Winds of Change Pt 1 (Dar and Kerry Series Book 12)

by Melissa Good

  Definitely a change. It was a more rugged interior than her previous car and like Kerry, she felt it really better reflected her. The Lexus was fine, and she hadn’t minded driving it, but there was always a sense that it projected a tiny bit of status seeking she didn’t think she possessed.

  At least, she hoped she didn’t. She remembered, vaguely, worrying if the car was equal to the ones her peers in the company were driving, but after a while other things had occupied her mind and she’d gotten used to the big beast.

  She started the engine and shifted into drive, her peripheral vision catching Kerry fiddling with her new camera, unsurprised when she half turned in her seat and pointed the lens at her. “Run out of truck to shoot?”

  “Heh heh.” Kerry let the auto focus do its thing, and snapped the pix, getting a nice shot of Dar’s profile.

  They drove a few minutes down the road, then Dar pulled back into the photo shop’s lot and parked. “Me and Chino will wait for ya.”

  Kerry hopped out and trotted over to the store, while Dar adjusted the seat back a little and relaxed, idly watching the late Saturday afternoon passersby.

  Her cell phone rang. She picked it up and glanced at the caller ID, then opened it. “Hey, Alastair.”

  “Dar.”

  His vocal tone warned her. “Yeap. What’s up?”

  “Not going to dance around,” Alastair said, in a very quiet voice. “The board has instructed me to terminate your employment and Kerry’s. Right this moment.”

  Dar felt a flash through of several emotions, a blast of heat, and then of cold, and then oddly of relief. “Okay,” she said after a moment of silence. “So that’s it? They’re not going to offer me a package, or hand over pension or anything?”

  “No.”

  “Okay,” Dar said again. “That’s what I get for being honest?”

  “Yes.”

  Dar heard more emotion in those short syllables than she ever had from Alastair. “Sorry, boss. I didn’t really deserve that, and neither did you.”

  There was a very long moment of silence. “No,” Alastair finally said, a clipped, rough word that Dar heard the tears in. “And that’s the very last god damned thing I’m going to do for them because I just submitted my own termination at the same time. Fuck them all.”

  Dar looked up and saw Kerry coming at the truck at a run. The passenger side door jerked open. “What?” Kerry said. “What’s wrong?”

  Dar blinked, her mind operating on two separate levels. “Wow. That does work,” she said, then exhaled. “It’s Alastair. We’ve both just been fired.”

  Kerry slid across the seat and closed the door. “Done deal? Already?”

  Dar nodded. “No benefits or anything. So we’ve got some planning to do, heath insurance and that stuff.” She turned back to the phone. “Alastair, I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say to you.”

  He sighed. “They’re sending some people to the Miami office, to take over your role. Might want to warn those folks there. I think they’ll send an email out.”

  “Okay,” Dar said. “I guess if they didn’t give me a package, that means I also don’t have a non-compete clause. After we go on vacation and come back, if you want a job, call me.”

  Alastair was silent for a moment, then he chuckled. “Know what? I just might. Dar, I’m damned sorry. I didn’t want it to end like this.”

  Kerry moved closer. “Alastair?” She leaned her head against Dar’s shoulder.

  “Hm? Oh. Yes. Hello, Kerry,” Alastair said. “I’m sorry about all this, especially after all that we went through.”

  “You know, maybe it had to end like this,” she said. “There wasn’t an easy way out.”

  He sighed.

  “I feel bad about the good people we’re leaving there,” Kerry said in a more serious tone. “I’m going to call Mayte and Maria, Dar. I think you should call Mark. Let him know before they tell him.”

  Dar nodded. “I’ll have our laptops couriered to the office, Alastair. Have them turned into security.”

  “Y’know? Me too,” Alastair said. “I just texted the wife with that PDA thing. She’s happy as a clam.” He sounded surprised. “Maybe you were right, Kerry.”

  “Okay, Alastair. Give me a call later and we can make sure it’s all wrapped up,” Dar said. “I’m going to call Mari and Duks so they don’t get surprised either.”

  “All right. Talk to you later,” Alastair said, then hung up.

