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

by Melissa Good

  Maria put her hand on her chest, her eyes going wide. “Kerrisita!” she said, on an intake of breath. “You want me to do this?”

  “Absolutely,” Kerry said. “In fact, we thought that office right over there would be a nice spot for you.” She indicated the corner space across from their suite, which had windows that let the sun in from both the central open space and the outside. “What do you think?”

  Maria still had her hand on her chest. “Jesu.” She glanced past Kerry at her daughter. “Mayte, did you know of this?”

  “No, Mama.” Mayte peeked over the box at her. “But I like it,” she added with a grin.

  “Let’s go check it out.” Kerry guided her across the hall to the new office, pushing the door open as she caught sight of a moving shadow inside. “Ah, look. A tech is here setting it up for you.”

  Dar straightened up, a handful of cables clutched in her fingers. “Almost done.” She watched Maria’s stunned face. “This okay for you?”

  Kerry had picked a half round desk, in wood, chrome, and glass like Dar’s was, and it had a big, executive size leather chair behind it.

  Maria went over and touched it, then looked at them. “This is for me, truly? Dar, I did not expect this. Are you sure?”

  “We’re sure.” Dar finished connecting the cables and adjusted the angle of the monitor. “I remember you once telling me that back in Cuba you’d had a managerial position, but here, no one respected that.” She coiled up a cable with gentle, precise motions as she looked up at Maria. “Well I respect that.”

  “You and Mayte were ready to come to work for us without even asking what you’d be doing,” Kerry said. “That’s a lot of trust, Maria. We want to make sure we pay that back.”

  Maria sat down on the chair and put her hands on the desk. “I am thinking for sure it is you who are the bomb,” she said. “Yes, I will do this. I will be in charge for you.”

  Dar grinned. “Sweet.”

  “We’re going to make Mayte our operations manager,” Kerry told her. “But don’t tell her yet. I’ve got her nameplate being made up.”

  “Ee!” Maria clapped her hands together, then put them on her cheeks. “It is like Christmas, again.”

  Dar chuckled. “For us too. I didn’t think owning a company would be this much fun, to be honest.” She turned on the PC she’d just installed. “Now I’m gonna get back to building us a computer system. Mark’s hooking up the routers and we’ve got a temporary Internet circuit in, just a DSL, but it’ll be something.”

  “Dar.” Maria got up and came around the desk, opening up her arms. “You are such an angel.” She gave Dar a hug, which Dar returned.

  “We will do a beautiful job for you.”

  “I know.” Dar released her, smiling as Kerry stepped up and got a hug in turn. “We’ll get both you and Mayte assistants to boss around. It’s going to be a blast.”

  They all started laughing, though Maria’s eyes were bright and wet with tears. “Dar picked this office for you,” Kerry said. “She’s really good at that. I remember finding out she picked mine.”

  Dar blushed a little. “Well, I didn’t get assistants often,” she muttered.

  “Oh, yes.” Maria said, immediately. “Jesu, we spent so many days making sure the furniture was just so, and getting a pretty leather desk pad, and so on to make sure you felt welcome, Kerrisita.”

  “And I did.” Kerry took hold of Dar’s hand, bringing it up to her lips and kissing the knuckles. “So we hope you and Mayte feel welcome here, because we want to have a lot of fun, and be successful together.”

  A knock at the door made them turn to find Mayte looking in. “Oh, Mama, it’s so nice,” she said. “You can put a plant over there in that corner in the sun.”

  Dar and Kerry eased out the door, leaving the two of them to plan the decoration of the space. They walked together hand in hand back to their own space, moving from the sunlit hallway into Kerry’s office. “That was cool,” Kerry said. “Dar, they never actually even asked me what we were going to pay them.”

  Dar chuckled. “You didn’t ask me that either. Let ‘em be surprised on payday.”

  “Like I was.”

  “Like you were. Hell, like I was. I never asked either when they made me VP.” Dar wandered from Kerry’s office to her own, sitting down in her chair and resting her forearms on the table. They weren’t being crazy really as the salaries would be in line with industry standards, but they were already known quantities, and they knew what kind of work they could expect from them.

