“Okay,” Kerry agreed amiably, somewhat tickled at being able to make Dar laugh. “Sounds good to me, and it’s on my way home, practically, anyway.”
“Hey, we could try that Thai restaurant after the meeting. It’s right by there. I didn’t get any lunch, so…” Dar felt a little awkward but relaxed when she saw Kerry’s eyes light up. “Haven’t had that in a long time.”
“Sure,” The younger woman agreed enthusiastically. “I’ve been waiting for a chance to try it. None of my friends like Thai, so it was wait around for someone who does, or go by myself.” She made a face. “I hate doing that.”
Dar glanced at her hands. “I’ve gotten used to it over the years,” she commented lightly. “But I know what you mean.” She stood up. “Well, then, let’s get going. That meeting’s set for five o’clock.”
“I’ll get my things and meet you at the elevator,” Kerry agreed, and trotted out.
The room seems so much more empty without her in it, Dar mused. She hardly knew why she’d brought up the restaurant, other than the fact that she was hungry now, and… And.
Dar chewed her lip. “And you like spending time with the kid,” she told herself wryly. “Come on, just admit it. She’s got a fresh perspective, a whole lot different from yours, and for some crazy reason, she likes you.” A soft sigh. “Damned if I know why, either.” She sat pondering that for a moment more, then gathered her things and headed out.
“SO, HER SECRETARY goes in and gets the cup, then washes it out with vinegar!” Kerry picked up a stuffed shrimp, and took a bite. “Wow, that’s great... Where was I? Oh, I’m standing there, getting coffee, and I just looked at her.”
“Mmm.” Dar nibbled on her own shrimp and listened, getting a kick out of the stories of things she certainly never saw. “Vinegar, huh? That explains a lot about Vi.”
“Shhh. Right, so I see she doesn’t even rinse the cup, then she pours decaf into it. My curiosity finally got the better of me. I asked her what she was doing, and she just kinda laughed.” Kerry cautiously took a sip of the amber fluid in the wine glass that had just been set before her. “Oh…that is good.”
“I don’t drink much, but I can take a glass or two of this,” Dar admitted.
“I keep a bottle of it around the house. Nice to sip out on the balcony sometimes.”
108 Melissa Good
“I try not to go over my limit very often,” Kerry sighed. “They get me out at a club once in a while though, and I usually regret it in the morning.” She took another sip of the plum wine. “Anyway, so I ask her, and she tells me that she and a few of the other secreta—excuse me, administrative assistants...” They exchanged rolled eyes. “A few of them really want this other coffee vendor to do the building or at least the floor. But this one is the building manager’s cousin, or brother-in-law, or whatever. So, they won’t change even though they think the coffee’s lousy.”
Dar bit through another appetizer, which was shrimp stuffed with crabmeat and deep-fried until it was crunchy. It had an orange/honey/ginger dipping sauce she particularly liked. “Well, it’s not the best, but it’s not the worst either,” she commented of the coffee.
“That’s what I thought, too. I mean, it’s office coffee, not Starbucks, for Christ’s sake.” Kerry shook her head. “But they’ve got this scheme. They put the vinegar in her boss’s coffee because they know she’s got a big mouth, and she’ll complain all the time. Then if she does that long enough, they’ll change.”
Dar laughed. “Oh, hell. Vi does complain about that constantly, too. I’m in trouble now! Next time we have an executive committee meeting, and she starts going on about the coffee, I’m going to lose it.” She relaxed in her chair.
“Why don’t they just buy whatever damn coffee they like, and bring it in?”
Kerry eyed the large plate of white rice and the container of chicken curry that had just been set down in front of her. “Uh oh. Looks like I’ll have lunch tomorrow out of this.”
“Bet you don’t.” A quick grin edged Dar’s face. “It’s got a way of disappearing.”
“Yeah, into me.” Kerry patted her stomach wryly. “Oh, about the coffee.
Well, that’s what I suggested to her, I mean, they’ve been doing this for three months, Dar. In that time, they could have hired Juan Valdez as consultant, you know?” Dar snickered. “They looked at me like I was a three-headed dog.” She lifted her hands in a shrug. “They made a snarky comment about how not everyone worked for you and got paid megabucks.”
A dark brow lifted. “You’re not my secretary,” Dar stated flatly. “I pay people what they’re worth.”
Kerry blushed slightly and fiddled with her plate, mixing her rice with the fragrant curried chicken. “I just told them I guess I picked the right boss, then.” She lifted her eyes shyly and met Dar’s. “And I think that’s true, regardless of what I was getting paid.”
Dar was silent for a moment, absorbing the unexpected compliment. “So, does that mean I haven’t scared you off yet?” Her tone was joking, but there was a serious undercurrent to it.
“I guess that’s what it means,” Kerry replied. “I really like what I’m doing. I’m learning so much.” She exhaled and gave Dar a smile.
“That’s a relief,” her boss answered quietly. “As of tonight, you’ve officially lasted the longest ever of my assistants. Congratulations.” Dar lifted her glass and held it up, letting a quiet, almost wistful smile touch twist her lips as Kerry touched her glass to it. “Wasn’t quite what you expected two weeks ago, hmm?”
Tropical Storm 109
A small laugh. “No, it sure wasn’t, but I’ve learned that sometimes things happen for a reason. I think this is one of those things.” Kerry reflected that toasting her new boss with plum wine over very good chicken curry wasn’t what she expected either, but she’d take that, too. “No complaints.”
Dar was contented. She’d made the right choice and events were proving that out to the point where even Duks had made a comment, nudging her in the ribs and complimenting her on Kerry’s handling of some account or other .
“Thought you were picking for looks there, my friend. Guess I was wrong.”
She’d smirked in response. “You’re so superficial, Dukky. You gotta learn to look beneath the surface.” She’d gotten a good employee, and a smart manager, and … And.
Their eyes met casually, and Dar felt a gentle warmth in her gut . Good god, I might have even found a friend, scary as that thought is. At least someone she could have dinner with once in a while without worrying about being bored.
“Glad to hear it.”
Kerry sighed happily and chewed her curry. “So…” She swallowed. “In this ‘us and them’ thing, who, exactly, is us, Dar?” She wiped her lips.
“Because you need so many score cards in that office, I’m considering putting it in an Access database.”
Dar almost inhaled a bit of rice. “Don’t make me laugh like that. I’ll choke,” she protested. “Okay. Well, who is us… That’s a hard question, because everyone has their own agenda. You realize that, right?”
Kerry nodded, but didn’t speak as she munched.
“Duks—that’s Lou Draefus—and Mariana and I usually team up in senior level meetings. That frustrates Sales and Marketing, because between Finance, Personnel, and Ops... Well, they call us Cerberus behind our backs, speaking of the three-headed dog,” Dar explained between bites. “Duks and I go way back. He was an account-level comptroller when I started, and we found out we worked well together, so they teamed us up on a lot of things. It worked for both of us.”