Shy Town Girls Read Online Free PDF Page A

blue
dress?”
    “Yeah, if I can wear the tan Jeffrey Campbells!”
    I slipped into my classic red dress and set my suede
pumps on the toilet seat. Alone in my bathroom, listening to Ella
and Ivy giggling together over their double vanity, I couldn’t help
but wonder what they were thinking about me. I was unsure of the
impression I was making. I remained quiet in my bathroom, feeling
more awkward than usual. What if three was a crowd? It probably
would be, even in a big bathroom like that. I laughed in the mirror
at my patheticness. I was a grown woman, feeling sorry for myself,
thinking like the new kid in the High School cafeteria!
    I curled my hair, drew black cat eyes, put on red
lipstick to match my dress, and added a splash of Coco Chanel. My
mother’s voice always ran through my head when I was getting ready
to go out for the evening. “Classic will always trump trendy,
Roberta. Find your scent and stick to it. Don’t you ever forget how
the women of Roma dress, the women of Paris walk, and the
immaculate perfection of the Austrians. A little vanity goes a long
way, Roberta. Scusi per la mia vanita.”
    “I was thinking we could go to Hugo’s. What do you
think?” I stood at the doorway to their bathroom, the first one
ready.
    “Oh Bobbie, that dress rocks!” Ivy blurted. Ella
gave a nod of approval. Then she added, “And Ella and I LOVE
Hugo’s!”
    “Hugo’s is big on fish, aren’t they?” Ella asked,
pouting at herself in the mirror as she dabbed color on her lips.
But it’s up to you tonight, Bobbie.” She hadn’t said much to me all
day. I studied her face for some signal of emotion, some sign of
what was going on inside. She looked at me expressionlessly, then
looked away. Our eye contact, or lack of it, felt awkward. Did she
not like fish? Or was it me she found distasteful?
    “Knock, knock!” sang out Meryl. “Shall we?” She
popped her head in the door. We grabbed our coats and locked up the
apartment.
    “Have fun, dollies! Tootle-loo!” Barbara’s voice
echoed down the stairway.
    “She’s not coming?” I asked.
    “She’s got a date with Rock Hudson,” Meryl laughed.
“She loves old movies.”
    “Wait—” Ivy frowned. “Wasn’t he gay?”
    Ella gave herself one last look in the hall mirror.
“Like she would even care!”
    I laughed and called out goodbye to my new landlady.
I was already taken with her contagious warmth. I smiled as I
walked out the front door into the cold.
     
     

Chapter 4
     
    “Welcome, ladies. How many?” The hostess at Hugo’s
greeted us with a big smile on her face, her eyelids coated with
dark eye shadow that was applied heavily rather than artfully.
Yikes!
    “ Party of four,” said Meryl
sweetly.
    “It’s going to be a bit of a wait. Can we interest
you in a drink at the bar?”
    “How long’s the wait for a table?” Meryl asked as she
put on her professional face.
    “About twenty minutes, but I’ll see what we can do
for you Ms. Harrington,” the hostess beamed. I realized that Meryl
was a regular here, wining and dining her clients. She was glowing
with pride as the Hugo’s hostess did all she could to accommodate
us. Hugo’s hosted a number of Meryl’s charity events, resulting in
significant donations to various foundations. Unlike the
philanthropic Meryl, I never was the charitable type; maybe because
I was too focused on keeping my life together, I didn’t have the
energy to look out for anyone else.
    Ivy then stepped up, “Is Jacob Shields dining
tonight? He’s a close friend. If not, I know he’d be happy to give
us his table. Should I give him call?”
    “Oh, Mr. Shields. That shouldn’t be necessary,” the
hostess’s attitude shifted. She looked at Ivy with eyes of wonder
and then leafed through her reservations list, stopping cold. She
looked up with a toothy smile. “Mr. Shields cancelled this morning
as he said he was going out of town!”
    “Perfect!” Ivy lit up with self-satisfaction. With
that she