  Same with the rest of the startup team. There were no unknowns there. Dar leaned back, feeling the leather warm to her skin. The outlines of this new office were already becoming familiar. The built in cabinets, freshly painted, already had some things from her old office and from home on them.

  Stuff she’d never have had at ILS, Dar acknowledged, spotting a teddy bear on one shelf dressed in a cutoff shirt and wearing sunglasses she assumed was supposed to represent her.

  She smiled at it, since it had attitude even for a stuffed animal.

  Her fish were perched on the low shelving behind her under the window, seemingly pleased they had something to look at besides her inbox. Someone had extended their little tank, and now there were six cubes they could swim in and out of and not contact each other, and even some colorful gravel and a water plant for them to hide in.

  Her desk had a big monitor on it and a mouse and keyboard, waiting for her to bring up a tower system to plug into them, all sitting on the glass top of her new desk, which was sleek, with an angled surface that let her rest her hands comfortably while typing.

  The chair was nice, too. Dar settled back into it, feeling support along her spine. She swiveled the chair around and put her boots up on the low shelves, holding her hands over her thighs as though a laptop were there. “Good.”

  Mark poked his head in. “Hey, Dar? We’re grabbing tacos for lunch. Want some?”

  “Sure.” Dar crossed her ankles and let her hands rest on her legs. “They get those racks in?” She watched him nod. “After lunch we can get the network up then.”

  He nodded again. “This is pretty cool,” he admitted. “It’s like...we always had to deal with stuff that was put in before our time. You know? Here, if it’s fucked up, it’s our fault.”

  Dar chortled softly. “Very true. Go grab lunch.”

  Mark disappeared, and she waited to hear his steps on the stairs before she got up and went into the admin area that Mayte had claimed. She saw evidence of the young woman’s personalizing of the space, something that she noticed was absent in their old office.

  Everyone seemed to be expanding to fit their new roles. Dar grinned, as she walked out and into the hallway, imagining it already full of people, working on their projects.

  “Ma’am?” A delivery person dodged into her view. “I have a box here? Can you sign for it? No one’s downstairs.”

  “Sure.” Dar studied the clipboard. “Ah, the rush order.” She took the box and handed back the signed form, then she carried the box over to a windowsill and perched on the edge of it. “Hope they spelled everything right.”

  She opened the box and sorted through the contents. Desk and wall plates. The desk ones carefully carved hardwood, and the wall ones chased steel backs with solid black fronts.

  Down near the bottom, the company name. Dar let her eyes run over it a few times, a smile tugging at her lips. “Roberts Automation. Would you look at that.” She touched the icon she and Kerry had decided on, a dark, solid blue ball bisected with four silver compass points, and the name in slanted serif font.

  Above that, names and titles. She took the box and went back in her office, putting down her two on her desk, then going into Kerry’s space to drop off hers.

  Then she started making the rounds, taking advantage of everyone being out at lunch to put her little surprises on desk pads for her startup crew to find when they came back. She put Mayte’s down, then went over
to Maria’s office, then she started down the hall to the big space that Mark had settled in.

  He’d been surprised at the big, windowed space she’d assigned him, but after he read the plates, maybe he wouldn’t be. Dar whistled melodically under her breath, enjoying the moment fully as she passed the empty offices, waiting for their new occupants, and trotted down the steps to get to Colleen’s space.

  She passed the new server room, sticking her head in to find the workmen finishing the walls, and one side of the raised floor already in and sporting ten brand new racks that had just been assembled.

  “Hey.” The nearest workman put his square in his tool belt and came over. “Electrical guy said for me to tell you all they brought in the new service. Those lines are hot.” He pointed at the thick, black cable running up the sides of the racks, terminating in plugs for the new machines. “Thirty amps per leg he said.”

  “Good.” Dar held her hand up to the air conditioning vents. “We’ll see if this tonnage will hold us for now. Might need more.”

