The voice on the house intercom let her know that Meg was home.
She pulled a swig from her beer and hit the boss one last time with the energy level she had in the game.
Match lost.
Damn game.
She moved back into the chat room when Meg sailed into the house, tossing her keys and purse on the coffee table. “I see you’re being as productive as ever.”
“Don’t judge,” Judy scolded, even if her best friend was right. “I’ve had a shit day.”
“Again?”
All Judy could do was growl.
“Well I’ve had a fabulous day.”
Judy closed her tablet and tossed it aside. “I take it you met Sam today?”
Meg opened the fridge and grabbed a beer as she spoke. “I can’t believe she’s a duchess. Are you sure about that?”
“Ask Karen if you think I’m lying.”
“I don’t think you’re lying . . . she just seems, I don’t know, normal.”
Judy laughed. “People say the same thing about Mike. Being a celebrity or royalty doesn’t make you less than normal. Just makes people think you need to be some kind of cartoon character of a real person. So Sam shows up in normal clothes and treats you like a potential employee and suddenly she’s not a duchess?”
Meg tilted back her beverage and then sighed. “Yeah. I guess. She’s so . . . I don’t know, normal.”
“A real person.”
“Right.”
Judy pushed off the sofa and tossed her empty bottle in the trash. “I wish my boss was as real as Sam.”
“Is he still calling you Lucy?”
“Yes! Every damn time he does, I tell him my name. I laugh.” Judy demonstrated with a dramatic toss of her hair. “It’s Judy, Mr. Archer.” She paused, then said in a lower voice to mimic her boss, “What? Yeah, yeah . . . file this. Fix this. Do this.”
“Sounds awful.”
“I haven’t seen a blueprint since I walked into the office.” Well, she’d managed to see a work in progress on one of the drafters’ desks. Other than that, she’d seen nothing. Filing, paperwork, and bullshit.
“Sounds like you need a night of confidence. I’ve scoped out the local pool halls.”
Suddenly Judy felt a little more like herself. “Did you say pool hall?”
Penthouse Pool was a dive. Something that would fit in with the college crowd. Too bad the college crowd wasn’t anywhere near Hollywood. The beer was cheap and it only took one round to find someone to buy them their drinks.
“I’m actually really good,” Judy warned the thirtysomething guy and his friend who challenged her to a game.
“I can stand losing twenty bucks,” he told her.
Judy racked up the balls and let Meg hold the money. It took less than five minutes to relieve Phil, or maybe it was Bill, of twenty dollars. Phil/Bill doubled his bet and lost in four minutes. “I warned you.”
Phil/Bill scowled and moved back to the bar, leaving Meg and Judy sitting on the side of the table. If it wasn’t for the music in the jukebox they probably would have left the minute the guys left. It didn’t take long for a couple of other men to take their place. Only these guys were looking to get into something more than a corner pocket, and Judy and Meg both knew better than to challenge them to anything.
“I can sink that ball in your hole,” the scuzzball managed.
Judy laughed, not willing to meet the guy’s gaze.
“We’re lesbians,” Meg announced.
The blond actually seemed turned on by the idea.
“And we don’t share,” Judy told him. To add to the effect, Judy slid a hand around Meg’s waist and pulled her close.
“Fucking Hollywood,” the man mumbled under his breath as he walked away.
Judy turned toward her friend. “This is a bust.”
Meg scanned the bar with a nod. “Cheap beer and cheaper pool. I thought it sounded great.”
“We managed sixty bucks. Not that bad.”
Behind them, someone laughed. “That was classic.”
Judy and Meg both twisted toward two guys who stood shoulder to shoulder. They were about the same height as Meg, which rivaled five nine, and they both looked enough alike to make Judy think they were brothers. Only the auburn-haired man placed his hand on his friend in a way that told her they were much more than friends.
“What was classic?” Meg asked . . . the music in the pool hall changed and seemed to get louder.
“Putting those guys off.”
Judy laughed. “Not hard to do when they come on that strong.”
“You guys play?”
“She does,” Meg told them.
Lucas had short blond hair that fell in his eyes with every shake of his head. His friend, and if Judy had to guess, his lover, Dan, had an easy smile and an open wallet. “You girls want another drink?”
“You go ahead,” Meg suggested. “I’ll drive us home.”
“Not to mention I’ve had a crap day.”
Lucas racked the balls while Dan sat across from Meg at a nearby table.
“Bad day at work?” Lucas asked.
“You can say that.”
Lucas pulled the triangle away and hung it on the nail sticking out of a beam. “We playing for money?”
“She’s good,” Meg warned him.
“I’m good,” Judy said at the same time.
Dan laughed. “You guys suck at hustling pool.”
“We’re new in town,” Judy told him. “It’s never a good idea to hustle anything until you know the players or have backup.”
Lucas pulled a twenty from his back pocket and set it on the table with Meg. “I’m not half bad either. If you kick my ass, it will be the only twenty we ever play for.”
Meg placed a twenty on top of it, solidifying the bet.
Judy broke, sank a solid, and missed her second shot.
Lucas followed with two stripes before she had another turn.
“You guys aren’t really lesbians.” Dan wasn’t asking a question.
“Not even in my diary,” Judy said as she set up her shot.
“And you guys aren’t straight.” Meg called them out.
Dan laughed. “According to my mother I am.”
Lucas leaned next to his friend and watched Judy take out two more balls.
“So is this place always so lively?” Judy asked, letting the sarcasm drip from her voice.
“This place is a dive, but the drinks are cheap.”