Blue Moon 5.4

Blue Moon 5.4

by Donna Lamb

Jo frowned. "M-my p-p-purse?"

Larry smiled at her, enjoying the expressiveness of her finely shaped eyebrows. I'd love to get her to pose for a portrait, he thought, even better a full-length nude ... down, boy. The walls of his office bore evidence of his hobby, black-and-white photographs of various subjects from cats to canyons, but no nudes.

He waited, watching Jo puzzle out where she might have left her purse, marveling at the clarity of her skin because he could tell she wore no make-up. And that hair color had to be natural, she'd been wearing a much blonder wig on her previous visits, he knew. He thought the short, re-growing hair had an endearing appeal, though if she looked any more vulnerable he'd probably go in and sock his boss in the jaw. I bet she's photogenic as hell, he thought, lusting to get her in front of a camera.

"M-m-maybe I left it in the car?" said Jo, pretty sure, in fact, that she had not done so.

Larry looked bemused. He went to the door to the outer office, opened it and called, "Sandra, did Miss Thierry have a purse when she came in?"

Miss Teary? thought Jo. Self-conscious, she wiped at the tear tracks she imagined on her face.

"Yes, sir," said Sandy. "She took it with her into Mr. Aronhaus's office." Sandy, seeing Jo sitting in front of Larry's desk, smiled and waved at her.

Jo waved back, like a four-year-old in the back seat, waving at passing cars. She still felt stunned and a bit stupid. I'm dead, but I'm not dead. I'm just a girl and people think I'm Barry's girlfriend?

Larry frowned. "Mrs. Aronhaus is with Barry now?"

"Uh, no."

"Then...?" He motioned toward the door to Barry's office.

Sandy got up quickly and headed for the door. She'd run interference of this sort before. "I didn't know she was coming in today."

Glancing toward the glass door to the hallway, Larry saw Richard reaching for the door to hold it open for Mrs. Aronhaus. "Stay here, I'll be back," he said to Jo and stepped into the outer office, closing the door behind him. "Cherie, how are you this morning?" he said, welcoming Mrs. Aronhaus and allowing Sandy time to slip into Barry's office.

"Oh, I'm fine," said Cherie, smiling back. "Barry and I have a beefuss meeting at nine, so I came along to make sure he doesn't forget. Oh, this is Richard. Richard are you coming in?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Richard wondering where Jo might be. "I brought a friend here earlier...."

"Oh, you're Melody's friend, Miss Thierry's friend?" asked Larry. Guy looks like a wolf, he thought, Barry wouldn't be happy.

"Uh, yes?" Mystery Melody? Melody Mystery? "I'm Joel's roommate? Didn't Joel work here?"

"Oh, yes, and we miss him terribly," said Larry. He smiled, not having to fake sincerety, Joel had been his friend. "So you're helping Melody find her brother?"

"Um," said Richard, confused. Wasn't Joel supposed to be dead? If so, why would anybody want to find him? A brief but vivid image of a zombie Joel saying, "B-b-b-brains!" attacked his mental processes, distracting him.

Cherie Aronhaus started around the desks toward the door to Barry's's office.

Larry tried to think of something to say to delay Cherie a moment or two longer. "Sandy's in there," he said.

"So?" Cherie hesitated, catching a whiff of some unstated message.

Richard stared at Cherie's butt, wondering what he'd been wondering about. Why does she look sort of like Jo to me?

* * *

Inside Larry's office, the connecting door opened. Barry Aronhaus stuck his head through, saw Jo and lobbed an easy one to her. She almost missed it, even though Barry's toss would have put it right in her lap. "Be more careful about leaving stuff in my office, sweetie," Barry chided. "My wife is coming in." Then he ducked through the door and re-locked it.

Jo stared after him, clutching the bag in one hand. What the hell? she thought. Jo had suffered repeated shocks, struggled with denial, and now felt -- insulted. She glanced down at herself; yes, she was still an attractive young woman who had just been called "Sweetie," by her -- or rather Joel's -- old boss. She still felt a few odd tingles from Barry's earlier manhandling of her, too -- and what was going on with that?

She began to get angry. One thing Joel had always detested was having his intelligence insulted. Whatever had happened to her, with Joel apparently considered dead for some time and some doppelganger with her new face running around -- getting into who knew what! -- whatever had happened, despite the traitorous arousal of her new body, she knew she didn't like being called "sweetie" the way Barry had said it.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" She railed at the closed and locked connecting door. "Kissing me! P-pinching me! I am not his -- girlfriend!" Standing suddenly, she marched to the door to the outer office and flung it open.

Barry had just opened the door to his office to let Sandy out and Cherie in. Richard had just said to Larry, "I thought her last name was Messenger, same as Joel's. Terry? How do you spell that?"

"Richard!" said Jo.

"Jo?" said Richard, turning to look.

Taking only a moment to glare at Barry, Jo stalked up to Richard, put her arms on his shoulders, stood on tiptoe a bit and kissed him on the mouth. "Let's go home," she said. After another scathing glance at Barry, she added, "Sweetie. Okay, huh?"