"No, Ali, I didn't give the paperwork to Janice," Sami's voice said over the speakerphone.
I thought that Ali was going to stroke out when we heard that bit of news, then waiting the 'right' amount of time for the hook to be set in our mouths, Sami followed with, "I gave it to Gina, who drove over to pick it up for Janice," hesitating a second, then laughing.
"Gotcha', didn't I, girls," Sami boastfully said to us.
"Sami, I'm going to spank your ass when we get home for almost giving me a heart attack," Ali said, trying very hard not to chuckle at having been 'got'.
"Promises, promises; Oh wait, that's what you say, isn't it?" Sami laughingly said to her.
Getting serious now, Sami went on, "Janice had to go to Baton Rouge to meet with a client, Ali, and asked if it'd be alright if her assistant, Gina, could pick up the paperwork. I told her that wouldn't be a problem and so, the firm has the paperwork and will file it when Janice gets back from B.R., okay?"
"Okay, Sami; anything else before we hang up?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I've set up a meeting with a website designer, or at least I will when you tell me when you want it."
"Handle it, girlfriend, that's your responsibility now, okay? If you're unsure about something, we'll talk about it, but otherwise, 'do your thing' Sami-girl." Ali answered for us.
"Got it," she said, and wishing us a safe trip home in a couple of days, we ended the call.
"Girl scared the shit out of me when she pulled our chain like that," Ali remarked, smiling a bit.
"I could tell; you should have seen your face," I teased.
"It was funny, wasn't it, the way she pushed my buttons," Ali conceded.
"Oh yeah, more than you know," I agreed.
"So are we going to get dressed and go play golf, or what?" She asked, stretching her arms over her head, working out the kinks from her back.
"Or what," I stated as I kneeled before her, spreading her legs apart and lowering my head to her nookie.
~
Our last two days in Maui were bittersweet for the both of us. We didn't want to leave, but we were starting to miss 'The Big Easy'. I'd eaten plenty of fish and shrimp since I've been out to Maui this year, but I was starting to 'jones' for some crawfish; boiled, etouffee, stew, I didn't care how, I just wanted some.
Ali said that I've become 'Cajunized' since I moved to the city and I couldn't disagree with her.
"Want to go back a day early?" She asked as we got ready to go out to dinner that evening.
"I'd be okay with that," I said, "assuming that we can get seats."
Ali jumped on the phone and in a few minutes she smiled and said it was a done deal.
Gong home; to New Orleans, and not to St. Paul. Going home to sixty degree weather and not twenty below zero weather.
Yeah, it's been a good year for Lynn Marie, I'd decided.
~
Sami picked us up in Ali's big car, needing the extra room with the clubs and all. Ali and I were exhausted because of the 'red eye' flight from Maui; it's a long-ass haul from there to here with a plane change at San Francisco.
"Thanks for picking us up," I said to Sami as the three of us maneuvered clubs and bags into the car.
"Glad to be of service, and good to see you guys," Sami smilingly said to us, adding, "But I have to tell you that you two look like crap; bad flight?"
"Nah, just a long one, babygirl," Ali said, falling into the back seat of the car, as I rode shotgun.
"Yeah, mine was too," Sami said, "So I'm guessing you guys are going to crash?"
"Oh yeah," I said, "We're too damn tired to do anything other than sleep; hope you're not disappointed, we'll make it up to you," rubbing my hand on her leg as she drove us from the airport.
"Well, actually..., I mean, yeah, that's just fine but it's, uh..."Sami said, fumbling with the words.
"Spit it out, girl, we're too tired to play guessing games," Ali said from the backseat, her voice sounding really tired to my ears.
"The thing is," Sami began, "well, the thing is I have a date tonight, sorta'"
"Really?" We both said.
"Don't get mad, I don't want to make ya'll..." Ali's voice cutting her off.
"Sami, why would we get mad, baby? We've never asked you to be exclusive with us," Ali said, "Sweetie, you're a young, pretty girl and you're ten years younger than us, so of course you're gong to have dates. You don't need our permission, or our blessing, okay?"
"Sami, we love you in so many different ways," I said, "and we love having you as our friend, our business associate, and as our lover but we would never want you to think that you can't be with anyone other than us, or without us there, okay?"
"That doesn't take anything away from what the three of us share; it's special, it's magical, but it's 'ours' and when we can be with each other, that's a good thing. But it doesn't mean you can't have a life of your own, understand?" I asked her.
Nodding her head, a bit of relief showing in her misty eyes, Sami said, "You guys are the fucking best and I love the both of you so much."
"We love you too baby," Ali said, following with, "Now, who is this tramp whore trying to mess with our pussy?" Laughing afterwards.
The 'tramp whore' turned out to be Gina, Ali's attorney's assistant.
"You know that feeling you get when your 'gaydar' picks up a signal?" Sami explained, "well, when Gina came over to pick up the papers, it was after working hours and I asked if she'd like something to drink, you know, being polite and all."
"She took me up on the offer and we went out to the patio and started talking; her eyes kept measuring me, it seemed, like she was 'checking me out', you know?" She continued, "And I was feeling some definite vibes from her, you know?"
Ali and I looked towards each other and just smiled.
Yeah, we knew that feeling.