  Dar put her phone down on her leg and looked at Kerry. “Know something?”

  “I know I don’t feel as bad as I probably should feel,” Kerry said. “And, that we probably need to get that company up and going sooner rather than later.” She sat back. “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” Dar shook her head and opened her phone again. “Let me get Mari on the line so she can send out a note to the staff.”

  “Let me get her.” Kerry took the phone. “Let’s drive by that office complex we looked up and check it out. I get a feeling it’s going to be a very busy week.”

  Dar leaned her elbows on the steering wheel and smiled wryly. “Sometimes, fate has a way of kicking you in the ass to make you start moving.”

  Kerry nodded as she listened to the phone. “Hey, Mari, this is Kerry. Yeah, something’s wrong. Let me fill you in.”

  Dar focused her attention on driving, listening with half an ear as Kerry went through her speed dial list, thinking of all the things left undone at ILS that now she’d never get a chance to see happen.

  At one level, it hurt. She knew she’d given as much as a human could be expected to give a job over the years, and the abrupt release burned.

  But now that was in the past, and her mind was already moving ahead, looking forward to the new challenges and the next phase of their lives, since she’d already mentally accepted that change was coming.

  Now, she was glad she’d spent all night fixing some dumbass problems in the datacenter. It was a completely acceptable way for her to end her tenure there, as she’d started it. No slacking, no compromise, just a job quietly well done. The company would go on. They’d find someone to take the spot, in fact maybe they already had, and everyone would settle down and accept it after a while.

  A few people, notably Mayte and Maria, they’d take with them. They were family. But the rest would get over the shock, and maybe even take the opportunity for advancement. Maybe they would give Mark Kerry’s job. Dar turned down the street where their possible office space was.

  She nodded to herself. Might be good for everyone.

  Kerry finally closed the phone. “Wow,” she said. “She was kind of pissed.”

  “At us?”

  “No.”

  “Oh. Well she’s the VP of HR,” Dar said, reasonably. “They really should have told her before they told us.”

  Kerry shook her head. “Anyway, she’s going to send a note out. Duks was there. He didn’t even want to talk to me.” She frowned. “Guess we ruined their Saturday.”

  “We didn’t do anything,” Dar reminded her. “Okay, this is the place.”

  The phone in Kerry’s hand rang, and she opened it. “Hello...oh, hi Mark.” She glanced at Dar. “No, she’s here. No...yeah, no it’s true.” She glanced at Dar. “Yeah, they just called us. What?” She listened for a long moment. “I was just about to call you. I just got off the phone with Mari. No, we’re going to have the laptops couri—oh, well, okay sure, that would be nice if you did that.”

  “Going to come pick them up?” Dar mouthed.

  Kerry nodded. “No we’re not home right now. We were out shopping. Dar got a new car and...yeah, we’re out near the Grove looking at some property.” She paused. “No, not residential.” She paused again, and glanced at Dar. “Uh...sure...sure, we could meet you for dinner out here.”

  Dar eyed her.

  “Sure, Monty’s on South Bayshore, in about an hour. See ya.” Kerry shut the phone. “He sounded pretty upset. So I guess he wants to talk to us about it.”
>
  “Uh huh.” Dar nodded. “I like Monty’s. C’mon, let’s look at this place.”

  “Yup, let’s go.” Kerry got out and let Chino out of the back. Then she turned as Dar came up next to her. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” Dar had her sunglasses on, but she removed them as she rested her elbow on Kerry’s shoulder.

  “I’m sorry it had to end like that, sweetheart,” Kerry said. “It really isn’t fair to you, to what you’ve done there, or how you led us all to so many good results.”

  Dar studied her in silence for a moment, filtered sunlight catching the odd mahogany highlight in her hair. “No,” she finally said. “It’s not fair, but you know what? I’m glad.”

  Kerry blinked in surprise. “Huh?”

  “The last two months of this would have been one long drawn out never ending frustration. I don’t like that I was fired, or you for that matter, but it’s done. Let’s move on.”

  She draped her arm over Kerry’s shoulders, looped Chino’s leash over her hand, and they walked across the parking lot in thoughtful silence.

