The sales exec leaned back in his seat. “That is true,” he acknowledged, after a minute. “He just said them louder and was in 330

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your face with them.”

“But if he’s here, and changes are made now, who gets credit?”

José was silent for a moment, then he pulled his ankle up on his knee and regarded Dar with a wry expression. “Ah,” he grunted. “So what are these changes? Or, is that just a trick to get me out of your face too?”Dar went around behind her desk and sat down, giving herself a moment to consider. She naturally didn’t want to share the nascent plans that had started budding in her head over the last day or so, but instinct told her she’d get a payoff by throwing her adversary a bone.

Sometimes you had to take a risk. “Okay.” She leaned her elbows on her desk. “The biggest problem I see is that we don’t have control over most of what we offer.”

José tilted his head, but didn’t interrupt.

“We’re too dependent on vendors, on long haul providers. It’s too expensive in the long run to over provision, and we can’t ever get fast enough response when we do need an increase.”

“Exactly,” the Sales VP nodded. “That is exactly the problem. It is why we cannot sell the way we need to, because it’s always a hedge, yes?” He waved the hand holding the folder. “We can give so much, but it always has to be paid for and plus.”

Dar nodded. “To make the budget.”

“Si.”

“What if we had our own network?” Dar asked him. “Everything belonging to us. No circuits. Just a slice of bandwidth you could sell however you wanted.”

José went very still for a long moment. “Madre dios. Are you kidding me?” he asked, finally. “Is this serious?”

“It’s serious,” Dar said. “I’ve wanted to do it for a while, I just couldn’t.”

She tapped her thumbs together. “I warned the board already,” she said. “Capital expenditure. Outside the budgets.”

José tapped the folder against the side of his neck. He studied her face in silence, his eyes flicking back and forth as he considered. “This is something we have all been looking for,” he said. “We will all win with this. I like it.”

He stood up. “I will get rid of this man.” He held the curled folder up. “This is not something he should get credit for. Who is he? A liar, as you say?” The sales VP shrugged. “All right. I will say I did bring him here after I learned he knew you to chew your face. I am an asshole sometimes.”

Dar smiled at him. “Me too,” she agreed. ”But we do have a common cause.”

“Si. That we do.” José looked a lot happier. “Was he really after my job?” he asked, turning back to her. “Or, was that the bullshit to make me loco?”

“His admin told her uncle the janitor supervisor, who told my Hurricane Watch

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admin,” Dar related honestly. “He’s a good friend of her husband’s.”

José threw his head back and laughed. “Now that I completely believe.” He slapped the folder on his leg. “Enough of this caca. Let’s get back to business.” He waved his hand at her and headed for the door. “Hasta la vista. Dar.”

“Later.” Dar sat back in her chair and felt a sense of rare victory.

”OH, I GET it.” Kerry finished slicing up the fresh chicken breast.

”I’m cooking, so now I’m your favorite, right?” She gave the patiently waiting Chino a droll look. ”Don’t you look at me like that. Go find your friend, the cookie monster.”

”Yawp.” Chino yawned, then poked her small tongue out and panted.

Kerry laughed, and turned her attention back to her task. She checked the steamer full of brown rice, and started a fire under the wok, pouring in a little peanut oil and waiting for it to heat. ”Shh... You keep quiet now, Chino. Don’t tell Dar I put all these nice vegetables in here, okay? After I finish making the sauce, she’ll never know.”

Chino sniffed her ankle, then she curled up on Kerry’s foot and closed her eyes.

”Oh, great. What am I, a puppy bed?” Kerry sighed. ”You’re just hoping I drop something.”

One brown eye opened and peeked at her.

Kerry smiled, as she tossed thinly sliced red, green and yellow bell peppers into the oil, and listened to the sizzling. She stirred them around, then added bamboo shoots, peanuts, and Szechwan peppers.

”Oo, that smells good, huh?” She got the vegetables nice and crisp, then she slid the two pounds of chicken breast into the vegetables, and quickly stir fried it.

”Almost ready,” she murmured, adding the sauce, which coated the contents of the wok a nice, honey brown. She added a handful of sesame seeds, then she turned the fire off. She scooped mounds of fragrant brown rice into each of two comfortably sized bowls, and topped it with the stir fry. ”Hey, Dar?”

”Mmm?”

The nearby voice nearly scared the bejesus out of her. ”Yeeow!” She almost dropped the bowls. ”Dar, don’t do that!”

