Full Circle Read online

  “Mikaela, wait up.”

  Forcing a smile, she turned and waited for Christine Newsome to join her. Christine was the ringleader of the Righteous Three and in terms of admins had the most seniority. Mikaela didn’t know how old she was but assumed it was somewhere in the range of the Stone Age. Christine had been with the firm for well over twenty years and made sure everyone knew it. To Mikaela’s knowledge she had not done much of anything work-related in the past few years. That wasn’t really her fault though, her boss hadn’t done much either according to rumors. She was, as usual, impeccably dressed.

  “Morning.”

  “Good morning to you.” Christine loosened her scarf and added it to the coat arranged over her arm. “I think it was a little bit warmer this morning.”

  Mikaela nodded politely and resisted demanding that Christine get to the point as they made their way to the elevators. They might nod at each other in the hall, but they weren’t “stop and chat” buddies.

  “Have you heard Jolene’s actually retiring this time?” Christine asked. “My sources say her job will be posted any day,” she continued without giving Mikaela a chance to reply. “Of course, given my experience with the firm, I have a good chance at getting it. But don’t let that keep you from applying. I imagine they want to give some appearance of fairness.”

  Keep telling yourself that, Mikaela thought, wanting to wipe that condescending smile off Christine’s face. “Jolene did mention she’s ready to spend more time with the grandkids. And she wants to help out now that her youngest daughter has one on the way. I think that’s admirable.” For once she was grateful for a full elevator. She did not want to have this discussion with Christine, and she blamed Talya for putting her in such an uncomfortable situation.

  “Are you thinking of applying?” Christine pressed, seemingly unconcerned about the lack of privacy.

  “I enjoy working with Talya.”

  “Then maybe you should stay there. But I would think a young girl like you would want to move up. Didn’t I hear you’re going to school?”

  She kept her gaze fixed on the numbers above the doors and prayed seven would soon light up. “Finishing my B.A. in business.” She’d started working on it fifteen years ago and got sidetracked. One of her grandmother’s last wishes had been for her granddaughter to finish her degree. So Mikaela had gotten back on the degree track, at first because she hadn’t wanted to disappoint the woman who’d raised her, then for herself. She enjoyed taking classes and hadn’t ruled out the possibility of returning for a master’s degree at a later date. They reached the seventh floor before she could be grilled further. “See you.” She jumped off, giving thanks that Christine had one more floor to go.

  She barely had a chance to grab coffee to go with her bagel before Ilene Jacobs dropped by her desk. In terms of power, she ranked number two in the Righteous Three cult. Among other things, Ilene prided herself on being able to wear clothes meant for a younger woman. Today it was a tight sweater, which barely hit the top of her mid-thigh-length skirt. Her figure was nice and trim, but the stamp of age on her face made a mockery of her wardrobe choices. Mikaela often wondered how she had time to do her job as much as she flittered around, flirting with every male in sight.

  “Christine says you’re not going to apply for Jolene’s job. Do you think that’s wise?”

  Mikaela didn’t bother hiding the sigh. Ilene spread gossip as effectively as bees spread pollen. “That’s not what I said.” She took a sip of coffee and wondered if Ilene would be satisfied with that. “Why the interest? The job hasn’t even been posted. They might decide to bring in someone from another office like they did with Bill.” It was mean, but she got a kick out of the look of shock on Ilene’s face.

  “Is that what you heard?”

  “No,” she said, waving her hand airily. “I was speculating. I don’t know anything about the job, okay?”

  “Oh. I thought Talya might have the inside scoop. She and Bill have been awfully chummy lately.”

  “If she has, as you say, the inside scoop, she hasn’t shared it with me.”

  Ilene seemed to take that as an invitation to talk and plopped her flat butt on the desk. “Who do you think will get the job if they don’t bring anyone from the outside? Christine seems to think she has it sewn up.” She looked around and then lowered her voice. “Did you know they skipped over her when Jolene got the job ten years ago? Why would they hire her this time? I ask you. Everyone knows she doesn’t do anything. I think I have a good shot.” She fluffed her store-bought blond hair. “Bill likes me.”

