Authors: Raven Newcastle
"Gerard, good to see you, man!"Cliff, the tallest of the doctors, stood up and clapped Gerard on the back, before turning his attention to Danny. "This must be your beautiful fiancée. It's a pleasure to meet you finally. I'm Cliff and this is my wife Tricia.
"
"It's nice to finally meet you too." Danny addressed them both, feeling Tricia's eyes casing her up and down like a bank robber before a heist. She and Tricia had met very briefly and informally at the charity event in New York
.
"Likewise."Tricia's greeting was as chilly as her demeanor
.
Cliff and Gerard went way back to when they were fraternity brothers trying to make it through college and eventually medical school. They had kept tabs on each other ever since. Gerard had been in attendance at Cliff and Tricia's wedding five years ago, and Cliff had been the one to offer the position at the facility to Gerard
.
The other surgeon and his wife were Dominick and Cassandra Hopkins. Dominick was a goofy and friendly guy with mocha skin and a close cropped haircut, while Cassie, as she now liked to be called, was a strawberry blonde and like Tricia had met Danny at the charity event in New York with the infamous exchange. She also seemed to be sizing Danny up. Also at the table were Stuart with his wife Sarah and Kevin with Melissa. There almost seemed to be a cool, somewhat reptilian quality to all the women as they watched her, as if she were an interloper. She felt like she was sitting at the table with her own personal rogue's gallery
.
With her observant eyes, Danny noticed that several of the women had work done because the skin on Tricia's face was pulled as taut as a trampoline with nary a wrinkle while Cassie had overinflated basketballs poking through the décolletage of her dress. Melissa's cheekbones were a little too perfect, and you really couldn't tell what expression was on Sarah's face
.
"I've got to say, when Gerard was raving on and on about this beautiful fiancée of his, I thought the guy was lying. But I have to say, you are absolutely beautiful." Dominick said, taking another sip of his vodka tonic. "If I were your plastic surgeon, I would tell you not to change a thing.
"
Danny was dumbfounded. "Uh…I don't know what to say. Thanks Dominick.
"
"Dom, you've had enough to drink." Cassie intoned like she was talking to a three-year-old, moving his glass toward the middle of the table where he couldn't reach it
.
"Cass, don't start that bullshit with me, not tonight. I'm a grown man. I can drink as much as I want." Dom whined snatching his glass back, the vodka sloshing over his fingers
.
Danny was a little embarrassed, feeling she was seeing something that should be private between Dom and his wife
.
"Where the hell are Rob and Lisa? They were supposed to be here." Gerard inquired of his other partner and her husband
.
"Rob and Lisa had some dinner with their in-laws, they couldn't make it. So it's just us tonight." Cliff informed them
.
"So what are you thinking of our fair city of Phoenix so far?" Cliff asked Danielle
.
"It is hot." She laughed fanning herself with her palm. "But not as busy as New York. I'm just getting used to driving again as opposed to walking or catching a cab.
"
"I've visited New York on occasion." Dominick said. "But I've never had an opportunity to catch the subway. Are the subways really as bad as they say they are?
"
"No, they're not as bad as people would have you believe. But if you want to catch the subway after midnight, you're taking your life in your own hands.
"
The guys laughed at her little joke
.
"Speaking of driving," Cliff began. "Your fiancé informed me that you drive a 1970 Chevy Camaro.
"
"Oh, you mean Lucille?
"
"Love the name." Stuart chimed in
.
"You're just making me sick. My grandfather used to have a 65 Camaro when I was a kid." Dominick said. "Unfortunately I took it out for a joyride without his permission and wrecked the thing. By the time he was through with me I couldn't sit down for a month."
Kevin was interested now. "What does a beautiful young lady such as you know about a classic car like that?
"
"Lucille belonged to my dad. Getting her in tip top shape was his weekend project and it took years before it was completed. When I was living in New York I kept the car in storage, just because traffic there is crazy. Now that I'm in Arizona I can actually take her out and stretch her legs.
"
"I'm definitely gonna have to come by and take a look at her. I have a 68 Mustang Fastback, but unlike you I keep it in storage." Stuart said
.
Cassie turned her attention to Danny. "Just a little warning, Danielle.We've been dying to get to know you for the past few weeks and we have a ton of questions. We are so curious to find out about you. So if you feel like you're being interrogated, please let us know.
"
"Okay. I will." Danny retorted without ever breaking a smile
.
The waiter returned and was ready to take the orders for their appetizers and main courses. They all seemed to be amazed, Gerard included, when Danielle exhibited her mastery of the French language, ordering her meal and sharing a brief snippet of conversation with the waiter
.
"So Danielle," Tricia began, swirling the red wine in her goblet. "So what's your background? Your look is very….unique and you're quite fluent in French.
