INSTALLMENT 33
Richardson’s House:
Gillian is coming down the stairs just as the doorbell rings. Walking
toward the door, she’s overcome with a feeling of dread she can’t explain.
As she opens the door, she prays Dale isn’t on the other side. To her relief,
Alicia Salgado is standing before her.
“Alicia, what are you doing here?” Gillian asks. She starts to feel stupid
for thinking Dale is on the other side of the door.
“I’m here to meet your brother, we have a date tonight. Is he available?”
Alicia asks. She pushes her way into the living room as if she owns the
place.
“He isn’t here. Were you guys supposed to meet here?”
“Yes! I guess he has more important things to do then spend time with
his girlfriend.” Alicia exclaims sighing. She sits down on the sofa and sighs
again. Gillian looks at her with a quizzical look.
Before either of them could say anything else, Alicia’s cell phone starts to
vibrate. She takes a quick glance at her phone and answers it with
lightening speed.
“Stephen, where are you? I just got to your house and you are nowhere
to be found. You do remember we had a date tonight, right?” Alicia asks.
She nods her head and then hangs up the phone. She then gets up and
heads for the door.
“Where are you going Alicia?” Gillian asks.
“I’m going home! Your brother just informed me that he’s working late
again. Therefore, I can kiss our date goodbye.” Alicia replies. Her brow
furrows in anger as she opens the front door to leave.
“Wait! I’m sorry for my brother canceling at the last minute.
Typical male behavior if you ask me. That’s why I’m glad to be single again!”
Gillian exclaims. Alicia turns around and looks at Gillian in a new way.
“You understand what I’m feeling.” Alicia marvels. “I know we haven’t
hung out much but I was wondering if you wanted to go grab a drink. I
could use a bitch fest tonight. Judging from your remarks, I assume the
same of you.”
“You’ve read my mind. Let’s go to O’leary’s!” Gillian grabs her purse and
follows Alicia out the door.
Falmont House:
Lenore makes her way into the living room and focuses on Henry
lounging on the sofa. “Henry, can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Sure. What is it mother?” Henry replies straightening his posture and
giving his full attention to his mother.
“I just wanted to catch up with my son. I haven’t spoken to you in the
last few weeks. Ironically, I’ve spoken to your girlfriend more then to my
flesh in blood, if you can believe that.” Lenore sits down next to her son.
“ Katie mentioned you guys had lunch at the country club. I assume
everything went well since she wants to have lunch with you again.”
“You sound surprised. She’s a lovely young lady, in fact, she reminds me
of myself at that age. I was marveling to her how happy I am you’re
dating. With all the common creatures in this town, I’m glad you found her.”
Lenore admits.
Henry looks at his mother and his mouth drops. “I can’t
believe my mom actually likes who I’m dating. I’ll have to put that in the
record books.”
“Very funny, you know you deserve someone special in your life. We all
do, the key is recognizing who that person is. However, she mentioned to
me her good friend, Nina Richardson .” Lenore takes note of Henry’s body tensing up at
the mention of her name.
“I take it you’ve met Nina.” Lenore notes out loud. “I’m also sensing
you know her pretty well. The question is how well do you know her.”
“What are you getting at mother?” Henry asks.
“I’m just wondering if this so-called friend is pursuing you. I wouldn’t
blame her since you do come from a very well-off family.” Lenore notes.
She tries to gauge her son’s reactions.
“Actually, she’s blown me off quite a bit.” Henry blurts out.
“That’s disappointing to hear Henry. I was hoping you had turned over a
new leaf but a mother can dream.” Lenore laments.
“What are you getting at mother?”
“I’m just saying you shouldn’t be stringing along Katie if you have no
intentions of being serious with her. At least, the girl in question has
enough sense to turn down your advances.” Lenore observes. Perhaps
Nina isn’t like her mother, Lenore thinks to herself.
“This isn’t any of your business. What I choose to do with my
relationship with Katie is my business. For some strange reason, you’ve
picked now as the time to be my mother. I don’t know nor do I care why. Just leave
me alone.”
Henry gets up and walks out of the living room leaving Lenore alone.
