“Good afternoon, Kerry.” Duks Draefus settled his tray down, one of his staff at his side. “You are here early today also.”

Kerry gave the Finance VP a brief grin. “I take an early lunch any time I can. Everything tends to fall apart in the afternoons here.” She turned back to Maria. “Right?”


10

Melissa Good

“Always,” Maria agreed. “Tomas and I will go see the movies tonight. Have you seen that new one, Kerrisita? With the pig?”

The others at the table chimed in, and Duks was left to dissect his meatloaf with his staff.

”Guess that honeymoon ended fast.” The faintly sarcastic remark made Duks raise his head, and regard the speaker coolly.

”Excuse me?”

Comptroller Selene Advosan leaned closer. ”C’mon, Duks. When she first started, she and the ice princess were tighter than a champagne cork in a bottle. I haven’t even seen them eat lunch together since the New Year. I guess the novelty wore off.”

The Financial VP chewed his corned beef sandwich thoughtfully.

”Never noticed.”

He shrugged, then glanced over at Kerry, who appeared perfectly at home with her tablemates, and was laughing at something Maria had said. ”Maybe they’re just busy. Dar never did lunch much anyway, and they seem friendly enough.”

”Yeah, but I thought we had a juicy one going there for a little while.” Selene sighed. ”I should have known better. Dar’s way out of her league.”

”Mm.” Duks dismissed the subject, and concentrated on his lunch.

Kerry put her tray away, and joined Maria as the secretary ordered a sandwich for their boss. The older woman checked the available options, then glanced sideways. ”What you think, chicken salad?” she inquired, her brow creasing.

”Tuna melt, on raisin toast,” Kerry murmured. ”With French fries.”

”Aie, Kerrisita!” Maria winced, and gave her an appalled look.

Kerry shrugged, and smiled. ”Dios Mio. All right.” She ordered the sandwich, and gathered some napkins as it was being made. She took the bag the counterman handed her and clucked, then followed Kerry out the door and to the elevator, which swallowed them up along with several other staff members. At the last minute, running footsteps and a hand between the doors delayed them as Steven Fabricini slid in.

”Well, hello there.” He sorted his way through the mailman and two administrative assistants, choosing to lean against the same wall as Kerry. ”How was lunch?”

”Fine thanks,” Kerry replied readily. ”This cafeteria’s really not bad. It’s better than most of the restaurants around here.”

”Ah.” He watched as the doors opened, and one woman left. ”You live in the area?”

”Kendall,” Kerry answered amiably.

”Hey, me too.” Steven smiled. ”Seems like most of the building does; either that, or up in Miramar.” He glanced up as the mailman and the other woman left. ”Guess we’re headed to the same place,” he noted, seeing the fifteen button the only one left lit.

”Guess we are.” Kerry eyed him. ”Where in Kendall did you end up?”


Hurricane Watch

11

He told her, crossing his arms. ”It’s a nice little complex, got a clubhouse, and all that.”

”That’s not too far from where I am. I like the area. We go rollerblading down to that little bakery on the corner near the mall all the time,” she commented.

”Hey, I blade all the time.” Steven smiled. ”Maybe we’ll bump into each other sometime down there. I like that little place.” The door opened and he gestured. ”Ladies first.”

Kerry followed Maria out, seeing the stiff set of the secretary’s back and biting off a tiny smile. Steven accompanied them down the hall and into Dar’s outer office, where the executive’s distinctive, vibrant voice could be heard growling through the thick wood paneling. ”Aie, what now,” Maria sighed.

Steven chuckled. “Dar never needed a reason to be rude, crude and obnoxious.” He brushed by them and walked into Dar’s office, closing the door behind him.

Kerry and Maria exchanged glances, then Kerry picked up the paper bag. ”I’ll drop this off.” She paused with a hand on the doorknob, then opened the inner office door, and stepped inside.

