suits, surrounded by dancing girls. He shrugged his shoulders as he saw my enraged look, but then motioned his head towards another corner of the room. I followed the direction until I saw a face I recognized. It was Melanie, Josh’s over-nighter, and she was wearing a purple lace-up corset and sheer panties, with black garters that held up black fishnet stockings. Her hand was stroking a man’s back as she leaned in and spoke into his ear. I had to shake my head twice as I zeroed in on that man’s back. That man, was MY man. I knew the back of Clint from anywhere.
What kind of fucking meeting is this?
I had to assess my next move. My head said stay and watch them talk and then decide what to do, but my heart, and the lioness in me, made me march right up to the two of them so I was standing inches from where I could see Melanie’s manicured fingers circling the hair at the base of Clint’s neck.
No wonder Clint got off on my corset!
Now, what I should have said was, “Bitch, take your hands off him!” but what came out of my mouth was, “Surprise!”
Melanie’s eyes flicked behind Clint to where I was standing and she rolled her eyes. “You again. What are you doing here?”
Clint’s back tensed in recognition of my voice, and he turned around to face me. My nostrils were flaring and my teeth were clenched. He shoved Melanie’s hand off him in a rather forceful movement, while his face tried not to look so stunned.
“Nor, Nor, Norah! What are you doing here?”
My eyes were seeing red as I spoke. “Well, you have always said you’d like me to take more interest in your role with the Lappell, so I thought I’d come and see what it was about. I thought I would be a welcome surprise, although now I see you don’t need my support.”
Clint’s head went from mine to Melanie’s barely-there lingerie, and then he stepped back and put some more distance between them. “Whoa, this is not what it looks like. Melanie works here. We were just talking. That’s all.” His hands were up in the air like he was trying to prove he was innocent.
Melanie’s face sneered at me as she leaned up against Clint, trying to rest her palm on his shoulder. Clint quickly moved away from her grip and came to stand as close as he could to me.
“How do you know this girl Clint?” Melanie asked, watching Clint try and inch closer to my body, only to have me move away.
“This is my girlfriend.” Clint tried to hold my hand but I moved so he missed taking hold. Melanie began smirking as she watched the start of our domestic play out in front of her.
“Oh really! Is she? That’s interesting because…”
Suddenly Josh was beside us. “Hey Mel, Kyser wants you serving his group. Best you get over to him right now.” Melanie’s eyes immediately responded to that demand. She looked over to a man in the corner of the room, who was waving her over. She picked up a serving platter from the bar and started off across the room, but not before she stopped and turned back to us.
“I guess we’ll have to do what you said at a later time Clint. See ya.” She skipped off. Josh looked from Clint to me, raising his eyebrows, and then he followed behind her.
Clint looked directly at me, a very serious expression on his face. “I am not doing anything with her at a later time Norah. Melanie just likes to stir people up. Don’t believe a word she says, alright.”
I wanted to believe Clint, I really did, but I felt like I was on the right track now, closer and closer to figuring out the truth about the note. With the direction it was taking me, all I could feel was jealous rage mixed with the possibility of betrayal. I tried to keep my emotions just bubbling under the surface. I didn’t want to completely explode at Clint without any real proof, so instead I just fuelled the anger I felt by focusing on what I saw and trying to get more answers.
“Do you let every girl you talk to, play with your hair like that?”
Clint’s back straightened as he realized I had been watching him and Melanie from afar. It surprised me even more when he didn’t try to explain himself. “Are you accusing