Double Breasted Part 3/5
Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2000

sue hantak <hantaks@mtco.com>

(Part 3)


Laura set her alarm for 5:00 AM. She thought she would get in a few more pages of after-hours calling before heading to the office. There was zero chance for Mr. Steele to try to call her at that hour. Although she knew plastic surgeons do good, necessary work, she couldn't help but be disgusted at the thought of what women put themselves through in the quest for youth and sex appeal. Obviously given the seemingly endless supply of surgeons, it's a sad commentary on society. Laura herself began to have some self image doubts. Although she would never go to the drastic extremes of getting implants herself, she did secretly wish she had more to offer in that area. Since she had taken on this case, she lingered a bit longer assessing herself in the mirror. She lifted, pushed, squished and posed herself, even contemplating the purchase of a Wonderbra.

After operating on an inadequate four hours sleep, Laura was dragging by afternoon and not her usual lucid self. She absentmindedly left her purse at her desk when she left for an errand. Of course, she also forgot the brochures and Dr. Davis' enlargement images that it contained.

Laura called from the bank, "Mildred. Hi it's Laura. I need you to do me a favor...I left my purse in my desk drawer and I need the account numbers from the banking statement that's in the outside pocket."

Mildred retrieved her purse and rummaged through it in search of what Laura needed. Miss Krebs also unintentionally found the evidence supporting her "boob job" theory.

"Look at these..." she tossed the pamphlets and photos in Mr. Steele's direction with an I-told-you-so flair, "you still think she's not serious?"

"Where did you get these?"

"They were in Miss Holt's purse."

He ogled the enhancement photos from Dr. Davis just a bit too long as far as Mildred was concerned. She shot him a scolding look as she tore it out of his hands.

"What were you doing in her purse? Isn't that sacred or something?"

"She asked me to get something."

"Mildred there has to be an explanation for this. As a woman, I think you should talk to her about it."

"Oh chief, I couldn't...this is personal. Besides, you're the one who is closest to her...personally speaking(she winked).

"I don't even know how to approach the subject."
"Maybe if you give her a little extra attention...compliment her...SHOW her that you like what she has, she'll forget about all this foolishness."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," he didn't sound completely convinced.

Mildred returned the items to the purse just before Laura returned to the office. Mr. Steele took in Mildred's advice and invited Laura to dinner. She was yet to make a dent in that list of phone numbers and still extremely tired. "Sorry Mr. Steele, I'm going to unplug the phone tonight and go to bed early."

"You still need to eat...just dinner...promise."

She never could resist when he turned on his charm. She knew how his dinner invitations always seemed to include dessert and coffee at his apartment. There's never any arm-twisting involved when he asked her to stay for a late movie. Nor was there any regret when he turned on soft music and invited her to dance. As tempting as it was, she really needed a night at home, alone. "Okay...an early dinner...separate cars." Laura specified.

A restaurant called Chivalrous Knights opened nearby. It had a medieval theme. Armor, swords, coat of arms decorated the walls. Buxom women in tight outfits were the "serving wenches". Under normal circumstances they might enjoy the novelty, however they both were uneasy with the atmosphere. Laura couldn't help but compare herself to the waitresses that paraded by. Remington instantly regretted his choice of restaurants. Tonight was suppose to be all about reassuring Laura that physical attributes are not important and he takes her to a 12th-Century version of Hooters, giving her the impression that he enjoyed that sort of thing. A very quiet and uncomfortable dinner ensued. Remington walked Laura to her car. He opened the door for her. With her seated in the driver's seat, he bent down and kissed her thoughtfully and compassionately. He shut the driver's door and whispered, "Goodnight."

Laura made a pot of coffee hoping the caffeine would carry her through the H's. This process was going way too slow. What little bit she learned about cons was that the most effective ones hit quickly and left quickly. For all she knew, this joker took his scam on the road by now. She would have to use her weekend to try to get through the remainder of the directory if she had any chance of catching him at his game. How was she going to put off Mr. Steele for an entire weekend? What plausible excuse would he accept? If she suddenly became ill, he would be over here with chicken soup in hand. An alleged "Women's Seminar might do the trick. She loathed lying to him though. Once this case is over, she decided she would tell him about it. That eased her conscience and still kept her promise to the client not to involve anyone else.


It was Thursday morning when Laura announced her plans to attend a fictitious conference. In Remington's office, she apologetically admitted, "I'm afraid I have to cancel this weekend. I won't be available to do Catalina Saturday. I forgot that I signed up to volunteer at The Women's Symposium on Violence. I'll be stuck at the Marriott all weekend." Guilt prompted her to promise him, "Next weekend?...Drive up to Napa?" She eased herself up on the edge of his desk leaning suggestively near him.

A pleasant memory of the last time they were in the vineyards gave him hope. "You mean...winery tour?" he asked optimistically.

"I'm kind of partial to wine cellars myself," Laura replied pointedly. She, too, fondly remembered the monastery.

"When does your conference start?"

"Tomorrow...6:00 PM hors d'oeuvres followed by keynote address...dinner." She was nervous about lying and continued to lay it on thick, "Saturday is full of workshops, guest speakers you know..."

Mildred came into his office, "Miss Holt, there's a Marla Banks holding for you."

"I'll take it in my office." Laura hopped off the edge of his desk and closed her door.

"What was all that business about workshops and guest speakers?" Mildred inquired.

"Miss Holt is spending her weekend at some women's meeting."

"Are you sure?" Mildred continued to be suspicious of Laura recent actions.

"Where else would she be going?"

"I still think she's going through with it."

"Call the Marriott see if they are hosting a symposium this weekend."

Mildred made a discreet call and buzzed Mr. Steele's extension.

"The only convention this weekend at the Marriott is a bunch of stock brokers. No reservation for Miss Holt either...Oh Mr. Steele, she must be doing it this weekend...She's probably going in as an outpatient Friday and taking the weekend to recuperate...You have to stop her."

 

End Part 3

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