by Jane Jamison
“It’s official, Sunshine. I’m sorry.”
Like hell you are.
Nan Harper was nowhere nearly as qualified for the adjuster position as she was. Nan had been with the company for barely six months, yet she was already rising in the ranks. But Nan was a pretty blonde with a terrific figure and was lusted after by several of the executives, including Bart Winslow, Sunshine’s supervisor.
Sunshine bit back another retort, one that wouldn’t have been a professional response. Shifting in her seat, she found herself longing to pick up the picture of Bart on a deep-sea fishing trip and whack him over the head with it.
“I know you’re not happy about this, but—”
Ya think?
“—I want you to know that we value your contribution to the company. You’re loyal and hard-working—”
Loyal. Like a damn dog. Hard-working. Like a fucking slave.
She gritted her teeth, keeping curse words from escaping.
“Look, Sunshine, they’ll be other opportunities for advancement.”
She brought her gaze up from her lap to meet his. He blinked, obviously surprised that she would be so bold. After all, they’d had the same conversation three times before when she’d been passed over for other promotions. She’d given him and the other execs the benefit of the doubt, but now it was too hard to brush off. Two of those promotions had gone to other women, all who were slimmer and prettier than her. The other had gone to a male counterpart who was known for his screw-ups. But he had one quality she hadn’t possessed. He’d gone golfing with “the boys” every Sunday for a month before he’d gotten the promotion.
She gritted her teeth. She clenched her fists. She drew in a long, slow breath. She did her best to keep her cool.
But she failed. Big time.
“Have you fucked her?”
Bart blinked again, but for a different reason. “What did you say?”
Might as well go waist deep in the swamp.
“I asked you if you’ve already fucked Nan, or if she’s still keeping your reward for giving her the promotion at arm’s length.”
His stunned expression faded into fury. “Sunshine, I realize you’re disappointed, but you’d better watch what you say.”
Suddenly, she was on her feet. “Disappointed? No, Bart, I’m not disappointed. I’m fucking mad. Hell, I’m what you’d call royally pissed off. Would you like to know why?”
“Sunshine,” he warned as he gripped the arms of his chair. “Don’t say something you’ll regret.”
Would she regret it? Possibly. Yet when things needed to be said, they needed to be said. Sometimes there simply wasn’t anything else a person could do except speak up.
“You gave Jonathan Chomap the first promotion I was up for. Did he have the experience I have? Nope. Nada. Hell, you even said so. But he’s a man, right? Part of the misogynistic boys club in this fucking place.”
A deep red hue was beginning to spread upward from Bart’s neck into his face. Part of her screamed for her to stop, but she ignored that part of herself. The other part, the one who was fed up playing second fiddle, was mad as hell and not going to be drowned out any longer.
“Then there was Shelly Atterson and Bianca Nord. They took the other two promotions, promotions you basically said I had a lock on. They weren’t as qualified for the positions as I was. Again, you even said so. But they had something I don’t, didn’t they?
Bart reached for his desk phone. “Sunshine, you need to stop right now.”
She slammed her hand down on top of his. “No, no. You’re not calling security, Bart. I’m not going to hurt you. But you are going to hear me out.”
Slowly, he removed his hand from under hers. One eyebrow arched upward, a silent warning.
She didn’t care. She was already too far down the give-’em-hell road to stop now. “What do they have that I don’t have, Bart?” When he didn’t answer—not that she’d expected him to—she continued. “I mean, hell, I have big boobs, too, you know. Not that I wear revealing tops like they do, but still.”
“Sunshine, please take it easy.”
“Shit, no, I’m not going to take it easy. But I’ll tell you what they have that I don’t have. They have great bodies along with their very big tits. Plus, they were more than willing to ‘work late and even weekends, too’, weren’t they?” She made air quotes around the words. “But when I offered to work late and on weekends—stupidly thinking you actually meant ‘work’—you turned me down flat, didn’t you? Gee, I wonder why.”
Bart was on his feet then and looking at the open door. She had no doubt that several of her coworkers were on the edges of their chairs and listening in on their conversation. “Lower your voice.”
“Nope. Not going to lower my voice like a good little girl, Bart. I’m twice as smart as all of them and three times better at my job. I have all the qualifications except for the killer bod. Or the fuckin’ penis.”
“I’m warning you, Sunshine. Back out of here and we’ll forget this ever happened.”
“Fuck that. I’m done with backing down. But you know what? Maybe I’m not as smart as I think I am. Fuck, everyone knows what goes on around here. I was a fool to think it would change. You are a sexual offender, one of those awful little men who use their power and position to make their tiny little dicks feel better.”
He again reached for his phone. This time, she didn’t stop him. “Go ahead, asshole. Call security. I don’t care. You’re going to find out how much work I do around here. You’re going to find out that good ole Jonny boy has been getting help doing his fucking job from me. In fact, once I’m gone, he’ll be up shit creek without a paddle because he doesn’t know what he’s fucking doing. But you know what? I won’t care because I won’t be here. I fucking quit.” She stormed toward the door and saw two security men headed her way. She whirled back to confront Bart one last time. “I always liked this song and always wanted to say it. So here goes. Bart, you can take this job and shove it.”
“Follow me, boys.” She strode past the two security officers who didn’t immediately follow her. Soon enough, however, she heard their footsteps behind her. They wouldn’t let her gather her belongings. She had no doubt that their orders were to forcibly remove her from the building without stopping at her desk. Nonetheless, she did a right turn and headed for her desk.
“Ms. Lorner, you can’t get anything from your desk.”
She swung around with Charlie, the older of the two officers, almost running into her. “Ms. Lorner? Come on, Charlie. We’ve known each other for the past three years, right?”
He crossed his arms, a defiant gesture, but she saw the indecision in his face. “Yeah. We have.”
“Then you’re going to let me grab my purse. Otherwise, I won’t be able to get home. Do you think it’s fair that after three years working for these shitholes, that I can’t even get my own purse?”
“Look, Sunshine, it’s not my decision. You can wait downstairs while one of the other girls packs up your personal belongings.”
The younger security person was new, and she hadn’t gotten to know him yet. She focused on Charlie, ignoring the other man. “Yes, it is your decision. But I get where you’re coming from. You’ve got a wife and a kid in college so you can’t afford to lose your job.”
Yeah. Like I can afford to lose my job. Shit.
The full implication of what she’d done was beginning to hit her. Sweat broke out under her boobs.
Oh, shit. What did I just do?
“But I get that, Charlie. I do. So let’s do this a different way. I won’t touch my desk. Instead, you’re going to get my purse for me, okay? Will that work for you?”
He uncrossed his arms. “Yeah. That’ll work.”
“But, Charlie, the boss said not to let her near her desk,” said the younger man.
Charlie scowled at him. “Billy, we’re going to do this my way.”
She smiled at Charlie even though smiling was the last t
hing she felt like doing. “Thank you. Right drawer.”
“No problem.” Charlie pulled the drawer open and handed her the purse. “Sorry, but I can’t let you get your other things. Like I said, someone else will bring them to you in the lobby.”
She chuckled. “What other things?” The office had never felt like a second home, so, unlike so many of her coworkers, she’d never bothered putting photos or other personal belongings on her desk. She pointed at the wilting plant. “If you want, take the plant home with you.”
“I’ll do that.” Charlie offered her a sad smile. “I hate like hell to be the one doing this, but we’ve got to go now.”
“Don’t worry about it. No hard feelings.” She swung the purse over her shoulder. “Let’s do this.”
As she stepped out from her cubicle, she was surprised to find many of her coworkers, most of them women, standing near the elevator. Tears came to her eyes as they started applauding for her and wishing her well. Choked up, she couldn’t speak. Instead, she lifted her hand in farewell and stepped into the elevator.
* * * *
Sunshine Lorner wasn’t the kind of girl to get excited easily, but she was practically shaking in her Nikes when she stepped out of her cherry red Prius and stood in front of Hillary Comstock’s home.
This is it. I’m finally in Lost, Colorado.
After quitting her job, she’d headed straight home, texting Walter as she did. True to his best friend status, he was already standing outside her apartment door by the time she made it home. She’d fallen into his arms—not the best thing to do considering how much he crushed on her—and started crying. But the crying hadn’t lasted long. Just long enough for Walter to take her to their favorite bar and start ordering drinks.
A week later, after three more nights of drink-cursing her ex-boss, she’d finally made the decision. She’d head to Lost, Colorado, for a week or so and look around before coming back home and beginning the arduous task of looking for a new job.
Pulling out her phone, she texted Walter that she’d arrived. Although she’d driven through the small town, she hadn’t stopped anywhere. Instead, she’d wanted to see if what she’d read on the Internet was true. That, although it wasn’t officially a bed and breakfast, Hillary Comstock took in strangers.
Or am I a stray?
Besides, if her information about Hillary was true, then maybe, just maybe, all the other information she’d found was true, too.
Please, let it be true.
If not, then she’d driven across country on a wild goose chase. But if her research was right, then she could possibly come face to face with a vampire in the near future.
Drawing in a big breath, she made it up the front steps and lifted her hand to knock.
Here goes nothing. Or everything.
The door swung open before her hand could meet wood.
The woman had to be in her mid-forties with lots of graying hair. But the gray was a vibrant color as though energy was radiating through it. Or maybe it was her sparkling gray eyes that made her hair seem alive. “Hey, there. I’ve been expecting you.”
“You have?”
“Sure thing.” Hillary waved her inside. “We’ll get your things later. Come on in and sit a spell. I have fresh-squeezed lemonade waiting.”
“You do?” The house wasn’t anything extraordinary. At least, not on the surface. But Sunshine had a feeling that, if the walls could talk, they’d confirm that many extraordinary things had happened there. “How’d you know I was coming?” Had Walter called and made a reservation? But that wasn’t a Walter kind of thing to do.
Hillary wrapped her arm in Sunshine’s and led her to a sofa that seemed fluffier than possible. She sat and was enveloped by the plush material.
Hillary sat beside her, sinking into the cushion, too. Sweat droplets ran down the side of the glass pitcher filled with ice cubes, lemon slices, and lemonade. Hillary lifted one of the glasses, poured a large helping of lemonade into it and set it on the coffee table in front of Sunshine. “Oh, honey, Lost is a small town. Anytime a strange car rolls through, people are already on the phone calling each other. And, seeing’s how the car was headed in my direction, they just assumed you were going to stop here.”
She took a sip of her drink and found that the lemonade was delicious. “Don’t cars go through Lost often?”
“Almost never. Lost isn’t exactly on the main highway, you know.”
“It sure isn’t.” That much was true. She’d gotten lost more than once trying to find the correct two-lane road leading into town.
“So what brings you to our sweet little hideaway from the world?”
Hideaway? That’s not a bad description for Lost.
“Um, I kind of wandered onto it.” Her mother would tell her that lying would lead to a black spot on her soul. If she lied enough times, it wouldn’t be long before her soul was entirely black. Not that she believed such nonsense, but still, she tried to tell the truth as often as she could. Now was simply not one of those times.
“Really?” Hillary’s eyes narrowed. “That was a lucky break, wasn’t it?”
“More than you know.” Sunshine couldn’t meet the woman’s eyes. Instead, she darted her gaze around the room. Knickknacks buried the books on a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, but the rest of the place was clean if not exactly uncluttered.
“But if you just happened to wander into town, how did you know to stop here? It’s not as though I have a sign out front.”
