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number on Monday. Does Tuesday lunch work for you this week?”
    He knows it does , she thought. He’s my boss after all, but he always asks. So polite. “Sure. I can’t wait.” She yanked the bottom of her T-shirt out of her jeans and took off her glasses.
    â€œMe neither.” He paused. “I think I hear the door. Gotta run. See you Monday morning.”
    â€œSee you,” she said, but the line was already dead. She breathed warm air onto the lenses and polished her glasses, then put them back on. She saw that the tape was playing the final credits so she stopped it, pressed rewind, and settled down to watch Picnic again.
    As the opening shots filled the screen she scooped Minnie up and set her on her lap. “He’s so wonderful. He says that in a few years he can get a divorce, once his children are old enough to understand.” She scratched the cat’s belly. “Won’t that be wonderful, Minnie? Just Mike and me.”
    Minnie began to purr loudly and Eve pulled a brightly colored afghan over her legs and snuggled down to watch the film.

Chapter
5
    M onica settled into her Lexus and turned the radio on. Contemporary soft rock flowed from the speakers. She pulled out her PDA and opened a “notes” page. She quickly listed the other three women’s names and a quick bit about them so she’d remember everything next weekend. Remembering names and facts about people was one of the keys to her success in business. She closed the electronic organizer and heaved another deep sigh. She had to admit that she felt more relaxed than she’d felt in months. Except for that brief period after a particularly good orgasm, and that certainly didn’t last.
    The heat and humidity in the air promised that the temperature would hit ninety before the day was through, but she flipped off the air conditioner and opened all the windows. She closed her eyes and breathed in the damp, post-rain air. Wonderful. How long had it been since she had last just smelled the air? As her eyes opened, she watched cars pull out of the parking lot and hoped the three other women she’d just met would find time to get together after next week’s class. “These women might be just what I need,” she said aloud. “A little down time with no strings or stress.”
    Her first stop after class was her weekly appointment to have her nails done. Hemorrhage red, or at least that was what it looked like, and not too long. Practical, yet classically sexy. She liked that. She picked up two business suits and a light jacket at the cleaners and drove to the local 7-Eleven to do her shopping. She used to go to the supermarket but in recent months she was home so little that she needed very few things. Bread, a box of tissues, instant coffee, and dog food. Lots of dog food. As she passed the sandwich area, she grabbed a turkey and tomato wrap and munched it as she paid for her purchases.
    She thought back to the previous week and realized she’d only been home twice; the other evenings she’d had late meetings or dates and had used the corporate apartment. As senior account executive at Conroy & Bates, one of the largest advertising agencies in the country, she was entitled to lots of perks and took advantage of them all. Why the hell not ? she thought. After all, I probably bring in more business than any two other account execs.
    At what cost? Okay, she had to pander to the needs of corporate advertising bigwigs who had nothing better to do than dangle a multimillion-dollar media account so she’d jump through any of the hoops they held. Whatever. Her face graced the business pages of newspapers and magazines and when she spoke, those who mattered listened. She thought she might be able to crack the glass ceiling at C & B and that energized her. She might eventually make partner, but for now she was happy being a force in the industry.
    She put her groceries into the