“Bingo.” Suddenly, I felt relieved - Clinton was catching on.
“You know my portfolio of properties. Which one do you want?”
“How about the old mansion on the point at the north end of the Hamptons. You know, the one that was rumored to belong to that famous novelist… I can’t think of his name.
“Fitzgerald?”
“Yeah, it’s very secluded and is completely fenced in. Also, since Tammy is a wedding planner, I’m hoping to pitch this place to her, so this can be a win-win-win for all three of us.”
“So there is a pot of gold at the end of this bazaar rainbow? Clinton lowered his voice. When it came to money, he was all ears. “And you’re in luck. The place is vacant for the summer. Tell me more.”
“Okay. We pull off the fake wedding… Tammy offers the mansion as a wedding venue to her billionaire clients during times it’s not already under lease… You make lots of bucks…”
“And that place is a bitch to rent…very high end. You’ve got it, my friend.”
“Thanks, Clinton. I’ll call with a date… and… enjoy your vacation.”
“Good luck to you, Nate. Talk soon… Nice doing business with you again.” The last thing I heard was Clinton’s laughter before he disconnected the call.
I wasn’t a fan of drinking hard liquor before five o’clock, but I needed something strong before I placed my next call.
The ice clinked in the tumbler as I set it down on the end table after taking a sip of whiskey. This time, I called Tammy. Holding my breath until the third ring, and letting it out slowly when she responded with a pleasant, “Hello.”
After a couple of minutes of small talk, I finely got to the point, “Hey, I was wondering, are you busy on maybe… Tuesday?”
“Some of Tuesday, not all of it. Why?” Tammy’s voice was cheery.
“I have a business proposal for you,” I said, unsure of what else to call it. “Something that’ll help both of us.”
“What kind of help. You just got your new job. Oh, is your knee bothering you?”
“No, be real, how could my bad knee help you?” I teased, “It’s nothing like that. Can we wait until Tuesday? I want to talk to you about an idea I think you might like… in person?” I pressed. “It’s kinda a surprise.”
“Oooh, you know me. I love surprises. But how about breakfast tomorrow instead of Tuesday? That would be better for me.” Tammy giggled. “And it means I get to indulge my curiosity sooner since you’re being so mysterious.”
“Breakfast with me two days within a week? You must like me a lot.” I expected her to come back with a cheeky joke of her own, but none came. Either I struck a nerve or… or I was close to the truth. “Anyway,” I said, my mouth suddenly dry. “See you tomorrow? For breakfast?”
“Yeah, can’t wait. See you tomorrow.”
I lowered my phone, unsure if I should feel apologetic or elated. Had I just mentioned that I had a surprise - an understatement, to say the least. In return, did I get an inadvertent admission of affection out of Tammy? She was the queen of witty comebacks. But she seemed at a loss for words.
Something had transpired between us last night and this morning other than the obvious. I couldn’t deny it, even if I wanted to.
I should have called tomorrow a date,I realized regretfully. A moment later, though, I retracted that thought. No one in their right mind would call what I was about to do a date. There would be plenty of time to ask Tammy on a real date if she was receptive to my proposal.Unless she slaps your face and walks away.
* * *
Monday morning dawned cloudy, drizzling rain, and I felt like a rock was resting in the pit of my stomach. And why shouldn’t I feel this way? My whole life was hanging in the balance.
Worst of all, if Tammy turned me down, I didn’t have a contingency plan. I decided to block that thought and the negative energy that came with it out of my mind, with a few minutes of meditation. When I was playing ball, I had often found a few moments of quiet meditation before a game was helpful to quell my game day nerves. Since then, I had forgotten about that practice until this morning.
I sank into an armchair, closed my eyes and started my deep breathing routine. But on the third breath, my eyes opened wide.Shit... this is not cutting it…
Thirty minutes later, I walked into the quaint bakery and spotted Tammy sitting in a corner booth. “It’s a good day for ducks, wouldn’t you say?” Tammy joked, as we shared a quick hug and kiss. Her arms around me, even for that brief moment, brought back enticing memories of Saturday night, and I wished we could do it all over again tonight, every night.
“I hope you don’t have clients with an outdoor wedding today.”What a great segue to where I’m going with this non-date.
“Just a small wedding today, and it’s indoors at a church. But you wouldn’t believe some of the disasters I’ve seen with outdoor weddings and rain. People who want to save money and refuse to spend a little extra on a tent are always the ones who get rained on, and they’re also the ones that take it the worst.”
