Chapter 9

THE MINERVA MINK STORY
"After Dinner Pearls"

Chapter 9

    Dinner had been nothing short of superb, and everyone was able to eat there fill plus a little more for good measure.

    The salmon had been succulent, each bite felting in their mouths, and both fish had disappeared quickly.

    Accompanying the main course had been a wonderful tossed salad, several bowls of fresh fruit, vintage red wine for the adults and Welches Grape juice for the kids, two different kinds of noodles, rice, and finally a slice of Key-Lime pie for dessert.

    Sawyer had brought out the good china and crystal glass, though Minerva had been a bit worried that Stephanie might have an accident, she handled herself well, said all the proper “please and thank-you’s”, and ate with almost adult like care. ‘Score one brownie point for the little girl with the red hair.’ She thought, sipping the last of her wine and setting the rose bud glass back on the table.

    After the meal was finished, Steph had helped Beth and Bradley, the two tabby children, clear the table taking the dishes and left over food into the kitchen.

    Minerva hadn’t been the least bit surprised to find out that Beth and her brother were not only close to Steph’s age, Beth being seven and Bradley six, but that the little girl also collected Barbie’s, boasting a modest sized collection, and her brother was into Hotwheels himself.

    Steph had been overjoyed for she loved both kinds of toys, and the three children quickly became friends in that easy, no terms manor only kids seem able to do.

    She helped her two new friends put away the extra food and wash the dinner dishes they had use. Beth washed, Bradley dried, and Steph climbed up on the counter so she could place the dishes back in their personal cubby high above the sink. (Another brownie point touchdown.) All the while Beth promised that when they were done she would take Steph downstairs into the toy room and show her their collections.

    Minerva had however, been more than a little surprised to see Meggie there! She quickly discovered that Meggie was an old time friend of Sawyer’s and as the old saying goes, ‘It’s a small world after all.’ However, the feline woman she had met while sitting in the waiting room of Vanessa’s office complex, seemed uncomfortable with Minerva, avoiding her eyes during dinner and not talking much while they ate. This hurt the mink a bit, but erased any doubts as to wether or not Meggie believed what Vanessa had shown her.

    Dinner conversation has revolved around the children mostly. Minerva introducing Stephanie to everyone and Sawyer telling her about each of her children, how old they were, and how they were doing in school.

    Abby had become a budding artist, spending a good deal of her time painting or reading any book she could find. She had also been drafted for baby duty, being the oldest child and having her father’s never ending patience made her a perfect candidate. Her school work was excellent, though she often complained about how boring her classes were and how she felt she could find more constructive ways to spend her time.

    Beth and Bradley had been put into the same grade together, and though they were several months apart in age, (Nine months and ten minuets apart some would say,) they tended to spend most of their time together.

    She had thought of Corrie suddenly, and her hand went to the silver and gold crucifix she had put on that night, concealed under her blouse. Minerva hadn’t been able to exactly explain why she had suddenly put her grandmother’s cross on that night, but it seemed right and after thinking about it for only a moment, the answer was blatantly obvious. Someone very close to her heart needed her prayers that week.

    The ‘Twins” as Beth and Bradley had been nicknamed, both did well in school, except for some struggling in math that Danny understood. Sawyer had the head for numbers, not him and apparently not them either.

    And of course there was Felicia. Happy, healthy, and driving her parents nuts as was required of her at that age.

    Danny had excused himself from the table after the meal was over and went to relieve Abby of her post so she could get herself something to eat before all the food was put away.

    Meggie had offered to brew them some tea and retreated to the kitchen, leaving Sawyer and Minerva to make their way back to the den. “I don’t think she likes me much.” The mink confessed as they passed back into the small passage that would take them to the front of the house.

    “Who? Meggie?” Sawyer looked confused. “What makes you think that?”

    “She hardly spoke at the table tonight, and she seemed to be avoiding my glance. I’ve met her before, when I applied....”

    Sawyer held out her hand to stop Minerva. “I know all about it, from Meggie herself. It’s not that she doesn’t like you at all, in fact I would bet our friendship that she actually likes you a great deal from what little you two have talked, it’s just.... Well, I’ll let her deal with that when the time is right. But she is kind of responsible for me calling you in the first place and asking you to come for dinner tonight.”

    Minerva was now more confused then before, but decided not to pursue the thought any further.

    Entering the den, Sawyer proceeded to shoo her husband from the room, asking him to watch the children down in the toy room, and allow the girls to have some chat time. He agreed, asking if she wanted him to take Felicia too.

    “No, better leave her here. I need to feed her before she goes to bed anyway, and it will be less of a hassle for me to do it then for you.” Danny kissed his wife and left the two women alone to talk.

    Felicia had gotten bored with her light up display and decided that she would rather like to crawl about the room instead. She made a few lazy circles, stopping once or twice to watch the fire Danny had built for them after dinner, and then made her way over to her mother. “Are you hungry my little rug roamer? It’s about time for your dinner and bed.”

