The Girl in the Mirror

"You have got to be kidding me? All of you want to do this thing?"

Joe pulled the car over to the side of the road turning in the seat to take in the group as a whole.

"Seriously? You want to pull a prank like when we were kids?"

There was a general outpouring of affirmations from everyone.

Joe shook his head, hardly able to believe he was even contemplating this thing, but it was put over the top when he saw the excitement in Marta's eyes at the prospect. It reminded him of those rare times when Bonnie would get fired up about one of his schemes and jump in enthusiastically to help.

"Fine...You guys are nuts! But, fine, I'm in."

"That's the Joe Harper that I remember!" said Billy slapping him on the shoulder.

"Right...First, we need a plan. I'm guessing that he probably keeps that contraption locked up in the same place he used to keep his moped, next to the security office."

"Can you still pick a lock?" asked Frank.

"Maybe...but I don't have any tools."

"I have a set of lock picks at my house," commented Tess.

"Really?"

She shrugged, "Souvenir from a misspent youth."

"Then all we need is some steel cable to hang that thing and a distraction."

"Frank and I can get the cable from a hardware store," offered Billy.

"How about it, Tess?"

"Oh! Sure! I could see by the way Toby was looking at me older pregnant ladies aren't his thing guys."

"Well...We do have one other asset available," reasoned Joe.

Every head in the car swiveled to look at Marta.

"Uh...I'm not exactly dressed for distraction."

"You couldn't change into something more...uh...distracting?"

"I didn't exactly come to town for a funeral with my travel bag stuffed with slut clothes, but I could run and buy something that would work."

"Okay, here's the deal. We split up with Frank and Billy getting the cable and then taking Tess back to her place to grab the lock picks while Marta and I pick her up and outfit, and I fill her in on Toby's weak spots. We meet back at the church parking lot in two hours for final planning. Sound good?"

"I so want to play the Mission Impossible theme right now!" joked Frank.

"Let's hope we don't get caught. I didn't come all this way to get my butt thrown in jail."

Joe drove back to the church and turned the keys to the rental over to Billy, who gave him a high five and drove off with Frank and Tess. He joined Marta in her souped-up Mustang, the whole thing shaking when she turned the key.

"Is it wrong that I'm so excited my hands are shaking?" said Marta with a grin.

"Keep holding on to that enthusiasm. You'll need it if this goes sideways."

"I'm not worried. I have Crazy Joe Harper on my team!"

"Your confidence in me may be misplaced. I'm very out of practice."

"I'm sure it's like falling off a bike."

"That isn't reassuring at all, but thanks for trying."

Marta drove them over to a department store at a nearby mall, and Joe followed her inside. Their arrival in the women's department brought back unexpected memories. Back in the day, he had often joined Bonnie on her shopping trips, trying to make up for her having to sit through his gigs by keeping her company while she tried on clothes. It was pretty dull for him, though occasionally he was treated to seeing her in something at least a little sexy or revealing.

In this particular instance, with Marta, that was guaranteed to be true.

He waited patiently while she ran through the racks looking at this and that before vanishing into a changing room. There were some seats by the triple mirrors where women could come out to check their look, and he took one, idly going through the messages on his phone.

"Crap! I need to call Tim back..." he grumbled, noticing he had missed several calls from his boss with his phone off for the funeral.

"What about this one?" asked Marta.

"Hm..." said Joe glancing up.

His eyes bugged out at the sight in front of him.

Marta had chosen a very low cut and slinky black party dress whose V-neck plunged almost to her belly button, revealing more than a little of her tanned skin and the sides of her perky breasts. The bottom of the outfit stopped well above her knees, showing plenty of her legs.

"Uh...Yeah...That would do the trick," gasped Joe.

"Think so? Could you zip me up? I want to make sure it fits across my shoulders."

Nervously, Joe stood from his chair and came over to where Marta was standing surrounded by mirrors on three sides. He came up behind her just as he had her mother on more than one occasion doing precisely as he was now, and with trembling hands, he just managed to find the zipper and move it to the top. Marta took a half step back, admiring her reflection. It hit Joe that the first time he had asked Bonnie out had been on one of these clothing trips when they had still just been friends.

Marta's perfume wafted up his nose, making it even harder to think straight.

