Just Curious

by Jude Devereaux

  Pausing in her wiping, she looked in the mirror and knew that she was lying to herself. Last night she’d held Ann’s new daughter in her arms and she’d wanted that child so much that she’d nearly walked out the door with her. Frowning, Ann had taken her baby from her sister-in-law. “You can’t have mine,” she said. “Get your own.”

  To cover her embarrassment, Karen had tried to make jokes about her feelings, but they had fallen flat, and in the end, she’d left Ann’s hospital room feeling the worst she had since Ray’s death.

  So now Karen was at the office and she was nearly overpowered with a sense of longing for a home and family. Making another attempt to mop up her face, she heard voices at the door, and without thinking, she scurried into an open stall and locked the door behind her. She did not want anyone to see her. Today was the office Christmas party and everyone was in high good spirits. Between the promise of limitless free food and drink this afternoon and a generous bonus received from Montgomery-Taggert Enterprises this morning, the whole office was a cauldron of merriment.

  If Karen hadn’t already been in a bad mood, she would have been when she realized that one of the two women who entered was Loretta Simons, a woman who considered herself the resident authority on McAllister J. Taggert. Karen knew she was trapped inside the stall, for if she tried to leave the restroom, Loretta would catch her and badger her into hearing more about the wonders of the saintly M.J. Taggert.

  “Have you seen him yet?” Loretta gushed in a way that some people reserved for the Sistine Chapel. “He’s the most beautiful creature on earth—tall, handsome, kind, understanding.”

  “But what about that woman this morning?” the second woman asked. If she hadn’t heard all about Taggert, then she had to be the new executive assistant, and Loretta was breaking her in. “She didn’t seem to think he was so wonderful.”

  At that, Karen, hidden in her stall, smiled. Her sentiments exactly.

  “But you, my dear, have no idea what that darling man has been through,” Loretta said as though talking about a war veteran.

  Standing against the wall, Karen put her head back and wanted to cry out in frustration. Did Loretta never talk about anything but the Great Jilt? the Great Tragedy of McAllister Taggert? Wasn’t there anything else in her life?

  “Three years ago Mr. Taggert was madly, insanely in love with a young woman named Elaine Wentlow.” Loretta said the name as though it were something vile and disgusting. “More than anything in life he wanted to marry her and raise a family. He wanted his own home, his own place of security. He wanted—”

  Karen rolled her eyes, for Loretta was adding more to the tale each time she told it: fewer facts, more melodrama. Now Loretta was on to the magnificence of the wedding that Taggert had alone planned and paid for. According to Loretta, his fiancée had spent all her time having her nails done.

  “And she left him?” the new assistant asked, her voice properly awed.

  “She left that dear man standing at the front of the church before seven hundred guests who had flown in from all over the world.”

  “How awful,” the assistant said. “He must have been humiliated. What was her reason? And if she did have a good reason, couldn’t she have done it in a more caring manner?”

  Karen tightened her jaw. It was her belief that Taggert waited until the night before or the day of the wedding to present his bride with one of his loathsome prenuptial agreements, letting her know just what he thought of her. Of course Karen could never say that, as she was not supposed to be typing Taggert’s private work. That was the job of his personal secretary. But beautiful Miss Gresham was much too important to actually feed data into a computer terminal, so she gave the work to the person who had been with the company the longest: Miss Johnson. But then Miss Johnson was past seventy and too rickety to do a lot of typing. Knowing she’d lose her job if she admitted this, and since she had a rather startling number of cats to feed, Miss Johnson secretly gave all of Taggert’s private work to Karen.

  “So that’s why all the women since then have left him?” the assistant asked. “I mean, there was that woman this morning.”

  Karen didn’t have to hear Loretta’s recapping of the events of this morning, as it was all the office staff could talk of. What with the Christmas party and the bonus, yet another of Taggert’s women dumping him was almost more excitement than they could bear. Karen was genuinely concerned for Miss Johnson’s heart.