  “Isn’t that special. Was there anything else you needed to talk to me about? Anything, say, work-related?”

  Ilene looked insulted. “I heard you talked to Jolene the other day. I thought she might have mentioned something. Some of us do care about advancing around here.”

  “I talk to Jolene most days. We work for the same company and, news flash, some of us actually talk about work matters.”

  “If you’re going to be that way, I’m leaving.”

  Torn between amusement and exasperation, Mikaela watched her stalk off, no doubt on her way to report part of their conversation to Christine and Debbie Larson, who was the third member of the triad. They would probably spend a good hour trashing her name, then spread out to grill the other admins.

  She took a bite of her bagel and wondered if poor Bill had any idea that a wasps’ nest was about to fall on his head. He wouldn’t hear it from her, but surely Jolene would warn him a perfect storm was brewing. If he was half the manager she thought he was, he would bring someone in from the outside.

  Maybe she should suggest that. It might save the Righteous Three from feeding on each other in a bid for the job. Not that it wouldn’t be entertaining to see how far they would go to elbow one another out of the way. It could turn out to be as fun as the melee that had broken out at one of her cousins’ wedding. Mikaela had been the one to upload the video to YouTube of the single women battling to near death over the bouquet. The title “Weave Fight Fest” had seemed most appropriate as all the bridesmaids had gotten long, flowing weave for the occasion.

  “Good times.” She polished off her bagel and began working on the handouts from where she’d stopped the day before.

  By the time Talya arrived at close to noon, Mikaela had a good handle on the handouts and thought she’d be ready for comments in another couple of hours. “You still work here?”

  “If by here you mean my office, I’d have to say maybe. Between meetings. Anything happen?”

  “Let’s see. I was accosted by Christine and Ilene. Seems both of them think they’ll get Jolene’s job.”

  “Hope still springs eternal, I see. What about Debbie? What does she have to say for herself?”

  “Hasn’t reported in yet. I did stoke the fire by suggesting Bill might hire someone from the outside. Being an outsider himself, you know.”

  “Evil, but genius.” Talya gave her a thumbs up. “I need someone to help me understand why they would want the job. It’s a lot of work, especially since Bill’s taken over.”

  “So you do realize that?”

  “No more than you do now,” Talya said quickly. “I meant it’s a lot of work for people who aren’t used to being productive. You would never fit in that category.”

  “Good save. I think the idea of having Jolene’s job and not so much the reality of doing it is driving their want.”

  “Sounds right. Might be interesting to see how long either one of them would last.”

  Mikaela snorted. “I thought you liked Bill.”

  “I do. I said interesting, not funny.”

  “Well, then, that makes all the difference. By the way, I should be able to send you the materials for markup by the time you get back from your last meeting. Need them back early tomorrow at the latest if they need to be run by Bill.”

  “I’ll take care of it, boss.” Talya dug a pad out of her briefcase. “Can you type up my notes
from this morning’s meeting? I need them for the briefing with Bill. Also, I finally reviewed the annual report and have a few comments. Finished version needs to get to Jolene before you leave today. Oh, and any chance I can bribe you to grab lunch for us? Your choice. I’d like to sit down with you and discuss a few things while we eat.”

  “No problem.” Her leftovers would be okay in the fridge for one more day, and she’d have to push lunch with Marianna to tomorrow. That actually worked out better. She might get lucky tonight and have something worth sharing.

  * * *

  Because someone on her shift had called in late, Sara had spent a good deal of the morning stuck at the front desk. After her restless night she would have preferred to be on her feet, moving around. As it was, she was struggling to stay alert. Her lunch break couldn’t come too soon. She could grab one of the chairs near the back door and pretend to read with her eyes closed. Ten, fifteen minutes of shut-eye and she’d be as good as new.

