She slowed as she came around the northern edge of the island for the eighth time, dropping down into a jog and letting her heartbeat begin to slow.

She ended up on the seawall, staring out into the dawn light and letting the Tropical Storm 247

sea breeze blow her damp hair back off her forehead. Slowly, she sat down on the concrete wall and let her legs dangle over into the light spray from the waves.

For so long, she’d believed she didn’t need anyone to complete her life.

Maybe because she hadn’t had a choice. It had been easy to confuse sterile isolation for happiness, since she hadn’t really known the difference. She’d dealt with loneliness by ignoring it and convincing herself that keeping busy was the key to a satisfying life. Now… Dar exhaled into the mist. Kerry’s innocently held-out hand of friendship had shaken loose that belief and forced her to look at herself objectively for the first time in a long while.

The past week had shown her just how much of a lie her complacency really was. Going forward with Kerry would add a complicated, difficult, troublesome facet to her life, and the potential for pain and personal problems was likely to disrupt her ordered existence beyond repair.

The intelligent and rational view told her to put a halt to their budding relationship. It could only bring trouble to both her and Kerry, and might result in a professional disaster for both of them. It would be better, smarter, for her to sit Kerry down, and just…tell her no. Back off. Push their relationship back to a strictly professional level.

Dar was startled by the sudden sting of tears and the wave of misery that accompanied the thought. Confused, she rubbed her face and clamped an arm over her suddenly aching chest. Just the thought of giving up that smile… Dar imagined the hurt, and then the pain in the green eyes as she turned her away, and knew she couldn’t stand it. I can’t do that to Kerry. Hell, I can’t do that to myself.

With a shaking hand, she wiped the tears from her face and ran her fingers through her damp hair. Somehow, she’d find a way to make it work.

Her heartbeat settled, and she took a few deep breaths, letting the salt spray cool her down. Okay. It’s just another challenge, Dar. Remember what Dad always told you. Break your challenges up into tiny bites, and by the time you’ve finished, you’ve eaten a buffalo, tail and all.

That brought a wry, shaky smile to her face, and she got to her feet, stretching out her legs and straightening her shoulders. Time to start the day.

MARIA LIKED THE early morning. She made it a point to enter the building at seven AM, before even the most virtuous of the other administrative assistants, and she used the time to catch up on the piles of correspondence Dar’s position generated, along with the volume of electronic mail, requests of all sorts, papers to review, and other matters that fell under her jurisdiction. It gave her nearly an hour, sometimes a little more, before her mercurial boss appeared, bringing with her a whirlwind of activity, and she enjoyed the quiet time, thinking it was a good way to start the day out.

Especially on a Monday, which was never a good day, and most especially since Dar had been gone most of the previous week and items had been stacking up, awaiting her attention.

She heard the elevator open, and the soft sound of footsteps traveling down the tiled hallway and continuing on past her door. A smile crossed her 248 Melissa Good face as she recognized them as being more than likely Kerry’s, who came in early for much the same reason she did. The young woman was still getting used to her new position and was anxious to make a good impression.

Maria approved of that. She liked Kerry, and was glad her supervisor had found someone she felt she could work with, and who seemed to be willing to put in the same kind of effort that Dar herself did. And as an added bonus, Kerry seemed to also like the sometimes difficult, often impatient and aggressive vice president, which was quite a surprise to the secretary, given where Kerry had come from.

She wondered if Kerry knew just how close she’d come to being fired?

With a sigh, Maria turned her attention to a stack of reports, sorting them and notating the ones Dar would want to see first thing. She noticed the lengthy report regarding the massive outage on Saturday and put that one on top.

After a few minutes, the door opened, and Kerry poked her fair head in.

“Good morning, Maria.”

“Buenos días, Kerrisita,” the secretary replied with a smile. “Dios mío, did you spend the weekend at the beach?” The younger woman’s face was a rosy pink, and her arms held a tinge of the same color.

Kerry entered the outer office and walked over, carrying a steaming mug.

“Not exactly.” She gave Maria a conspiratorial smile. “I got the boss to take a few hours off in Orlando.”

“Did you now? Bueno, bueno.” Maria laughed. “I hear things went good there.” She applauded. “Did you get to see the Mickey Mouse?”