  This morning, minutes after the bonuses had been handed out, a tall, gorgeous redhead had stormed into the offices with a ring box in her trembling hand. The outside receptionist hadn’t needed to ask who she was or what her errand was, for angry women with ring boxes in their hands were a common sight in the offices of M.J. Taggert. One by one, all doors had been opened to her, until she was inside the inner sanctum: Taggert’s office.

  Fifteen minutes later, the redhead had emerged, crying, ring box gone, but clutching a jeweler’s box that was about the right size to hold a bracelet.

  “How could they do this to him?” the women in the office had whispered, all their anger descending onto the head of the woman. “He’s such a lovely man, so kind, so considerate,” they said.

  “His only problem is that he falls in love with the wrong women. If he could just find a good woman, she’d love him forever” was the conclusion that was always drawn. “He just needs a woman who understands what pain he has been through.”

  After this pronouncement, every woman in the office under fifty-five would head for the restroom, where she’d spend her lunch hour trying to make herself as alluring as possible.

  Except Karen. Karen would remain at her desk, forcing herself to keep her opinions to herself.

  Now Loretta gave a sigh that made the stall door rattle against its lock. Since Loretta had told every female in the office all about the divine Mr. Taggert, she wasn’t worried about anyone overhearing.

  “So now he’s free again,” Loretta said, her voice heavy with the sadness—and hope—at such a state. “He’s still looking for his true love, and someday some very lucky woman is going to become Mrs. McAllister Taggert.”

  At that the assistant murmured in agreement. “The way that woman treated him was tragic. Even if she hated him, she should have thought of the wedding guests.”

  At those words, Karen could have groaned, for she knew that Loretta had recruited yet another soldier for her little army that constantly played worship-the-boss.

  “What are you doing?” Karen heard Loretta ask.

  “Filling in the correct name,” the assistant answered.

  A moment later, Loretta gave a sigh that had to have come straight from her heart. “Oh, yes, I like that. Yes, I like that very much. Now we must go. We wouldn’t want to miss even a second of the Christmas party.” She paused, then said suggestively, “There’s no telling what can happen under the mistletoe.”

  Karen waited for a minute after the women were gone, then, allowing her pent-up breath to escape, she left the stall. Looking in the mirror, she saw that the time she’d spent hiding had allowed her eyes to clear. After washing her hands, she went to the towel holder and there she saw what the women had just been talking about. Long ago some woman (probably Loretta) had stolen a photograph of Taggert and hung it on the wall of the women’s restroom. Then she’d glued a nameplate (also probably stolen) under it. But now, on the wall above the plate was written “Miserably Jilted” before the M.J. Taggert

  Looking at it for a moment, Karen shook her head in disgust, then with a smirk, she withdrew a permanent black marker from her handbag, crossed out the handwritten words, and replaced them with, “Magnificently Jettisoned.”

  For the first time that day, she smiled, then she left the restroom feeling much better. So much better, in fact, that she allowed herself to be pulled into the elevator by fellow employees to go upstairs to the huge Taggert Christmas party.

  One whole floor of the building owned by the Taggerts had been set aside f
or conferences and meetings. Instead of being divided into offices of more or less equal space, the floor had been arranged as though it were a sumptuously, if rather oddly, decorated house. There was a room with tatami mats, shoji screens, and jade objects that was used for Japanese clients. Colefax and Fowler had made an English room that looked like something from Chatsworth. For clients with a scholarly bent there was a library with several thousand books in handsome pecan-wood cases. There was a kitchen for the resident chef and a kitchen for clients who liked to rustle up their own grub. A Santa Fe room dripped beaded moccasins and leather shirts with horsehair tassels.

  And there was a big, empty room that could be filled with whatever was needed for the moment, such as an enormous Christmas tree bearing what looked to be half a ton of white and silver ornaments. All the employees looked forward to seeing that tree, each year “done” by some up-and-coming young designer, each year different, each year perfect. This tree would be a source of discussion for weeks to come.

