She'd actually paused to look at a snake the last time they'd been in PetSmart, intrigued by its colors. However, before she could consider adding it to her desktop knick knacks, Kerry had swiftly dragged her outside.

Ah well. Dar glanced up at her screen and deleted the first message, going on to the second one before she continued reading the bid. Maybe she should start small, with a gecko. She pulled her keyboard over and hit reply, glancing at her screen as she typed a response to the mail while she continued to scan the bid contract.

The terms were pretty straightforward. Dar hit send, and then studied the next mail for a second, before simply deleting it. "Nitbrain." She glanced up as the door opened, her nose twitching at the scent of fresh Cuban coffee. "Ah."

Maria brought the small, silver tray over and set it down, then placed the tiny china cup before Dar. She also put down a saucer on the edge of the desk, and balanced a small pot on top of it. "I brought the extra, Dar. They did not have the buckets."

"Thanks." Dar lifted the cup and sipped it. She eyed the tray, which also had a plate full of delicate, flaky pastries on it. "Those for me too?"

"Si, of course." Maria's eyes twinkled. "Did you have a good time, Dar? I saw Kerrisita downstairs and I think that you did."

Now what, Dar wondered, did she mean by that? She rocked back in her chair and sipped her coffee to give herself a moment to consider, studying Maria's face as she did so. Her assistant's expression was open and warm, however. "Sure," Dar answered. "We had a decent show, and Kerry and I got to spend some time out in the parks. How bad could it have been?"

Maria slid the plate of pastries over. "Everyone here was speaking of the interviews about you."

Dar indicated the chair across from her desk. "Were they? I know I kicked some booty that first day," she admitted, with a grin. "But I think it all worked out...did we look okay on TV?"

Her assistant grinned, and removed an envelope from under one arm, extending it toward Dar. "This was from the television program that was on from there. I watched it with my family. We were very proud of you and Kerrisita, Dar. You were wonderful."

Dar set her cup down and stood, reaching over and retrieving the envelope. She opened it and removed an 8 by 10 photo, setting it down on her desk to examine it. "Huh."

It was a shot of their booth, Kerry sitting at the console giving her presentation and caught in the act of looking right at the camera with an appealingly sweet intensity. Dar had been perched behind her, and in the shot, she was also looking right at the lens, her arms folded and her attitude one of intimidating protection. "Don't I look scary," she mused.

"No, Dar, you look very pretty!" Maria objected.

"I was trying to be scary." Dar glanced up from the photo. "There were a couple of people there who weren't friends." She was a little surprised that Maria hadn't heard. "The company who's been moving in on us in the Southeast...Telegenics?"

"Ah." Maria frowned. "I have heard their name, yes."

"It's run by Michelle Graver, and...um..." Dar exhaled, "Shari."

Maria blinked in honest surprise. "No, Dar, not that woman!" she gasped. "I cannot believe it. Is it true? After this long, to have her come back and bother you?" She clasped her hands together. "Never have I disliked a person so as I did that woman."

Maria became her assistant when Dar was promoted to regional manager and chose the woman as her assistant. When Shari came back into Dar's life the first time, Maria had taken the brunt of Shari's caustic comments when she'd discovered who was integrating their account. "Yeah, well." Dar shrugged. "Kerry and I took care of them. But it got ugly a few times."

"Tch."

"Yeah." Dar studied the picture. "She got lucky. I thought Kerry was going to beat her over the head with a chair." She looked up at Maria. "In a way, it almost felt good to see her."

Maria gazed at her. "Because you are happy now," she ventured. "I think that you are."

"Mhmm." Dar nodded. "I am. Damned if it didn't burn her." A rakish grin appeared. "We're competing with them on this." She indicated the folder she was reading. "Something that came up during the show."

"A good thing?"

Dar shrugged. "Could be. Contract's probably worth twenty or thirty million, not a major one for us, but it's a foot in the door of someplace we're not in right now." She flipped through the pages. "Do me a favor? Throw this on the photocopier and send a set up to legal, and one over to Jose's office."

"Si." Maria got up and accepted the folder. "It is good to have you back here, Dar. People were saying this week that things were too...how you say it...too much alike?" she ventured. "That you made things upside down, but that it was a good thing." She gave Dar a smile, and left the office, closing the door behind her.

Dar poured herself another small cup of coffee and took a sip from it. One finger reached out and tapped the photo a few times, and she found herself smiling at the image it presented. "Well." she finally sighed. "I don't know how good a thing it was, but I guess we'll be finding out."

However, remembering how it felt to rise to the challenge was stirring an interest in her she hadn't felt since she'd finished her network project. Doing the second generation of the technology was all right, but Dar hadn't found the same interest in it she had with the original.

Now this, on the other hand, this was brand new.

Dar captured a pastry and popped it into her mouth, chewing it with piratical gusto and blowing a few crumbs onto the surface of her desk.

KERRY FINISHED SCRIBBLING her name for the nth time, running her eyes over the purchase order before she lifted it and tossed it into her outbox. She had her head resting on one hand, and now she straightened up a little, hissing slightly as her shirt pulled over her sunburned back. "Son of a biscuit."

Her phone rang. She checked the display, and then pressed the button readily. "Hey, Col."

"Hey girl," Colleen replied. "You up for lunch?"

Lunch? Kerry glanced at her watch. "Sheesh...didn't realize it was that late. Sure." She pushed the rest of the paper pile back into her inbox and eased herself to her feet. "Let's go downstairs. I don't really want to put my jacket on to go to the dining room."

