But not on this subject. Dar enjoyed indulging herself, and she suspected Kerry leaned in that direction as well, however unwilling she appeared on the face of it. “C’mon.”
“Oh well, okay.” She capitulated, giving Dar a little wry shrug. “Guess I’ll just put in extra time on the Rollerblades.” And how had the mildly unnerving Dar Roberts known she liked cheesecake? She decided to try Tropical Storm 81
another slightly more personal question, though she noticed Dar stiffened up when she’d done so before. “Have you ever tried that?”
“Cheesecake or Rollerblades?” Dar chuckled softly. “Both. I like one, and I’m not too fond of the other. I made close acquaintance with a tree last time I used them.” She glanced towards the fake waterfall, which was expelling another cloud of mist. “I stick to running.” She noticed Kerry’s eyes on the bare, subtly muscular arms emerging from her shirt. “And a little working out.” The sea green orbs lifted to hers, and Dar felt uncharacteristically off-balance. Something about the intensity, maybe? “So, you’re all ready for tomorrow? Did personnel forward you an electronic packet of forms for all the people you’ll be converting?”
Kerry watched as the server put down an enormous piece of cheesecake covered with chocolate, which was flanked by two bananas, equally doused.
She sucked in a breath. “Ooo.” Then she realized Dar had asked her a question. “Uh, yes. I got a ton of mail from them, including a three-page instruction list from someone named Mariana, who said something really funny like I was the new duckling?” She waited for Dar to pick up one of the two forks the server offered, then picked up her own and tried a bite. “Wow. I could get to like that way too much.”
“Duckling, huh?” Dar murmured as she worked a chunk off and nibbled it. “Mariana is our Director of Personnel. She’ll help you get everything straightened out.” She took another bite, enjoying the smooth, rich taste. “She has a unique sense of humor.”
Is that a company requirement? Kerry wondered, but didn’t reply.
They finished up and sauntered through the shop in the front of the restaurant, filled with rainforest-inspired merchandise ranging from T-shirts to tiny rubber geckos to Beanie Babies in the shape of toucans and monkeys.
Kerry fingered a tiny Beanie salamander in an interesting shade of greenish blue, then put it down with a sigh. “I have enough stuff on my desk.”
Dar, who had been examining the large cockatoo overhead, turned but didn’t say anything. They walked out and through the mostly closed mall, the stores shut up tight and only a thin strain of music playing. “Where are you parked?”
“Around by the food court,” Kerry answered as she pushed the door open and held it. The thick, moist air hit her, carrying a heavy scent of rain.
“Well, thank you, Dar. I really appreciate you coming up here.”
The darkness outside hid most of the taller woman’s expression. “My car’s back here; I’ll give you a ride around to the front,” she stated. “And don’t worry about it. I was glad to get a chance to pick up this stuff.” She hefted her bag.
Kerry followed her out into the dark lot, stretching her legs a little to keep up. The breeze off the nearby ocean was warm and sultry and she sighed. “It’s hard to get used to the heat sometimes.”
A soft chuckle answered her. “That’s why we all stay inside,” Dar replied. “C’mon, it’s over here, under that ledge.”
Moving shadows surrounded them—cleaners, and workmen, and other, darker, figures. The parking lot was large and mostly empty, and she could see several small groups of what looked like teenagers, lit cigarettes and low 82 Melissa Good laughter coming from them.
Eyes watched as they crossed the gray surface, and unconsciously, Kerry moved a little closer to her tall companion. “Kinda creepy out here.”
Dar glanced down. “Just act like you own the place. I guarantee, none of these kids’ll come near you,” she advised.
Kerry watched as the group they were approaching eyed Dar, then nudged over a little out of her way. “I’ll try to keep that in mind,” she murmured, feeling quite, quite safe.
The air was thick with humidity, but she took a deep breath of it, tasting a hint of the sea on the edges from the nearby Intercoastal Waterway. She walked alongside Dar in silence, but it wasn’t really the uncomfortable kind.
“How’s your hand doing?” Kerry asked, as they crossed the expanse of mostly empty tarmac.
“It’s all right,” Dar said. “Wonder what those guys were really after? You didn’t have a purse on the seat.”
Kerry was silent for a few steps. “No, I don’t usually carry one.” She glanced up and caught Dar watching her, the faintly raised eyebrow visible even in the shadows. “Just one of those things,” she added, with a half shrug.
“Mmm.” Dar’s eyebrows twitched a little. “Me either,” she said in a casual tone. “Interesting coincidence.”
Kerry absorbed that as the night became friendlier around her, surprised when she idly wished she’d found a parking spot a lot further out.
Interesting coincidence.
“WHERE HAVE YOU been?” Colleen’s voice came from the doorway, as Kerry finished carrying in her packages. “Ooo, I see bags from Macy’s.” She ducked inside and helped the blonde woman put the bundles down. “How’d it go?”
Kerry sat down on her desk chair and folded her arms across her chest.
“It was interesting. I got lots of stuff, as you can see, and…um, it was interesting.”
Colleen folded her own arms. “Interesting? Your new boss offers to come over and help you shop for clothes, and you call this interesting? I call it mysteriously intriguing.” The redhead chuckled. “So, what’s she like when she’s not firing people or restructuring companies?”
“It’s kind of hard to explain.” Kerry exhaled. “I mean, she’s really…” She described a box with her hands. “She’s very closed, kind of remote, but then once in a while she just kinda opens up just a little bit, enough for you to tell there’s a human being in there and not a microprocessor.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Colleen digested this. “So you two spent all this time shopping?”
A quirk of Kerry’s lips. “No, not exactly. We had dinner at the Rainforest.” She avoided Colleen’s widening eyes. “She wanted to go over next week and what to expect, things like that.”
“Did you have fun?”
Kerry thought about that. “It was…Col, it was really, really weird, because half of the time it was very strained, because we don’t know each Tropical Storm 83
other, and she’s my boss, and it’s just weird, but the other half of the time, it was…” She struggled to get a grasp on her thoughts. “It was just strange.”
Colleen tilted her head to on side and eyed her. “Strangely familiar?”
“Yeah, kinda,” Kerry admitted. “I’ve never had that happen to me before, but I think we’re going to be okay.”
“You like her.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah, I do,” Kerry said, after a moment’s thought. “Even after the whole firing thing. I was really mad at her that night, but after she showed me what she did, how she tried…” She fell silent again. “Yeah, I do like her,” she repeated in a more positive tone.
“Incredible.” Colleen shook her head. “I saw Reynaldo over at Publix, we were getting deli together, and I was telling him about you going to work for her. He was in total shock.” She shook her head. “He’s the IS manager at the bank. He got chewed, and chewed, and chewed until he had only one quarter of his butt left over that tape disaster. He says she’s just the nastiest person he’d ever met.”