Lalie stood by the dress shop with an impatient look on her face while she waited for the person she called to arrive. She looked down her watch and then looked over to the left when she felt a tap on her shoulder from behind her.
"There you are," Lalie acknowledged as she turned around.
"How are you, Lalie?" the person asked.
"I'm fine, Georgia," Lalie replied. "How are things at the office?"
"As thrilling as always," Georgia replied, looking at Lalie in a strange manner. "I have a feeling that you didn't call me down here to share office stories."
Lalie sighed. "No, I didn't," she admitted, looking towards the area where she saw Kevin with that woman. "I just saw Kevin sitting in the food court."
"Did you?" Georgia asked, walking over and standing in front of Lalie. "Did he spill something on himself or something?" Georgia proceeded to think further. "Was he doing something unusual that I should be aware about?" her eyes widened.
"No!" Lalie immediately replied. "He was with another woman. I was wondering if you saw her visit Kevin in the office at all."
Georgia thought back to earlier when she saw Frankie going into Kevin's office, and then leaving together. "What was she wearing?" Georgia wanted to know.
"A dark red tank top," Lalie began. "A skirt, if you even want to call it that. It was shorter than, I don't know what."
Georgia nodded her head, an _expression of realization coming across her face. "I can tell you who that was."
Lalie didn't reply, only gave her a look of encouragement to continue.
"The woman that was sitting with Kevin was Frankie Stone," Georgia informed her.
"Frankie Stone?" Lalie asked, never hearing that name before. "Is she a friend of yours from Minnesota?"
"No, no," Georgia replied. "She and Kevin knew each other in high school."
"And how do you know all of this?" Lalie asked her.
"I met Frankie last night," Georgia truthfully replied, the breeze was beginning to blow her hair back. "Vivian threw a dinner party and invited Kevin, James, myself and Frankie."
"Now, why would Vivian throw a dinner party when she just got a divorce like that?" Lalie couldn't understand.
"I can't tell you that because I don't know," Georgia replied in an apologetic tone. "I believe it did have something to do with new beginnings. It was very elegant and formal. We even had assigned seating."
Lalie widened her eyes as she heard Georgia describe the dinner party.
Vivian strolled down the path on the other side of the bushes and stopped abruptly when she heard her name being mentioned from the other side of the bush.
"I know that voice from somewhere," Vivian muttered, standing closer by the bush. "It's Georgia."
Lalie laughed when Georgia finished describing Vivian's dinner party.
"I'm glad someone finds it humorous," Georgia said, she began to smile as Lalie continued to laugh.
"I believe you, really I do," Lalie assured her, trying to retain from laughing. "That just sounds so unbelievable. It turns out Kevin rescued a once shy Frankie from a speeding car and then she suddenly appears the next night as a stunning new woman at Vivian's dinner party?"
"It does seem far fetched," Georgia agreed. "That's exactly how it went, though. James and Kevin's eyes couldn't be more wide when Frankie walked in the room in that gown."
"Can you do me a favor?" Lalie asked her, her face becoming more serious again.
"If I'm capable," Georgia replied.
"The next time you run into Frankie Stone, just find out for me how close she is to Kevin and what they were in high school," Lalie explained. "I know Kevin was involved with Heather in high school, but I never heard Heather mention a Frankie before."
"I'll do that, Lalie," Georgia agreed with a smile.
"Oh, and..." Lalie pointed her finger, quickly putting it up to her lips, trying not to laugh again.
"...And?" Georgia questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Find out what her secret is," Lalie replied, lowering her hand. "Maybe she has some beauty secret that made her turn from night into day that could help me!"
Georgia put her hand over her mouth and laughed. "Lalie, you're bad," Georgia laughed out loud. "I never saw what Frankie looked like before last night, but the way Kevin and James looked at her, I swear, you would think a miracle was performed right before their eyes."
Lalie laughed again and hugged Georgia. "Thanks for being a friend, Georgia," Lalie told her. "It felt good to laugh like that again," she declared. "You don't think Kevin and Frankie are…?"
"I'm sure they're not," Georgia immediately replied. "I'll call you as soon as I see Frankie."
"Okay," Lalie smiled, as she turned to walk away and head downtown to seek a professional to talk to. "Bye, Georgia."
