freezing my butt off. Sharing a cab would be cheaper than taking one by myself even though I could expense the cost. Dolce would appreciate my being frugal when possible. I decided to take my chances.
“My name is Nick Petrescu,” he said.
“Rita Jewel,” I said. We shook hands in the backseat of the cab.
“You’re a tourist, yes?” he asked.
How galling to be mistaken for a tourist in my own town. Probably because my clothes were so glaringly inappropriate for this chilly City by the Bay. As Mark Twain said so aptly, “The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco.” I sighed.
“No, I live here,” I said. “What about you?”
“I am here to work a new job.”
Because of his accent and being naturally curious, I asked, “Where are you from?”
“I am coming from New York. Oh, you mean originally. I am coming from Romania.”
“Romania?
He turned to me with a look of surprise on his rugged Romanian features. “You speak my language.”
“Only a little. I’m afraid I can’t remember much more than that. The classes I took were mostly reading and writing.” I only hoped he wouldn’t ask what I’d read or written. The truth was I’d only taken the classes to read about vampires, which I found fascinating, but the courses were harder than they looked.
“Your accent is excellent,” Nick said.
“Thank you.” I felt a glow of satisfaction. No one had ever praised my effort to speak Romanian before, certainly not my professors or my family, who were forever asking me, “What are you going to do with it?” If I’d known I was going to run into an honest-to-God attractive Romanian one day, I might have hit the language lab more often.
“Where you will wear the beautiful shoes?” he asked with a glance at the shopping bag on my lap.
“I won’t. They’re not for me. Much too . . . too much.” I bit my tongue. I almost said “expensive.” I knew I shouldn’t discuss the shoes at all. But surely Dolce didn’t mean don’t even mention them to Romanians you meet at the airport. “I just picked them up for a customer where I work,” I explained. Blame my loose tongue on my chattering teeth, goose bumps or lack of sleep.
“You work for a shoe store?”
“It’s a boutique in Hayes Valley. We carry upscale shoes, clothes and accessories. What kind of work do you do?” I asked, finally able to change the subject.
“I am gymnastics coach for children,” he said. “Do you know the Ocean View Gymnastics School on Vista Avenue? I came here to be teaching there.”
“Never heard of it,” I admitted. I hated the thought of exercising unnecessarily. “I take kung fu classes. My boss is a fitness freak, and she insists I know how to defend myself.” From what or whom I had no idea. But working at Dolce’s had so many perks that I would have signed up for skydiving if Dolce wanted me to.
“Your work is so dangerous then?” he asked, a frown on his face.
“The only danger is when two customers fight over the same item.” No danger with the shoes I was hand- carrying. They were so pricey only one of Dolce’s customers could afford them. Besides, the benefits of buying clothes and accessories with my employee discount were worth any danger I might encounter.
“The shop is just for women?”
“Women with lots of money and time on their hands. It’s very exclusive.”
“Like those shoes.”
I shrugged in a noncommittal way. I’d already said too much. I was proud of myself for not spewing, “Yes. They’re one of a kind.” I didn’t know any straight men who were the least interested in fashion. Was this that rare man who noticed what women wore or knew the difference between Dior and Chanel and wasn’t gay?
I gave the taxi driver directions to my flat on Telegraph Hill. When the taxi stopped in front of the two-story building on the edge of the hill I sublet from a friend of a friend who got transferred to LA, Nick got out to carry my bag and walk me to the door. He offered to carry the shopping bag too, but I remembered my promise to Dolce.
“You must see my gymnastics class,” he said, handing me a brochure from the studio. “Maybe I can change you from kung fu to our gym. Not only for children, but good for all ages. We learn handsprings, trampoline, tucks and how to say . . . cartwheels. Very important cartwheels to stay in shape. Not that you are not.” He carefully looked me up and down. I hoped he was satisfied I didn’t need any cartwheels. The thought of turning upside down made me dizzy. “Here is my card. Call for free lesson, okay?”
“Okay.” I put the card in my purse and thanked him. Inside my dark, chilly flat, I was immediately hit with a bad case of post-assignment travel letdown syndrome. Sure it was great to meet a hunk in the airport, one who was an athlete and cared about his body and maybe mine too. But he hadn’t asked for my number. He’d only given me his. So it was up to me to make the first move, which is not something I would ever do. If he wanted to see me again, he’d find a way.
A girl has to have principles and mine were handed to me by my aunt, Grace. She’s my mother’s older sister who while still unmarried has a much busier social life than I do, which isn’t saying much. “Don’t call him back.” “Don’t accept an impromptu invitation like ‘Call for a free lesson, okay?’ ” And, “Don’t
I sighed and switched on the gas logs in my faux fireplace as the fog crept up the hill toward my house. Then I brewed myself a Cuban-style coffee from the bag of ground beans I bought at the airport in Miami and bit the head off a chocolate alligator I’d planned to give Dolce as a souvenir. Finally warm in a fleece Snuggie, the blanket with sleeves my mother gave me last Christmas that I would never wear unless I was really, really cold and completely alone, along with a pair of sheepskin UGGs, I played my phone messages.
The first was from Dolce.
“Rita, I’m sorry about tonight. I got hung up with the police, who blamed me for the accident. When the asshole hit me! Needless to say I’m going to fight it. I hope you got home okay. I never would have sent you for the shoes if it wasn’t important. The shop has been crazy busy these last two days and I really missed you. It’s not only the Benefit, but the opera season starting in a few weeks, the symphony gala, and you know how it is. Everybody’s just got to have whatever it is they’ve got to have. As long as it’s one of a kind. Which is the whole reason for the shoes. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. It gets to be too much. Yesterday I had to reorder those tights you like so much. You were right about those. They’re so hot I can’t keep them in stock. So glad you didn’t have a problem picking up the shoes. I’m in a bind here with those frigging shoes. If I had to do it over, I’m not sure . . . I have to tell you-know-who tomorrow she has to pay up or forget the shoes. I’m not running a charity here. Can you possibly do me a huge favor and come in even earlier tomorrow? Don’t say anything to anyone about the shoes. Take a taxi to work and guard them with your life. If word gets out, it could be bad, you know? I’m rambling. I’ve taken a painkiller and I’m washing it down with some Scotch. Uh-oh, someone’s at the door. Tell me it’s not her. See you tomorrow.”
I was confused and worried about Dolce. Usually crisp and focused, she sounded scattered. I wondered if she should have gone to the emergency room to be checked out. Of course I was dying to know who she was talking about. And why the hush-hush about the shoes? One thing was for sure. Dolce, the consummate coolheaded businesswoman, was not her usual self. She needed her assistant, and I admit I liked to be needed. Who didn’t? I’d go in at seven thirty, deliver the shoes, and finally find out who’d ordered them and why it was a secret. My own problem of whether or not to call the buff Romanian was too trivial to think about.
I looked at my “California the Beautiful” calendar on the wall. I had no problem with a crowded fall schedule. I didn’t have tickets to the opera, the symphony or the charity affairs. But I loved finding just the right dress and shoes for someone who did have a full calendar. Not just the dress and shoes, but the right bag and jewelry to go with it. I’d always loved it. As a child I used to dress my dolls, then accessorize them. When they were completely decked out in shoes, hats, necklaces and stockings and dresses, I’d drag them around to the neighbors to see and be seen.
Now I got paid to dress socialites. And I was able to purchase whatever I just had to have with a hefty discount. It was the best job ever. The only downside was I never met any men at work. Or anywhere. The only man in my kung fu class was the teacher, Yen Poo Wing, who was always yelling at me to kick harder, jump higher
