2 - Bringing Work Home

{ Two Nights Later }

Debra Barone was slicing food in the kitchen of her home when the front door opened. She smiled and called out to her husband Raymond as he entered.

"Heeey, I'm home. Jodi's here too," he announced, slipping his car keys into the pocket.

She looked back down and continued to chop her vegetables. "I know Ray, I got your message on the machine." When she heard a shuffle of footsteps approach her, Debra looked up to greet her guest and was visibly surprised to see Ray's new personal assistant. She had known that Ray had picked out a new assistant but wasn't aware of how extremely attractive she was.

Composing herself, Debra extended a hand and smiled warmly. "Hi Jodi, its nice to meet you." When the three were aligned so that Jodi couldn't see Debra, she shot her husband a subtle but curious look.

Ray greeted his wife with a pinch in the rear. "Whats cookin' Needlebutt?"

Debra shook her head and began placing some of the dishes on the table. "Just some salad, braciole, and I think we even have some red wine."

"Braciole! Great stuff there, Jodi. Careful not to let any of it get on your pants," he commented with a smirk, referring to the first time his wife made braciole.

"That's very funny Ray," deadpanned Debra. "Sit down." It was more an order than a request.

Ray nodded. "So anyways, Jodi's going to be reorganizing my office a bit and installing some software for me to network with the guys at work. She's really good with all the computer stuff."

"Yea? Well that's good." Debra looked over to Jodi. "I hope you have better luck cleaning up that pit than I have."

Laughing, Jodi replied, "I'll try my best. You know Mrs. Barone, you look so different from the picture on Raymond's desk. Your hair looks better now than when it was blonde."

Ray winced.

Debra frowned. "Blonde? I've never dyed..." She trailed off and looked at her husband.

"That's uhm.... that's a picture of a supermodel..." he explained slowly.

Jodi slapped her forehead apologetically. "Oh! I'm sorry, I guess I didn't see it clearly. Being on Ray's desk, I just kind of thought--"

She nodded and glared at Raymond as he sank lower into his seat. "Yes, one WOULD think..."

He smiled meekly at her. "I only put it there because it reminds me of you, sugar-lips."

Debra narrowed her eyes into dark slits. "Mmhmm...."

Quickly changing the subject, Jodi began to ask Ray for his opinions on basketball, followed by baseball, football, and on and on. Both their thoughts were in sync with one another- they thought the same players were having an off season, they liked the same teams, and they both agreed that Mickey Mantle was the best player to ever pick up a bat.

The two continued their exchange for well over an hour as Debra was mostly relegated to smiling and occasionally chiming in with her meager knowledge on the subject.

Just as dinner was almost over, the backdoor to the kitchen swung open. Ray's parents, Marie and Frank, as well as his brother Robert all filed in. As usual, they came in unannounced, uninvited, and generally unwelcome.

Robert halted and stared at the beautiful newcomer. "Hello," he said stiffly. "Who's this?"

Debra ate the last of her food and looked up. "This is Ray's new assistant at work, Jodi."

Staggering a few steps, Frank rested his weight on the kitchen counter, continuing to stare at Jodi. "Holy Crap!"

"You'll have to excuse my family, they're...um... insane," Ray said, licking his fork.

Marie smiled and walked over to her. "Hello Jodi, what a sweet name! How do you like working with my son?"

"He's wonderful," she replied warmly.

Frank shook his head in denial. "You lucky bastard!"

Getting up off his seat, Ray began to direct Jodi towards his basement office. "Okay, lets get out of here before they start to scare you. Maybe we can begin working on the office now..." The two quickly dissapeared down the stairs.

Robert, who was now totally smitten, managed to form his first sentence. "Wow. That is unbelievable."

Debra rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Robert. Stop slobbering on my kitchen."

"One's never enough for Raymond, is it? He's got to have one at work too!" grunted Robert as he blinked rapidly.

Marie looked around curiously. "Where's Frank?"

Robert pointed across the street. "He left. He only came over here because he smelled braciole, Ma."

Debra stirred the insides of the empty pot. "Sorry... there's none left."

"Exactly." He shook his head and began muttering gibberish as he made his way into the living room to watch TV.

Marie walked over conspiratorially to her daughter-in-law. "You know Debra, Robert's right. Jodi seems to be very.... appealing."

Debra snorted. "Oh please Marie, have you seen her? This is Ray we're talking about here. She's just his assistant at work. Nothing more."

"And yet she's already over at your house eating dinner?" asked Marie. She took a seat and gave her a questioning look.

"Oh stop it. She's just helping Ray clean and rearrange his office."

She smiled knowingly at Debra. "Don't you think that's your job, dear?"

Debra paused for a long moment and bottled up her anger at the sarcastic remark. "No..."

Marie shrugged. "Okay Debra. I just think-- lets be honest here... you don't really think Raymond chose her because she was the best candidate, do you?"

Debra blinked a few times. "Well, yes-- no, but...." She suddenly stopped and exchanged wary looks with Marie.