What If

                                                                             Chapter 5

The next morning Raegan was busy at her desk working on a pleading for one of her attorneys when she sensed someone behind her. Then she smelled the heavy cologne and knew who it was. “I’m busy, Billy,” she said without turning to look.

Billy tensed a bit startled that she knew he was there. He forced himself to relax. “You can’t keep ignoring me, Rae. Eventually you are going to have to deal with me.”

“Says who?” Raegan asked as she continued to type the pleading into the computer. Her attorney, Lisa, had given her a sample that had been cut and pasted together along with her own entries for Raegan to type up. She wanted it filed that afternoon with the federal courts. It wouldn’t get done if Billy insisted on standing over her shoulder, pressing her about their relationship that didn’t exist anymore.

“Says me. Damn it, Raegan would you turn around here and look at me when I’m talking to you?” Billy reached over and shut off her computer, causing her to lose everything she had just typed.

“You son of a bitch!” Raegan spun around in her office chair and glared up at Billy. “What the hell did you do that for?”

“To get your attention. And now that I have it, we need to talk,” Billy announced as if that made up for her losing her work.

“I have absolutely nothing to say to you, Billy. You were a nice guy who turned into a jerk. I have no desire to restart our relationship. Why can’t you just accept that?” Raegan whispered fiercely, hoping none of the other secretaries around the office would overhear.

“I still am a nice guy. I just take exception to my girl mooning over another man,” Billy defended himself.

“I am NOT mooning over another man!” Raegan huffed, knowing full well that that was exactly what she was doing.

“Then what would you call it, Rae? You have the guy’s picture plastered all over your cubicle. It’s not healthy.” Billy indicated all the magazine pictures of Oded that Raegan had cut out and stuck to the walls of her cubicle.

“There is nothing wrong with my admiration of a fine actor. Did I ever complain about the pictures of Pamela Anderson Lee that you had?” Raegan threw back at him.

“That’s different. Those were personally autographed by her,” Billy snapped.

Raegan rolled her eyes; such a typical male answer. ‘That’s different.’ “Go away, Billy,” she finally said and turned away from him to power up her computer again.

“This isn’t over, Rae,” Billy announced. But when Raegan glanced over her shoulder it was to see Billy walking away from her.

Raegan let her forehead fall to her desk as she made herself breath deeply. She sensed another presence, but knew that this time it was a friend. “Ah, Nance, what am I gonna do if he continues to hound me like this?”

“Put a flea collar on him and beat him with a stick?” Nancy suggested. Her tone was serious, but there was a gleam in her eyes.

Raegan started laughing as she sat up and turned to face her best friend. “That would do for starters,” she replied. “Do you know that jerk shut down my computer while I was in the middle of typing Lisa’s pleading? I have to have this damn thing ready for filing this afternoon! Now it’s lost and I have to start all over. The damn thing is 20 pages long and I was almost done with it!”

Nancy raised an eyebrow. “Did you do as I told you and save it upon creating it?

“Yes,” Raegan answered, clearly miffed.

“Move.” Nancy shoved her way into Raegan’s cubical and sat down in the chair Raegan vacated. “What’s the name of the file?” Nancy asked as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

“Denton Complaint,” Raegan answered.

After a few quick commands and a few clicks of the mouse, Raegan’s pleading appeared on the computer intact. “Voila!” Nancy twirled her hands up in the air as the pleading popped up. Raegan squealed behind her.

“Oh my god, Nance, I’ll love you forever!” Raegan laughed happily as she leaned over, grabbed Nance’s face and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

“Ew, god, Rae!” Nancy exclaimed pushing her friend away and wiping her cheek. “Save it for Oded!” She glanced around the office. “God, I hope nobody saw that!”

Raegan rolled her eyes. “Oh puleeze! I’ll buy you lunch, if it will make you feel better!”

Nancy grinned suddenly. “Good, I was wanting to go to China Town today.”

“Why you sneaky little bit-.” Raegan was cut off by the approach of her attorney.

“Rae, do you have that complaint typed up yet?” Lisa asked, giving Nancy a smile.

“Hi Lise, yes, I just have another couple of pages to go. It will be finished before I go to lunch.” Raegan smiled at her favorite attorney. She had 3 assigned to her, but Lisa was her favorite. Lisa treated her with respect and gave her responsibilities that other attorneys would never consider giving their secretaries.

“Okay. I’m headed over to the courthouse now for my meeting. I’ll be back in an hour.” Lisa started to turn and leave, but turned back to Raegan. “Is Billy still bothering you?”