Oleary’s Take One:
Melinda Mitchell enters the bar area preparing herself for another night of work.
She heads behind the bar before punching in and notices a familiar face.
Shaking her head, she approaches him with caution noting how close he’s
holding onto his drink.
“Are you alright? You look like you can use a friend. I have a little time
before I punch in for my shift. Mind if we talk?” Melinda offers staring at
Dale Atkins.
“It’s a free country. Just as long as you promise to keep the drinks
coming once you do start your shift.” Dale dryly states. He finishes his
scotch on the rocks before slamming the glass down on the bar.
“I can’t promise bottomless amounts of alcohol. However, I promise I’ll
listen if you want to talk about what’s bothering you.” Melinda puts her
hand over his hand as she says this. She doesn’t know him well but
recognizes a need for friendship.
“Have you ever been dumped?” Dale bluntly asks.
Melinda nods her head and waits for him to continue.
“I got dumped by my girlfriend not too long ago. Granted, I suggested
taking a break from our relationship since we both wanted different things.
I came back to her and wanted to work things out. She responded by
saying that she thought we had ended things and wanted closure. Love
sucks!” He yells. He waves his empty glass in the air indicating
his desire for another drink.
“Dale, I’m sorry to hear that. I would ask how you’re holding up but
given your last statement, I think I know the answer. How long ago did
this happen?”
“It’s been over a week since she and I had our last argument at Luigi’s.
How ironic that the place I attempted to propose to her at ended up being
the place we ended our relationship. I love her but at the same time I hate
her for ending things.” Dale grinds out the words in anger. He settles down
enough for the bartender to fill his drink with more scotch.
“Perhaps this should be your last drink for the night.” Melinda suggests
worrying about how loud he’s getting. “I can call you a cab after you’re
done with your drink.”
“NO! I am just fine! I want to have my drink and stew in my rage over
losing Gillian.”
“Listen, I have to punch in for work. I’m going to be watching to make
sure you don’t do anything stupid. I’ll be back.” Melinda states. She
leaves the bar area heading to the back to punch in thinking nothing else
can go wrong.
As she makes her way toward the back, she catches sight of Gillian and
Alicia walking toward a table. She prays Dale doesn’t catch sight of them.
Oleary’s Take Two:
Across the restaurant, Gillian and Alicia seat themselves at their table.
They promptly order a bottle of Villasenor Tequila and wait with anticipation
for their order.
“I’m glad you suggested this,” Gillian says, “I needed to get out and vent
about men!”
“I hear you loud and clear! I know I should be careful about who I bash
especially since I’m dating your brother. However, this is the fourth time
he’s broken our date because he has to work late.” Alicia complains as she
waits for her order.
“Listen, I love my brother but he’s like all the other men out there!
Believe me, I’ve known him for twenty three years, I know all of his weak
points. If you ever want to hear some of them, I’ll be more then happy to
tell you!”
“I’ll take that under advisement. I admit I’ve been busy with my classes
this summer but I managed to find time to go out with him. Why is it
women have to make all the sacrifices?”
“Because they sense we’re more flexible then they are. You know Dale
always called to cancel our dates because of work. I did it to him one time
and he couldn’t handle it. I think that was one of the many reasons we
didn’t work out.” Gillian states. She looks up to see the waiter coming
toward them with their order.
Both of them stop their bashing long enough to take a shot of tequila.
They look around and catch the eye of a dark haired, handsome as sin
man sitting alone at a nearby table.
“Man, he’s hot! I wish he could come over and show me a thing or two!”
Gillian exclaims as she takes another shot of tequila before licking her
fingers seductively at the man.
“Gillian, you shouldn’t be doing that. He might think you actually want
him. You know how easily we make men believe we want them. Be
careful of the power you possess.”
“You are so awesome! I can’t believe my sister thinks you’re a freak!”
Gillian blurts out laughing as she pours another shot for herself. “Sorry, I
didn’t mean for that to come out. I love my sister to death but sometimes
she’s so old fashion about having fun!”
