Simply the Best by Karin Kallmaker

Author:Karin Kallmaker [Kallmaker, Karin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781642471502
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2021-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-one

Wow, Alice thought. That was an icy cold shoulder, and she was being given it. Her mind fixed on the image of Pepper folding a large cashmere scarf as if the future of humanity depended on perfect lines.

That whole scene was theater for my benefit. Helene Jolie had wanted to be sure Alice was completely aware that she was the boss of all she surveyed, and she’d moved Pepper around on her chessboard to prove it. Alice had not missed the disbelief on Clarita’s face when Helene had laughed at something Pepper had said. Clarita hadn’t been in the right position to see Helene’s hand on Pepper’s back, but Alice certainly had been.

The skin on Alice’s arms was prickling with anger. Pepper wouldn’t see Helene’s subtle and skilled manipulation. It wasn’t in her nature to see it, and Alice had no doubt that Helene knew when she had an unquestioning acolyte in her grips. A laugh, some attention, oodles of charm, and Pepper had emerged from Helene’s office covered in blushes and even colder to Alice.

She had hoped to have lunch with Pepper to make some peace over her clumsy remark about Helene and pedestals. That plan was dust, and she wasn’t going to make nice when it was obvious now that she had been right.

One thing was for certain, she wasn’t going over to the café to have perfect food in a perfect setting among perfect people. The nearest bar couldn’t be that far away. Her next appointment, in Product Discovery and Development, was in ninety minutes. There was time.

The noonday sun was bright overhead as she headed for the parking lot. What a difference a few days had made, though. The heat was pronounced, but nothing like that bone-penetrating force she’d felt when she’d arrived.

She tipped her face up to the sun the way Pepper had the first afternoon Alice had spent with her—how could it not be even a week? You just met her, she reminded herself. You’re not her friend, not her family, and not responsible for her. It was entirely possible she was misreading everything because she didn’t want to be here and she did want an excuse to drink.

Part of her could remember a time when she hadn’t felt this way all day, every day. Had instead felt as if her mission in life was to put the magic of science out into the world so it could shine with the joy of mysteries solved. She had wanted to make people say, “Wow, that’s so cool,” because the way the world interlocked and worked had always been a symbol of hope to her. All problems can be solved. All it would take is time.

It was reaching back a long way to remember what that had felt like.

A hotel that had hidden itself into the Pico Boulevard landscape had a bar. Two sips of Bushmills 10-year rolled all the stress out of her shoulders. Her mind stilled and she had the moment of peace she craved.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.