“Thanks, Sandy.” Hoisting her purse and bag on her shoulder, she headed down the hall.
She found the conference room, unpacked her laptop, and began setting up.
She had about twenty minutes before her presentation, and she wanted
everything to be running perfectly.
That done she had time to grab some water, which she knew they had in the
break room down the hall. Not her usual Fiji, but it would do fine.
She heard her before she saw her. The musical laugh, the so-happy voice, chatting up someone in the break room. Kate stopped, then started again. She could endure a short fly-by with Penny Fitch before the meeting. Then she heard
the second voice. Strong, lighthearted. The same voice that had caressed her ears
last night on a cool starlit porch.
Peter. What was he doing here? And what was he doing here talking to Penny? What was it with these two, hanging out at every opportunity?
She ducked into the ladies room, one door away from the break room. No one in here. Good. She let the door drop to close, then caught it with her hand,
listening. She frowned. Couldn't make out what they were saying, but they sure
were being friendly. It was early afternoon. Shouldn't he be in class? He hadn't
mentioned anything about a visit to Nitrovex last night. But then, if it was to see Penny, he wouldn't have…
Okay, this was ridiculous. There must be some reasonable—
“Okay,” Peter was saying from the hallway. “See you in a bit?”
See you in a bit? See you where and why and how in a bit?
“Sure thing,” Penny's voice said. “And thanks for understanding.”
“I should thank you,” Peter said. “This has been overdue for some time.
Glad we could finally squeeze it in.”
Squeeze what in? Kate could hear Penny's heels clacking down the hallway
in the opposite direction and quickly pulled the door shut. She didn't need Peter
catching her eavesdropping on his little rendezvous.
She punched on the hand drier and let it roar for a while, then poked her head out the door. All clear.
She paused, leaning against the wall next to an oil painting of a combine.
She couldn't worry about some tryst between Peter and Penny. She had a presentation in a few minutes.
“Kate? You looking for something?” It was John Wells, coming down the
hallway behind her.
She pushed off the wall. “Oh. No, I was just stretching my legs. Before the
presentation.”
He passed her, heading towards the reception area near the front of the building. She followed automatically.
“You have everything you need?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes, thanks. You've been very helpful.”
“Nothing but the best for one of our own.”
She swallowed.
“Hope you're not nervous,” he said. “Only the whole board is going to be there this afternoon.”
It was supposed to be a joke, she knew, so she chuckled as best she could.
“I'll be fine,” she said as she turned the corner into the reception area, almost
running into Peter's back. She wobbled on her heel but managed to not stumble
into his arms. She couldn't decide if that was good or bad.