“I’m glad you didn’t inherit that genetic defect. Your brother comes
across as a stick in the mud though I’m loosening him up slowly.” Alicia
states with a devilish grin on her face.
“I don’t want to have that visual of my brother dancing around my head.
No offense, but the thought of hearing my brother’s love life is kind of
weird. I mean after the whole Melinda business, I’m glad that he doesn’t
talk our ear off about his relationship with you.”
Alicia head perks up at hearing at that. “What about Melinda?”
“You mean my brother didn’t tell you about his mad crush on his old high
school friend?” Gillian muses. She notices Alicia’s angry reaction and
feels bad for mentioning it. “He confessed his undying love to Melinda and
she turned him down flat. I believe it was earlier this year but I guess he
didn’t really mean it since he met you shortly thereafter.”
“Interesting to hear about this but I guess since he’s dating me there's no
harm done.” Alicia states. Inside, she's furious about finding out she is nothing
more then just a rebound for Melinda’s rejection of Stephen.
“I’m glad to see no harm done. Speaking of which, I think I’ll go flirt with
that guy over there. Hold my table.” Gillian states as she gets out of chair.
Gillian makes her way over to the man’s table and sits down across from
him. Alicia just stares at them in amazement while admitting to herself
how angry she feels over what she just found out.
Oleary’s Take Three:
Neither of them realizes that Dale is staring right at Gillian. A ball of
fury burns within his stomach as he watches her with this man. He takes
another gulp of his drink and makes his way to the bar to get another
glass.
Catching Gillian laughing at what the gentleman is saying, he decides to
forgo another drink. He heads towards Gillian’s table and her laughter
stops when she catches sight of him.
“Dale, what are you doing here? I didn’t think you would be here.” Gillian
states. She tries to compose herself but the numerous shots of tequila
make that impossible.
“Why would you think that? Do you think just because you decided to
come here tonight that I wouldn’t be here? At least I wasn’t wrong in
thinking the world revolves around you.” Dale blurts out loudly.
“You need to walk away pal. I don’t know what your business is with her
but you need to leave my sight right now.” Gillian's companion replies.
Dale turns his attention from Gillian toward the stranger. He thinks to
himself how satisfying it will be to punch him out. Thinking about
it, he suddenly grabs the stranger’s drink and chugs it. Wiping the booze
from his mouth with his sleeve, he renews his focus on the stranger.
“I don’t believe I was talking to you. I was talking to my girlfriend, Gillian.”
Dale growls at the stranger. “Besides, I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“Don’t you mean ex-girlfriend, Dale.” Gillian pipes in. “It doesn’t concern
you who I choose to talk to. We ended things and you need to get a grip
and accept it. My new friend, Dennis and I are in the middle of a
conversation. If you don’t mind, please leave us alone.” Gillian turns back
to Dennis.
“You heard the lady, leave us alone.” Dennis says firmly.
Dale takes a deep breath and turns around to leave. Just then he notices
a full pitcher of beer left alone and picks up it up. Turning back around, he
holds the pitcher of beer over Dennis’s head before tipping it over. Beer
splashes everywhere as it falls onto his head.
“Did I do that? I don’t know what got into me. Anyway, I guess
I’ll be leaving you guys alone. Have a good night.” Dale cracks.
Dale turns to leave but feels a heavy body lunge at him. The lunge causes
him to lose his balance. He and Dennis fall over an empty table which gives out
under the weight of both men.
“Oh my god, what are you two morons doing!” Gillian shouts from the
table. She turns around to stare at Alicia who just sits there laughing.
“Guys stop it!!”
Gillian gets up from her seat and tries to separate both men as they start
to take swings at each other. However, she stumbles backwards and
almost loses her balance. She is about to try again to break up their fight
when the owner comes running with a police officer right behind him.
The police officer separates both Dennis and Dale before saying,
“I’m afraid I’m going have to take both of you into the station until both of
you cool off.”
Dennis and Dale snap out of their male rutting upon hearing those
words. As the cop handcuffs both men, Melinda comes out from the back
to see what the commotion is and witnesses both men being led out of the
restaurant. She turns to stare at both Gillian and Alicia who stare back
with venom in their eyes.