”You called me,” Dar protested, taking both bowls.

”Well, yeah, but I didn’t realize you were standing in my back pocket.” Kerry laughed, as she grabbed two glasses and a bottle of plum wine. She followed Dar into the living room, and joined her as she settled onto the loveseat, putting the bowls down on the end table.

”So.” Kerry curled up with her legs tucked under her and accepted the bowl Dar handed over. ”That’s some chest.” She indicated the trunk which had been delivered. It was a curious item, bound in leather that 332

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was carved with intricate, interlocking squares. ”It’s gorgeous.”

”Mm,” Dar agreed around a mouthful of rice and chicken. She’d changed into a pair of cutoff sweatpants and a t-shirt, and was wearing a thick pair of very white socks which were intriguing Chino immensely. ”Good stuff, Ker.” She indicated the bowl.

”Thank you.” Kerry’s nose wrinkled up as she smiled happily. ”It’s a new recipe.”

Dar’s eyes twinkled. ”I can feel the healthy vibes coming off of it.”

She used her chopsticks to retrieve a sneakily hidden vegetable and waved it at her lover. ”But you could put this sauce on shoelaces and I’d eat them.”

Kerry laughed. ”I was counting on that.” She took a mouthful and chewed it. ”Do you really mind the veggies?”

Dar made her wait for an answer for a moment, then she smiled.

”Nah.” She took a cheerful bite. ”Besides, what right do I have to complain? You’re cooking.”

”Well...” Kerry nibbled a bamboo shoot. ”It makes me feel better about having chocolate chip ice cream for dessert.” She paused, almost laughing at the way Dar’s ears perked up. ”Double chocolate chip, in fact.” She scooped up a bit of rice. ”Which reminds me, we’re going to have to take separate cars tomorrow. I have my annual checkup scheduled. I almost forgot about it.”

”Mm.” Dar took a few mouthfuls and chewed them. ”Kerry, can I ask you a personal question?”

Kerry stopped eating, and stared. ”Uh...sure.”

One dark brow lifted, then dropped. ”Why does chocolate chip ice cream remind you of your doctor?”

”Oh,” Kerry laughed, blushing a little. ”Yeah, I guess that came out a little weird, huh? No, it’s because she gave me such a hard time last year. Apparently I was too skinny for her tastes. She started giving me lectures and pamphlets on eating disorders.” She gave Dar a wry look.

”I was imagining her reaction this year.”

”Ah. I see.” Dar nodded in understanding. ”Do you think she was right?”

Kerry slowly chewed a mouthful. ”I think I’m a lot happier now than I was then, but there’s a lot that goes into that.” Her eyes searched Dar’s face. ”I think the biggest influence in getting me to change my mind was the opinion of someone I really respected.”

”Mm.” Dar didn’t quite know how to respond to that, so she merely murmured an agreement, scooping the last of her rice up. ”Well, let’s see what we have here, huh?” She put the bowl down and eased herself down onto the floor, where Chino immediately tried to crawl into her lap. ”Hey!”

Kerry laughed, as she put her own bowl aside, and joined her lover on the floor, taking the puppy out of her way. ”Oo...look at that hasp.”

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to the old fashioned lock, then turned it. The metal protested, but released, and she removed the rusted object and set it on the floor.

”Okay,” she murmured, then she carefully unlatched the two catches, and released them, tugging the top of the trunk open and tipping it back.The scent that came out was the oddest mixture of dust, age, and mystery, and Kerry squirmed closer, so she could peek inside. ”Ohhh.”

”Wow.” Dar leaned on her crossed knees, and just looked. ”What a mess.”

Inside the truck was a tangled conglomeration of...stuff. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the contents, just a random assortment of odd items, ranging from small wooden boxes, to pieces of metal, to very old clothing. ”What in the hell is all this stuff. Looks like the leftovers from a bad touring theatre troupe.”

”Or a hard up for cash Girl Scout troop,” Kerry murmured, lifting out a metal pan, resembling a camping cup. ”Wow.” She turned it over, peering at a set of scratches in the bottom. ”Initials.”

”Uh huh.” Dar reached in and pulled out a small wooden box, flat and smooth as satin with age. She gently opened it, revealing an old fashioned writing pen, its tip stained with purpled ink.

”Oh.” Kerry took it from Dar’s proffered hands and examined it.

”Wow, that’s really old.” She ran a fingertip down the brass surface.

”Was she a writer?”