The blonde woman perched on the corner of the desk and sipped her tea.

“Let’s see…I got to see Mickey Mouse, I got to the water park, and we got to see Epcot.” She grinned at Maria’s open-mouthed stare. “Oh yeah, and MGM

on the way out of town.”

The secretary picked up the phone and started punching numbers. “Ay! I am calling the Vatican, it’s a miracle,” she announced. “I will tell the Pope.”

Kerry grinned. “It wasn’t that hard, really. We had a lot of extra time between meetings, and there really wasn’t much to do other than that,” she explained. “Besides, it was just what the doctor ordered. I’m glad Dar got a chance to relax a little.”

Maria studied Kerry’s sunburned features, which made her blonde eyebrows stand out and enhanced the vivid green of her eyes. “You look like you had a good time, eh?”

“I did,” the younger woman admitted. “It was a very interesting bid meeting, I didn’t really realize it was as cutthroat as it is. But Dar really handled them. I mean, Jesus, Maria, she just walked in there and took over.”

Kerry shook her head. “She blew the clients away. I was just sitting there in awe the whole time.”

“Si, si, she does that.” Maria nodded. “Comes and boom, boom…it’s all over,” she explained. “Is why so many people, they don’t like her.”

“She intimidates people, yeah, I know.” Kerry smiled wistfully. “It’s kind of hard to get past that.” She stood up. “Well, I’ve got stuff to do.”

“Si. Oh, Kerry, did you get something for her for Boss’s Day?” Maria asked, remembering. “I got her a little basket of chocolates. I know she likes them.”


Tropical Storm 249

Kerry glanced down at her tea, then back up. “Um, yeah, I did. At the park, as a matter of fact.”

“Bueno.” Maria sighed. “That is two things, then.” She fiddled with her pen. “She makes like she does not care, but I think, Kerrisita, I think she does.”

“I think so too, Maria,” Kerry told her. “And it’s really a shame, because she does such great work, you’d think people would appreciate that.” She shook her head and turned to go. “See you later.”

“Ay.” The secretary watched her leave. With a slight smile, she spoke to the closed door, “Chica, if she had to get some help, better that it was help like you.” Then she went back to her letters.

MARK GREETED DAR cheerfully as she joined him on the elevator.

“Morning, Dar.” “Where’s my…oh, thanks.” He grinned as she handed him a manila envelope. “I hear my efforts were worth it?”

“Yep.” Dar leaned back against the elevator wall, and produced a faint grin. “We got it. Blew their socks off, in fact,” she added. “Everyone kicked butt on this one. When I get to my office I’m gonna go process some bonuses.”

“Got mine.” Mark waved the envelope.

Dar rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Mark, get a grip, will you? It’s not that great a picture.” But she chuckled.

Unable to resist that temptation, the MIS chief opened the envelope and peeked. Then he raised his eyes to Dar and made an appreciative face. “That camera liked you. I don’t know what you consider not great, but…ooo-la-la!”

“Mark, shut up.” Dar gave him a look. “I did it because I promised I would. I don’t want to hear about it for the next six months, okay?”

Prudently, he tucked the envelope away under an arm for later study.

“Gotcha, boss,” he replied crisply. “Speaking of which, wanna join us for lunch today? We missed you on Friday.”

Dar relaxed a little. “Sure. If they don’t keep me in meetings all day long over the Netops fiasco on Saturday.”

Mark grunted. “Shit, yeah. What a mess that was.” He glanced at her.

“You get some sun? You look a little burnt.”

“A little,” Dar replied as the doors opened on the fourteenth floor. “I did the Volunteer Day Saturday.” She headed towards her office. “And got to walk around in the parks a bit.”

Mark moved off down the side corridor that held the MIS offices. “Didja have fun?” he called back as she was about to enter her outer office.

Dar stopped and turned, regarding him with an expressionless look as she put one hand on the doorknob. Then she winked and let a brief grin shape her lips, before she continued on into the room.

“Hmm,” Mark hummed, as he punched in the security code that would open the door to his own office. He waved a hello to the four or five engineers and analysts who made the place home and ducked inside his own, mostly darkened office. He dropped into his padded leather seat and looked up as his assistant wandered in. “Hey, Bill.”