Vivian leaned away from the bush, having overheard Georgia and Lalie's conversation. "Laugh all you want now, Lalie," Vivian muttered, as she spotted Georgia walking across from her over to the other side of the mall. "Georgia!" Vivian called out.
Georgia held onto her pocketbook strap as she turned around to see Vivian standing there, and smiled. "Well, hello there, Vivian."
"I bet you're still full from the other night," Vivian commented, referring to the dinner party.
"I'll never eat again," Georgia replied with a smile. "I was just talking about you."
"Really?" Vivian asked, sounding surprised. "With whom?"
Georgia looked and pointed over to the spot where she was talking with Lalie. She ran her pointed index finger through her hair, it probably would be best not to say Lalie's name. "No one," Georgia replied. "To myself, actually. I was thinking of how much fun I had the other night."
Vivian raised her eyebrows. "I see," Vivian added. "I'm glad you had a nice time."
Georgia smiled as she looked over to the right. "Well, I should probably get going."
"Don't be in such a rush," Vivian stopped her from going anywhere. "Shouldn't you be in work? What brings you here?"
Georgia looked at her for a moment. "I was meeting a friend," Georgia replied.
"Who?" Vivian wanted to know.
"One of my old colleagues from Minnesota is in town and we wanted to get caught up," Georgia explained, almost telling the truth about the old colleague part.
"I'm sure James would like to meet this old colleague," Vivian suggested.
"Today's her last day in town," Georgia sighed. "Luckily, I had just caught her before she headed to the airport."
"What a shame," Vivian replied. "Well, I'll let you get back to work, then."
"It was nice seeing you," Georgia smiled nervously but didn't waste anytime as she headed off to the other side of the mall.
Vivian reached into her pocketbook and pulled out her cell phone. "Frankie, listen to me," she whispered, looking around at her surroundings. "You might be interrogated soon by Georgia, the red head from the dinner party. Yes. This is what I want you to say."
As Georgia pushed her way through the revolving glass doors that lead into the office building, she noticed Frankie approaching from the other side pushing her way out of the office building.
Georgia quickly pushed her way through the revolving doors to go back outside. "Frankie!" Georgia called out.
Frankie turned around. "Hi, Georgia," Frankie greeted her.
"I must say, you look," Georgia began to comment, looking at Frankie's short skirt and a low cut tank top.
"Isn't it such a lovely design?" Frankie asked her as she spun around.
"Lovely certainly is the word," Georgia smiled as she prepared to get back to the matter at hand. "I couldn't help but notice you and Kevin leaving together. Did you go out for lunch?"
"We did," Frankie replied. "It's such a nice feeling when you're able to rekindle old feelings."
"I didn't know you and Kevin had old feelings to rekindle," Georgia admitted. "A log to throw on the fire, so to speak."
"Of course, you wouldn't," Frankie replied, trying to raise her voice above the loud taxi cabs and pedestrians that were walking by. "Kevin and I didn't want to say anything the other night at the dinner in front of everybody, but Kevin and I were together in high school," Frankie explained. "We were far from being popular high school sweethearts, we were very low-key," Frankie almost finished. "Imagine what Kevin would have gone through if they find out he was dating me?" Frankie finished with a whisper.
"I must say I did see the chemistry igniting between you and Kevin the other night," Georgia said, not meaning a word of it.
"Remember when he asked me, 'I was always nice to you, wasn't I?'" Frankie asked. "Well, that kind of had a hidden meaning to it."
"Hidden meaning," Georgia repeated. "I'm glad I know your history now," Georgia smiled. "Maybe I'll see you at another one of those dinner parties, Frankie."
"Maybe!" Frankie exclaimed. "Oh, don't mention anything to Kevin about this conversation, I wouldn't want him to get embarrassed."
"Right," Georgia replied, as she watched Frankie walk down the street.
Frankie sighed some relief as she made her way to the corner of the street. At least, that was over with. Georgia seemed to have bought what Vivian told her to say. Now, she only had one more thing she had to do before she could concentrate on her special evening with Ryan.
"High school sweethearts?!" Lalie shouted while on the phone in disbelief, having just heard from Georgia about what Frankie said about her past with Kevin.
"That's what Frankie said," Georgia replied. "I didn't buy it. She seemed flustered as she was talking."
"I've never heard that name before in my life," Lalie declared. "I know how I can get confirmation about this."