Raegan frowned. “Yes. He was just here a few minutes ago. He shut my computer off when I wouldn’t turn around and talk to him. I thought for sure that I had lost the whole complaint, but Nancy was able to retrieve it for me.”

Lisa seemed to think about that for a moment, then she turned to Nancy. “Thanks, Nancy,” she replied, then turned her gaze on Raegan. “I’m going to talk to him, Rae. I can’t have him bothering you when you’re working. If he does that again, you come tell me immediately.” Lisa looked like she could take the head off a rhinoceros at that moment. Raegan nodded as Lisa turned and left.

“God damn, I almost feel sorry for Billy right now,” Nancy said as she moved to let Raegan sit in her chair.

“Not me, I hope she rips him a new asshole,” Raegan growled as she immediately saved all the work she had previously done.

“So what time are you taking me to lunch?” Nancy asked as she got ready to leave.

Raegan glanced up at the clock on the wall over her desk. It was 10:30. “Well I’ve got about three more pages to do here. Then I have to sort through John’s mail. Why don’t we go at 1:00?”

“Sounds good. I’ve got a Windows training class in ½ an hour anyway, so that will work just fine,” Nancy answered as she walked away.

“Call me when you’re ready!” Raegan called out as she began typing again.

“Alright,” Nancy answered.

Oded’s phone rang the next morning as he was eating breakfast and going over his list of things to do for the day. Since he had the day off, he might as well use it to run the errands he would have normally saved for Saturday. He answered the phone on the third ring.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Oh good, I caught you at home,” Trish responded in her usual haughty way.

“Not for long, Trish. I’ve got things to do. What do you want?” Oded had gotten so used to Trish not calling about business that he rarely assumed she was.

“Well, believe it or not, I actually have some business we need to discuss. Can you meet me for lunch?” Trish asked. Oded was rather surprised. Usually Trish demanded, not asked.

“Um, sure, I guess. What’s up?” he asked, hoping against hope that it was something good.

“Donnie and Marie want you to appear on their talk show,” Trish answered enthusiastically.

Oded was impressed. “Alright, where and when do you want to meet?”

“Well, I’ve got some business to take care of in downtown L.A. How about China Town? I could go for some really good Chinese food, say about 1:00 at Chin’s Restaurant?” Trish suggested.

“Sounds fine. I’ll see you then,” Oded answered and hung up.

Oded parked his Beemer in an empty parking space near Chin’s Restaurant. It was almost 1:30 and he was late. Trish would be furious with him, but it couldn’t be helped. He entered the crowded restaurant and told the waitress who he was meeting. She quickly took him to where Trish sat waiting impatiently. She glared at Oded as he sat down. “You’re late. You’re never late. That’s what I like about you; you’re punctual. What happened?”

“Things happen, Trish. Live with it.” Oded’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. He accepted the menu from the waitress and looked it over. Trish remained thankfully silent as Oded made his selection and put the menu down. Immediately the waitress was back with a glass of water for him.

“Are you ready to order?” she asked.

“Yes, I’ll have the Teriyaki Beef with broccoli special and just water to drink.” Oded smiled at the waitress as he handed her the menu.

“Rice or chow mein or half n half?” she asked as she tucked the menu under her arm.

“Um, half n half,” Oded answered. The waitress nodded, turned, and hurried off to get his order in.

Oded glanced over at Trish’s empty plate. She obviously hadn’t waited for him, but that was typical of her. She had no patience whatsoever. Oded took a drink of his water and glanced around the restaurant. There were a lot of people here for it being so late. Usually the restaurants thinned out by now. Trish had picked a more private area for them so that they wouldn’t be disturbed. Their U-shaped booth was lined with fake plants so that they had complete privacy, but Oded could still see through the neat arrangement of silk shrubs. A young woman a few tables over caught his attention and he watched her closely. She had long, light brown hair that she had pulled back in a French braid. He imagined that Raegan’s hair would be about the same color. She was pretty in an old-fashioned sort of way that appealed to Oded. She was laughing at something her friend had just said and the sound of it sent a tingle down his spine. Her whole face lit up with her smile and Oded had to stamp down the sudden urge to go over there and kiss her. God, he was a mess! What the hell was wrong with him?

“Oded!” Trish called to him, yanking on his shirtsleeve.

Oded turned his head and looked at her. “What?” he answered, a bit confused.

“I called you three times. Is something wrong with you?” Trish asked, annoyed. She did not like being ignored.

“I’m fine, Trish. ‘Just have my mind on a lot of things right now. So tell me about this guest appearance on Donnie and Marie,” Oded commanded as the waitress brought him his food.

