Dar laughed. “No, no. The extra mouthpiece you saw on my gear, it’s called an octopus.” She scooped up a forkful of potato salad and chewed it.
“It’s for buddy breathing.”
“Oh.” Kerry blushed a little. “Buddy breathing, right.” She pulled out a magazine. “I got one of these yesterday. I read it while I was waiting for the sewers to clear.”
“Pro Diver, that’s a pretty good one.” Dar smiled at her enthusiasm, remembering her own certification. It seemed like it had been forever, she mused, then she glanced at her watch. “Did you get held up on something?”
Green eyes lifted to hers a touch sheepishly. “Um… Well, no. I was working on those projects, and then I took care of some e-mail, and, um, I don’t know, I guess I forgot about lunch until you showed up and poked your head in the door.”
Dar studied her curiously. “Uh huh.” She spotted the gentle blush creeping up her assistant’s neck and bit down on her fork. “Well, good timing, then.” Kerry had, she realized, waited for her to go to lunch, and she wondered if the younger woman wasn’t feeling a little intimidated by her surroundings. After all, the only person she really knew here was Dar, and she probably was uncomfortable just barging in on the usual lunch cliques. She made a mental note to get Maria to introduce her to some of her buddies, who were usually the kinder, gentler variety. “Nice to have someone to talk to during lunch. I usually just grab something by myself.”
Kerry nibbled her sandwich. “I did that too, a lot, at Associated. I…it’s weird, I liked the people there, but when I would go out with them, I always had a funny feeling that they were putting on an act for me.”
“Mmm.” Dar nodded in understanding. “I get that a lot, too.” But not with Kerry, she realized with a sense of relief. The woman was just as straightforward as you could get.
“Oh, and I checked on that discounts page you told me about. That’s a 154 Melissa Good really good plan for that gym. I signed up,” Kerry said, getting the words out somewhat more quickly than was her habit. “I figured, even if…I mean, I’d be crazy not to, right? They’ve got some really good classes there.”
“I did too, this morning,” Dar stated nonchalantly. “We have a deal set up on Wednesday, remember?”
Now Kerry smiled. “I remember.” She relaxed a little. “What time do you have your appointment tomorrow?”
Dar had been trying to avoid thinking about it. “Eight,” she answered quietly.
“Do…do you want me to pick you up at the terminal? No sense in driving all the way here, just to… I mean, it’s on the beach, right? Just off Alton Road?”
“That sounds fine,” Dar replied. “Yeah, it’s just off Alton, near Mount Sinai. Are you sure you want to come? I, um, I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”
Kerry gave her a gently sympathetic look. “I’ll bring a trashy novel, but I bet it doesn’t take long at all, and everything checks out okay.”
Dar exhaled softly. “You keep thinking those good thoughts, Kerry.” She lifted her head and gazed into the sea green eyes. “I could use every one of them.” Their gazes held for a moment, then Dar pushed herself to her feet.
“More meetings, we’ve got some clients coming in I have to sit in for…I probably won’t be back to the office until real late.”
“All right, I’ll keep working on that stuff you gave me. If anything blows up, I’ll page you,” Kerry promised. With a pat on her shoulder as a parting gesture, Dar moved off, and Kerry returned her attention to finishing up her own lunch. It was amazing, she mused, just how warm that felt even through the fabric of her jacket. She glanced up as a shadow fell over her and smiled.
“Hello.”
A short, blonde woman was standing there, smiling. “Hi. Mind if I sit down?”
Kerry shook her head. “No, I’m about done. Would…did you want this table?” She could see several similar ones empty around her, but assumed perhaps the woman liked this particular one.
“No, that’s okay. I just wanted to introduce myself.” She held a beringed hand out. “I’m Eleanor Anastasia, from the Sales and Marketing Group. I hear you’re Dar’s new girl.” The woman seated herself primly and smoothed her hand over the tablecloth as she studied Kerry’s face. “I didn’t think Dar went in for such youngsters, but I’ve heard good things about you.”
“It’s very nice of you to tell me that, thank you,” Kerry replied guardedly, prudently ignoring Eleanor’s snarkier comments. “It’s only been a few days.
I’m still getting used to a lot of things.”
Eleanor smiled toothily. “We always like to see fresh talent here, especially in such an area as important as Operations. I hope we can develop a pleasant working relationship.” She paused. “Sometimes we have such…oh, I suppose you can call them communications problems. I’m sure you’ll go a long way towards ironing them out.”
“Well, I’ll certainly try my best. I try to get along with everyone, if I can,”
Kerry answered with a thin smile. “We have so many things going on at once, Tropical Storm 155
it’s hard to not rush through the social niceties.”
“Honey, your biggest communication problem is right down the hall. We all love dear Dar, but she can be a bit difficult at times.” Eleanor positively oozed fake affection for her fellow executive. “Don’t you agree?”
Kerry cocked her head slightly. “Actually, no. I’ve found her to be extremely easy to work with,” she replied politely. “So I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” Eleanor gave her a pitying stare. “Well, give it a few more days, sweetie.” She patted Kerry’s arm condescendingly. “We’ll be talking.” She patted Dar’s new assistant again, then stood up and straightened her tight, bright red skirt suit. “It’s nice to have someone with manners over there for a change.” She gave Kerry a smile, then walked off across the room to where a table was set to one side, four other business-suited figures seated at it.
Kerry shuddered and resisted the urge to wipe her sleeve with her napkin where the woman had touched her. “Ugh.” She picked up her tray and carried it to the washing room, setting it down and dusting her hands off. “I gotta do something about her reputation.” Deep in thought, she started walking back to the elevator.
Chapter Fourteen
KERRY PUT HER magazine down and peered around the waiting room.
Then she checked her watch and sighed. Two hours. The room was pleasant enough, with decently padded chairs set around in a double figure-eight and low tables with an assortment of surprisingly current magazines. She’d already gone through PC World, Windows, Infoweek and Time, and had been flipping through People when she decided to give it a rest.
She wasn’t really interested in reading about the fifty most intriguing people of 1998 anyway. She leaned back and crossed her ankles, wondering what Dar was doing. Or to be more precise, what was being done to her. She’d picked up her boss at seven thirty, and they’d made the short drive over to the beach in relative silence. Dar kept her emotions hidden very well, but Kerry had seen the motion as she kept swallowing, and the tense pursing of her lips.
Poor Dar. She felt so bad for the taller woman. Being that nervous was bad enough, but having to pretend you weren’t was worse. Kerry had almost just told her it was okay to be scared, but she didn’t think Dar would appreciate the attack on her defenses at the time.