Dar felt a jolt of disappointment, but knew Kerry was right. They both Tropical Storm 245
had things to do, and a new week of work to prepare for. “Sounds like a good idea,” she admitted. “Much as I hate to admit it. Are you still interested in the gym? That class starts on Wednesday.”
Kerry had almost forgotten about that. “Oh, right! Absolutely. God, yes!
If I keep hanging around with you, I’m going to need it desperately.” She gave Dar a grin. “Thanks for reminding me.”
The executive rolled out of bed and stood up. “Well, let’s get going then. I think I have some extra Frosted Flakes if you’re interested.”
“See what I mean?” Kerry shook her head and laughed as she joined the taller woman.
Chapter Twenty
THE ALARM WENT off in the pre-dawn darkness, startling Dar out of sleep. She stared at it in confusion for a moment, then rubbed her face and slapped at it, turning off the loud buzzer. It was very quiet in the condo, and she rested her chin on her pillow for a moment, wistfully thinking of how much nicer it had been to wake up the day before.
Funny. Dar sighed and rolled out of bed, mechanically trudging to the bathroom. She had never considered herself to be lonely before. Her life had been busy, true, but now she wondered how many of her activities had just been a way to fill up the time. It had been unexpectedly nice just to have someone to talk to over their very impromptu brunch yesterday, and she couldn’t even begin to remember what it was that they’d talked about.
Puppies? Politics?
Dar splashed water on her face, and shook her head as she exchanged her pajamas for her running clothes and sat down in the silent living room to put on her sneakers. Whatever it had been, she’d spent most of the time laughing, something she didn’t remember doing a lot of in the past few years. She sat thinking about that for a minute, then prodded herself to her feet. “C’mon, Dar, get moving. Two extra laps around the island this morning, remember?”
To make up for missing out the last couple of days, she’d decided, waking up an extra hour early for it.
It was very quiet as she closed the door behind her and exited into the cool air, crisp with the wetness of dew and the breeze from the sea. Her sneakers sounded loud on the gravel as she turned off onto the small path, then she took a deep breath and broke into a slow jog to give her muscles a chance to wake up and stretch before she pushed them.
The water sloshed against the seawall as she turned into the onshore wind, which was bringing the scent of brine and salt to her lungs. There was no other sound, save the far-off clanking of the port and a soft hoot of a tugboat chugging by in the channel. She could see the running lights of the boat and left it behind her as she headed off into the south.
On the sixth ring around, she could feel the strain start to shorten her breathing, and it pissed her off. Instead of stopping, she pushed herself on, speeding up her pace and forcing herself to complete eight rings, by which time the sun was pouring over the horizon, and she was sweating freely.
She slowed as she came around the northern edge of the island for the eighth time, dropping down into a jog and letting her heartbeat begin to slow.
She ended up on the seawall, staring out into the dawn light and letting the Tropical Storm 247
sea breeze blow her damp hair back off her forehead. Slowly, she sat down on the concrete wall and let her legs dangle over into the light spray from the waves.
For so long, she’d believed she didn’t need anyone to complete her life.
Maybe because she hadn’t had a choice. It had been easy to confuse sterile isolation for happiness, since she hadn’t really known the difference. She’d dealt with loneliness by ignoring it and convincing herself that keeping busy was the key to a satisfying life. Now… Dar exhaled into the mist. Kerry’s innocently held-out hand of friendship had shaken loose that belief and forced her to look at herself objectively for the first time in a long while.
The past week had shown her just how much of a lie her complacency really was. Going forward with Kerry would add a complicated, difficult, troublesome facet to her life, and the potential for pain and personal problems was likely to disrupt her ordered existence beyond repair.
The intelligent and rational view told her to put a halt to their budding relationship. It could only bring trouble to both her and Kerry, and might result in a professional disaster for both of them. It would be better, smarter, for her to sit Kerry down, and just…tell her no. Back off. Push their relationship back to a strictly professional level.
Dar was startled by the sudden sting of tears and the wave of misery that accompanied the thought. Confused, she rubbed her face and clamped an arm over her suddenly aching chest. Just the thought of giving up that smile… Dar imagined the hurt, and then the pain in the green eyes as she turned her away, and knew she couldn’t stand it. I can’t do that to Kerry. Hell, I can’t do that to myself.
With a shaking hand, she wiped the tears from her face and ran her fingers through her damp hair. Somehow, she’d find a way to make it work.
Her heartbeat settled, and she took a few deep breaths, letting the salt spray cool her down. Okay. It’s just another challenge, Dar. Remember what Dad always told you. Break your challenges up into tiny bites, and by the time you’ve finished, you’ve eaten a buffalo, tail and all.
That brought a wry, shaky smile to her face, and she got to her feet, stretching out her legs and straightening her shoulders. Time to start the day.
MARIA LIKED THE early morning. She made it a point to enter the building at seven AM, before even the most virtuous of the other administrative assistants, and she used the time to catch up on the piles of correspondence Dar’s position generated, along with the volume of electronic mail, requests of all sorts, papers to review, and other matters that fell under her jurisdiction. It gave her nearly an hour, sometimes a little more, before her mercurial boss appeared, bringing with her a whirlwind of activity, and she enjoyed the quiet time, thinking it was a good way to start the day out.
Especially on a Monday, which was never a good day, and most especially since Dar had been gone most of the previous week and items had been stacking up, awaiting her attention.
She heard the elevator open, and the soft sound of footsteps traveling down the tiled hallway and continuing on past her door. A smile crossed her 248 Melissa Good face as she recognized them as being more than likely Kerry’s, who came in early for much the same reason she did. The young woman was still getting used to her new position and was anxious to make a good impression.
Maria approved of that. She liked Kerry, and was glad her supervisor had found someone she felt she could work with, and who seemed to be willing to put in the same kind of effort that Dar herself did. And as an added bonus, Kerry seemed to also like the sometimes difficult, often impatient and aggressive vice president, which was quite a surprise to the secretary, given where Kerry had come from.
She wondered if Kerry knew just how close she’d come to being fired?
With a sigh, Maria turned her attention to a stack of reports, sorting them and notating the ones Dar would want to see first thing. She noticed the lengthy report regarding the massive outage on Saturday and put that one on top.
After a few minutes, the door opened, and Kerry poked her fair head in.
“Good morning, Maria.”