    She scooped up the baby and started to unbuckle her overalls, then stopped. “Oh! I’m so sorry. You don’t mind do you Minerva?”

    Again the mink flapped her hand toward Sawyer. “Not at all. You go right ahead.”

    She blushed and unhooked the left side of her overalls. “I just wanted to make sure. People are so freaky about these kinds of things now days, I didn’t want to embarrass you!” She lifted the small blue T, unhooked her cotton bra, and let the baby suckle.

    The room fell silent, except for the occasional coo from Felicia as Sawyer nursed and Minerva watched the fire, feeling relaxed and just a bit sleepy thanks to the big meal. ‘Oh, I so hope it’s like this when I have kids. It feels so secure and happy in here, I could almost drift right off.’

    Before too long Meggie returned, carrying a wooden tray this time and set it down on the coffee table. It had three beautiful cups and a tea pot set on a warming stone with tendrils of steam escaping out of the spout.

    “I wasn’t sure what kind of tea you would like,” She said pouring the hot water into each cup. “So I just grabbed a sampler box. What would you like Sawyer?”

    She had just finished nursing and was replacing the buckle on her coveralls. “Mmmmm, green tea please. And just a dash of lemon if you wouldn’t mind.”

    Felicia let out a long yawn and rubbed her eyes with the back of her tiny hands. Sawyer smiled warmly at her daughter and began to rock her gently in her arms.

    “And you Minerva?”

    “Earl Gray please.”

    Meggie searched the box of tea bags, till she found the three she wanted, and dipped each one into the cups to soak.

    Minerva watched her friend cuddle her baby with growing admiration. “If only half of the mothers in the world were like you Sawyer.” She was only thinking this and blushed a bit when she realized she had said it out loud. “It’s just, you know, amazing to watch you. What’s the secret?”

    “Priorities really. If you think that there is something more important than spending time with your baby, then you shouldn’t be having one.” Sawyer continued to rock the sleepy baby, but her smile faded a bit. “There are times, when I wish she wasn’t going to be my last.”

    Both Minerva and Meggie could see a shadow of sadness fall over their friend’s face.

    “I quit making movies so I could spend time with my children. I’m the only mother they are ever going to have, and I’ve always felt that the fact my mother was around to learn from is how I took to motherhood so naturally. It’s just, what am I going to do when my babies don’t need me anymore?”

    “They are always going to need you Sawyer. I still need my mother at times, and look at me, a fully grown independent woman.” Minerva smiled at her friend. “It’s how were made I guess. But we are never fully free of our parents, and need then now and again for support and love.”

    “I guess your right.” Sawyer looked down at Felicia and could see she was sleeping, eyes shut and thumb in her mouth. “Would you pardon me? I’m going to go lay her in the crib. I’ll be right back.”

    Sawyer got up ever so slowly and seemed to float across the room, making sure she didn’t jostle the sleeping child any. Minerva wondered if that kind of stealth was a skill you could only master once you had a child and giggled softly. The door closed behind her and there was only the most vague sound of creaking floor boards as she ascended the stairs.

    Meggie picked up one of the ornate cups and handed it to Minerva, taking the second for herself, then sipping from it. “Um, Minerva? Can I please talk to you for a second?” She tucked her skirt up under her bottom and sat upon the couch.

    “Sure Meggie. I have a feeling I know what about.” The feline looked very nervous, like someone on their way to confessional. Minerva took a few sips of her own tea and said, “It’s okay, ask anything you want, and I’ll be truthful with you.”

    There was a few moments of silence as Meggie decided just what she was going to say. “I’m sorry about running away from you that day. I-I didn’t know.... Vanessa dumped that on me so suddenly I didn’t know what to think or how to react. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

    “It’s okay Meggie. That was a horrible thing for Vanessa to do to you, and I don’t blame you at all.”

    Taking another gulp of tea, the tan colored cat looked down at her knees for a moment, feeling never more awkward than she did at this moment. “Well..um.... They weren’t really you, were they?”

    This time, Minerva took a few moments to answer. She felt a slow burn of rage in her stomach as she thought about how much trouble photos like that had caused her in the past, and now it had come back to bite her once again.

    She placed the cup on a cork coaster next to her on the end table and folded her hands in her lap. Meggie lifted her head, and for the first time that day met the deep blue gaze of Minerva Mink. “No Meggie, those were definitely not me. No way, no how, but that doesn’t stop people like Vanessa from using them against me.

    “I guess I could curse my physique, wish I didn’t look they way I do, but I refuse to punish myself because of some fat greasy loser with a computer and too much time on their hands. There is nothing wrong with looking attractive and I refuse to change myself to try and prevent this kind of harassment.”

