Afterthoughts by Lynn Tincher Page B

scene.
    “ I hope to break the top
five by next week.” He took her hand and smiled at her.
    For some reason, as Paige looked at
him, she didn’t feel quite right.
    David didn’t seem the same to her.
This would have been something he would have told her in private so
they could really celebrate together with several bottles of wine.
She shook off the notion. It had been a couple of weeks since they
really spent time together and that was during getting ready for
the auction. Paige squeezed his hand. “I have no doubt.” She
glanced over David’s shoulder to find Ian Messing sitting with what
looked to be a prostitute.
    “ Oh God, what is he doing
here?” She turned to look at David instead.
    “ Who?” he asked trying not
to look around.
    “ That idiot of a man, Ian
Messing, from the orphanage. He’s no doubt wasting the orphanage’s
money on that whore over there.” She tried not to look again as the
waiter poured more wine. The woman he was with had blonde hair in
what appeared to be a bee hive hairdo and had enough make-up on to
rival Cleopatra, even in the dim light.
    Paige could not help but laugh at
her.
    David chuckled. “Well, whatever floats
his boat,” he finally said as he shrugged his shoulders.
    “ That’s just disgusting.
The children need the money more than he needs that whore. From
what I understand, he’s mean and hateful to the children. I doubt
they see a penny of what Sarah has done for them.” She rubbed her
hand across her forehead.
    “ Being a little harsh, are
we? That may be his wife.” David finally turned to see the woman
and laughed himself.
    “ Oh come on. I would even
give her more credit than to marry that!” Paige found herself
laughing hard for the first time in days.
    The rest of dinner went pleasantly as
David told her about Las Vegas and how many autographs he thought
he had signed with his very cramped hands. Paige needed the chance
to think about other things and to relax. It felt good to relax.
Everything is falling into place, safe and secure. She allowed
herself to feel that way for a while. The wine was helping but it
was also making her very sleepy. She had to fight to keep her eyes
open as David rattled on and on about his new fans.
    Finally, David took her back to work
to get her car and kissed her goodbye at the car door. He told her
he had to be on a six-thirty flight back to New York in the morning
and wanted to go home and answer a few emails, and study a
presentation he was giving the next day.
    After giving him one long last hug,
Paige opened the door of her Honda, hopped in, and started the
engine. Looking back at the station, she noticed that Jay was back
in his office. She shut the engine off and decided to go in and
talk to him, wanting to find out what had been bothering him today.
She hoped that she hadn’t offended him by wanting to pour over the
Steckler files and not being interested in what was going on with
him.
    As she climbed out of the car, she
could see someone peering from around the corner. “Who are you?”
she yelled at them. “Why are you following me?” She ran towards the
corner and looked down the alley.
    There was no one in sight. “I think
I’m going crazy,” she said as she placed her hand on her forehead
and headed toward the door of the station.
    When she walked up to his office door,
she could see nothing but the back of his head as he was staring at
the picture of a golf course he had hanging behind his desk. His
hands were behind his head and he was obviously deep in thought
about something. She noticed he had neatly arranged everything on
his desk. He was always a slob; always had more important things to
do than keep his desk clean, claiming he had a method to his
madness that only he could understand. Paige believed him on that
one.
    “ Dreaming of a golf
vacation?” she asked him making him jump.
    “ No, just wishing I was
somewhere else,” he smiled at her as he turned around. “What are
you doing back