by Mimi Barbour
“You’re right,” Sara said, a surprisingly red tinge appearing on her cheeks. “I talked to him after I finished here last night. We left at the same time and ran into each other in the elevator. He looked so lost that I gathered up my courage and invited him for a drink at the pub across the street. It was nice. He looked better by the end of the evening.”
“Did he mention anything about what’s happening now, any hint he was aware of the acquisition, or what was going on?”
“Not a peep. He talked about his kids mostly.”
Annie glanced at her watch and frowned. “I guess I’d better go before the meeting gets started. I don’t want to be late.” She straightened slowly, feeling as if a bundle of bricks were balanced on her shoulders. “My heart’s breaking for that man, Sara. He’s overloaded. Something has to give.”
Annie waited while Sara approached. Without thinking, her hand reached out and Sara grasped it. Sadness tightened her assistant’s normally serene face. Annie tuned into the emotion because it was precisely how she felt. The girls stood there for a second, sharing, supporting each other in their worry.
Minutes after Annie left the office, the phone rang and a young girl’s voice asked for Annie. Sara took that to mean Anna, and by the tearful tones it sounded as if the girl needed to speak with her right away. Sara, realizing the impossibility of calling her boss to the phone at the moment, tried to explain.
“I’m terribly sorry, but Miss Hynes is in a very important meeting right now. But I know she’d want me to take a message, so she could return your call. Please give me your number and your name, and I promise to give it to her at the first possible moment.”
Sara softened her tone and tried to add a coaxing timbre, hoping the caller would believe she cared. It didn’t work.
The click at the other end encouraged her to check Caller ID, and to her alarm “unavailable name and number” was all she saw. Haunted by the incident, worried without understanding why, she pounced on her poor boss as soon as she appeared in her doorway after the meeting.
“Anna, there was a girl calling for you about an hour ago. I sensed she was in trouble. She sounded sort of scared-like, and I believe she’d been crying.”
Annie’s face paled. Her whole demeanor changed from exhausted to alert. “Did you get her name and number?”
“She hung up after I told her you were in a meeting. I’m sure she’s called a few other times, now that I think about it. She sounded familiar.”
“If she calls back, no matter where I am, put the call through. I’m assuming it could have been a girl called Lea—my friend Tyler and I have been trying to help her. In fact, I haven’t seen or talked to her, or Tyler, for weeks—not since my date with Sergio.” Annie slouched into her chair behind her desk with a loud and long sigh.
“You’ve dated Sergio again? You never said.” Sara followed her inside the office and sat in the visitor’s chair.
“No, just the once. The evening began well, but I’m embarrassed to say I got so tipsy that I don’t actually remember much about the end.” The blush on her face belied that statement, and had Sara’s eyes narrowing.
“Will you be going out with him again?”
“He’s asked, but we’ve both been so busy that we’ve had to put it off. Can’t seem to get together with our schedules. Must be God’s against us.”
“More’n likely an angel’s watching out for you. I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but I feel I have no choice, especially if you’ve decided to have a relationship with him. I’ve been trying to get up my nerve to talk to you about it.”
“Look, I’m attracted to the guy, but we’re nowhere near carrying on a relationship. I have to admit to never having known any other man as charismatic or exciting. We’ve only had the one date, and it ended sort of weird, but I look forward to going out with him again. You should’ve seen the restaurant he took me to, Sara. Why are you looking at me in that way? Don’t you like him?”
“It’s not that I don’t like him, exactly, it’s more that I don’t trust him. You’re right, he can be charming, but I’ve seen a different side of him that I have to warn you about. I’ve thought of bringing it up previously, but I—I couldn’t. Now that you’ve told me you’re going to go out with him again, I feel I have no choice. You realize I hate gossip and I don’t carry stories, right?”
“I know that,” Annie said, her tone soothing. “Tell me. What’s on your mind, my friend? I’ll listen.”
Sara straightened in her chair and leaned slightly forward, her hands rubbing her knees. “Your predecessor, Jean Culver, was a divorcee. Though I barely got to know her, having been with her for only a few months, she proved to be quite professional. Not in your league, especially with the personnel, but she worked hard. She didn’t have the magic you seem to possess in bringing order to chaos, or your knack of appealing to the most hardened businessmen—”
“Stop! All these compliments are making me blush, and you’re digressing.” Annie chuckled. “Don’t be nervous. Just blurt it out. I promise I won’t be mad. I’ll merely transfer you to another depar-… I’m kidding. Quit looking at me as if I’m serious.”
Sara’s apprehension shone clearly in her eyes as she gripped the arms of her chair. “I hate gossip,” she repeated, her voice low and strained.
“Okay, look. They told me my predecessor got fired and had to leave the same day. Hugo never discussed the reason for her dismissal, and I never bothered checking her file. It didn’t seem pertinent to my taking over.” Annie stood and leaned over the desk towards her assistant.
Sara’s words gushed out, as if the intensity had reached a level requiring them to break loose. “Yes, she got fired—for screwing an employee right on this damn glass monstrosity of a desk. Hugo walked in on them, with me following right behind. When we knocked and opened the door, they were half-naked and going at it like animals. I guess they forgot to lock it. Hugo closed it again as quickly as he opened it, and I don’t suspect he recognized who the guy happened to be, because all we saw was his bare ass. The cool bastard kept his face down.” Sara cleared her throat and finally chanced a glance at Annie. “I’ve never seen Hugo so livid. He apologized to me as if he were to blame. Told me to call through and tell her to be in his office in fifteen minutes. She left that day, and her partner in crime never did come forward. But I saw the man, Anna. I saw him leave after she went to talk with Hugo.”
Annie sank back into her chair, settling like a flipped blanket. “You think you saw Sergio?”
“I know I saw him.” Sara said, her voice hardening. “He didn’t notice me at first, as he snuck out of her office. Then, when he did, he tried to play the innocent bystander.” Disgust, evident in Sara’s voice, appeared in her expression as she nodded sagely. “I knew he was the culprit, and he was aware I knew. So far I’ve kept my mouth shut, thinking maybe they were in love and had gotten carried away. But now that he’s coming on to you, I know that’s not the case. I guess I should have blown the whistle earlier, I don’t know. But imagining you with him drives me crazy.” She bit her lip and stopped talking abruptly.
“I’ve always suspected you were biased,” Annie said. “I mean about Sergio.” Her finger pointed, then waved, at Sara. “Now I know you had good reason.”
“You picked that up? How perceptive of you.” Sara grinned, to take any sting out of her sarcasm. “He’s as slippery as Teflon. Nothing sticks. I dislike people like Sergio because he’s got so much going for him, but he uses it to reel in people. I guess that talent goes well with being a salesman, but as a man” Her head shook from side to side, reinforcing her disdain.
“I’m glad you told me. I…I’ll never go out with him again.” Annie swung her chair around and turned towards the back wall. Her quivering tone and shaking shoulders signaled a problem.
“Oh Anna, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Please don’t feel so bad.”
Annie’s hands continued to cover her face.
Taking the hin
t, Sara stood up to leave the room. As she reached the door Annie’s wobbling voice stopped her.
“From my first day here, I’ve hated this desk. Please! Get busy with a catalogue and order me new office furniture, and get it here pronto.” She turned to Sara, mischievousness lighting her face. “The bizarre image you’ve just shared—very clear-cut, I might add—rules out the possibility of my ever getting any serious work done on it from now on.” She burst into wild giggles.
“I was pretty explicit.” Sara chuckled, relief evident.
“You do have a skill with words, my dear—yes, you do!”
“I’m not sorry I told you. The bastard doesn’t deserve you.”
“You are so right, my friend. I owe you.”
Her day continued on a downhill skid after Sara’s confession. The earlier meeting in the boardroom had left her dissatisfied and worried. Nerves rioted until her head felt as if little mutant cells with hammers were doing a rendition of “Lord of the Dance” inside her skull. Putting her arms down on her desk and nestling her head between them gave her a respite for only a few minutes.
Eeuuwww! She remembered Sara’s story. The desk now offended her sensibilities, so she quickly sat up and leaned her head against the high back of her chair. She couldn’t turn off the voices from her conscience. Or was it from her heart?
I want to call Tyler. No, I need to call Tyler.
He’s mad at me.
He’ll want to know about the phone calls from Lea. She must be in trouble. Besides, Tyler never stays mad at anyone for very long.
But you haven’t even apologized for whatever you did to anger him.
What did I do?
She sighed, then reached wearily for the receiver. Disappointment spiraled when she couldn’t speak to him and instead had to leave a message with his secretary. Her eyes closed wearily. She’d tried to dismiss the recent recurring, dreamlike images that seemed so real—of him making love to her, of them being together in her bedroom, and of the wonderful sensations he’d evoked in her body with his hands and lips. Lifelike fantasies that gave her such pleasure had to have some basis in reality. Didn’t they? She shuddered, bit down on her bottom lip and closed down the sexual impulses those mind pictures provoked.
She pushed her hair away from her face, took a couple of Tylenol and got on with her mountainous piles of work.
Chapter Thirteen
Ten minutes after Annie arrived at her apartment exhausted, weepy and cranky, Tyler knocked his unique rap. She rose slowly from her prone position on the sofa, went to open the door and leaned on it.
Just looking at him banished her blues. He started talking before she could say a word. “Hi! Long time no see! I got your call, but you’d left already when I tried to return it. Baby doll, you look like someone who’s been working way too hard.”
Flutters of apprehensive dissolved and she smiled thankfully. Her old buddy stood there. “It has gone way past working hard. We’re moving into unmitigated insanity around the office. I’ve wanted to stop by and visit, but every night as I get home, all I can think of is my bed.”
“Too tired to date your Latin lover?”
“Latin lover? Oh, you mean Sergio. I haven’t seen him since the first time we went out and I won’t be seeing him again. Appears he has the knack of picking out naïve idiots and misusing them. I thought he was special. Funny, my memories of our date are blurred, sorta mixed up, but they make me feel so… Oh, I don’t know!” She shuddered, a movement both visible and telling. “Goes to show you, my judgment of men is flawed—or should we say nonexistent.” She sighed long and deep, then scrunched her face as she grinned at him. “Oh, well, at least I have you.”
“Be still my heart!” He clutched his chest and laughed. An uproarious laugh that seemed disproportionate to the humor of her comment. But then, what the hell did she know about the strange labyrinth of a man’s mind?
She waited for him to stop chortling, and then she asked, “Did you need me for anything beside entertaining you? ‘Cause if not, I’m for a hot bath and my bed.”
“I’m sorry you’re so tired, sweetheart, but you do have to eat. I have Lea waiting in my apartment downstairs. I’ve promised her a pizza at Dominic’s. She said she’s been trying to reach you. Seems she’s ready to open up about what’s been going on in her life. We can’t let this opportunity pass.”
“Lea? She phoned earlier when I was in an important meeting. Which reminds me, I’ve got to tell you about what’s been happening lately. Another corporation’s been buying up Montaro’s shares. Everyone says it’s a takeover. We haven’t seen the new CEO who owns the big conglomerate, but he’s due to arrive any day now. The office is in a huge turmoil. Everyone’s panicking about their jobs and their future with the company.”
“You’ll be okay, Annie. Things have a way of turning out. This new company will be keeping on the key people for a while at least, won’t they?”
The name Annie sounded foreign after being called only Anna for so long. She liked it. “I guess so. I’m more worried about Hugo, my boss. His wife showed up after being missing for four years. She stuck around for a week or so and then took off again. He’s been frantic, trying to find her. He looks like hell. And now he has this mess at the office to contend with. The poor man is a basket case.”
“Speaking of cases, we’d better go and visit with Lea. Maybe we can find an hour to talk later and you can tell me all about the craziness in your life then.”
