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“But you avoided bloodshed, I hope.”
“Barely.”
I hazarded a suggestion. “Next time she comes to town, meet her at a restaurant and give her something different to complain about.”
Cindy’s face perked up. “I like that idea. And maybe halfway through, you could call me with a work emergency.”
I chuckled. “Happy to.”
“I’m going to remember that.” She backed away. “Glad to see you’re in a better mood.”
I turned back to the window to think. Better mood was right—much better mood. When I looked back over last week, I realized the weekend with Jennifer and her nephew had re-centered me. He was a great kid, and she was quite a woman.
* * *
Jennifer
Monday morning,after Ramona and Billy left, I was alone to put my hair up and trade my weekend shorts for my work attire. I also had to prepare myself for another five days of avoiding non-essential interaction with Dennis—not looking his direction, not smiling as soon as I saw him, and not calling him Denny.
We’d had another wonderful weekend together at the beach. Once again we’d taken Billy off Ramona’s hands Saturday, and enjoyed Sunday with just the two of us.
Walking the beach path south instead of north yesterday, Dennis had surprised me when we got to Marina Del Rey. He’d rented us kayaks.
I knew squat about paddling a kayak, and I had trouble keeping up with him for a while. That made splashing him all the more fun when he finally slowed down enough for me to catch him.
He’d introduced me to another thing I’d never experienced, and made our day nonstop fun. The fresh air, sunshine, and ocean water had invigorated me, and also worn me out by the end of the day. As expected, trading back rubs had led to more hands on skin in more places, which led to another night in his arms that I didn’t want to ever forget.
My life had become two days of delight followed by five days of frustration before the next round of delight. It was the personal trial I’d have to endure for a while. Three months should do it, I figured. Then we could pretend we’d just started dating. Although that seemed like an awfully long time to keep this up.
I checked my computer before leaving, and found the message I’d dreaded.
To:Nemesis666
From: HYDRA157
Still waiting. What is taking so long?
I sent a quick reply.
To:HYDRA157
From: Nemesis666
Have not had the right opportunity.
Time was running out. Being around Dennis had melted my resolve, but I couldn’t put it off any longer. Today I was going to have to read the memos and discover which sin I was guilty of. Then I’d know whether to drop off the file for Hydra.
* * *
Once in the office,I pulled up the computerized index and performed the search I’d done last week regarding Dad’s accident. The results came back with the same file number I’d memorized last week.
I stopped by Cindy’s desk. “I need something out of File Storage B.”
She opened a drawer and handed me the key. “Knock yourself out.”
I accepted the key to my unknown future. “Thanks.”
This retrieval was much simpler since it didn’t involve a headlamp and my pick set. Back in my office, I opened the folder I’d pulled and found three memos in it. As I read down the first one, my feelings tangled in an unimaginable jumble.
