Free Seeing Clearly by Casey McMillin

was your name?"
    Betty was absolutely giddy at the attention Collin was paying her. She had to clear her throat because of the nerves. "Betty Sams, like the wholesale club."
    "Nice to meet you Betty. It's good to know you and Carl are in my corner."
    "Oh, yes sir-ee we sure are, you better believe it," Betty said. Collin gave her another smile, and once again I thought about what a good choice I'd made in having him represent Perrin goggles.
    Collin and Rachel passed on the pasta, saying they'd just eaten before they came. I gave them the quick tour through about half of the building while the rest of the employees finished eating.
    "So are you coming to the gallery this Friday?" Rachel asked. The three of us were in the long hallway between the production area and the front offices.
    "I've given it a little thought, but I'm not sure," I said. I ran my fingers down the wall, absentmindedly checking the drywall job. "You should come. You were at the party. You never know, you may be in one of the pictures."
    "I doubt it. Didn't you say he was only using people as backgrounds?"
    "You never know, he has the right to use people anyway he wants since we all signed those releases. But yeah, my impression is that most of the photos will be pretty abstract."
    "I don't know. I might come by there just to check it out. What time are you guys going?" I asked.
    "The show opens at seven o'clock but we were thinking about grabbing some dinner first... maybe dinner at six and try to get to the show around eight? Do you want to come along?"
    "Who's all doing that? Do you have a lot of people going with you already?"
    "Just Gretchen and a couple of people from her show, I think." She gave me a pleading look. "Come on. You were thinking about it, I could tell. Just come, it'll be fun."
    "I don't think I can do dinner, but I'll swing by the gallery for a few minutes. How's that?"
    Rachel's eagerness to have me hang out with them really did make me feel good but I wasn't about to put myself in a situation where I had to watch Gretchen and her co-star slash date interact with each other. I seriously thought I might be tempted to hurt the guy, but that's just not something you do during an evening with friends.
    "I'll take what I can get," she said.
    I was glad this girl was good at what she did because I would have a hard time firing her if I didn't like her work.
    "Hey listen, I'm really glad you guys came by today," I said as we approached the front office once again.
    "I am glad we came too. I feel like I should ask for your autograph or something. This place is amazing." Rachel reached out to give me a farewell hug.
    "Thanks, sporty spice," I said, returning the hug. "Are you hitting the gym?"
    "Yeah, I'm meeting Gretchen there. She's got a lot of pressure to stay a certain weight on that show."
    "Gretchen again, huh? I thought she didn't work for you anymore. Why is she still coming around so much?"
    Did I just say that out loud? By the way Rachel was looking at me, I had just said it out loud. I groaned inwardly.
    She smiled and pointed a cute little finger at Collin. "I told you!" He and I both knew she was thinking Gretchen was under my skin. S o what if she was under my skin? It wasn't the first time a girl had taken up residence there, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Okay maybe it was a little bit different this time, but nothing I couldn't handle.
    "Jesus Rachel, Just tell me if she's said anything about me. Did she say anything about that night after Collin's birthday?"
    Yes, I did just say that out loud as well. Good God, I just couldn't keep my foot out of my mouth.
    Rachel's eyes grew wide with surprise and cur iosity. She began to talk real slowly as if she realized I could become skittish at my own big mouth. "What happened after the party?" She was talking like a hypnotist, trying to keep me in whatever trance I was in that made me blurt that out.
    I had to laugh at her hilarious attempt to try to get more information out