  “What floor is Baker International on?”

  The question caught her in mid yawn. Baker International. Home to the brunette with the big box and bright eyes. “Seventh floor…ma’am,” she added, despite the realization the powerfully built butch standing in front of her was anything but a ma’am. Sara thought the grin on the other woman’s face said that she too realized the dilemma.

  “Thanks.”

  Sara mentally shook herself awake as she watched the woman enter the elevator. With her gaze fixed in that direction, she had no problem seeing Bright Eyes exit a neighboring elevator moments later. The smile from the other woman had Sara feeling like a deer caught in headlights. Her only option was to freeze and wait for impact.

  “Hi. Sara, right? Mikaela. We sort of met the other day.”

  “Uh, yeah. I remember.” More like she couldn’t forget.

  The smile got brighter. “Thanks again for the save. See you around.” She gave a little finger wave.

  It took a minute for Sara’s pulse to return to normal. How could she have forgotten how lethal that smile was? At least she hadn’t forgotten the “no touching, no looking too closely and definitely no thinking about having her hands on Mikaela’s womanly curves” rule. Not entirely anyway. Her eyes had not gotten the memo, it seemed, remaining firmly fixed on Mikaela as she glided across the floor, her hips swinging from side to side. Sara supposed she was lucky Mikaela was wearing a coat.

  She sighed. There was some serious fatal attraction going on. Well, probably not fatal in the true sense. Maybe dangerous was a better word. Whatever the word, she no longer needed a power nap to jump-start her system.

  “Mikaela,” she said, testing out the name. A little bit exotic like its owner, she decided, wondering how it was spelled. She did not get the chance to embarrass herself by writing the name on her pad because the phone rang. It took her ten minutes to give directions to some geographically challenged soul who’d gotten off at the wrong side of the transit station and then headed north instead of south. By the time she finished the call, her relief was waiting.

  “Sounds like you went above and beyond.”

  She shrugged. At five-eight and two-hundred-plus pounds, Roger Caruthers considered most things above and beyond the call of duty. He was less than a year away from retirement and counting every second. “Is Alexander going to make it in?”

  “At one. But she’s still kind of iffy, so you could be outside the rest of shift.” He made it sound like punishment.

  “Good. You can keep desk duty.”

  After collecting her coat from downstairs, Sara headed out for some food. Standing in front of the building, she fastened her coat against the dreary chill. The wind had died down, so as long as she kept moving this afternoon, being outside would work.

  “And how is that your business?”

  Recognizing the voice, Sara looked to the right. Mikaela was talking to the butch who’d asked for the floor number earlier. Neither one looked happy, making Sara wonder what she should do. True, it wasn’t her concern if they chose to argue in public, and yet she couldn’t just walk away. Her stomach clenched when the butch grabbed Mikaela’s arm and squeezed. The decision had been made for her.

  “Excuse me,” she said pleasantly. “Is there a problem?”

  Mikaela pulled her arm free. “Not now.”

  “Mind your own,” the butch said at the same time, without taking her gaze off Mikaela. “Personal business.”

  “Kind of hard to do when I’m supposed to be security.”

  “Give it up, Nina. We have nothing to talk about.” Mikaela slid around Sara and entered the building.

  Sara tensed as Nina’s anger was directed her way. Nina was three inches shorter at five-six, but her body looked solid with muscle, not fat. “Just doing my job. I’m not looking for trouble.”

  “Then stay out of my business and remember it’s still a free country. I can talk to whoever I want.”

  “As long as the other person wants you to talk to them, I got no problem. But from my perspective it didn’t read that way.”

  “Didn’t ask you to read. Next time stay back.”

  She waited for Nina to walk away, then headed in the opposite direction. She was probably on shaky ground policing outside the building, but what could she do? Mikaela had obviously needed assistance extricating herself from a possibly dangerous situation, and the handbook clearly stated it was her duty to help. A few feet didn’t matter. That was her story and she was sticking to it. The fact that she was attracted to the person needing assistance had nothing to do with her response.

