Free Blind Delusion by Dorothy Phaire Page A

kept up my payments on the installment plan he worked out for me. So you see, I’m off the hook as long as I can keep this job and pay back the money I owe the firm.”
    “Humph. Just make sure you stay outta trouble this time,” said Cha-Cha.
    “Don’t worry. And, as soon as I pay the firm back, I plan to take the LSATs so I can get into law school. That’s always been a dream of mine. But in the meantime, I’m going to take an online class in criminology.”
    “Criminology? You should ace that course, Veda. In fact, you could probably teach it,” laughed Cha-Cha. Veda gave her girlfriend an evil look.
    “Girl, you know I’m just playing,” said Cha-Cha, waving her hand at Veda. Veda shrugged and started laughing with Cha-Cha at her own expense.
    Renee sat quietly in the far corner of the waiting area, with her face buried in the magazine that she was not actually reading. She felt a tinge of guilt for eavesdropping in on Veda and Cha-Cha’s casual banter, but it gave her personal satisfaction to hear her former patient’s progress and to see how Veda had gotten past her emotional insecurities. Renee was also a little envious. It must be nice to have girlfriends to joke around with when things were going good and to confide in when things were not so great. If only she herself could advance towards self-discovery and learn from her mistakes the way Veda apparently had. Renee was proud of her former patient. She’d come a long way.
    Cha-Cha reached out and examined Veda’s real hair under the wig and saw that she was clearly in need of a touch-up and trim in Cha-Cha’s opinion. “If you want me to hook up your hairdo for the club tonight I can fix you up if you don’t mind waiting a little bit.”
    Veda raised her eyebrows in a look of disbelief. “Cha-Cha you must be crazy if you think I’m giving you my whole paycheck and waiting around here all day for you with your slow self.”
    Veda stuffed her loose hair back in place, “Besides, my little bottle of Dark & Lovely at home’ll work just fine. I’m just here to pick up my daughter. Speaking of which, … Sherrelle?” she called out, “you ‘bout finished with your work, baby? We gotta go.”
    “Suit yourself, Veda. My customers know I make them look good. They don’t mind waiting for me.”
    “Humph, that’s what you think. News flash Cha-Cha—people have better things to do than sit around here all damn day.”
    Veda continued with a chuckle. “Anyway Cha, I’m not trying to look too good on the job these days. I’ve already been warned by one of the girls in shipping and receiving not to come in to work looking too cute.”
    “What?” said Cha-Cha, “What’s that supposed to mean? Why can’t you come to work looking fabulous? I know I couldn’t deal with that.”
    Veda glanced over at Alonzo at the shampoo bowl before whispering to Cha-Cha. “One of the girls who works at UDS said ‘looking too cute’ is exactly what got the last secretary fired. Apparently, this girl came to work everyday like she thought she was starring in an MTV rap video. They say our boss is some kind of nutcase and feels threatened by attractive women. I don’t know if any of this is true but my coworker said Boss Lady doesn’t want any female coming to the office looking better than she does. The only problem is, that’s gonna be hard to prevent,” said Veda with an amused look on her face.
    Cha-Cha laughed and waved her hand at Veda. “Oh, I get it. Your new lady boss is a mud duck.” At that, Veda couldn’t help laughing too. “Well maybe not that bad. A little thick around the middle and too much facial hair above her lip. It’s nothing that a personal trainer and a good waxing job couldn’t fix.”
    Veda’s smile faded as she turned serious, “Cha-Cha, you know how some people like to gossip. Who knows why the last secretary got fired. All I know is, I’m glad I got a chance to take her spot. I don’t intend to mess up. Lord knows I