  Chapter Seven

  “I THINK WE’RE going to need to sit outside,” Kerry said. “I’m not leaving Cheebles in the car.” She took the dog’s leash and waited as Dar addressed the seating person outside Monty’s restaurant. The sun was setting, and a brisk, cool wind was blowing off the bay, making her glad she’d turned the collar up on her jacket.

  “C’mon,” Dar beckoned her, and they followed the host around the back to the deck, which was sparsely attended due to the weather. “They’ve got warmers back here.”

  Kerry was glad to take a seat in a relatively sheltered corner, as Chino sat down happily at her side, looking around with interest. “We’re early.”

  “Yeah,” Dar said. “Didn’t take that long with the agent. That place had some definite plusses, but we’d need to do some reno to make it work for a tech company.”

  “Server room, for one thing,” Kerry said. “But it was cute. I liked it. It seemed like a good size for us to start with.”

  Dar nodded and opened the menu. “Can I have a Jamaican coffee, please?”

  “Sure,” the waiting server agreed. “Good night for it. “

  “Same here,” Kerry said. “We’re waiting for a third person. He should be here in a few minutes.”

  “Right, I’ll get your drinks.” The woman went off.

  Dar leaned back. “Long day.” She exhaled. “I think the whole thing’s just hitting me.”

  Kerry reached over and put her hand over Dar’s, squeezing the fingers. “It’s...it’s hard to accept,” she said. “I keep thinking of stuff I have to do on Monday and then...” She paused. “I won’t miss all the chaos, but I will miss the people.”

  Dar nodded.

  “Hard to absorb that I won’t be having coffee with the gang downstairs, or...oh crap. I’ve got to send a note to Colleen,” Kerry said. “That’s the hard part. You become used to stuff in your life, and then it’s just gone.”

  Dar nodded again, sniffling a little. She looked down at the table, then out over the water.

  Kerry squeezed her hand again. “Sorry. I’ll stop that. We don’t need to bring ourselves down.”

  The server came over with their drinks. “Can I get you some appetizers, ladies? How about a raw bar platter?”

  “Sure,” Kerry said. “That would be great.”

  The woman whisked off again.

  Dar cleared her throat. “We don’t need to bring ourselves down, that’s for sure,” she agreed. “I think it’s just sort of starting to piss me off, when I think about it.”

  “We did resign,” Kerry pointed out.

  “We did. But it still pisses me off,” Dar said. “I wanted to leave on my terms. Not theirs.” She spotted Mark and waved him over. “Me and my ego. I’ll get over it.”

  “Hey.” Mark dropped down into the spare seat, his hair in violent disarray. “Should have took the truck,” he said. “Dar, I’m sorry, I know you turned in your chit, but this sucks. I mean, shit, you know?”

  “I know.” Dar took a sip of her coffee, her composure restored. “So I went to DC yesterday, and first I get propositioned by the government, then Gerry Easton tells me they don’t want to do business with ILS, just with me. So that’s what I told Alastair, and that’s what got me booted.”

  “Oh.” Mark frowned. “Holy crap.”

  “Something like that, yeah,” Dar said. “Wasn’t something I looked for, but I can see that pissing them all off.”

  Mark sighed. “Sucks,” he repeated. “Specially after last night. Thanks for hauling everyone’s stones out of the fire. We’re not even going to get to talk design with you about it I guess.”

  “Probably not.”

  The server came back and put down their platter. “Hi, there. Can I get you a drink?” she asked Mark. “Got two for one beer.”

  “Yeah, scotch and soda please,” Mark said. “Double.”

  “Sure.”

  There was a little, almost uncomfortable silence, then Mark visibly steeled himself. “So. What are you guys going to do now?”

  Kerry remained silent, waiting for Dar to answer. Dar was closer to Mark. She’d been his supervisor for almost as long as she’d been working there. The offer, which she sensed was coming, was Dar’s call, just like her offer to Mayte was hers.

  “Ker and I just got back from looking at some office space,” Dar said. “We’re going to open our own tech company. Wanna come work for us?”

  Very straightforward. Kerry almost had to muffle a smile. No hinting, no feeling him out. So, Dar.

