OFF-TANGENT(A Lesbian Story)

Chapter Eighteen

Either Wensh had not heard the meeting time correctly, or Mayor Manuel Reyes had purposely given her the wrong hour. Those were the only possibilities Mika could come up with, because she arrived at the City Hall at fifteen minutes to four the following afternoon only to be told by the Mayor's secretary that the council was already in session.

"I'll wait," Mika said sweetly.

The secretary's expression did not alter. "I will get you a cup of coffee. It will be a long meeting, Miks."

"Is Miss Galang in the council room?"

The secretary was immediately on guard. "Of course not."

"Where is she then?"

"She is waiting in the Mayor's office. But you cannot go in there, Miks. His Honor said no press..."

"I see." The careless questions had achieved Mika's purpose. If Vic had been included in the meeting, she would have stormed in, demanding that the rest of the public be admitted. The secretary had obviously been on the look-out for that. But she had unwittingly given away a bit of information that was worth even more to Mika. If Vic was in Dumaguete, it meant everyone expected the deal to go through. Surely she would hardly have come down from Pampanga for the privilege of being told no.

Vic is here. Mika tried very hard to contain the wild joy that ran through her veins at the thought of seeing her again. She had not realized that she missed the young entrepreneur so much. The four days she had not seen Vic seemed endless.

The secretary gathered up a stack of papers.

"Mika, I need to take these forms down the hall, but your father told me to guard the door of the meeting room with my life so you would not barge in. Now, if you'll give me your solemn word..."

Mika sipped her coffee and raised her right hand. "I swear, I will not interrupt the council meeting," she promised.

"I know I could trust you. "I will be back in a minute, and the Mayor will never know I've been gone, right?"

"Not from me. In fact, I may not even stick around. I have some errands to do for the station."

As soon as the secretary was out of sight, Mika drained her coffee cup, set it on the corner of the desk where the woman could not miss it, and tiptoed across to the Mayor's private office.

Vic was lying on the couch, her fingers laced behind her head staring at the ceiling. She looked up as Mika came in.

"Oh. You are a welcome sight. Did they send you to keep me company, so that I would not notice how long it is taking them to decide anything?" She sat up and patted the couch cushion beside her.

Mika ignored the invitation, 'though the caressing note in Vic's voice sent her pulse rate soaring. She closed the office door and perched on the corner of her father's massive desk.

"You seemed very certain that the council is going to give you the deal you want."

"And can I ask how you reached that conclusion?" Vic asked with her eyebrow raised.

"You are here."

"Has it not crossed your mind that there is something else in Dumaguete that interest me?" It was soft, seductive even. Vic's eyes focused on the reporter's left hand, and then lifted--- dark with anger to her face. "I see you are still engaged," she said, with her voiced clipped and even. "What the hell is the matter with you, Mika, and you came running back to him?"

Something snapped inside the taller woman, and she bit off the explanation that trembled on her lips. What good would it do to explain it to her? She had drawn her own conclusions. Why should she recite the details for Vic's personal pleasure? She owed Kiefer that much respect, at least--- to keep private things private.