"Walter never found out, right?"
Louise could only shake her head.
Jo continued, "And how long has it been since...?"
"Uh! We don't say that name, remember." Louise was relieved that Terri had jumped in when she did.
"Right!" Jo agreed. "That was the deal."
"A year and a half," Louise confirmed. "He left in November."
"Oh, honey," Jo reassured her. "We understand how hard that was for you and why you have to be careful."
"It was different," Terri assured her. "You worked with the guy."
"Shit head!" Jo added.
"You worked with the shit head. You saw him all the time."
"Yeah," Jo said. "It took a while for those feelings to develop."
"Yes," Louise agreed. "I mean, I knew him for a while before anything happened."
"Exactly!" Jo agreed. "It wasn't like you saw the guy once and went crazy. You were in control."
"Until he took you out dancing," Terri recalled.
"I was an idiot." Louise couldn't continue.
Jo, scolding Terri: "Why did you have to say that?"
"I'm sorry, Lou!" Terri put her hand on Louise's shoulder.
"You are NOT an idiot, Louise," Jo reassured her. "You fell for an attractive colleague. It happens."
"It happens to a lot of the guys in my office," Terri gloated.
"Shut up!" demanded Jo. "You're being a bitch today!"
Their testy exchange inspired a fragile smile from Louise.
"Sorry!" Terri knew that she'd stepped over the line. "But what you went through, Lou, it was a completely natural thing."
"Yes, it's completely natural to fall for a man that you can't have and get your heart broken," Louise concluded. "I don't want to go through that again."
"No!" Jo protested. "This situation is entirely different."
"He's just some guy with a fancy car," Terri added.
"A RICH guy with a fancy car!"
"And a horse farm," Louise completed their thought.
"A horse farm?" Terri asked.
"You mean like race horses?"
"I think so," Louise offered. "I don't know."
"Of course," Terri thought out loud. "Ferraris and horses!"
"He doesn't own the farm," Louise assured them. "He just works there. I think."
"What's the name of this place?" Jo had her smart phone ready.
"El Corazon," Louise responded. "El Corazon Stables. C-O-R..."
"I know how to spell 'Corazon'," Jo insisted. "Oh, I found it!"
"Anything interesting?" Terri asked.
Jo squinted to read the page. "Is this guy's name Francisco Mela?"
"Yes, why?"
"Because he's GORGEOUS!" - Jo held the phone up.
"Let me see!" Terri demanded. "Oh my goodness!"
"Right?" Jo responded.
"That man...wow!" Terri was at a loss for words. Terri - vixen conqueror of men - was speechless.
"He can give me a ride in his Ferrari anytime," Jo offered.
"Mm-hmm!" Terri added.
"You guys are NOT helping," Louise scolded them. "NOT HELPING!"
"Well, maybe we can be of some help," Terri offered. "It says here that they do raise race horses. So, that's something."
"And they give riding lessons," Jo added cheerfully.
"Oh! And your friend, Francisco, here," Jo continued.
"What about him?" Louise wasn't sure that she wanted to know what Jo had discovered about Frank.
"He does own the farm."
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment