Free The Merchant of Venice Beach by Celia Bonaduce Page A

to snort out loud as Fernando’s face fell. He had offered her a pearl and she had asked for the discarded oyster shell.
“Earl Grey, it is,” Fernando said.
He spun on his heel and returned to the kitchen. Suzanna tried to keep an ear to the ground in order to catch pieces of Rio and Lauren’s conversation, but she didn’t hear anything worthwhile—nothing to help her determine the nature of their relationship. Actually, the only thing of any note that Lauren said was, “Oh, look, the sandwiches match the walls.”
Finally Rio and Lauren left. Rio gave Suzanna a quick nod, which made her heart lurch. As much as she wanted to convince herself that his nod meant something, in all honesty it looked like the sort of nod everybody gave her when they were leaving the place. Only a little less friendly.
After she finally managed to close the tea shop, Suzanna peered into the bookstore. Eric was helping a gorgeous woman load up on books from the dollar section. He followed her to the door and Suzanna stood with him as they watched the woman walk down the path. It was hard not to be mesmerized by the lettering on the butt of her sweat pants. It read SASSY and the Ss moved in rhythm to her steps, one S going up and one down with each contraction of her buttocks.
Eric took his eyes off the girl’s ass and turned to Suzanna.
“Hey!” he said. “Are you OK?”
Suzanna could feel tears welling up inside her. Damn Rio! She thought perhaps she was being too hard on her old friends and that maybe she’d confide in Eric. They used to share all their secrets. Maybe it was better that way after all.
Suzanna noticed that Eric was wearing a new T-shirt. It read THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB MIGHT BE A WOMAN. She wiped at her eye.
“Nice T-shirt.”
“Yeah,” he said. “It helps me get laid.”
Suzanna bounded into the hallway between the tea shop and the bookstore and ran upstairs to the Huge Apartment. She could hear Eric calling up the stairs, “That was a joke!” as she slammed the door.
I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry.
She cried so hard that she couldn’t breathe. After an hour or so of self-inflicted misery she got up, washed her face, and headed down to the office to input the day’s receipts—her goal before she was sideswiped by Rio and Lauren. She wasn’t sure if she was more annoyed with Lauren and Rio or with Eric for insisting on all this financial planning and updating that was taking up more and more of her time. Hell, she wasn’t getting the business degree!
She clomped down the stairs and passed Fernando and Eric in the kitchen. She pretended she didn’t see them and, mercifully, they pretended they didn’t see her.
Putting aside her irritation at having to follow yet another of Eric’s computer programs, she threw herself into the project with complete concentration. Drowning herself in work had always been a lifesaver for Suzanna and she could feel her feeling of hopelessness lifting. She somehow managed to toss all her emotions aside when there was a stack of bills to be paid or major decisions to be made. Hours could go by without her even realizing it—a merciful skill, she had to say. It had saved her time and time again.
Once all the receipts were entered, bills were paid, and food and supplies orders placed, Suzanna stretched. She looked at the clock. She had been at it for almost three hours. She smiled. Three hours when she didn’t think about men! She shut off the computer and headed back up the stairs. As soon as she hit the first step, she could smell the aroma of gingerbread coming from the kitchen. Suzanna inhaled deeply. Her mouth watering, she headed up to the kitchen.
Maybe this is a peace offering?
Suzanna thought back to Fernando’s lavender loaves.
This gingerbread had better be brown!
As Suzanna climbed the stairs, it occurred to her that everything Eric worked on—books and computers—was quiet. Everything Fernando did, on the other hand, was noisy. He was always