Trish explained all the details as Oded ate. He would do a guest appearance on their show week after next, when he was done filming Deuce. Trish said she would take care of all the publicity for it so that the fans would know about it. By the time Oded was done eating, Trish had moved on to a different subject: them. Which reminded Oded that he had wanted to talk to her about that too. But movement distracted him out of the corner of his eye and he turned to see that the pretty girl he’d noticed earlier and her blonde friend were standing to leave.

“I swear Raegan, it’s the god honest truth!” the blonde said, laughing.

“Nancy, I swear if you’re lying to me, I’ll kick your ass!” Raegan answered.

Oded froze. No, it can’t be. Surely this must be some joke. What are the odds that SHE would be here at the same restaurant as me? But how many Raegan and Nancys were there that were friends? Oded started to get up to follow them.

“Oded, where the hell do you think you’re going? Trish suddenly demanded, grabbing his arm.

Oded blinked and looked at Trish. “I’ll be right back, Trish. ‘Something I need to check out.” He scooted out of the booth under Trish’s loud protest and glanced around. “Damn it!” he growled softly. She was gone. He headed through the restaurant to the exit and walked outside to the warm sunshine, but they were gone. She was gone. Oded wanted to scream! The chances that that had actually been Raegan, HIS Reagan were so slim . . . His jaw clenched as he spun around and walked back in the restaurant, just missing the Honda Accord with the two girls in it passing back by the restaurant.

                                                                ********************

                                                                           Chapter 6

The next few days actually went by quickly for Oded. Friday had kept him busy with filming Deuce and he had little time to think about Raegan or the fact that he might have nearly met her. THAT frustrated him. Not knowing for certain if that had been her or not nearly drove him insane. When he had gone back into the restaurant, Trish had been thoroughly pissed and she had left in a huff. Once he had gotten home, he had checked the message board and had read the new posts, responding to a few of them. How would he be able to find out if that had been her? He could just ask her, but then she would want to know why “Odie” hadn’t come over and talked to her and Nancy. He wasn’t prepared to try to come up with an answer to that.

Now it was Saturday morning and he sat out on his back patio with a cup of coffee, enjoying the warm summer morning. As was becoming his habit lately, whenever he sat immobile for any length of time, he thought of Raegan and then the image of the young lady from the restaurant formed in his mind. He could see her as clearly as if she stood before him. Oded sighed. He’d been attracted to the girl at the restaurant; the fact that THAT could have been Raegan only confirmed his belief that there could be something between them if he didn’t screw anything up. That thought caused him to sigh again. He was screwing things up by pretending to be somebody he wasn’t. Well, there were only two things he could do. He could either stop posting as Odie and just forget the whole thing or he could ask Raegan to meet him and he could reveal to her who he was. Whatever he decided to do, it would have to wait a few days. His buddy Tom had called him last night to tell him he’d gotten court side seats for the L.A. Lakers game tonight and Oded was not one to pass up a good basketball game, not even for an R rated chat with the girls. The thought made Oded groan. Not that he had considered joining them tonight. The thought of it made him cringe to think what they might be saying about him. If they talked about what kind of underwear he wore in a PG 13 chat, no telling what came up in a R rated one. Maybe he would wait until after he was done with Deuce to approach Raegan. He would see what happened this next week, go to the Wednesday night chat, if he could, then see about how he could hook up with Raegan privately. With that decided, Oded got up and went back inside his condo to get ready for the day.

The next four days seemed to drag for Oded. He had slept in Sunday after being out late with Tom. The basketball game had been great and they had gone out for drinks afterwards. By the time Oded had gotten home it was after 2 o’clock in the morning. Once he got going on Sunday though, he decided to spend the day outside working in the small backyard. He checked the message board a few times throughout the day, reading the messages that had been posted and responding to those he felt needed his 2 cents. It was basically a relaxing day that he much needed. Monday, on the other hand, had been as disastrous as the previous Monday. He had had to wear gravity boots for filming a scene where Rob Schneider’s “Deuce” character is talking to Oded’s “Antoine” character and Antoine has on gravity boots where he hangs himself upside down off a bar that is attached to the ceiling. It had been a royal bitch filming that scene and Oded had the swollen ankles to prove it. The scenes to be filmed on Tuesday that involved Oded’s character had to be rescheduled because he could hardly walk. He had spent an agonizing day with his ankles packed in ice, then in heat. When Wednesday had finally rolled around, they had to wrap his ankles so that they could continue filming. Needless to say, Oded was not in a pleasant mood when he finally sat down in front of his computer about 8 o’clock that night. He almost considered not joining the chat, but quickly changed his mind.

Raegan: Well I don’t think it’s true.

Tonya: Rae, how can you ignore a picture? They look pretty chummy if you ask me.

