“Did you find her attractive?”
“I said she was cute.”
“I think Tom Cruise is cute, but I’m not attracted to him.”
“I thought all straight women melted over him.”
“Not this one. He’s a bit too wacky for my tastes. So no
butterflies, nothing?”
“No flutter in the least, but she’s a sweetie, and I agreed
to go out with her again on Friday. Do you think I’m judging
prematurely?”
“Let me ask you this. If you passed her on the street without
having met her, would you want to follow after her and ask her
out?”“We both know I wouldn’t do that even if I thought she was
hot,” I said, avoiding the answer.
“Then your answer is no,” Kalen said succinctly. “I don’t
know, sweetie. It’s a tough call if you’re not physically attracted
to her. Maybe you should go out with her Friday, and if she’s not
ringing your bells, then you need to let her down gently.”
“Dating really blows,” I said dejectedly. “It’d be nice to meet
someone like Hailey.”
“I’ve been waiting to hear you say that,” Kalen said with a
sound of triumph in her voice. “You’re smitten with her. I could
tell by the way you looked the other day. I told you that then.”
“That blows, too.”
“That I’m right?” Kalen said with a laugh.
“That you’re a jackass for rubbing it in my face and that she’s
straight and interested in someone else.”
1
Robin Alexander
“Bet you feel all tingly when you look at her, though,” Kalen
said seriously. “There’s nothing wrong with having a crush on
someone. It happens. But that might be getting in the way of you
meeting the right woman for you. I know she’s your friend, but if
you back away for a while, those butterflies will fly off.”
“That’s kind of hard to do with her living one floor below
me.”“You’ll find a way. You’re brilliant at avoiding me when you
want to. Give yourself some space. Look, I hate to cut this short,
but the crackers I ate for breakfast are on their way up.”
“Love you, bye,” I said, but Kalen had already disconnected.
I listened to the rain that was pounding on my window. The
sound made me want to crawl back into bed and sleep the day
away. Thunder rolled over the top of the building as lightning
flashed, then it was dark. I tossed the phone onto my coffee table
and stretched out on the couch. When I opened my eyes again, my
watch showed that it was after noon.
The power was still off when I rolled off the couch. Work
wasn’t an option. I wanted to call and check on Kalen, but my
cordless phone wasn’t working due to the outage. I rummaged
around, looking for my cell and realized that it was probably
in my car. When I went down to the garage, I heard music. As
I rounded the corner, I saw Fluffy intercept a ball that Hailey
bounced against the cement wall.
“Are you going somewhere?” Hailey asked when she turned.
“No, I was just going to get my phone out of the car, why?”
“Some of the streets are under water. My boss called and
asked me not to try to come in.” Hailey turned and hurled the ball
at the wall. “We’ve gotten a couple inches of rain this morning.
I’ve been listening to the weather on the radio. We’re supposed to
get more.” Hailey leaned against a shiny silver SUV when Fuzzy
took the ball and lay down.
“Is that your car?” I asked, moving closer. I’d noticed it in the
garage but hadn’t realized it was hers.
Hailey nodded.
I looked down at the license plate. “It’s not a rental?”
Hailey looked at me oddly as she shook her head. “No, why?”
2
Pitifully Ugly
“Because it has Georgia plates.” I watched as a flush moved
over Hailey’s face. “How long have you lived in New Orleans?”
My stomach knotted when Hailey’s lips twitched before she
replied. “A little less than two months.”
“I thought you said you moved from Tchoupitoulas Street.”
“I did.” Her voice was low. “I stayed in the company apartment
until I found a place to live.” Hailey didn’t move, though Fuzzy
had gotten her second wind and was bumping her ball against her
leg. “Where in Georgia are you from?” I thought I knew the
answer, but I wanted to make her say it.
Her shoulders sagged when she looked away from me.
“Atlanta.”
“You knew about the Rainbow Room before I mentioned it,
didn’t you?” Hailey nodded but didn’t look my way. “Why didn’t
you tell me?”
‘“Keep up the lie and hope she never finds out. That’s how
the game is played.’ Wasn’t that your advice?” Hailey turned to
face me.
I felt shocked, confused, and downright pissed off. “How did
you know it was me you were talking to?”
“You mentioned that you got a haircut. I wasn’t completely
sure then, but the coincidence was too uncanny to ignore. And
then you talked about the Rainbow Room, and that sealed it.”
“Why didn’t you come out and tell me then? And weren’t you
married to a man that you loved?” A ton of questions whirled
through my brain.
Hailey’s face turned a deeper shade of red. “I was incapable
of loving him like I should’ve. He deserved to be with someone
who could give him what I couldn’t.”
I scrubbed at my face as the truth settled in. I tried to retrace
all the conversations we’d had, but my mind was a complete
jumble.
“You told me about the Rainbow Room after I told you about
him. I wasn’t completely sure that you were P.U. until that moment.
Then I was afraid to come clean after I’d just told you about my
infidelity. I was afraid of what you’d think of me.” Hailey took
Robin Alexander
the ball that Fuzzy was rubbing on her leg and threw it. “The
other day when I invited you to dinner, I was going to tell you
everything, but I was nervous, so I e-mailed you to see what you’d
say, test the waters. Your response really surprised me.”
“I was hurt. I asked if you wanted to meet and you blew me
off, then you started talking about someone—” I thought back
to the part of Hailey’s e-mail that had hurt the most. I think she’s
someone I real y want to get to know. “Why did you choose the
Rainbow Room? I thought you were straight.”
“The affair was with another woman. I realized rather late in
life the real reason I wasn’t happy.”
Part of me wanted to be elated with the revelation. The other
part was appalled. “We’ll, it’s been nice talking to you, Newbie,”
I said as I turned and stalked toward the door.
“Shannon, please—” I could hear Hailey coming after me.
“Wait!” I turned and held my hands up. Hailey and Fuzzy
skidded to a halt. “I don’t want to hear anything else right now. I
need some time.”
Hailey opened her mouth, then closed it, deflated. Fuzzy
watched the exchange between us and leaned heavily against
Hailey’s leg with a whimper. I turned and went into the building,
hoping they wouldn’t follow.
4
Pitifully Ugly