Out Of Love Part 9

"I can't believe those girls are already grown up."

Cathy turned to Judith to explain. "We're talking about Brooke Healey-Brooke Nance, I should say. That's her married name."

"Her current married name," Sofia corrected.

Judith could have sworn she felt the table move, as though someone had just kicked Sofia underneath. Cathy ignored it and went on.

"Brooke was Sofia's roommate at DePaul, so we go way back 62 with her too."

"Is she also in the travel business?"

"No"-Cathy looked over at Carmen-"but didn't you tell me she was about to take a job somewhere?"

Judith listened as Carmen told the group about her phone conversation the night before. It was obvious from Carmen's tone she thought a lot of Brooke, and the two of them were quite close. "It's too bad Brooke couldn't be here tonight too," she offered.

"Oh, it really is a shame," Sofia said seriously, turning away so Judith couldn't see her face. From the way all four women seemed to be fighting the urge to laugh, Judith knew she was missing out on an inside joke. But the uncomfortable silence ended abruptly when the waiter appeared with their entrees.

"Have some more wine," Carmen said, filling all the gla.s.ses with the second bottle.

True to her word, Sofia helped herself to a bite of steak from Carmen's plate before swiping a shrimp from Judith's. "So, Judith, you work at an agency?"

Judith nodded, her mouth freshly full of linguine.

"Here in New York?"

Judith nodded again, trying not to laugh as everyone chuckled at her dilemma.

"Do you like it?"

"Mmm-hmm." Her eyes began to water as the questions per-sisted.

"So why were you looking at the job board today?"

Judith grabbed her water gla.s.s and washed down the mouth-ful. "Whew! Because the owner's nephew took over the shop where I work and we all think it's just a matter of time before he cuts our commissions to milk money."

"It's a small agency," Carmen explained to the others. "You specialize in gay and lesbian tours, right?"

Carmen said it so matter-of-factly Judith a.s.sumed no one at 63 the table would have a problem with it. She hadn't actually said she was a lesbian herself, but she didn't mind if they came to that conclusion on their own. She had always found most people in the travel industry to be accepting of gays. "We used to, but we don't do tours anymore. We just do straight bookings now for commissions . . . well, not that kind of straight. We still have our same clientele."

"You need a lot of volume for in-bound bookings," Sofia said.

"And heavy-duty marketing," Priscilla added.

"We're mostly on the Internet and niche magazines. The business has grown, but it's not as much fun as it used to be when we worked our own client base."

"You guys got caught behind the eight ball when the Internet took off, didn't you?" Sofia asked as she nicked another shrimp.

"Yes and no," Judith said, hesitating to voice her own business philosophy with these experts. The last thing she wanted was to appear uninformed. "I think it's tough for all the small shops, but it hit us at a time when our owner was getting ready to retire.

She could have cashed out by selling the business to somebody who wanted the segment, but she decided instead to leave it to her nephew, who didn't really know the industry well enough to make the transition."

Cathy spoke up. "Who was your owner? Anyone we know?"

"You might know her because she used to get your annual reports. Her name was Myrna Greenbaum."

"There's a name my mother-in-law would have loved.

Instead, she got a Righetti and three Catholic grandchildren."

"I remember Myrna!" Carmen said excitedly. "I used to talk to her all the time. She was such a character. I don't know why I didn't make the connection with Rainbow Getaways. Where is she now?"

"She moved to West Palm Beach about two years ago."

"That's about when you guys dropped our study."

"That was one of Todd's cost-cutting moves. He signed up 64 for Conover Data Source instead because it was cheaper."

Carmen flashed a look of annoyance, prompting Judith to quickly add, "But none of us even bother to look at it because it doesn't have enough detail."

"Not to mention enough accuracy," Priscilla added, her voice dripping with cynicism.

"He bases everything on proxy data," Judith noted, hoping she hadn't said something stupid.

"That's why his numbers are unstable," Carmen explained.

"But most of the little agencies don't see that, and they think something is better than nothing. If they can't afford the TDG study, they'd be better off not getting anything."

"Which is why no one in our shop uses it," Judith said, delighted to get Carmen's nod of approval.

"Smart girl."

Sofia nonchalantly speared yet another shrimp on Judith's plate. "So you like working with that segment? You're a lesbian, right?"

