Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair Read Online Free PDF Page A

to answer?
    Bianca so badly wanted to say
something, anything to silence Camina, but she didn't know what.
Finally, Bianca broke the embarrassing stare, turned away and
didn't say a word. Her palms were sweaty as she stared at the cold
pizza in front of her. Camina had won this round, because she had
left Bianca without a word of retort.
    "That was so uncalled for," Michelle
said in an elevated tone. "And very mean."
    A frail smile covered Camina's face.
"Did I hurt your feelings, Bianca? I sure hope not."
    Camina's words were layered with
condescension, and Bianca felt doused with ridicule, shame and
fear. But she refused to stoop to Camina's antagonizing
level.
    Camina plucked her Coach wallet from
her purse and placed a $20 bill in the center of the table. "I
guess we should go. There's nothing exciting going on here." Camina
continued. "By now Bruce has probably paged me twice already. He
knows that I take an hour for lunch, but every day he thinks I'm
only going to be gone for thirty minutes."
    Bianca picked up the $20 bill and
handed it to Camina. "I'll take care of it," Bianca said. "I'll put
it on my credit card."
    "You don't have to do that," Michelle
said.
    "No, it's okay," Bianca
said.
    "If she wants to pay, let her," Camina
said. "I just wish that I had ordered more of
everything."
    Michelle's wide eyes peered over at
Camina, then Bianca "Are you sure about this?" Michelle asked
Bianca.
    "Yes," Bianca said. "I'll take care of
it."
    Well aware of how odd her actions
appeared to Camina and Michelle, Bianca knew what she was doing.
She could not and would not let on just how much Camina really
offended her and this was her way of demonstrating just that. While
Camina and Michelle gathered their things to leave, Bianca placed
her credit card on the center of' the table, on top of the check.
"I'll meet you back at the office," Bianca said. "I'm going to make
a quick stop at Starbucks."
    It was not unusual for Bianca to
frequent Starbucks on her lunch hour, but that was not the case
that afternoon. It was Bianca's choice not to walk back with them
and definitely not to spend any more time in Camina's presence than
necessary.
    Camina exited the table and waited for
Michelle.
    "I'll see you back at the office,"
Michelle said to Bianca. "And thanks for lunch."
    Bianca waited for Camina and Michelle
to move through the revolving doors, grateful that lunch was over.
It should have come as no surprise that Camina would continue to
spit her poison every chance she got. Baffled, Bianca could not
understand why it was that Michelle never just invited Bianca out
alone. For some reason, it always had to be the three of
them.
    What was that all about?
    All the same, this was their last lunch
together as a trio and Bianca meant it. If Michelle wanted to have
lunch with her, then fine. But not Camina, not ever
again.
     
     
    Camina was right.
    As much as Bianca hated to admit it,
deep in her heart, Camina was right about her never having any fun.
Bianca headed back from the restaurant, thinking about everything
that transpired over lunch. She saw herself as a boring individual,
and she did not like it. Despite her late sister telling her that
she would always be wonderful just as she was, Bianca found her
sister's words hard to swallow, especially after what happened over
lunch. All the same, she never did anything fun, exciting or
different. Her idea of fun was participating in her watercolor
class, and that was about as risque as it got.
    Camina's blunt words were still
inexcusable. Though Bianca wasn't the type to hold a grudge against
anyone, she considered making a concentrated effort to hold a
grudge against Camina, but in the end decided against it. She was a
forgiving person. And she was not about to allow Camina to change
her or mold her into someone that she wasn't. The scary thing was
it was already happening. She was already holding a grudge against
Camina, if only on a subconscious level. Though she always forgave,
she