"Are you sure this works? Does it seem too tight?"

"That's part of what makes it work. You look stunning in it. No man could take his eyes off you."

Marta smiled at him in the mirror, looking so gorgeous it took his breath away.

"So if you were Toby, you would be well and truly distracted?" she asked, leaning back even more, so that she made contact with Joe's chest. He barely resisted the urge to slip his arms around her slender waist and instead coughed uncomfortably, feeling more than a little arousal heating up inside him.

"Trust me. You've got the part nailed. We...we should probably go," he said, his voice cracking like a pre-pubescent teen.

Marta seemed to sense his nervousness, and she turned around to face him.

"Help me with my zipper?" she asked while her smile took on an even more serious edge.

Joe could have asked her to turn around, but it occurred to him that wasn't what she wanted. Taking a deep breath, he sidled up close enough to get his arms around her, finding the zipper and sliding it down while her body pressed to his chest, and her perfect lips hovered just inches below his own.

"Is this your way of practicing your role? I honestly think you won't need to get this close to Toby, and if you do, it will probably give him a heart attack," observed Joe.

Marta cocked her head to one side, not laughing at his attempt to lighten the mood.

"I'm making you uncomfortable."

"I'm just not quite sure what's happening. If I didn't know better, I would think you were...well...coming on to me?"

He meant to express it as an observation, but the seeming absurdity of the statement made the words come out more like a question.

"Do you want me to come on to you?" she said with a wicked little smile that made his stomach fill with butterflies.

"You're just like your mother. Always answering a question with another question."

"Is that the problem. You can't look at me and not see my mother?"

"It's disconcerting," admitted Joe, this moment they were having bringing back the memory of his dream from the night before with startling clarity.

Marta frowned, "I can't help how I look. I also can't help that I felt an attraction for you the minute I saw you back at Tess's house. I don't know...maybe, my mom, and I share the same taste in men?"

Joe passed a shaking hand through his hair, utterly unsure of how to process this situation.

"I have no idea what to say to that."

"I understand if this is too strange for you. It would be a shame. I like you, Joe...I think, maybe, you like me too? I might have noticed a stare or two."

A blush colored Joe's features.

"Yeah...I might have been staring at you."

"Just because I look like my mother?"

"No...because, you're beautiful," he said without thinking.

Her frown vanished, and the dazzling smile was back.

"There...you do see me after all. So what's the problem?"

"Wow, Marta. Where do I start? You're twenty years younger than me, my ex-girlfriend's daughter..."

"You hadn't seen my mom since before I was born. I hardly think that counts as something to worry about."

"It doesn't!" he said incredulously, "Look, I just think..."

"Maybe you should stop thinking so much. You want to kiss me right now, don't you?"

The world seemed to grind to a halt, time slowing around them. Joe stared into Marta's gorgeous face, her lips parted and shining in the bright store lights. It was the dream all over again, a jarring confluence of reality and his fantasy that left him shaken but drawn to her like a magnet at the same time. His hands reached out to grip her slender arms, and he started forward, head dipping down, not able to resist the temptation.

"Excuse me! Are you people going to hog the mirror all night?"

Joe and Marta jumped back, startled out of their near kiss by an older woman in a dress that looked a size to small for her.

"Sorry...We didn't mean to be rude," said Joe.

"This is a department store, not your private bedroom," snapped the woman.

Marta giggled, which just pissed off the other woman even more, her scowl deepening on her craggy old face.

"We were just going," said Joe, hastily shoving Marta toward the dressing room.

"You're as bad as your mother at stirring up trouble," he whispered in her ear.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Marta, moving into the dressing room with a provocative shake of her tight ass.

"I have no idea what I'm getting into..." mumbled Joe as she passed from sight.

Marta returned in short order, and they paid for her outfit, which she changed back into in a public restroom. They drove to the rendezvous where the rest of Joe's friends waited.

"Damn...distraction is right!" whistled Billy when Marta climbed out of her car.

"Did you guys get what we needed?" asked Joe trying to ignore the way Frank and Billy were leering at Marta like love-struck teens. It made him feel oddly jealous.

"No problem," replied Tess handing him a leather zipper case with the lock picks.