"Yes, I am." Judith was glad to get that declaration out of the way. "And I do like working with that segment. It was more fun when we had the resources to bring in big groups and do the escorted tours. I'm afraid that era's over, though."

Carmen nodded her understanding. "The margins are just too small." Obviously, she knew the industry inside and out, even though she had never worked at an agency.

"That's true, but if you use special events like escorted tours or charters to cultivate a clientele, you have the chance to win their business for everything else."

Sofia set her fork down and picked up her purse. "That's how we operate at Zeigler-Marsh, Judith." She plucked out a business card and laid it on the table between them. "Good. We're talking business. Now I can write this off. So when you're ready to move on, why don't you give me a call?"

"Wow, thanks." Carmen had hinted there might be a possi-65 bility, but Judith hadn't wanted to get her hopes up, especially after realizing this really was just a dinner among friends. "Here, have another shrimp."

Everyone at the table laughed.

"She always says it tastes better if she steals it."

"You speak so badly of me, Carmen."

"Just the truth."

Over more gossip and good-natured ribbing, the women finished their dinner. Judith then traded places with Sofia when Carmen offered to share tiramisu for dessert. She loved watching these friends tease each other with such open affection. All four of them were relaxed and unguarded, and she felt totally at ease in their company. It had turned into a fantastic evening, one she knew she would never forget.

"Right here is fine," Judith told the taxi driver, who stopped suddenly in the middle of Fifteenth Street.

"Which one is it?" Carmen asked, curious to see what sort of place Judith called home. The buildings here weren't as tall as those in midtown, and the street-level shops around the corner gave it more of a neighborhood feel.

Judith pointed up. "I live there, in that middle brownstone.

Fifth floor."

"Elevator?" Sofia asked.

"You're kidding, right?"

"I love it. You're so close to the Village, it's practically bohemian."

"Among other things," Judith agreed, gripping the door handle. "I really appreciate you asking me along. It was wonderful. And thanks for dinner, Sofia."

"It was the least I could do after eating everyone's food." Sofia held out her hand and tugged Judith toward her for a peck on the cheek. "Take care, dear."

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Carmen followed suit, leaning across Sofia to trade kisses.

"I'm really glad you could join us. Be sure to come to Sofia's session tomorrow morning. And bring old fruit."

"I would never do something like that," Judith told Sofia seriously.

"I know. You're far too nice to a.s.sociate with sc.u.m like Carmen."

"I think that surly exterior of hers is all for show."

"No, it isn't," Sofia answered.

The three yelled "goodnight" several times and Judith disappeared through a gla.s.s door into a dimly-lit stairwell. As the taxi continued toward the Grand, Sofia scooted over to sit beside the other window.

"Since when do you like tiramisu?"

Carmen had known she would get the third degree from her old friend as soon as they were alone. "I told you she was nice.

Was I right?"

"She's very nice. And I have to admit, after sitting close to her, she doesn't look as much like Brooke as I thought at first."

"No, she doesn't. Her hair's a lot darker and she has hazel eyes. Brooke's are bright blue."

"And she doesn't have any of Brooke's mannerisms. You know how Brooke always talks with her hands."

"That's from hanging around with a bunch of Italians for thirty years."

"How come we've never seen Judith at one of these conventions before? Surely one of us would have noticed her."

"She told Cathy she'd only been to one, the one in Boston."

"Wasn't that the year you all skipped because of your niece?"

Carmen nodded solemnly. "Susanna. Hard to believe that's been three years."

Sofia patted her hand as her mind wandered back to that devastating time when leukemia had claimed her brother's youngest child.

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"So what happens next with Judith?"

"I don't know." Carmen exhaled loudly. Now that she knew her better, Carmen wanted to ask her out, but having her sanity called into question by her friends was something she didn't need. "I thought I might ask her to go get a drink or something tomorrow night after the reception."

They were almost at the hotel, which would get her out of this conversation for now, since Sofia was headed to her apartment on the Upper East Side.

"You know, Carmen, there's nothing any of us would like better than to see you move on from Brooke Healey." The cab came to a stop in front of the hotel and a valet opened Carmen's door. "I'm just worried you're not really doing that with Judith."

"I'm not doing anything with Judith right now." She looked up at the cab driver, who was slumped against the console.

Conversations this inane probably bored him out of his mind.

"But if I do, it isn't going to be a big deal. That's not what happens at conventions."

68.