Sarah: Yeah Rae, even if the woman looks like she bleaches her hair and cackles like a witch, they do look chummy.

Raegan: **sigh** I just don’t want to believe that he could be attracted to a woman like that. She looks so phony.

Oded frowned as he read the current topic of conversation. He was a bit confused. Surely they weren’t talking about him. He wasn’t currently dating anyone, especially anyone who bleaches their hair and cackles like a witch, as Sarah so eloquently put it.

Tonya: Hey look what the cat dragged in!! Hi Odie!

Odie: Hi guys!

Nancy: Hey Odie, welcome to the chat from Hell!

Sarah: LMAO Nance!

Sue: Hi Odie.

Raegan: Hi Odie, welcome back.

Odie: Thanks. Who are we talking about now?

Nancy: Who do we ever talk about? The Man, the luscious one himself, of course.

Tonya: Mary, the girl who runs the Oded’s Dream website posted a new picture that she found in a magazine. It’s of Oded with some blonde named Trish Barnett at the cast party of The Mummy.

Oded’s jaw dropped open. Good lord, did they think he was dating Trish?

Sarah: We were discussing if this woman is Oded’s new flame.

Nancy: Actually we were discussing Trish’s finer points **snicker**

Tonya: LMAO!

Sarah: lmao

Sue: lol

Raegan: lmao Nance. Have you seen the picture yet, Odie?

Odie: No, I haven’t.

Oded debated how much he could say without revealing how he knew so much about the situation.

Raegan: Not to be mean or to criticize, but I thought Oded would have better taste in women than that.

Nancy: Shit, Rae, you’re just jealous cuz he’s dating a blonde. At least the man has some good taste. lol

Odie: Did you say her name is Trish Barnett?

Raegan: yes

Odie: Well, I can at least put THAT rumor to rest. Trish Barnett is Oded’s publicist, not his girlfriend.

Raegan: YESSSSSSSSSSS! **arm pumping the air**

Nancy: And we know this how?

Tanya: Yeah Odie, how do you know who she is?

Odie: It pays to live in Santa Monica where all the action is. lol

Sarah: I think Odie is holding out on us girls. I bet she works for the damn publicist herself and has all the inside scoop! lol

Raegan: So, honest to god, Odie, he isn’t dating her?

Oded hoped if he ignored the job comment, that they wouldn’t continue that line of the conversation. He really didn’t want to create a job for himself. It was bad enough that he was pretending to be someone he wasn’t without having to tack a fake job onto it.

Odie: Yeah, he isn’t dating her. My understanding is that Oded is quite picky who he dates, but of course that is only hearsay.

Oded decided to add that last bit in hopes that they wouldn’t get too suspicious of his wealth of information.

Nancy: Okay, well since we killed that topic, what’s next on the agenda?

Tonya: Hey, what is everyone doing this weekend?

Sarah: Good god, Tonya, that is still 2 days away. I don’t plan that far ahead!

Tonya: lmao!

Nancy: Well I am going away for the weekend.

Raegan: I think I am going to check around on pricing a new camera. I miss my photography.

Oded perked up at this. Raegan was into photography?

Sarah: Where are you going, Nance? Is Rick taking you away on a weekend getaway? Hmmmmm?

Odie: Rae?

Raegan: yes, Odie?

Nancy: Yeah, Rick is taking me up to Santa Barbara for the weekend. We are gonna stay at one of those Bed n Breakfast places.

Odie: You’re into photography?

Tonya: Hey that’s great, Nance! What’s the special occasion?

Raegan: Oh yeah. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. I love getting out and taking pictures of whatever I can find. People, animals, etc.

Oded sighed as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He was suddenly beginning to believe in fate.

Odie: I love photography too. What kind of camera do you have?

Raegan: Well, I had a Minolta, but it was stolen a while back. I haven’t been able to afford a new one yet. How about you?

Nancy: It’s our six-month anniversary and it’s a “make up” weekend for all the late nights he’s been pulling overtime lately. He’s picking me up Friday from work and we won’t be back until Monday night. J

Sue: Wow, that’s wonderful, Nance!

Odie: I have a Nikon. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to do much with it lately. Too busy with other stuff.

Sarah: Where is Santa Barbara, Nance?

Raegan: I miss my camera. I was really bummed when it was stolen. Do you have any other hobbies, Odie?

Nancy: It’s north of us a good 4 or so hour drive. It should be fun.

Odie: I swim and read when I can. I love any outdoor sport.

Raegan: Really? Wow, how amazing. I love to swim too and read. Nance calls me a bookworm. lol I also enjoy outdoor sports too.

