by the Wilson Interchange. Burgers okay with you?"

"Burgers sound great," Laura replied as Janet reached through the open window of the mini-truck and pulled out a paper bag with the franchise logo spread across it.

They made space on the wide porch steps and, using the wrappers as placemats, proceeded to eat the burgers, fries and diet cokes that Janet had brought.

"This looks like a really nice place," Janet commented as she glanced at the house while they ate. "Too bad it's so far from town."

"Well, actually, that's one of its charms," Laura noted. "Privacy and peaceful quiet were important to the original owner; he was, as I recall, a writer of some sort."

"Is that part of your sales pitch?" Janet laughingly asked.

"I'm sorry, I guess it's force of habit," Laura apologized.

"No problem," Janet replied, "but I'm afraid I could never afford a place like this anyway, even if I wanted to live out here."

"You'd be surprised," Laura offered. "I don't think it's going to go for anything near what the owners are looking for, and in the end, they'll probably take any reasonable offer. People who inherit property tend to be willing to settle for a lot less than those who actually struggled to pay for a home over the years."

"Still selling?" Janet grinned.

"Okay, I'll stop, I promise," Laura grinned as well.

"Still, it couldn't hurt to give me a quick tour," Janet suggested. "After all, I did drive all the way out here."

"One quick tour coming up," Laura said, quickly gathering up the remnants of their meal and stuffing it all back into the paper bag so that they could take it with them when they left.

With only four rooms on the first floor and three on the second, one being the bathroom, it didn't take Laura long to show off the place. Janet seemed genuinely interested, in fact more than the Romanos had been. It was a pity, the real estate agent part of her thought, that she'd already said that she couldn't afford it.

"You said the guy who owned this was a writer?" Janet said as Laura brought her spiel to a close.

"So I was told," Laura confirmed.

"Yeah, I could see this as being a good place for a writer," Janet said, before also adding that they'd better get going.

Yet, despite her seeming desire to get back to town, they'd only been driving a half hour when she asked Laura if she minded if she took a small detour.

"It's only about ten minutes," Janet said, "but it's one of the most beautiful views you're ever going to find. I try to stop there whenever I'm in the area."

"You're the one driving," Laura said in way of assent. "Besides, now you have me curious."

There wasn't much to see once they'd turned off the main road, so Laura spent the time wondering what had prompted the change in Janet's demeanor. Or had she changed? Was it possible that, having gotten off on the wrong foot the first time she'd met her, she had seen antagonisms where none had existed?

They followed the side road for about eight minutes, then turned onto what seemed little more than a path, slowing to almost walking speed as they proceeded. Dense foliage prevented Laura from seeing what might lie ahead, at least until, without warning, it all just disappeared, to be replaced by a vast panorama, the centerpiece of which was the town of Bridgetown. Looking to her left and right as Janet brought them to a stop, Laura saw that the outcropping they were on couldn't have been more than a hundred feet wide and half that in length.

"Wow, this is amazing," Laura said. "You certainly weren't exaggerating about the view."

"It's even more spectacular at night," Janet pointed out.

"I can imagine," Laura agreed as she managed to pick out a few familiar points of reference. "How did you ever find this?"

A friend brought me up here the night of the senior prom," Janet said. "We never did quite make it to the dance."

"An old boyfriend?" Laura inquired.

"Actually, it was an old girlfriend," Janet corrected, turning towards Laura to gauge her reaction.

The look of momentary confusion on the older woman's face turned to one of surprise after a few seconds, the length of time it took for Laura to realize the meaning behind Janet's correction.

"I'm guessing Marisa hasn't mentioned that I prefer women," Janet said.

"No, but there are a lot of things that we don't talk about lately," Laura confessed.

"So, she's said," Janet said, "which is a shame really. Most of the things I've heard that you'd said to her made sense to me, including your opinion of Walsh Connors."

"You agree with me about Walsh?" Laura asked.

"Actually, I do, but not for the same reasons," Janet offered. "He's not a bad kid, but he's still just a dimwit spoiled by his family's money. She could do a lot better."

Janet paused a long moment, then added, "Oh, and in case you're wondering, I've never brought Marisa up here," she said.

"I wasn't even thinking that," Laura replied, even though in some corner of her mind the question, and its implications were certainly forming.