Heart of Gold - B.J. Daniels Page 0,6
from shower to robe before she padded out to her living room and opened the door to get her newspaper. She knew it was old school, getting a newspaper delivered to her door, but she liked the idea of supporting the local daily. She liked checking her horoscope and the area events.
After yesterday it was with trepidation that she flipped to the horoscope for Capricorn, already expecting maybe even a worse day than before.
Brace yourself for important information. It may be shocking, but you can handle it. All will soon be clear to you if you’re open to it.
She read it again. Shocking news? Something she could handle? Was this about Lindy or Amanda or something else?
She knew she shouldn’t take her horoscope so literally, but still she already had good reason to be dreading going to work. She thought of a million excuses not to go. She didn’t want to face Greg this morning, let alone Amanda after what she’d heard. Not that she could stay home even if there had been food in the house and she didn’t have a design presentation coming up quickly.
Telling herself to buck up, she found a bread heel in the back of the refrigerator and made herself a piece of toast before getting dressed. Daniel had promised to make it up to her tonight. She thought about a nice dinner and movie with him later. She was looking forward to it since they seldom went out.
Was he going to give her some kind of shocking news? Or was the “news” coming from another source?
Bracing herself, she checked out the front window before leaving her apartment. The Lindy look-alike wasn’t standing across the street. This time of morning, downtown Bozeman was fairly quiet. She breathed a sigh of relief and walked the few blocks to her job.
As she opened the door to the building, she hoped that she could slip in unnoticed. She was early for a change. Amanda would be expecting her to be late as usual. At least that was her hope.
Unfortunately as she started past the woman’s office, she heard Amanda call, “Charlie, may I have a word?”
Charlie plastered a tight smile on her face and stepped in.
“Please close the door.”
She did and waited.
“You worked awfully late last night.”
“I lost track of time. I have this design presentation coming up before Christmas. It’s much more quiet working at night and there aren’t any interruptions or distractions. It’s really my creative time. I always get more work done when no one is around.” She realized she was babbling and clamped her lips shut.
“I saw you leaving,” Amanda said. “I was surprised. I thought you’d at least say goodbye on your way out.”
“You were on the phone and I didn’t want to disturb you. I had a lot on my mind so I wasn’t...” she was going to say listening, but caught herself “...paying any attention. I didn’t realize you were working late, too.”
Amanda’s gaze narrowed and locked with hers. “So you weren’t eavesdropping on my conversation with Greg?”
Conversation with Greg, ha! Charlie tried to maintain eye contact, but couldn’t. Looking away, she said, “Like I said, I wasn’t paying any attention.”
When Amanda didn’t speak, Charlie sneaked a look at her. The woman’s expression was carved alabaster.
“Let’s cut the shit. You heard my side of the conversation.”
Charlie opened her mouth, but then closed it. Since there wasn’t much she could say, she said nothing and waited.
“You’re probably thinking about running to Greg with some wild story.” Before she could deny it—Charlie would never want to hurt her boss that way—Amanda continued, “Well, put that idea out of your simple little head. I will deny it all, tell him that you’re a liar. I’ll be shocked and tell him that you’re jealous of us. It’s the reason I’ve never liked you. Because I’ve also heard that you’ve said some awful things about me and him, but this... Well this is just too much. I don’t see how he’ll be able to keep you on with you having those kinds of feelings about us, especially since we’re about to become husband and wife.”
She stopped, narrowed her eyes and smiled. “You’re a smart girl. You get how this is going to go, right? I’m his fiancée. Who do you think he will believe?”
“I have no intention of telling Greg anything.”
Amanda seemed to wait as if expecting more. Maybe blackmail? The thought did have its appeal since Amanda had been riding her since she’d started work