  But as she made her way to the Korean place a block over, Sara couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit of satisfaction at discovering that Mikaela batted for her team. Not that it should matter considering her new rule, but it did. After checking for oncoming traffic, she crossed the street, all but chanting, “Nothing is going to happen with that.”

  Chapter Four

  Mikaela drilled her finger into the elevator button with the same force she would have liked to use to drill into Nina’s chest. The nerve to get all up in her face about being out with another woman when Nina had been the one to find someone else. She drilled the button again, mad at herself for not realizing sooner that Nina had a crazy side. Crazy was the only explanation for why Nina would come to her job spouting bull about having made a mistake while at the same time questioning her for being out with another woman.

  She blew out a hot breath, but it did nothing for the anger burning bright. Who the hell did Nina think she was, claiming she made a mistake? She drilled the elevator button again. That was bull of the highest order, beaten only by Nina’s claim that she was human. “‘And humans make mistakes,’” Mikaela parroted. “Right.”

  “That doesn’t sound very forgiving,” Marianna said, coming to stand next to Mikaela.

  “Wasn’t meant to be.” She looked around to make sure no one from her office was within hearing distance. “Nina took a trip on the crazy train and decided to come see me here since I wasn’t returning her calls. Wanted to take me to lunch, see if we could talk things out. Can you believe that?” She followed Marianna onto the elevator.

  “I’m guessing the answer was a big ‘hell no.’” Marianna pushed the buttons for their respective floors.

  “I started with the polite ‘You know, we’ve already said everything six months ago.’ How devastated I was when she threw me over. But how I had to be strong and get on with my life.” She sniffed, then laughed. “I laid it on thick and damn if she didn’t buy every word. So now that stupid bitch’s convinced we need to get back together to let her make up for what she did. I lost polite at that point. You can’t be polite to crazy. Told her there was no need to drag out yesterday’s garbage. I’ll tell you the rest later,” Mikaela said when they reached Marianna’s floor.

  “We’ll trash her good over lunch tomorrow.”

  “I need to eat the leftovers I brought today. Meet you in your break room at twelve thirty.” She waited until t
he doors were closing to say, “Maybe I’ll have something interesting about my outing tonight to tell you.”

  Mikaela was pleased to note the two Diet Cokes on Talya’s desk when she entered the room. “Got you the chicken salad sub with extra avocados, everything else but onions and an extra pickle.” She placed the sandwich on the desk, then added a bag of plain potato chips.

  Talya turned away from her computer and rubbed her hands. “Brochure looks great. I’ll plan on looking over the other materials tonight.” She unwrapped her sub. “Not that I think there will be any changes, judging by the job you did on the brochure. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking this over.”

  “Not like you haven’t been busy with extra stuff yourself.”

  “You don’t know the half of it. Close the door,” Talya said and waited till Mikaela returned to continue. “You’ll hear soon enough, but Brannon is retiring. Officially, at the end of the month.” She bit into her sub.

  “His choice?”

  Talya shook her head and swallowed. “It’s better than getting fired, which was a close thing. This is what happens when you don’t have a good system of checks and balances. His staff was producing most of the necessary what some might call ‘reports,’ but he never bothered to check them, and let me tell you, they’re a mess. Even I was shocked at how bad things are. All that to say I’m temporarily taking on a lot of that mess, so don’t be surprised when I shift other things your way.”

  “What about Christine’s job?”

  “She still has one. But she should be too busy in the near future to quiz you about Jolene’s job or anything else. I’m happy to say her days of running the 411 hotline will be curtailed.”

  Mikaela popped the top on her drink and took a deep sip. “Couldn’t happen to a better person.”

  “The other managers and I will be discussing the best way to get that department turned around this afternoon. Whatever happens, it’ll mean extra duties for Pat and Gerri as well.”