Chapter 10

Carol Bauer was in lighter spirits than she'd been in months when she debarked the train at the Lennox Avenue exit. She was a couple hours early, but she decided not to call Vikki just yet, preferring instead to walk around the balmy summer streets enjoying the breezes wafting in over the East River. She'd only brought a small suitcase, intending to spend just the weekend and no more in the bustling First City. Still, she felt spunky, almost frivolous, as she walked along. New York in summer had always been one of her favorite cities; she loved the sights, the smells, the savory characters ... everything!

Of course a girl had to be careful in any big city-even back home in Philly-and New York was the biggest of them all. Indeed, it was more than once as she walked along, that she was openly, if inoffensively, propositioned in scarcely-veiled terms. She reckoned, by the time she rang up Vikki from the downstairs lobby, that she had heard the phrase, "Hey baby, goin' my way?" at least fifteen times that day.

It was a surprised younger sister that opened the door for her, instantly launching into a mock tirade over her not calling the second she got to town.

"Oh, you know me," Carol explained as she swept past Vikki at the door to take a seat on the couch. "I always was a great one for rubbernecking the 'natives,' even when we were kids ... Where's Grant?"

Vikki moved Carol's suitcase from the doorway where she'd dropped it to the hall. "Angel's got him again," she called over her shoulder. "I think they're roller skating at Rockefeller Plaza."

Carol looked disappointed. "Oh?"

"They thought you'd be a little later getting here," Vikki explained, returning to the living room and taking a seat beside her. "Grant's really been looking forward to your coming!" In her mind, she spelled it with a U and two M's. "Angel's been looking forward to making your acquaintance, too!" This, with a 6 and a 9.

Satisfied with her sister's explanation, Carol managed a pair of pretty dimples. "Has he been behaving himself?" she queried.

"He's a good boy," Vikki assured her. "Real good!"

"What's for lunch? I'm starved."

"I thought you would be," Vikki said, helping Carol to her feet and dragging her off in the direction of the kitchen.

"I had some pizza sent over from Luigi's. It's warming in the oven."

"Sounds great, Vik."

Elgin Stafford stared reflectively from the window of his twenty-ninth floor office suite for a long time before reaching down to straighten the rising lump in his slacks. Below, he could see the crowds of summer tourists milling the sidewalks like so many thrill-seeking ants well into what, for most New Yorkers, was the normal working day. Of course they didn't all work the same hours, he thought smugly. Sometimes, they didn't even have to leave home to get the job done.

With that happy thought in mind, he turned from his station at the window and approached the intercom set on his desk, intent on calling Vikki to check on her progress before calling Garfield to tell him it was set for the Brinkman flick. But then, intuitively, he knew Vikki Haydon well enough by now to know just how resourceful she could be when she wanted to be. No, Vikki wouldn't be having any trouble; of that, he was certain.

Clearing his throat, the big man extended a beefy middle finger and pressed down hard on the toggle marked "Speak."

"Peggy ... ?"

"Yes, Mr. Stafford?"

"Get Dick Garfield on the line ... Tell him it's all systems go on the Brinkman thing ... He'll know what I'm talking about."

"Yes, Mr. Stafford."

Satisfied, Stafford plunged his hands deeply into his pockets to rattle his keys on the way back to the window. Jesus, he could hardly wait!

Vikki dabbed the last vestiges of tomato sauce from the corners of her pouting mouth and smiled concernedly. "Y'know kid," she continued with sisterly affection, "if I were in your shoes, I think I'd just go out and get myself laid and be done with it."

Carol conceded the point with a shrug. She and Vikki were sisters but, as far as sex was concerned, they weren't exactly cut from the same bolt of cloth. "I'd like to, Vik ... Maybe then I could get back to my studies, what with finals coming up in three weeks ... But, well, Grant's kind of a problem, y'know?"

"No. He's here in New York and you're in Philly."

"That's just the point, Vik ... I can't just go to bed with a guy ... I mean, what if he found out? ... I mean, if I was going steady with the guy it might be different, but I just haven't got the time for romance right now."

"Well, I'd never tell," Vikki assured her. "And besides, Grant's a pretty level-headed kid; I'm sure he understands that even mothers get horny once in a while."

Carol's blush matched the color of the tomato sauce that dripped from her latest slice of pizza ... I supposed," she faltered. "But, he's a lot like Fred, too, y'know? I mean, Fred was a real hotshot in bed, but he expected me to be a saint in public."

"Sounds like an old saw, kid ... Grant's hipper than that."

There was something overly familiar in her younger sister's tone when she spoke of Grant that bothered the red-haired young mother. She knew all about some of Vikki's wilder exploits, but surely she wasn't ... Her mind refused to entertain such notions any further. "Say, this is really good pizza," she brightened in an effort, to change the subject.

"Luigi makes the best in New York," Vikki agreed. "Grant says he's going to kidnap one of the cooks and take him back to Philly when summer's over." She studied her sister's handsome features, her pertly upturned nose, her deep blue eyes. "Y'know, Angel used to be married to this guy who couldn't get it up ... kind of an old geezer, y'know?"

Carol blinked uncertainly, not particularly caring for the direction their conversation was taking.

"Anyway," continued Vikki, "he was kind of a thoughtful old cuss ... But, he had business dealings that just wouldn't jell if word ever got out that his wife was playing around ... You want more pizza? I can call-"

Carol shook her head emphatically. "No, I'm going to bust now!"

"This guy actually fixed it up so she could go out and get laid just like a guy ... For money ... No questions asked, no-"

Carol nearly gagged on her pizza. "What!"

"Sure, why not? Guys pay for it without any repercussions, why shouldn't a woman have the same privilege?"

Instantly, Carol knew where the conversation was leading. "Are you suggesting that I ... I-"

Vikki nodded vigorously. "It beats getting picked up by God-knows-what in a singles bar ... And, who knows, you might even pass those finals."

Carol thought she was going to be sick. The very idea was revolting. And yet, there was an inexplicable subtle parting of her vaginal lips that served to increase her mortification.

"Hey, don't look so shocked, kid," Vikki reprimanded her. "It's just you and me talking, okay? Remember the Haydon sisters? Belles of the ball?"

Carol calmed a little. "You ... You just took me by surprise," she managed as if she'd just regained her wind from a blow to the stomach. "For a minute there I thought you were serious."

"I am," Vikki followed. "But nobody's twisting your arm ... Hell, the guy's as harmless as a fly ... I've tried him myself!"

"You have?" Carol was stunned.

Again, Vikki nodded. "It's neat, clean and unpretentious," she beamed. "If you want, I can probably fix up a little 'party' for this weekend."

The young mother's hands were shaking so bad that she dropped her pizza. Everything was coming so fast and yet there was something bizarrely exciting about her sister's proposal. God, it went against everything she'd ever been taught about decency and propriety, and yet ... it had been a long time since she'd done anything really wild.

"I'll go with you, kid," Vikki offered graciously. "We'll make a real shindig out of it."

Carol looked at her sister for a long moment, her interest obviously piqued, her curiosity aroused. And then, with a blush, she reached for another slice of hot pizza. "What the hell," she shrugged. "When in Rome ..."