Free Spinning by Michael Baron Page A

that Mason knew I was ultimately going to leave, it wouldn’t do to have him find out before I was ready.
    I looked inside the file. The new account was The Magenta Martini, of all places.
    “Hey.”
    I looked up to find Laurel standing in my doorway. She was wearing a rose-colored skirt and, if I used my imagination, I could almost see through her shirt. Had Mason ever issued an office dress code, this would have been on the “unapproved” side. I liked it. “Hey.”
    “Sorry I disappeared on you the other night. I needed to go because that’s what mysterious women do. Besides, you were kinda unconscious.”
    “Sorry. It had been an intense week. Come on in. You wore me out and it took me an hour to clean up. I kept pulling underwear out of surprising places.”
    Laurel glanced back to the cracked door and then moved closer, standing only inches away from my crotch. I set Mason’s file over the Polaroid.
    “Does it upset you that I left my bra and panties at your place?”
    Panties? Where are they? “Not at all. You smell wonderful, by the way.” I closed my eyes and my head tipped back. Panties?

    “Thanks. Maybe we can do it again?”
    “I loved that trick you did against the wall with your leg over your head…”
    “I’d love to show it to you again sometime…” Laurel leaned forward, letting her blonde hair fall in my face. It was just my imagination, but I could have sworn that she still smelled like sex; the same smell from Friday night.
    “I have to get back to work because,” she whispered, “that’s what mysterious women do at work. I had a grrrrrreat time.”
    My breathing had accelerated to teenage proportion. I was still getting my heart rate down when Billie stuck her head in.
    “Hey.”
    “Hey, what happened to you the other night?”
    “Me? Where did you…”
    Laurel leaned against the door frame. “Let me know… oh, hi, Billie. Okay?”
    “Sure.”
    With Laurel safely out of range, I mouthed to Billie to close the door.
    “What was that all about?”
    “Do I have some shit for you. That’s what happened to me on Friday.”
    “Laurel?”
    “She dropped by for a few hours Friday, we listened to a little Usher, drank a little wine, a little you know, and then she disappeared.”
    “Where’d she go?”
    “She was being mysterious. But after she left, I get a knock on the door and I think she’s coming back to search for her apartment keys or underwear. It’s 2:00 in the
morning. I open the door and standing there is a woman and her three-year-old daughter.”
    “You were naked, weren’t you?”
    “No. I had a robe on, but I probably still gave the kid a complex.” I motioned for her to come closer and slid the picture across the desk. “Here they are.”
    “Cute. Who’s the guy?”
    “That’s Mr. Jimmy and his hot dog cart.”
    “Mr. Jimmy is Asian?”
    “Leave Mr. Jimmy out of this.”
    Billie rolled her eyes. “So, what the hell happened? A little more you know ?”
    “Nah, nothing like that. Get this… she sold everything, moved to Manhattan from Chicago, and she’s starting over. I’m the only one she knows here.”
    “Get the hell out.”
    “True.”
    “Hey, weren’t you in Chicago a few years ago?”
    “That’s when I met Diane. And the math on the kid is close, but not that close. The dad is some asshole-insensitívo who split before Diane knew she was pregnant.”
    “Now it’s just the Dylan Hunter family?”
    “Just for a few days. If I can keep Laurel occupied during this time….”
    “You’d better be careful. I think she’s in heat. I saw three golden retrievers getting all slobbery in the elevator.”
    “The funny thing is I had an okay time this weekend.”
    “With a pre-fab?” Pre-fab was our term for any unmarried person who had a kid. Jim was our token pre-fab.
    “Sí.”
    “No.”

    “Sí.” I pointed to the picture. “The park, the zoo, and Mr. Jimmy. The kid even gave me some tips for redecorating.”
    “Did you sleep