  Personally, Karen liked the tree in the day-care center better. It was never more than four feet tall so the children could reach most of it, and it was covered with things the children of the employees had made, such as paper chains and popcorn strings.

  Now, making her way toward the day-care center, she was stopped by three men from accounting who’d obviously had too much to drink and were wearing silly paper hats. For a moment they tried to get Karen to go with them, but when they realized who she was, they backed off. Long ago she’d taught the men of the office that she was off limits, whether it was during regular work hours or in a more informal situation like this one.

  “Sorry,” they murmured and moved past her.

  The day-care center was overflowing with children, for the families of the Taggerts who owned the building were there.

  “If you say nothing else about the Taggerts, they are fertile,” Miss Johnson had once said, making everyone except Karen laugh.

  And they were a nice group, Karen admitted to herself. Just because she didn’t like McAllister was no reason to dislike the entire family. They were always polite to everyone, but they kept to themselves; but then with a family the size of theirs, they probably didn’t have time for outsiders. Now, looking into the chaos of the children’s playroom, Karen seemed to see doubles of everyone, for twins ran in the Taggert family to an extraordinary degree. There were adult twins and toddler twins and babies that looked so much alike they could have been clones.

  And no one, including Karen, could tell them apart. Mac had twin brothers who had offices in the same building, and whenever either of them arrived, the question “Which are you?” was always asked.

  Someone shoved a drink into Karen’s hand saying, “Loosen up, baby,” but she didn’t so much as take a sip. What with spending most of the night in the hospital to be near Ann, she’d not eaten since yesterday evening and she knew that whatever she drank would go straight to her head.

  As she stood in the corridor looking in at the playroom, it seemed to her that she’d never seen so many children in her life: nursing babies, crawling, taking first steps, two with books in their hands, one eating a crayon, an adorable little girl with pigtails down her back, two beautiful identical twin boys playing with identical fire trucks.

  “Karen, you are a masochist,” she whispered to herself, then turned on her heel and walked briskly down the corridor to the elevator. The lift going down was empty, and once she was inside, loneliness swept over her. She had been planning to spend Christmas with Ann and Charlie, but now that they had the new baby, they wouldn’t want to be bothered with a former sister-in-law.

  Stopping in the office she shared with the other secretaries, Karen started to gather her things so she could go home, but on second thought she decided to finish two letters and get them out. There was nothing urgent, but why wait?

  Two hours later Karen had finished all that she’d left on her desk and all that three of the other secretaries had left on their desks.

  Stretching, gathering up the personal letters she’d typed for Taggert, one about some land he was buying in Tokyo and the other a letter to his cousin, she walked down the corridor to Taggert’s private suite. Knocking first as she always did, then realizing that she was alone on the floor, she opened the door. It was odd to see this inner sanctum without the formidable Miss Gresham in it. Like a lion guarding a temple, the woman hovered over Taggert possessively, never allowing anyone who didn’t have necessary business to see him.

  So now Karen couldn’t help herself as she walked softly about the room, which she’d been told had been decorated to Miss Gresham’s exquisite taste. The room was all white and silver, just like the tree—and just as cold, Karen thought.

  Carefully, she put the letters on Miss Gresham’s desk and started to leave, then, on second thought, she looked toward the double doors that led into his office. As far as she knew none of the women in the secretarial pool had seen inside that office, and Karen, as much as anyone else, was very curious to see inside those doors.

  Karen well knew that the security guard would be by soon, but she’d just heard him walking in the hall, keys jangling, and if she was caught, she could tell him that she had been told to put the papers in Taggert’s office.

  Silently, as though she were a thief, she opened the door to the office and looked inside. “Hello? Anyone here?” Of course, she knew that she’d probably drop dead of a heart attack if anyone answered, but still she was cautious.