“Tyler, I can barely see, I’m so exhausted. I wasn’t planning to eat a big meal. Eggs and toast, a bath, and eight full hours of sleep are what I need.” She watched his face close down, affability instantly erased. The disappointment—and, yes, disapproval—was clear. He turned away.
Conflicting thoughts bombarded her.
I need sleep; tomorrow threatens to be a bitch of a day.
It’s Tyler and Lea. I want to go with them. Besides, I need to see Lea and make sure she’s okay. And my heart needs to be with Tyler.
Don’t be an idiot…
Annie stopped listening to the screeching of her conscience. Anxiety for the troubled teen replaced lethargy. She couldn’t change it anymore than she could change the happy glow of anticipation that came with the thought of spending an evening with her best buddy once again.
“Okay, Ty. Give me five minutes to have a quick shower and throw on some jeans and I’ll join you.” She knew her voice conveyed the enthusiasm she couldn’t hide.
He stopped and took a few seconds before turning back to face her, but when he did the friendliness had reappeared. “Take ten. Trust me, Little Bit, any amount of time I have to wait for you is time well spent.” His wink made her laugh and his petting fingers on her cheek made her heart quicken like an idling motor getting more gas.
“Mr. Jones, you are a slippery character. They should patent your coaxing tongue.” Hearing him using his old nicknames again made her insides smile.
Annie sped into her bath area to turn on the shower. Her energy picked up just thinking about the evening ahead. With excited anticipation she flitted around her bedroom, grabbed her nicest, newest, filmiest blouse and threw it on the bed to wear with her tight, stylish jeans.
It took more like fifteen minutes before Annie joined the two in Tyler’s apartment. Once she stepped through the door, the first sight of Lea broke her heart. The tall, full-bodied girl appeared a travesty of her former, healthy self. Her long hair had always been shiny and well groomed, inclined to wave. The dark mass suited the gray-eyed girl and went well with her tawny complexion.
Now drooping in front of Annie stood a thin, dirty, bruised, lifeless person. Her hair hung in greasy clumps. Slumped shoulders and a white face devoid of expression compelled Annie to imagine the hell this poor girl had gone through to get to this point.
Annie’s loving look of welcome and her instinctive open arms must have broken loose the clamps Lea used to keep herself together. With a cry of gladness, she flew towards her friend.
And Annie’s strong arms gathered her close and rocked her.
“Shuu, little girl. It’s okay. Stop crying! And don’t worry! We’ll help you. Come, let’s sit down.” Annie led the teen to Tyler’s couch, a deep-red leather one she’d never seen before, and lowered them both together. Lea’s head burrowed into her shoulder. Annie kissed and petted her, murmuring incoherently.
Tyler quietly put a couple of glasses of water and a box of tissues on the coffee table in front of the girls and sat waiting in the chair opposite until the storm passed. Annie glanced towards him and saw his approval. Happiness engulfed her, filling her. Intoxicated, she owned up to how much she’d missed this sensation, this togetherness—them against the world of mixed-up teenagers—fighting the good fight.
Finally, Lea straightened away from Annie, still clinging to her hand, and took a long, shaky, desolate-sounding breath. She rested back against the couch cushion and stared into the eyes of the anxious woman perched next to her.
“I’ve missed you so much, Annie. God, there were times I thought I’d go crazy not knowing what to do. Doug has me that messed; I can’t decide what’s up or down anymore. He keeps pushing drugs on me, wanting me to get high. Up till now I’ve managed to stick to pot, but I figure he’s started spiking my drinks. Then while I’m coasting on ‘E’ I’m pretty sure his friends are paying him to hook up with me.” Her voice broke and her shaky hands covered her face, hiding her hopeless rage. “My body is bankrolling him, Annie. When I snap out of it, and question him, he gets wild. You know what happens then.”
“I’m so sorry, Lea.” Annie reached out. As gloomy as her life had been in the past, she’d never be able to imagine what Lea had been going through.
“I know he’s prostituting me for money, so he can buy the drugs he can’t do without. He’ll never let me go. I’m terrified. If he finds me here, he’ll kill me. I have no place to turn or to hide. I-I need help.”