Nancy: Actually I call you a lot of things, Rae, but we won’t get in to that right now! LMAO!

Raegan: Maybe I can get Rick to take you away sooner, hmmmmm?

Tonya: LMAO!

Oded’s head was spinning. How could they have so much in common?

Raegan: Hey Odie, maybe we can get together for lunch sometime and you can show me some of the pictures you’ve taken. I would love to see them.

Oded’s heart skipped a beat.

Raegan: I work at the old federal building in downtown L.A. That’s near enough to Santa Monica that we could get together sometime, right?

Oded couldn’t breathe suddenly. It HAD been her at the restaurant! He forced himself to release the breath he’d been holding.

Odie: Yeah, maybe we can work it out sometime. You can bring me what you’ve taken too.

Nancy: GOD! Shutterbug talk! I WANNA TALK ABOUT ODED!!!!!

Sarah: Oh yeah! I went to see The Mummy for the 15th time! God damn, it just keeps getting better and better. Don’t you just looooooooooove those tattoos?

Tonya: 15 times? Damn girl, don’t you have a life? LMAO!

Sue: Right, Ton! And just how many times have YOU seen it? lol

Tonya: Weeeeeeeeell, okay, I admit I’ve seen it 11 times.

Nancy: LMAO! And in answer to your other question Sar, shit yes I love them tattoos! Haven’t you ever wondered where else they might have painted them things on his body?

Tonya: Every damn time I see that movie! And I’m the one who is willing to remove all them black robes to find out too!

Raegan: Odie?

Odie: yeah, Rae?

Oded took another deep breath. He had to calm down. His hands were shaking so bad he thought he’d never get that simple ‘yeah, Rae’ typed out. They seemed to have really connected tonight and that was what he had hoped for.

Raegan: Could I ask for your email address?

Sweet Jesus! Oded nearly fell over himself trying to remember what his damn email address was.

Odie: Uh, sure. Hold on, I gotta look for it. lol, sorry it’s kind of like the phone number thing. I never email myself, so I really don’t remember what it is.

Raegan: lol. That’s ok I can wait.

Nancy: LMAO, Tonya! Wouldn’t we all like to get them black robes off that heavenly bod! I can’t wait till he comes out with another movie that shows more of his body. Can’t see crap under them robes!

Sue: Amen!

Sarah: Here, here!

Oded located the notebook where he’d kept all that information written down. He hoped to god that it was something he could give her that wouldn’t give him away. Glancing through the notebook, he located the email address. He blinked several times as he stared at it, then he began to laugh as he typed it out for Raegan.

Odie: Okay Raegan, here it is. “odie1123@hotmail.com”

He never realized that he had used the “odie” name when he had set up that email account.

Tonya: I bet he has lots of muscles.

Nancy: Oh hurt me, Ton. lol

Raegan: Thanks Odie. Here’s mine. “raeganlacy@hotmail.com”

Oded scrambled to find a pen and jotted down her email address.

Odie: Thanks Rae.

Raegan: I will add you to our group list. That way you will receive emails whenever someone emails under the group list.

Odie: okay

Oded glanced at his watch. It was now almost 10 and he was tired and his ankles ached.

Tonya: I bet he has muscles in places we never dreamed.

Nancy: Damn! I don’t know Ton, I can dream of some pretty good places on that man.

Oded smiled shaking his head. He still felt strange reading what they were saying about him.

Odie: Well guys, I hate to be a party pooper, but I’m really beat and I’ve got a long day tomorrow.

Raegan: Oh no, Odie, do you really have to go?

Oded nearly decided to stay, but he knew he would regret it. Once he logged off, he would go down by the pool and sit in the hot tub for a few minutes. Not just his ankles ached, but he ached all over. Those gravity boots had been a real bitch!

Odie: Yeah Rae, I hate to go so early, but I’ve got to be up at 5 a.m. tomorrow.

Nancy: Sorry to see you go, Odie! Have a good night.

Sue: Yeah, good night Odie.

Odie: Thanks and have a good weekend with your boyfriend, Nancy.

Nancy: Oh I will, heh-heh-heh!

Raegan: Okay, I’ll email you later! Good night!

Tonya: Good night Odie.

Sarah: Good night Odie!

Oded logged off and went through the motions of shutting his computer down. He was in a much better mood than when he got on two hours ago. As he limped his way out of his office and to his room to change into his swim trunks, he thought about how the chat had gone. He had Raegan’s email address and HE hadn’t had to ask for it. She was the one to ask him for his and then she just gave him hers! Oded began to whistle as he slowly made his way out to where the hot tub was located.

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                                                         What If - Chapters 7 - 8