  He simply nodded. “Locksmith’ll be in later. Said you wanted some special locks on the door there?”

  “Yup,” Dar said, sticking her head in the small room behind the server space, where an old telecom backboard rested, along with cables and pipes that came in from the outside. On one side, a single box was alive, blinking lights flickering sedately. Underneath it was a cardboard box full of gear, waiting to be installed. “That’s for later.” She took the last of the items out of the box she’d been carrying, and put the empty container down next to the gear. “For twist ties.”

  She waved at the workmen and left the room, pausing to drop off Colleen’s new name plates and getting around to the back stairs just in time to meet the gang on their way back in, their hands full of paper bags.

  Kerry brought up the rear, laughing with Colleen at something, and then after a second, she sensed Dar’s presence and looked around until she found her. “Hey babe.”

  Something she definitely would not have done back at ILS, unless they were in private. “Hey cute stuff,” Dar responded. “Find someplace good?”

  “They got bacon on their tacos,” Mark said. “Dude.”

  “Bacon?” Dar repeated. “Nice.”

  They took the bags through into the central open space, setting up camp on the plywood trestle table that had been moved out from the conference room. There were folding chairs scattered around and soon they were ensconced and munching.

  Dar swallowed a bite of her taco. “Wow, that’s good.”

  “Skirt steak, bacon, cheese, and hot sauce,” Kerry said. “Had your name all over it, Dardar.”

  “Ay, yiyi,” Maria said. “Kerrisita!”

  “Look who’s talking, Senora Carnitas with mojo.” Kerry grinned when Maria stuck her tongue out at her. “Dar’s been eating like a rock star on tour a lot longer than I’ve known her. She has lower blood pressure and cholesterol than I do.”

  Mayte giggled.

  Dar merely licked some steak juice off her fingers and waggled her dark eyebrows.

  “These are really good,” Colleen said. “Real stuff, y’now? Not Taco Bell.”

  Mark pulled something out of his pocket and set it on the table. It was buzzing softly. “I should, like, mail this back to them, huh?” He said. “I gave ‘em my two weeks today. I could have waited another week, but screw it.”

  “What did Mari say?” Kerry asked, wiping her lips.

  “She wasn’t surprised. She knew what was up,” Mark said. “She told me about the meet up at the beach on the weekend. I said maybe me and Barb would stop by.”

  “Yes.” Maria sipped on her ice tea. “I also have called and told them that Mayte and I will be leaving. Mari was very nice about it.”

  Mayte nodded. “Si, she was. She called me and wanted to ask what we would do for the health insurance.”

  Everyone glanced at Dar, then at Kerry.

  “Well,” Kerry said. “I’m waiting for a call back from two of the providers that we used at ILS. I know we can’t get the rates they got, because they’re so much bigger, but I think we can get a plan that makes sense. You all will keep your benefits until ILS terminates you.”

  “Righto,” Colleen said. “My dad’s construction company has a small business plan. Not bad. He’s got some better benefits than I got either at the bank or ILS.”

  “I’m cool,” Mark said around a mouthful of taco. “I’m on Barb’s plan. I never used our stuff anyway.”

  “We bumped into Eleanor on the beach,” Dar said. “She told us about the meet up. We said we’d swing by to say hi to folks.”

  “I heard.” Mark’s eyes twinkled a little. “I got texts from half the department.”

  Dar grinned, but kept munching.

  “Well, back to work.” Mark pushed his wrappers into a bag and stood up. “See ya inside.” He got up and the others did likewise, straggling back toward the door to the inside while Dar and Kerry remained outside, finishing their lunch.

  Dar took out her last taco, enjoying the taste. “Door plates came in.”

  “Yeah?” Kerry wiped her fingers on her napkin and washed down her last bite. “Did they come out nice?”

  Dar nodded.

  “They in the office?”

  “I went around and put them on people’s desks.”

  “Oh. Mark and Mayte are going to be surprised.” Kerry laughed in delight. “This is so much fun.”