  Mark blinked at her, then grinned. “You made that too easy, Big D.”

  “They didn’t make me sign a non-compete, and there’s nothing stopping me from moving forward with this,” Dar said, briskly. “I can’t take everyone. Company’s too big and we’re bootstrapping. But I’d welcome you as part of our new venture.”

  Hard to say who was more shocked when Mark lost his grip on his emotions and some tears escaped and ran down his cheeks. Kerry leaned forward at once and reached over to him, touching his arm. “Hey...”

  “Sorry.” He wiped his eyes with some annoyance. “I mean after last night and all the stuff you’ve done and...” He exhaled. “It just sucks.”

  “Yeah, that’s true, it does suck. But you know what they say about lemons,” Dar said, in a gentle tone. “We were on the way out anyway. This just lets us get started sooner, and without any restrictions. We’re going to get the office lease settled, then go on vacation, then when we get back, we’ll start lining up clients.”

  “We were thinking of doing our own datacenter,” Kerry said. “And Dar wants to offer engineering services.”

  “It’ll be different,” Dar said. “Different scope, smaller, we don’t have the resources ILS has.”

  Mark regarded them, sniffling a little. “Where’d you say the new place is?”

  “We were looking at a place in the Grove,” Kerry said.

  “Fuckin A.” Now a smile crossed Mark’s face. “Can I start Monday? I don’t want to have to face that place without you guys.”

  Dar smiled, visibly touched. “I think we need a day or two to actually create the company. Maybe give us ‘til Wednesday.”

  Kerry leaned her elbow on the table. “You have four weeks vacation that just rolled over, Mark,” she said. “Take it.”

  He nodded. “Barbara said the same thing. I told her I was coming out to meet you guys and she knew I was going to ask to go with you. She wants to try skiing.”

  “Do it,” Kerry said. “But maybe if you’re not leaving for Aspen for a few days you can come over to the new place and lay out a wiring plan. I think the last tenants were beanbag chair makers.”

  Mark’s smile grew wider. “Absolutely.”

  “Know any place we can put a datacenter?”

  “Absolutely!”

  THEY ENDED UP with the moon high overhead, at a table that now had the three of them,
plus Mayte, Maria, Maria’s husband Tomas, and Colleen.

  Dar had switched from Jamaican coffees to regular ones, and she was sitting back in her chair, one hand idly scratching Chino’s ears.

  “It’s terrible,” Maria said, for the nth time. “I simply cannot believe it, Dar, that they would treat you so.” She shook her head, and her husband echoed the motion.

  “No kidding,” Mark agreed. “But, hey, you know? It could end up great for us, right?”

  “I have told Maria, if she wishes, she should leave that place,” Tomas said, one of the first things he’d said since he’d gotten there. “And Mayte also. I do not think it would be a good thing for them to be there now that you are gone.”

  Mayte looked expectantly at Kerry, who smiled and lifted her cup.

  “We have something else in mind.” Kerry said, “I’ve already talked to Mayte about it. I think it’s just going to happen a little faster than I thought it would.”

  Maria beamed at her. “Mayte has told me,” she said. “I was so happy.”

  Kerry looked over at Dar, one eyebrow quirking up.

  “Yeah,” Dar promptly said. “So here’s the plan. We’re going to get with a lawyer on Monday to set up the new company. We’ve just checked out some office space, but it’s going to take us a few weeks to start all that stuff up.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “I like the idea of taking my vacation,” Mark said. “I don’t think I could stand it there with someone else in charge. It would be a freaking horror show.”

  “Ai, yes,” Maria agreed. “We just now got our vacations again for this year, no?” she said. “It would be nice to take a trip.”

  Kerry sighed. “Poor Mari.”

  “Who says she’s not going on vacation too?” Colleen asked. “Here now I’m hoping you need an accountant one fine day.”

  Kerry chuckled. “I’m sure we’re going to need a lot of things. We’ve got some pretty ambitious ideas, and some potential clients lined up already.” She glanced at Dar. “Actually, Dar’s got an offer to become the national technology czar. I don’t think she’s going to take it though.”