Page 143 of In Sheets of Rain

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Happy?

“Have lunch with me,” Michael said from beside my cubicle.

“I can’t. I’m having lunch with Heather.”

“Damn. You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I said with a small smile.

“Must be losing my touch,” he muttered, then winked as he waved goodbye.

* * *

“Come on,” Heather said, her hair flying. “Let’s go into Max; there are some jeans I want to try on.”

“We should be heading back to the office. Lunch is almost over.”

“Don’t be silly; we’re sales reps. They expect us to be out of the office.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Selling.”

“So, we’ve got it mixed up a little,” she said with a sly smile.

“Mixed up?”

“Buying rather than selling,” she said. She clapped her hands together as if the discussion was over. “Treat time!” she called over her shoulder.

I smiled and followed her inside the store.

* * *

The Cardiac Conference was crowded. I watched the attendees and tried to think up stories for them. Michael wasn’t with me this time.

“What do you think he does?” I asked Gail, nodding towards a guy dressed all in black.

“Looks like a serial killer to me,” she said.

“He’s a surgeon,” I offered.

“Yeah? Well, maybe he likes blood a little too much and slices people up on his days off.”

“You have a very vivid imagination.”

She smiled. It showed teeth.

“Gonna go to the dinner tonight?” she asked.

“We should do,” I hedged.

“Will it be fun?”

“It’s a conference dinner out in the middle of nowhere, miles away from our hotel. I think there will be trees.”

“Trees?”

“Redwoods.”

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