”Mike, I don’t give a goddamn what they’re telling you, it’s bullshit.” Dar punctuated her words by slamming her pencil on the desk. ”I’m not going to accept sixty days to pull a lousy circuit, so they better come up with something else.”

”Look, Dar, we’ve been going around and around with them for two months. They won’t budge,” the man's voice answered, sounding tired. ”They’ve got unions to deal with up there, and facilities that are older than my damn mother.”

Dar looked up as the door opened, and her nostrils flared a bit as Steven walked brazenly into her office. ”Hang on a minute.” She hit the hold button. ”People knock before they come into this office.”

Steven clucked, and dropped into a chair. ”Get your panties out of a wad, Dar.”

”What do you want? I’m in the middle of something,” She snapped back.Steven leaned back, glancing up as the outer door opened, and Kerry slipped in. ”Thought people knocked first?” he asked mockingly, smiling at Dar.

”She doesn’t have to knock. She works here,” Dar replied. ”You’ve got ten seconds. Talk, or get out.”

Kerry paced quietly across the carpet and deposited the bag on Dar’s desk. ”Lunch,” she murmured, then headed for the inner door.

”Thanks.” Dar spared her a brief glance. ”Hold on a second; I have some contracts to turn over to you.” Then she focused back on her unwelcome guest. ”What is it?”

”I want a task force.” He leaned forward abruptly. ”I want two people from your staff so I can figure out what the hell you’re trying to 12

Melissa Good

accomplish around here, and see if I can straighten it out.” He pointed.

”I want Kerry, and whoever else you have assigned over to me for a period of two months, starting tomorrow.”

Silence fell. Dar folded her hands over her desk, and blinked at him. ”That’s what you want?” She inquired mildly.

”That’s what I want.” He smiled.

One long, powerful finger pointed at the door. ”What I want is you out of my office,” the executive stated flatly. ”I don’t have the time, or the people to dedicate to you for your wild goose chase. If you want to bring in temps to play with files, talk to Mariana.”

”Afraid of what I’ll find, Dar?” He crossed his legs, and smiled at her, as he glanced sideways at the quietly waiting Kerry. ”You can’t hide it forever.”

Dar merely stared at him.

”Fine.” He stood up and brushed his pants off. ”I’ll just make it a formal request up the line. I’ll get what I want, and everyone will know it. Sorry, Dar, I was trying to spare you that for old time’s sake.” He winked at Kerry then left, the door closing behind him with a bang.

A silence settled, then Kerry cleared her throat. ”You know what I want?”

Dar raised an eyebrow at her.

Kerry walked over and settled on the corner of Dar’s desk. ”I want a shower.” She pointed ”Right in that corner, so every time I have to talk to that sneaky little piece of pig manure I can go and wash myself off.” She made a face and gagged. ”He makes me feel so slimy!” She shuddered. ”Ugh, Dar! Gag! Gross! Yuck!”

That got a weary chuckle from Dar, who shook her head and sighed. ”He’s a piece of work, that’s for sure.” She punched the phone button. ”Mike you still there?”

”Yeah,” a muffled voice answered. ”Just eating my lunch.”

”All right, gimme the name of someone up in their chain, and I’ll see what I can do to shove things along a little.” Dar propped her head up on one hand. ”Sixty days, my dog could pull a circuit in less than sixty days.”

”Probably do a neater job of it,” the voice agreed. ”I’ll email you with some names. Thanks Dar.”

”Yeah, yeah.” Dar sighed, as she disconnected, and turned to face Kerry. ”Hey.”

Kerry cocked her head and smiled. ”Hey.” She indicated the bag.

”Tuna on raisin...better eat the French fries before they soak through the bag.”Dar’s expression gentled and she captured Kerry’s hand, squeezing it. ”Thanks. How’d the meeting go? You must have made an impression, or he wouldn’t be asking for you.”