"
"Ah, thanks? My dad was Haitian-Creole. He grew up in New Orleans. My mother was white and also from Louisiana. They lived there until they died almost eight years ago. I remained in New Orleans until I finished college, then I moved to Washington D.C. for a little bit, until my grand mere got sick. After she passed I spent some time in New York before moving out here to Phoenix.
"
"Oh, yes that's right you did live there when we met briefly at the fundraiser, remember? But we never did learn what part of New York you actually lived in?" Cassie inquired
.
"Lower East side. I had a small apartment.
"
"Goodness, living in New York is so expensive." Cassie muttered, chewing on that factoid. "I have no idea how you managed.
"
"With a roommate.My best friend Stephania was a flight attendant so most of the time I had the apartment to myself.
"
"With a roommate, of course."Melissa said. "There's no way you could have afforded New York rent on your own.
"
Danny could feel the dark clouds approaching. She knew that this was going to be one hell of a night. She felt like dropkicking Gerard in the face for forcing her to break bread with these jackals in designer clothing. They were going to keep picking her apart until there was nothing but bones left, but that didn't matter. These wenches were going to find out that Danny had a sharp set of teeth of her own
.
"Gerard tells us that you are a former police officer and you worked with the FBI for a little while." Kevin said.
Danny nodded. "Yes, after college I did some clerical work with the FBI for a couple years before I moved back to New Orleans and joined their police department. After grand mere passed I moved to New York, joined the NYPD and was working desk duty before I moved out here with Gerard.
"
"It must have been so depressing working in the ghettos." Tricia said. "All the crime and violence.How did you even manage?
"
"I heard they don't even pay police officers that much." Cassie had to add
.
Does everything with these women come down to money
? Danny asked herself. "I managed just fine."
"That is an awful scar." Sarah literally pointed at Danny's breasts. "Oh my, how did that happen?
"
You could have sizzled a steak on Danny's skin it was so hot, but she wasn't heated out of embarrassment. She was furious! She didn't know which was more disturbing, the fact that they were staring at her breasts or their critiquing of her scar. If she had been born with laser vision, she would have reduced Sarah to molten ash
.
"I was born with a congenital heart defect." She began
.
"You had something wrong with your genitals?" Tricia stupidly asked.
"Oh geez!No honey!" Looking horrified Cliff explained to his dingbat of a wife. "She was born with something wrong with her heart.
"
"I had surgery as a child to repair it." Danny continued. "Therefore, I have this scar.
"
"Your parents must not have been able to afford cosmetic surgery to fix that scar. It must have been horrible for you to have to grow up under those conditions." Cassie offered
.
"Actually no, I don't have a problem with my scar. It's a part of me.
"
"That is so noble of you." Sarah said, before turning to Gerard. "Jerry, isn't there something you could do about her scar?
"
Danny couldn't believe that Sarah just called Gerard 'Jerry' and that she had the audacity to ask him about her scar, as if she was a defective Coach handbag
.
"Sarah, keeping the scar is Danny's decision. I love her just the way she is, scar or no scar." Gerard offered, squeezing Danny's hand
.
"Besides, I'm definitely not the surgery type. But you ladies are definitely pioneers." Danny said dramatically placing her hand over her heart. "You've gone and added to what the good Lord gave you. Breast and ass augmentation, Botox, collagen injections, and face lifts. I am so envious of you. Here I am with my little self, stuck with the voluptuous ass and C-cups I was born with. You all are truly my inspiration.
"
While the women looked outraged their faces turning red despite their perfect suntans, the men had to force themselves to keep from laughing. Dominick failed and started choking on his drink, leaving his outraged wife to slap him on the back. Gerard gave Danny a look that said knock it off' but she didn't care. If it were not unladylike, she would give him the middle finger and tell him what she thought of everybody at the table
.
"I'll just be honest, you're definitely not what I imagined when Gerard told us he was engaged. You're a little different than the women he's dated in the past." Cassie informed her after she had regained her composure
.
“Oh really? Different in what way?" Danny challenged, meeting her knowing look with one of her own.
She knew the game that Cassie was about to play and the cards she was dealing. Racism wasn't something that was new to her. She had been working with this skin for twenty-eight years and there was no situation she could not handle. Danny had the mental skin of a rhino, so Tricia and Cassie could continue to throw their daggers. They didn't hurt one bit. Hell, she might even throw a few back
.
"Well, I assumed his type was of the blond, blue-eyed variety." Tricia returned ignoring the 'shut the hell up' look Cliff was giving her. "He had this little model he used to date, her name was Paula…oh no, her name was Paris. Anyway, Jerry and Paris were so--
"
"Tricia, that's enough. I'm sure Danielle doesn't want to hear about that." Cliff warned
.
Gerard even chimed in. "Enough, Trish.
"
"Of course she wants to hear about Paris. Don't be silly." Tricia dismissed her husband with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, those two were so crazy about each other. We were supposed to meet them at Jerry's apartment for dinner. We get there and the door is halfway open. So we step in the apartment and catch them right in the act. I've never seen two people look more embarrassed.
"