"Works for me," Colleen agreed. "Meet you by the elevators?"

"You got it." Kerry hung up and stretched cautiously, then circled her desk and headed for the door. She passed Mayte busy at work, and drummed her fingers on her assistant's desk. "Going for lunch, MT. Hold the fort down."

"That I will for sure," Mayte answered. "Can I take what you finished?"

"Eh." Kerry leaned on her knuckles. "There isn't that much. I signed some of the outstanding PO's, and reviewed that integration report. You're welcome to whatever's there. I'm expecting a call from the LA office about some new circuits, and keep an ear out for Dar. She's in a conference call with the overseas groups."

"Will she need to take hold of you, Ms. Kerry?" Mayte asked.

Kerry's lips twitched slightly at the phrasing. "You never know," she said. "If she needs me, she'll probably SMS me, but she might need some of the statistics I've been working on for the past two weeks. They're on my desk, in the infrastructure folder. Okay?"

Mayte nodded and smiled, giving Kerry a little wave of her fingers as she left the office.

"HEY, COL." KERRY spotted her friend as she exited the elevator, joining her as they walked across the lobby to the cafeteria. "How's it going?"

"Busy." Colleen glanced at her. "You got some sunburn, eh?"

"Mm. Fell asleep in the sun yesterday like a tourist," Kerry admitted. "We were decompressing after the trade show.

Colleen laughed. "Yeah, we saw the film from that, bucko...boy, did you two ever make the news. What got into Dar? She's been so laid back lately, it was a real shocker to see her come out swinging like that."

"Mm." Kerry took a tray and handed one to her companion. She smiled at the attendant, and reviewed her options. "Chef salad, please, and a large iced tea." That taken care of, she turned to Colleen while they waited for their orders. "I think Dar just took the opportunity to get the brand out there. You know?" She half shrugged. "It's what the trade show's for, Col."

"Oh, I know." Colleen took her plate and nudged Kerry forward. "And a great job of it she did. Duks was all over lauding her up and down the hallways, he was."

They walked to a table in the raised level of the café which was mostly empty. By some unwritten convention that level was generally reserved for those members of the upper floors who didn't like to eat in the upstairs dining room. Kerry set her tray down and eased into a chair, resting her elbows on the table top with a grimace.

"You did get burned, huh?" Colleen chuckled.

"Oh, yeah." Kerry took a sip of her iced tea, and reviewed her chef salad. It wasn't something she usually fancied, but the hot weather made the thought of hot food unpleasant, and the salad was a nice mix of greens and protein calculated to keep her alert through the afternoon. "Between that, and not getting any sleep last night, I'm in great shape today."

"Y'know, Kerry, there is such a thing as too much information." Her friend poked a fork at her.

"Hm?"

Colleen snickered at her. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Kerry speared an egg slice and popped it into her mouth. "No." She shook her head. "Anyway, aside from all that, it was a good trip. We may have gotten some leads on some new business."

"Hey, Ker? Can I ask you a question?" The redhead lowered her voice. "About something I heard?"

Yeesh. "Um...sure," Kerry replied. "If I can answer it, I will."

Colleen edged a bit closer. "Someone said one of those new rival companies causing us grief is run by some old flame of Dar's. Is that true?"

Kerry felt a set of conflicting emotions surge through her. On one hand, she'd known Colleen for a long time--longer than she'd known Dar, for that matter. The redhead had been her neighbor in Kendall, and someone she'd spent a lot of time with, time she remembered fondly.

However, she hated gossip. Everyone knew she hated gossip. She didn't want to indulge in gossip with Colleen, but she also didn't want her friend to think she was evading the question.

She put her fork down and leaned on her forearms, pinning Colleen with a direct stare.

"Uh oh." Colleen made a face. "I haven't seen that puss in a while."

Kerry paused, one eyebrow lifting as she allowed herself to be sidetracked. "What puss?"

"That 'I'm gonna tell you what you're gonna die of' puss," her friend replied with a frank grin. "Sorry, Ker. Did I hit a sore spot?"

"Do I have a face like that?" Kerry rested her chin on her hand. "I know Dar does."

"You do. It's cuter, but it's still 'back off,'" Colleen admitted.

Kerry went back to decimating her salad. "Well, yeah. I guess...you know how much I hate BS talk. Especially about her."

"I know. Everyone knows."

"It's true," Kerry said. "Telegenics is run by Michelle Graver, who I told you about." She chewed a moment, and then swallowed. "And her partner is someone called Shari Englewood, who once upon a time Dar was involved with."

"Mm," Colleen grunted. "That kind of thing is always rough. Did you have a hard time with it?"

"Me?" Kerry sounded surprised. "Other than wanting to strangle both of them for harassing Dar? No. Why?" She picked up a carrot and munched it.

Colleen fiddled with her fork. "Well, I mean..." She glanced around, and then shrugged one shoulder. "Doesn't the fact that there was someone before you make a difference to you, Ker? I know it did for me. The last guy I sent packing. We bumped into his former girlfriend at Quiznos, and after that...out the door, boyo!"

Kerry frowned, her eyes shifting to one side as she considered the thought.

Did it matter to her? "Um...no, actually, it doesn't make a difference to me at all, especially since I know Dar's never had a steady, happy, long term relationship before ours," she replied honestly. "Why should the failures bother me any, except for feeling bad for Dar, I mean?"

Her friend leaned back and wiped her lips with her napkin, watching Kerry in silence as she finished her salad. There was little resemblance between the woman she shared a table with now, and the neighbor she'd first met right after Kerry moved to Florida.