"Good luck," Georgia told her in a sincere tone. "I tried calling you a few times but there was no answer."
"Oh, I know," Lalie replied. "I went downtown for a while after I left the mall. Thanks for the help, Georgia."
"It wasn't a problem," Georgia told her.
Lalie heard Georgia hang up her phone, and Lalie did the same. She pulled out the business card that was in her purse and looked it over. That doctor should hopefully be able to help her with what she's going through.
Lalie had to take care of one thing first: getting confirmation on who Frankie Stone is. She picked up the phone again and dialed a number.
"If there's one person who can help me," Lalie muttered, waiting for a response on the other end.
"Hello?" a person on the other end picked up.
"Hi, Heather," Lalie greeted. "It's Lalie."
"Oh, hi!" Heather Mills, Lalie's sister, exclaimed. "What's up? No one got kidnapped again, right?"
"No," Lalie replied, laughing slightly. "Everyone's fine. How are things in Florida?"
"Good," Heather answered. "Aunt Nora is just glad that she knows where Ryan is."
"I can't believe what he did," Lalie replied, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Heather, I called you because I need a favor."
"Name it," Heather urged.
"Does the name Frankie Stone sound familiar to you?" Lalie wanted to know, her ears perked up as she waited for an answer.
Heather immediately laughed. "Frankie Stone?" Heather asked in disbelief. "Yeah, I know her, but then again, I don't know her. She hardly spoke to anybody!"
Lalie seemed surprised by that response. "This might seem like a dumb question now, but were Kevin and Frankie high school sweethearts?"
The sound of Heather almost dropping her phone on the other end was apparent. "High school sweethearts, Lalie?" Heather couldn't believe her ears. "Please, that girl was so paranoid and insecure, she wouldn't let anyone near her," Heather explained. "Don't forget Kevin and I were together for a while in high school. Who said Frankie and Kevin were high school sweethearts?"
"Frankie did!" Lalie exclaimed.
"No, Lalie, no," Heather replied. "Believe me, Frankie Stone did NOT have a boyfriend in high school."
"Well, Frankie Stone is back in town and batting her eyes at Kevin!" Lalie shouted.
"Hold on a second," Heather paused the conversation. "I thought YOU and Kevin were together?"
"Ugh, long story about that," Lalie told her. "Remind me to tell you the whole thing some other time," Lalie compromised. "Why wasn't Frankie popular?" Lalie changed the subject back to Frankie.
"What does Frankie look like?" Heather simply asked.
"Pretty face, yet provocative clothes," Lalie replied. "Made up hair, face, short skirts, plunging necklines."
Heather was silent for a moment. "Provocative is not a word that I would have used to describe Frankie ten years ago," Heather replied. "Frankie was the exact opposite of what you just described."
"Come to think of it, I think she did get a makeover according to Georgia," Lalie told Heather, trying to piece this together. "Now, why would Frankie get a makeover and then be all over Kevin?"
"Shall we say it together?" Heather asked her. "Come on, on three. One, two…"
"Vivian," Lalie and Heather declared in unison.
"Lalie, has Vivian's name come up at all recently?" Heather asked her in a serious tone.
"Well, she just threw that dinner party that-" Lalie paused and closed her eyes. "Both Kevin and Frankie were at after Kevin and I broke up," Lalie finished in a soft tone. "Damn it."
"Maybe it's just me but this has Vivian written all over it," Heather declared.
"I'll have to have a little talk with Vivian," Lalie told her.
"Good for you," Heather told her. "Get to the bottom of this," Heather urged. "Oh, Lalie, I might be back in Pennsylvania soon!"
"Permanently?" Lalie asked.
"No," Heather replied. "I received an invitation to the 10 year reunion at my high school that I will most likely be going to. Maybe this'll be a good time to run into the new Frankie Stone."
"That sounds like fun about the reunion," Lalie smiled. "If Frankie looked like you said she did, you'll be in for a surprise come reunion night."
"Oh and I can hardly wait," Heather replied, grinning. "All right, Lalie, keep in touch. I'll see you soon."
"All right, Heather, thanks for the help," Lalie replied. "Bye," she said, clicking off the cordless phone. "Oh, Kevin, how could you fall for your mother's tricks again?" Lalie asked with a sigh, falling back onto the bed.
Chapter 11
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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