LITMIR.BIZ

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women had a natural affinity for talking and gossiping. But she didn’t. She’d always been more of a thinker than a talker. An introvert, as opposed to Melinda’s extrovert nature. The good communication and social skills she now possessed hadn’t come naturally. They’d been acquired. With a lot of practice and hard work. By nature, she was quite shy. And private. And particularly possessive about her inner most feelings.

      Sometimes, Zoe felt that the person she now projected wasn’t the real Zoe at all. Occasionally, when she looked in the mirror, she still saw the fat, shy tongue-tied teenager she’d once been.

      “Zoe, for pity’s sake!”

      “Yes, yes, I’m just wondering where to start.”

      “Anywhere will do. Just start!”

      Telling Melinda all the gory details took Zoe less time than it had to tell Fran, possibly because she wasn’t sobbing hysterically anymore. Frankly, her overriding emotion now was just plain anger.

      “I don’t believe it,” Melinda blurted out when Zoe had finally finished the sordid tale. “Drake cheated on you with some blond piece, just because she had a ‘Bay-watch’ bustline? That doesn’t make sense. I mean, not once, in all the times he’s come here, has he ever given me the eye. And I’m a crash-hot-looking blonde with very nice boobs.”

      Zoe smiled a wry smile. Melinda never let modesty get in the way of self-praise.

      “Let’s not forget Drake has actually confessed here, Mel,” Zoe reminded her ruefully. “But of course, it was only just sex,” she added with extra tartness. “And the woman threw herself at him. Practically tore off the poor darling’s clothes. He was feeling like a bit of action and he couldn’t help himself. She meant nothing to him at all.”

      “Well, I could have told you that. Drake’s crazy about you.”

      “So he keeps telling me. But explain it to me, Mel. I mean, have you ever met some guy when you were crazy about someone else, but fancied this new guy so much that you just had to go to bed with him right away?”

      “But of course! When I met Ron I was going out with Wayne who was a right hunk, I can tell you. But once I met Ron, I dropped Wayne like a shot.”

      Zoe rolled her eyes. “Yes, but you weren’t in love with this Wayne, were you?”

      Melinda shrugged. “I guess not. Which is just as well,” she added with a wicked grin. “Because Ron’s much better in the sack.”

      “Oh, you’re hopeless. You never take anything seriously.”

      “And you, Zoe Simons, take life much too seriously. Look, for what it’s worth, I agree with your boss for once. I think you should forgive Drake. Give him another chance. It’s not as though he kept on with the blonde after he came back from the conference, did he? And she must live in Sydney to show up at the Rockery.”

      Zoe took a bite of her toast, munching it thoughtfully before swallowing. “No, I don’t think she comes from Sydney. Drake was far too shocked at seeing her. I think she might have just been here for a visit. That old chap she was with could have been her father.”

      “Okay, dump him then. Whatever makes you happy.”

      “But that won’t make me happy, will it? I’m going to be utterly wretched and lonely without him.”

      “Rubbish! You’re one hot-looking babe. You’ll find another guy in no time, especially if you start coming places with me. You’ll have so many gorgeous men hitting on you, you won’t know which one to date first.”

      “But I don’t want to date some other guy,” Zoe said frustratedly. “And I don’t care how gorgeous he is! I just want things the way they were. With Drake.”

      Melinda sighed an exasperated sigh. “Okay, give him another chance, then. But if you’re going to do that, then what’s the point of going away all by yourself up to some remote beach for the weekend? You might as well stay here, tell Loverboy you forgive him when he shows up tonight, then spend all weekend in the sack making up.”

      Zoe cringed at the thought. How could she possibly go to bed with Drake with the image of him and that blonde doing it in an elevator still so clear in her head? “I can’t do that,” she said, shuddering. “Not this soon. Besides, Drake doesn’t deserve to be forgiven that quickly. He deserves to suffer.”

      Melinda frowned at her. “That doesn’t sound like you, Zoe. That sounds more like your boss. She’d be right into suffering. Bet she and her lawyer hubbie are into S & M in private. You know, bondage and black leather and stuff. But he’d be the one tied up and she’d have the whip. You could count on that.”

      Zoe stared at her roommate, shocked. “Don’t be silly. Normal people don’t do things like that.”

      “Don’t you believe it. Lots of normal-looking people are right into S & M. Or some form of it. Hasn’t Drake ever wanted to tie you up?”

      “Of course not!” The very idea! She’d had enough trouble just getting naked with him. The prospect of being naked and tied up sent a shudder of revulsion all through her, especially the thought of Drake looking at places she couldn’t bear the thought of him looking at without her being able to move or cover herself up.

      “Ron’s always wanting to tie me up,” Melinda confided blithely. “I might let him one day.”

      “Are you crazy? What if he…you know…did things you didn’t want him to do?”

      Melinda pulled a face. “Yeah, you’re right. You’d have to trust a guy a hell of a lot to let him tie you up. And I’m not sure I trust Ron enough for that yet. I think I’ll tie him up instead,” she said, grinning. “Now that would be almost as much fun.”

      Zoe shook her head. “You’re mad.”

      “Mad and bad,” Melinda joked. “You should take lessons. Now, if it was me going away for the weekend after my boyfriend screwed some other female, I wouldn’t be going to some lonely old beach shack. I’d be heading for some swinging resort and looking for a bit of action myself. Yep, I’d be giving ole Drakey boy a bit of his own medicine. That’s what I’d be doing.”

      “But I’m not you, am I?” Zoe said, almost wishing that she was. It must be great not to feel things so deeply for once.

      “Which is just as well,” Melinda countered, “or I wouldn’t like you as much as I do. Look, don’t take any notice of me, Zoe,” she went on, her smile fading abruptly. “I can be a vicious bitch sometimes. Why do you think I want to marry a man richer than my father? Because I want to show that old tightwad a thing or two. I’ll never forgive him for tossing me to the wolves like he did. If he’d wanted me to be a career girl from the word go, then why ever didn’t he say so when I was still at school? Then I could have made something of myself while I had the chance. I wouldn’t have to make a living being a clotheshorse and putting up with men’s preconceptions of me, simply because I’m an underwear model!”

      Zoe stared at her friend, amazed by the wealth of very real feeling behind her outburst. She hadn’t realized Melinda’s father had hurt her so much over what he did.

      “Sorry,” Melinda muttered. “You have enough problems of your own without my going off.”

      “I…I didn’t realize you felt that way about your job. And I didn’t know men treated you badly because you were a model.”

      Melinda shrugged. “Mostly they don’t. But I met this pathetic example of the opposite sex today when I was on a shoot and he ignored me. Treated me like I was a nobody. Yet I was standing in front of him in the sexiest black lace underwear you’ve ever seen.”

      “Who was he?”

      “Some self-made upstart of a millionaire who’s buying the fashion magazine I was doing the shoot for. Brother, did he think he was somebody. But my father could buy him ten times over!”

      “Good-looking?”

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