"Okay, since Tess is not going to be able to move very fast, you are going to be our getaway driver and lookout. If any cops show up unexpectedly, honk the horn three times, and that will be our signal to break off and meet you up the street. Marta will distract Toby while we get the Segway, and then we run it up the flag pole. Easy."

Joe wished he felt as confident as he sounded.

"Simple plan. I like it, less to go wrong," said Billy with a nod.

"Let's hope so...Are you ready? Marta?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess. Let's go."

The school's basic layout hadn't changed much in the intervening years. There had been expansion certainly, but the areas around the main building were still familiar. The security office was a separate small affair just to the left of the main building. It had a fenced-in area on one side where the security personnel locked up their vehicles when they weren't patrolling. These included at the moment two golf carts and one Segway. Through the glass front window, they could see Toby Martin, his feet up on his desk, eating a donut and staring at a small television.

Joe, Billy, and Frank made their way around to the side where the fenced-in area was careful to keep out of sight behind a low wall while Marta marched with as much confidence as she could muster right up to the front door.

"Here we go..." whispered Billy.

Joe looked on filled suddenly with the kind of nervous excitement he hadn't felt since he was a kid. Truth be told, he felt more alive than he had in years.

Toby jumped from his chair with a frown when Marta knocked.

The door swung open, and the men in hiding could make out his voice as Marta stepped back, drawing him out into the semi-darkness in front of the office. She maneuvered herself carefully so that Toby would have his back to her accomplices.

"Uh...You're not supposed to be here," stammered Toby, thrown for a loop by the appearance of this beautiful and very scantily clad woman on his doorstep.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Sir. I was here earlier with that group you ran off and...I just felt so bad about their behavior that I thought I should apologize."

"Oh...Well...No harm done, I suppose. I mean, those guys were assholes when they were younger, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised they haven't changed," said Toby while he looked Marta up and down like a judge at a wet t-shirt contest.

"Asshole? I'll show you whose an asshole..." grumbled Billy under his breath.

"Eyes on the prize, Billy," reminded Joe.

He nodded at his companions and then stood and stepped over the wall making his way forward as silently as possible while sticking to the shadows.

"I know it must be such a thankless job protecting this property, and you don't deserve to be disrespected by a bunch of immature men."

Toby grinned, appreciating her understanding of his burdens.

"You know, people don't realize just how stressful this job can sometimes be. Why just the other day there was this raccoon in the trash bins by the gymnasium..."

Joe cut across the open space of the courtyard behind Toby, making his way toward the locked gate that led into the fenced security storage area. Billy and Frank followed in his wake. They made the fence while Toby yammered on about his run-in with the dangerous predatory raccoon.

"I bet he fucked the damn thing before he turned it over to Animal Control," joked Billy.

"Gross, Billy..." said Joe quietly as he worked the lock, casting an occasional nervous glance over at Marta and Toby.

"Hurry..." urged Frank.

"It's been a while..." said Joe as he tried to focus.

Fortunately, the padlock was an ancient model, possibly the same one that had been on this gate since he had been a student there. The old movements came back to him, and the lock sprung open so abruptly it nearly surprised him into dropping it on the ground. Instead, he laid it aside and carefully opened the gate that thankfully was well-oiled and made little noise. He motioned the other two men to follow, and they quickly located the Segway and together managed to lift it with Frank and Joe taking the heavy end.

This was the most dangerous part, having to take the weight of the awkward contraption and carry it passed Toby without drawing his attention. If he turned around, they were cooked.

"Wow! It sounds like you were lucky to take care of that situation without being hurt," said Marta, managing to feign awe at Toby's critter catching prowess.

"You know it's chilly for that...um...outfit...Maybe you would like to continue this conversation in my office?" offered Toby with a smile that only a female predator could love.

Just then, Billy's hands slipped on the handle of the Segway, and the rapidly shifting weight caused all three to grunt with the effort of keep it from hitting the ground.

Toby made a face and started to turn.

"That is so gentlemanly of you!" said Marta loudly, taking a step closer to him and reaching up to push her hair back while licking her lips.

"Huh? Oh...No trouble...I have some milk in the fridge too. It does a body good, don't you know?" he said, his attention drawn back to Marta.

She pleaded with her eyes for Joe and the others to hurry while she giggled at Toby's lame joke.

