Melissa Good - Tropical Storm

Squarely in the center of her desk rested a small, crystal vase containing one single crimson rose. Kerry let out a tiny gasp and moved closer, putting the cup down and circling the furniture, sitting down in her chair and resting both arms on either side of the vase.

The flower was beautiful, large and full with thick petals that gave off a wonderful scent, and the vase was slim, and faceted, and glittered in the light coming in the window. “Oh my god, that’s gorgeous.” Kerry breathed, touching the flower with a lightly shaking finger. “Did you do this, Dar?” she whispered.

The unexpected romantic gesture touched her deeply, and she sighed, resting her chin on her fists and letting a smile appear as she absorbed the delicate scent. Flowers had never been a particular focus of hers, but who in their right mind could resist a beautiful rose half the size of your head? In a crystal vase? Kerry reached out and touched one of the petals, feeling it soft as silk against her skin.

Finally she sat up and gently put the vase at the front of her desk, centered neatly, before she stood and ran her hands through her hair. “I think I need to go say thank you,” she told her computer screen, just before ducking out the back door and down the utility hallway.

“SO WHAT, EXACTLY, is the problem?” Dar leaned her chin on her fist and regarded Mark with a tolerant eye. “I thought you ordered a new RAID

array.”

“I did.” Mark sighed, rubbing his eyes. “But HP said they can’t get a duplicate unit. If we want to replace it, we’ve got to go bigger.”

“Okay. So do it.”

300 Melissa Good Brown eyes blinked at her. “What?”

“What part of that didn’t you understand?” Dar shot back. “I’m up to my ears in whining secretaries who can’t get to their love poems, Mark. Get the goddamn array in here before I start taking pot-shots at them with a pellet gun.”

“Dar, we’re talking big bucks, here,” Mark protested. “It’s not a critical server.”

“Maria tells me Kerry spent at least half the morning listening to people tell her just how critical the damn thing is, and I’m not going to waste her valuable time in dealing with it!” Dar roared. “Get the damn thing in here. I don’t care what it costs!”

“Jesus!” Mark jumped out of his chair and backed off. “All right, all right.

But when that bill comes in, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

“Just do it,” Dar ordered. “And by the way, how in the hell did the damn thing crash anyway?”

Mark paused in the doorway and pursed his lips, glancing around.

“Um…they ran a… Well, it’s a streaming multimedia clip that got out of hand.” He cleared his throat. “It chewed up all the resources, then corrupted the allocation table. When the server went to shut down, it blew the drive controller card.”

Dar sat there, her hands resting on her desk. “You’re not telling me something one of these technogorps did crashed an array.”

He nodded. “Um…it was a streaming clip of Leonardo DiCaprio dancing nude.” Then he was gone, leaving Dar to stare at the door in disbelief.

The phone rang. Dar punched the button. “Yeah?”

“Afternoon, Dar!” Alastair’s cheerful voice filled the room. “Where the hell have you been?”

Dar eyed the phone. “In Miami. Why?”

“Lady, I’ve been calling you since last night,” her boss said. “Had half the company after my shorts for the payroll. Didn’tcha know?”

Dar blinked. “What?”

“Jesus Christ, Dar!” The voice took on a hint of frustration. “What in hell’s going on down there?”

Dar had to admit she was dumbfounded.

“Tell you what, good thing you picked that new little assistant of yours,”

Alastair added. “ She took care of it, but good lord, lady! You had us in a hell of a twist.”

Dar pulled out her cell phone and stared at it, looking at the blank display with an almost comical expression. “Sorry, Alastair,” she managed to cough out. “My cell’s on the blink.” She pressed the power button and watched the device light up. “Just got it back.”

“Was it?” her boss queried. “Well, that’s a damned thing.”

“Yeah.” Dar watched the message waiting light start up and flash frantically. “Glad Kerry was here and took care of it.”

Alastair grunted. “Seems like a nice enough kid,” he allowed. “Glad to find out it was just a phone screw-up, Dar. You had me a little worried there,”

he said. “Not answering the line all that time.”

Jesus. “Yeah, well, sorry about that, Alastair,” Dar said with a sigh. “I was Tropical Storm 301

at an appointment this morning, just got to the office. I’ll have to get a backup phone or something, I guess.” She folded the cell up and put it on her desk, shaken inside and out from the lapse.

Apparently satisfied with the apology, the CEO changed the subject, “Did you get my present?”