  A loud voice made them both turn around to locate it. Through the propped open door they could see the rear entrance, where a man was standing pointing in the opposite direction.

  “Get outta here! I told you once, I ain’t telling you again.”

  Kerry folded up her napkin. “Wonder what that’s all about?”

  “Shut the fuck up, you asshole,” a voice yelled back. “I’m just checking for some boxes in the trash. Leave me the hell alone!”

  They exchanged glances, then got up and headed for the door together, almost bumping as they went through the opening. “Let’s find out,” Dar said, as they crossed the hall and emerged on the loading dock to find one of the building maintenance men facing off against a scruffy, bearded man in a wheelchair.

  The maintenance man turned. “Scuse me. Let me go call the cops for this jerk.” He pushed past them and went into the small facilities office just off the dock.

  That left Dar and Kerry regarding the man in the chair who stared back at them and scowled.

  “What the fuck are you looking at?” he said. “Get your asses back to the beauty parlor fore I kick them.”

  Dar put her hands on her hips.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Kerry said. “And it was such a nice day, too.”

  “You hear me?” the man shouted. “Get outta here!”

  “Hey!” Dar responded after the echo faded. “Shut up.” She dropped her hands and walked over to him. “Shut up, before I knock that chair over and you with it.”

  Kerry blinked a little in shock. Dar wasn’t usually that blunt with people she didn’t really know, and was sympathetic to the disabled as far as she’d ever seen.

  “What?” The man stared at her, apparently as shocked as Kerry was.

  “You heard me.” Dar stopped within reach. “Who the fuck do you think you are making trouble for those guys? They’re just working stiffs. They don’t need you pulling crap out of the dumpster and making a mess for them. Take off.”

  He backed himself off from her. “You serious?” he asked. “I’m just looking for some fucking boxes, bitch. I’m homeless.”

  “And?” Dar blocked the way to the dumpster. “Try asking for them. People usually respond better to that.”

  “You ain’t got no respect,” he said. “Go to hell.” He turned and started off, wheeling himself along with short, savage thrusts of his hands.

  “Wow.” Kerry came over and eyed her. “You were kind of tough on him.”

  “Being disabled, or being homeless for that
matter, doesn’t get you a free asshole pass,” Dar said. “Besides, he’ll just come back after we leave.” Dar went over and inspected the dumpster, which, in fact, had plenty of flattened boxes in it. “I should have them come empty this.”

  Kerry bumped her shoulder against Dar’s. “Chill, hon. They’re just boxes.”

  “I know. I just don’t like people being idiots for no reason.” Dar turned as the maintenance man came back, with a second, much larger man. “Hey.”

  “Where’d he go?” The man asked. “I got the cops coming.”

  “Dar scared him off,” Kerry said. “Who was that guy?”

  “You scared him?” The bigger man said. “You should be careful, lady. That guy’s a nutter,” he said in an earnest tone. “Got him a gun, some kind of veteran or something. He rams cars and stuff in the lot, makes trouble around here, too, with the cafe and stuff.”

  “Yeah,” the other maintenance man said. “You nice ladies should be careful. We don’t want any trouble with this guy. Gonna have the cops go find him and chase him off. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m not,” Dar said, mildly. “I just don’t like jerks.” She put a hand on Kerry’s shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s go finish unpacking.”

  They walked inside and up the back staircase. “Let’s ask Marcus about that guy,” Kerry said. “Sounds like he’s been around for a while.”

  “Mm.”

  “Remember we don’t have a slew of security guards here, hon.”

  Dar eyed her. “You really think I ever depended on the security guards at ILS for anything?”

  Kerry chuckled wryly. “I know, but we’re not in a huge building surrounded by them anymore and I’d hate to see someone take a shot at you in the parking lot, you know?”

  Dar considered that as they got to the top of the stairs. She took a breath, then visibly let it out. “Yeah, I get it,” she said. “Sometimes I don’t think before I talk.”

  “Especially when someone challenges you.” Kerry tucked her hand inside Dar’s elbow and bumped gently against her.