Kerry rolled her sea green eyes. ”I think he’s just bound and determined to screw you over. He went from being condescending and Hurricane Watch

13

antagonistic, to hitting on me.” She made a face. ”He wants to do lunch tomorrow.” She watched Dar’s right eyebrow lift. ”Here, just in the cafeteria,” she amended with a gentle twinkle. The eyebrow remained where it was. ”Oo, do I sense some territoriality raising its head?”

”Hmph,” Dar snorted softly. ”No, that’s not… You can go to lunch with whoever you want to, Kerry. I’m not—”

A hand cupped her cheek unexpectedly. ”I’m flattered,” Kerry whispered.

Dar fell silent, then chuckled a little. ”Yeah, well, I’ve been known to be territorial before,” she admitted wryly. ”But be careful, all right?

He’s very sharp.”

Kerry leaned closer. ”Not as sharp as you are,” she murmured softly. ”Even though he thinks he is,” she informed her boss. ”What is his problem with you, anyway?”

Dar sighed. ”We went to school together and we were pretty good friends, even though we didn’t have much in common. We were both in the martial arts together, and hung out with some of the same crowd.

The trouble started when I beat him in the nationals that year.”

”Ah.” Kerry lifted a hand. ”I get it. Let me guess, he was god’s gift to karate?”

”No,” Dar replied, surprisingly. ”He wasn’t really that good, maybe that was the problem. He never made it past the preliminary rounds, and I was the one that kicked him into the loser’s bracket, purely by chance.” She exhaled, remembering. ”He felt I should have helped him get further because he was trying to impress this girl on the opposing team that he’d been after for years. It was why he got involved in the stuff to begin with.”

”That doesn’t make sense. Why would you have taken a dive for him?” Kerry inquired. ”I can’t see you doing that in any case.”

Pale blue eyes winked at her from under long, dark lashes. ”It was complicated. He thought I owed him the favor, but at any rate, I didn’t, and he lost. He dropped out of the karate program after that.” She paused, ordering her thoughts. ”He was majoring in systems design, and through a chance routine I was running, I discovered he’d stolen his entire senior design matrix from someone else.”

”Uh oh.” Kerry winced.

”Yeah, well, me being a moral and upright bastard in the old days, I had to go running to the department head with it. Steven was tossed out of school.” Dar sighed. ”Our last meeting wasn't very pleasant. He told me he’d get back at me someday, and now, here he is trying.”

”Jesus, he should get a life. What was that, ten years ago? What a waste of time.” Kerry folded her arms across her chest. ”He gives me the creeps.”

”Mm,” Dar agreed. ”Well, we have to deal with him. If he keeps pushing you, you can tell him you’re not interested, or that you’re involved with someone.”


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”Both of which are completely true,” Kerry agreed.” Your sandwich is getting cold.” She gave her boss a not so subtle nudge.

Dar smiled, and opened the bag, tugging out the sandwich and munching on a fry. ”Mm…bet Maria made a face at you for this.” She bit into the gooey sandwich happily. ”She usually brings me chicken salad on pita.”

“You like pita?”

“No.” Dar wiped her lips with the napkin from the bag. “But if I’m hungry enough I’ll eat pretty much anything and she knows it.”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t get any ideas.”

Kerry watched her indulgently for a minute, then stood up. ”Yes, she did give me a hard time, but not nearly as bad a look as when old Stevie snake was flirting with me.” She touched Dar’s shoulder. ”I think she has a protective streak, too.”

”Mm hmm,” Dar nodded, with her mouth full. ”She thinks you’re a manifestation of the Blessed Virgin for getting me to eat trail mix instead of malted milk balls.”

Kerry snorted softly. ”That didn’t take much effort at all. C’mon, anyone could have done it.”

Dar studied her sandwich for a moment, before taking a bite of it.

”No one else ever tried,” she remarked casually as she chewed the mouthful, enjoying the gentle tang of the raisins in the bread. ”Even my mother gave up on me.”