Dar glanced around at her desk and spotted a small comail envelope. She pulled it over and opened it, peering inside. “It’s a lovely thought, Alastair, but you know I don’t have time to go on a damn cruise.” She sighed. “I hardly have time to go swimming in my own damn backyard at night.”

“Dar, I’m ordering it,” the CEO objected.

She frowned, fingering the tickets. “Tell you what, I’ll trade it in for a long weekend down in the Keys.” She paused. “For two.” A quirky grin tugged her face. “How about it?”

“For two?” Alastair’s voice oozed with curiosity. “Dar, I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

A soft chuckle. “Did I say that, Alastair? I just said I wanted a weekend for two. Maybe I just want some company.”

“Ho ho ho…. Wonder who you’ll take.” Alastair chortled. “All right, you’re on. I’ll tell Beatrice. You just let her know what you want.” A muffled voice could be heard in the background. “Whoops, gotta go, Dar. Talk to you later.”

Dar regarded her desktop and smiled, turning the tickets over in her hands, then glanced up as the inner door opened, and Kerry peeked in.

She didn’t deny the jolt of emotion this time, she just accepted it, watching as Kerry pushed the door open and walked across the carpet, enjoying the blonde woman’s intriguing walk. “Hi.”

Kerry knelt down at her side and balanced with a hand on her knee. “Hi.”

Her voice was slightly husky. “Was that surprise from you?”

No excuses. No explanations. Dar nodded. “Uh huh.”

A delicate blush colored Kerry’s face. “I’ve never gotten anything like that before. It’s amazing.” She exhaled. “Thank you so much.”

Dar gazed at her, reaching out and moving a bit of blonde hair out of her face. “You’ve never gotten flowers, Kerry? I find that very hard to believe.”

A hesitant shake of her head. “No, it…” She paused to collect herself.

“No, I never did.” Aware of their intimate position, her eyes flicked across to the door. “I was kind of concerned. You didn’t think the appointment would take very long. Maria was worried, too.”

“Ah.” Dar gracefully accepted the change of subject. “I had a few things to take care of, and I left the pager and the cell phone in the car. I should have called in.” She cleared her throat. “Hell, I should have put the damn phone on.

I hear we had a screwup.”

Kerry made a face. “Let’s say you were really conspicuous by your absence,” she demurred. “It wasn’t too bad. They knew what do to but they were too chicken to do it without your say-so.”

Dar snorted. “I didn’t even realize my damn phone was off. Alastair was trying to call me.” She pushed the phone across the desk. “I just had other things on my mind.” She leaned back and let her head rest against the leather.

“Everything was fine at the doc’s.”

302 Melissa Good

“Great.” Kerry smiled. “What was on your mind, then?”

“You.”

They looked at each other in silence. Kerry glanced out the window after a long moment, her cheeks coloring. “Ah. Well. Likewise.” She looked shyly back at Dar. “Wish I’d gotten you a rose. All I have to offer is a kiss.” She held up a wrapped item.

She looked up at the blonde woman, one hand idly resting on Kerry’s leg.

Dar smiled. “You had lunch?”

Kerry shook her head. “No, I’ve been too busy listening to everyone complain about that stupid server and ask tactless questions about where you were.”

“C’mon.” Dar stood and offered her hand up. “I hear a cheeseburger calling my name.” She hauled Kerry up and unexpectedly gave her a brief hug. “Let’s go.”

THE GYM WAS a typical one, smelling of chlorine from the pool, oil from the several groups of weightlifting machines, and the overwhelming scent of macho that seemed to settle over everything like a coating of grease.

Dar finished a round of the Nautilus machines, wiping the sweat off her face and ignoring the sidewise stares from fellow employees who seemed to be caught between amazement and disbelief at her presence. Her mind wasn’t really into it, she acknowledged, so she kept it fairly light and easy, letting her thoughts wander as she went through the various motions. It had taken her a few hours, that morning, of wandering down the beach and letting the wavelets wash against her bare feet, before she settled down and tried to figure out what to do.

First and foremost, she had to figure out how Kerry felt about her.

Coming out and professing a love for the blonde woman if she didn’t share it would be embarrassing at best, and irreparably destructive at worst. So how to do that? Dar had decided on a subtle campaign of attentions, of which the rose had been a part, to see if she could get an indication of what was going on behind those green eyes. She knew Kerry liked her, but more than that?