    Meggie frowned and bit her bottom lip. “But with what can be done with computers these days, how can the average person know?”

    Minerva sighed. “They can’t. All they can do is know me, know who I am, and figure out for themselves that I would never do something like that. I get no kicks out of that kind of exposure.

    “I mean, come on. The closest I’ve ever been to being photographed in the nude was for a body lotion add, where I had to sit in a pool of water at the beach. And even then, I had my back to the camera and a white bikini on.

    “Besides,” She put her hands out palms up and shrugged. “I really have nothing to defend. I could spend the rest of my life hunting people down and trying to convince everyone that those kinds of pictures are fake, but would that really convince anyone or would it make them all the more suspicious?”

    Meggie thought about this for a moment and placed a finger on her chin. “So, you mean if you showed outwardly that these kinds of picture bother you, then that will make people think there is something to them?” It made sense to her.

    “Exactly. Where as if I ignore them as much as possible, I can put distance between myself and those who make them. It’s no more simple than that.

    “Even Sawyer knows what it’s like to become a victim of this kind of thing, but she has been very good about not letting it bother her.”

    “So I’ve been told. It’s very scary really.”

    Minerva nodded her agreement, then reached out to put her hand on top of Meggie’s.

    “I have.... another way I can prove those are not me, but it’s a secret only a handful of people know. Can you keep a secret Meggie?”

    The feline felt an unmistakable strength and conviction in the other woman’s hand, and nodded. “Sure.”

    Minerva leaned back into her chair and sighed again. “I have three beauty marks on my body that no one really knows about.”

    Meggie raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

    “Well, I have three tiny black spots on my body, and though they have gotten a lot smaller as I’ve grown up, you can still see them rather plainly.”

    But this only confused Meggie more. “If there so plain to see, then how can no one know about them?”

    Minerva pointed to an area under her left breast. “Well for starters, two of them are here, and the other..... Well, I think you can guess where it is. My father use to tease me about them when I was little and call me his ‘little domino’. I’ll bet you can remember that they weren’t in any of those pictures.”

    At this, Meggie contemplated what she had seen in Vanessa’s that day, and though it was brief, she actually was very sure that the woman in those pictures didn’t have any birthmarks on her. Inside, she felt as if a knot in her stomach had suddenly come undone.

    “I can see why you would keep that a secret. I’m sorry we had to rehash any of this.”

    Again Minerva shrugged and took up her tea cup. “No problem. All goes with the turf I guess.”

    Suddenly, Sawyer came back into the room via the hallway door and stooped to pick up her cup. “Sorry to keep you ladies. I stubbed my toe on the banister and woke the baby. It took me a little while to get her back to sleep.” She retook her seat and began to sip her tea.

    If Meggie had believed this, she showed no sign, but Minerva saw through the lie almost instantly. ‘She was only giving us time to talk that all out. Thanks Sawyer.’

    “So tell me more about this business you want to start Minerva.”

    She suddenly remembered that she had mentioned the design studio during dinner but hadn’t wanted to bore them with all the details.

    “Well, it’s still early in the development stages.” She frowned and then added, “I only have one investor so far and that’s Terry.”

    She began to fill both women in about the magazine article, Vanessa, her desire to work again, and her need for investors she could trust to help her get the idea off the ground.

    Sawyer listened intently, feeling oddly excited herself with the prospect. “What about employees? Do you have anyone lined up?”

    “Not yet, but I do have a speck sheet for the positions that will have to be filled before I open. The biggest spots being a Head Secretary, two Computer Geeks, a Head Seamstress, at least four artists to help me with designs, a Sales Manager, and a Partridge in a pare tree.”

    Sawyer and Meggie smiled at each other and then both raised their hands. “One honest investor and Head Secretary reporting for duty Ma’am!” They said in unison and burst into giggles.

    “Wha... what?” Minerva didn’t know what to say. “Are you guys serious?!”

    “I know I am.” Sawyer took another sip of tea. “Sounds like just the right investment for me, and I don’t think I could find a more capable person to turn my investment into a profit.”

    Meggie nodded. “Count me in too. I’m sick of working as a temp and anything beats working for Vanessa! When do I start?”

    Minerva again frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t even have any places lined up to possibly move into. It would have to be big enough to house the design staff and the sewing staff too. Not to mention space for storage and records.

    “I had planned to go looking at a few places tomorrow, but I already have a feeling they will be too small. I may have to build, but that will take up a big chunk of my start up money.”

    Sawyer had started to look distant over her the rim of her tea when Minerva had said she needed a fairly big building to move into, then suddenly snapped her fingers.

    “Minerva! I think I know the perfect place! It big enough for all that stuff, and not to far away either! It would be absolutely perfect for you!”

    Minerva fished for a piece of paper and a pen from her purse. “Ready.”

    “Okay, this is how you get there....”

End Of Chapter 9