  While looking around, she put the letters on his desk. She had to admit that he had the ability to hire a good decorator; certainly no mere businessman could have chosen the furnishings of his office, because there wasn’t one piece of black leather or chrome in sight. Instead, the office looked as though it had been taken intact from a French chateau, complete with carved paneling, worn flagstones on the floor, and a big fireplace dominating one wall. The tapestry-upholstered furniture looked well worn and fabulously comfortable.

  Against a wall was a bookshelf filled with books, one shelf covered with framed photographs, and Karen was drawn to them. Inspecting them, she figured that it would take a calculator to add up all the children in the photos. At the end was a silver-framed photo of a young man holding up a string of fish. He was obviously a Taggert, but not one Karen had seen before. Curious, she picked up the picture and looked at the man.

  “Seen all you want?” came a rich baritone that made Karen jump so high she dropped the photo onto the flagstones—where the glass promptly shattered.

  “I … I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “I didn’t know anyone was here.” Bending to pick up the picture, she looked up into the dark eyes of McAllister Taggert as all six feet of him loomed over her. “I will pay for the damage,” she said nervously, trying to gather the pieces of broken glass.

  He didn’t say a word, just glared down at her, frowning.

  With as much in her hand as she could pick up, she stood and started to hand the pieces to him, but when he didn’t take them, she set them down on the end of the shelf. “I don’t think the photo is damaged,” she said. “I, uh, is that one of your brothers? I don’t believe I’ve seen him before.”

  At that Taggert’s eyes widened and Karen was quite suddenly afraid of him. They were alone on the floor and all she really knew about him personally was that a lot of women had refused to marry him. Was it because of his loathsome prenuptial agreements or was it because of something else? His violent temper maybe?

  “I must go,” she whispered, then turned on her heel and ran from his office.

  Karen didn’t stop running until she’d reached the elevator and punched the down button. Right now all she wanted on earth was to go home to familiar surroundings and try her best to get over her embarrassment. Caught like a teenage girl snooping in her boss’s office! How could she have been so stupid?

  When the elevator door opened, it was packed with merrymakers going up to the party three floors above, and even though Karen protested
loudly that she wanted to go down, they pulled her in with them and took her back to the party.

  The first thing she saw was a waiter with a tray of glasses full of champagne, and Karen downed two of them immediately. Feeling much better, she was able to calm her frazzled nerves. So she was caught snooping in the boss’s office. So what? Worse things have happened to a person. By her third glass of wine, she’d managed to convince herself that nothing at all had happened.

  Standing before her now was a woman with her arms full of a hefty little boy and juggling an enormous diaper bag while she frantically tried to open a stroller.

  “Could I help?” Karen asked.

  “Oh, would you please?” the woman answered, stepping back from the stroller as she obviously thought Karen meant to help her with that.

  But instead, Karen took the child out of her arms and for a moment clasped him tightly to her.

  “He doesn’t usually like strangers, but he likes you.” The woman smiled. “You wouldn’t mind watching him for a few moments, would you? I’d love to get something to eat.”

  Holding the boy close to her, while he snuggled his sweet-smelling head into her shoulder, Karen whispered, “I’ll keep him forever.”

  At that a look of fright crossed the woman’s face. Snatching her child away from Karen, she hurried down the hall.

  Moments ago Karen had thought she’d never before been so embarrassed, but this was worse than being caught snooping. “What is wrong with you?” she hissed to herself, then strode toward the elevators. She would go home now and never leave her house again in her life.

  As soon as she got into the elevator, she realized that she’d left her handbag and coat in her office on the ninth floor. If it weren’t zero degrees outside and her car keys weren’t in her purse, she’d have left things where they were, but she had to return. Leaning her head back against the wall, she knew she’d had too much wine, but she also knew without a doubt that after Christmas she’d no longer have a job. As soon as Taggert told his formidable secretary that he’d caught an unknown woman—for Karen was sure the great and very busy McAllister Taggert had never so much as looked at someone as lowly as her—in his office, Karen would be dismissed.