Joe shot Billy a look, but he just shrugged while they redoubled their efforts to get their purloined vehicle over the wall and out of sight. There were a few sweaty moments of panic, but at last, they were done, and Joe waved at Marta to wrap it up.

"That is a lovely offer, but it's late, and I have to be up early in the morning. Thanks for being so understanding."

To keep him off balance and forestall further conversation, Marta went so far as to hug the scruffy-looking security guard holding her breath to tolerate his body odor.

"Holy Mother! When was the last time this guy showered..." she thought, wrinkling her nose.

The move worked because Toby was too flummoxed even to speak as she beat a hasty retreat and circled back to the parking lot. By the time she arrived, the boys had used the steel cable Frank, and Billy had brought to reinforce the flag pole rope, and they stood at mock attention as Joe hoisted the Segway into the night sky.

"I wish we could see the look on Toby's face," said Billy smiling.

"Right now, I think we should get away and count ourselves lucky we pulled this off," said Joe.

Tess gunned the engine as the others piled in, as soon as they were away from the school the carload of conspirators burst into loud, raucous laughter.

"Oh! My God! I almost shit when you guys looked like you were going to drop it!" said Marta excitedly while trying to catch her breath.

"Tell me about it! Thanks for the near heart attack, Billy!" added Joe.

"Sorry, guys. I guess my conditioning could use some work."

"You need to get in shape, my friend," observed Frank.

"Rounds a shape," offered Billy.

"How about you, Mata Hari?" asked Tess looking at Marta in the rearview mirror.

"You would have been proud of her, Tess, she had Toby eating out of her hand," said Joe.

Marta smiled shyly from the back seat, "I was just trying to do my mother proud."

"I think this calls for a celebratory meal, and we all know what that means. I.H.O.P pancakes!" called out Frank.

"You do know we're adults and don't have to eat at the cheapest shit places on the planet?"

"Come on, Billy! It's a tradition. After a successful caper, we always went to I.H.O.P."

"He's got you there, Billy. If this is going to be the last one, we owe to ourselves to go out the way we came in, and that includes a pancake celebration!" said Tess.

"Fine...I'm outvoted. I.H.O.P it is..."

They sat around a table a few hours later, still reminiscing about their adventure and patting their full stomaches.

"This has been some day. I woke up this morning, thinking it was going to be nothing but terrible. Thanks to you guys, I feel like I got to touch a piece of my mother's life I never knew and say goodbye to her in a much better way than sitting in a church with a bunch of strangers."

"Bonnie would have loved seeing you twist old Toby around your finger. I'm glad we could be here for you," said Billy.

"Yeah. It was the one to go out on," agreed Tess.

"There is one more thing I would like to ask of you guys if it's okay?"

"Shoot," said Joe leaning forward.

"My mom's last request was to scatter some of her ashes near her favorite hiking spot outside of Prescott. I was hoping you all might accompany me there tomorrow. I think it would be fitting."

"I think I can speak for all of us when I say it would be our pleasure," Joe said sincerely.

"Amen," added Frank.

"Awesome! I was planning on leaving after lunch, so no hurry."

"Good, because Frank isn't exactly a morning person."

"I'm pacing myself, Joe. We'll see which of us lives longer!"

Things finally broke up after that, Tess needed to get back to her kids, and everyone else was coming down from the adrenaline rush of the last several hours. They dropped Marta back off at her car, and then took Tess home before returning to the hotel. In the aftermath, Joe tossed restlessly in the bed, trying to sleep. His mind kept conjuring images of Marta in the mirror at the dress shop, multiple, beautiful copies of her staring back at him.

In the darkness, his cellphone rang, and he sat up, hoping perhaps that it was the object of his ruminations.

He wasn't that lucky.

"Hey, Tim. I meant to call you earlier but got caught up in the funeral and all."

"You should have called. I left you several messages," came his bosses curt reply.

"Sorry about that..." said Joe trying to control his temper.

"I was only at a funeral for fucks sake," he thought angrily.

"There has been a complication with the merger. You are still going to be back tomorrow?"

"Actually, Tim, I still have a few things to take care of here. I'll probably not fly back until early Monday morning. I'm sure whatever is going on, I can make a few calls..."