Shit. I stepped straight into that one.
“Um, well, it’s like this.” Her mind raced to find an answer.
“Yes?”
But she wasn’t fooling Hillary. She could see as much in the question in her eyes. “I, um, wandered into town”—she imagined another black spot appearing on her soul—“um, and then I remembered that I’d read about Lost on the Internet.” What did people say? Adding a little truth to a lie helped sell the lie?
“You did?” Hillary leaned back, obviously thrown. “You read about Lost on the Internet? Well, that’s not good.”
“It’s not?” Now it was Sunshine’s turn to cast a suspicious glance at Hillary. “Why not?”
Hillary blinked several times before she appeared to recover. “Well, like I said. Lost is a small town, and we’d like to keep it that way. We don’t go in for the tourist trade here. We like to keep a low profile.”
Sunshine nodded, more to encourage Hillary to keep talking than to agree. “Relax. What I read didn’t say anything about tourist attractions and stuff like that.”
“Then what did it say?”
She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to tell Hillary. “Well, for one, you have some pretty famous people living here.”
“Like?” Hillary tilted her head to the side.
She had to know. How could she not? “Like the Cortana men. I mean they’re rich and famous.”
“Is that really why you came? To see the Cortanas?” Somehow the frown lining Hillary’s face didn’t make her any less beautiful. She had the grace that so few women possessed.
“No, no. I’m only saying that I read things about them, and of course, it mentioned where they live.”
“But that still doesn’t explain how you knew to come here to my house.”
Sunshine took another sip, realizing that Hillary hadn’t poured herself a glass. “One of the articles I read must’ve mentioned you. Maybe you were at a party or something? I really don’t remember.” Taking a risk, she added, “Does it really matter? I mean if you want me to leave, all you have to do is say so.”
Please, don’t say so.
“Oh, no, no. I love having company. Stay as long as you like.”
Sunshine let out an exaggerated sigh. “Whew. Thanks. For a minute there, I thought I might be sleeping in my car.”
Hillary looked genuinely shocked. “No, you can’t sleep in your car. That wouldn’t be safe.”
Yet before Sunshine could ask her why it wasn’t safe, Hillary was on
her feet and heading for the front door.
“Is your car unlocked?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’ll fetch your things. You go on up and take any room you like.” She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “Except my room, of course. It’s the last one down the hall. You can’t miss it, though. I hate making my bed.” With a grin, she was out the door.
Sunshine downed the rest of her drink. “I guess I’m staying.”
* * * *
Having a tour guide in Lost wasn’t a necessity, but it was helpful. Sunshine was enjoying having Hillary lead her down the main street of town. She introduced her to several people, including Sugar Randall, the stylist and owner at Cut & Comb Salon and Barbershop, as well as the owner of the cannabis store called The Pot Stop. Yet, try as she might, Sunshine couldn’t see any difference in the citizens of Lost than any other humans she’d met. She certainly didn’t think they were vampires. Weren’t vampires supposed to burn up when exposed to sunlight? Plus, everyone she met was just so darn nice.
Still, after thinking about it all night long, Sunshine had finally decided to simply grab the bull by the horns and ask. After all, Hillary seemed more than willing to help.
“Hillary”—she tugged the older woman off the sidewalk and into an alley—“can I ask you a serious question?”
“Well, sure you can.” She smiled then laughed. “If you’re going to ask me if I can ever stop talking, then go ahead. I know my mouth runs off on a tangent sometimes.”
“I hadn’t noticed, but, no, that’s not the question.”
“Then what is it? Is anything wrong?”
Hillary was so sincerely concerned that Sunshine felt a wash of guilt overtake her. “I need to come clean. I lied to you yesterday.”
“You did? But why? And what about?
“I didn’t just wander into Lost. I came here for a reason.”
Hillary leaned against the brick wall. “I figured as much, but who cares? I’m glad you’re here.”