Full Circle

by Dillon Watson

  “Sounds like I woke you. Sorry.”

  “Sara?” Her eyes popped open as sleepiness receded. “Hey, you called.”

  “I promised, didn’t I? I was wondering if you’d like to go to a movie tomorrow? I was thinking we could catch a matinee and see what else happens.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” She rolled over onto her back and tried and failed to remember what was currently showing. “You have one in mind?”

  “That futuristic action flick with the cool-looking aliens. But only if you like that kind of thing.”

  She would have said yes to anything. It was even better to be able to say yes to something she enjoyed. “Yes. Aliens, what’s not to like?”

  “Does the three-thirty show work for you? It’s at Atlantic Station.”

  “Perfect.” A yawn caught her off guard. “Sorry.”

  “I guess you were out late last night.”

  “Technically it was early. We left Revolution when it closed and went to a club in North DeKalb that stays open past the time of reason. But you only live once. I think.”

  “Then I’ll let you get back to sleep. Wanted to call because, well, I did promise.”

  Damn if her heart didn’t zing without permission at hearing that. Mikaela decided she would put it down to lack of sleep rather than hope blooming. “I’ll have to find my gold stars.”

  “Yeah?” Sara sounded pleased. “I’ll pick you up around two forty-five.”

  “Looking forward to it.” Mikaela sighed and hugged the phone to her chest. “She called.” Mikaela laughed at herself, feeling like she’d been transported back to high school. Back then it had been calls from boys she sighed over. More because that was the way it was supposed to be than because of any real longing. But secretly she would have given a lot for Stephanie, the class bad girl, to call.

  Yawning, she threw back the covers, shivering as the morning chill hit her bare skin. If she was going to the movies tomorrow, she was going to need popcorn. And movie popcorn screamed for butter and something chocolate to balance the salt. That many future calories screamed for sweaty exercise. If she held on the railing of the treadmill, she could manage without opening her eyes.

  An hour and a half later, second cup of coffee in hand, she settled on the sofa and powered up her laptop. In the spirit of doing the right thing, she figured she might as well finish her assignment for the business writing class she was taking online. It was her last course and she intended to go out with an A.

  The class wasn’t a requirement, but she needed the hours and figured it could only help as she hauled her ass up the ladder at Baker. And now that Talya and Bill had boosted her ego, she easily saw herself five years down the line as something more than an executive assistant. At thirty-two, there was time for her to move up. Then she would use the job as a launch pad, if not at Baker then at some other place.

  Assignment momentarily forgotten, she played through the conversation with Debbie. More head games, away to get her talking so she’d say something they could use against her. As if. She was smarter than the three of them put together. One day they would figure that out, but only after it was too late and she had the job.

  * * *

  “What did you think?” Sara asked as she and Mikaela exited the movie theater.

  “I’m a sucker for save-the-world movies. And for once, the aliens weren’t the bad guys. Gotta love that.”

  She held the door open for Mikaela, enjoying seeing the excitement on her face. “The action was incredible. Add in the 3-D and it was right in your face.”

  Mikaela laughed. “I know. I almost pressed through the back of my seat trying to get away more than once. Good times.”

  “You hungry? There’s several places around here to eat.”

  “Not after all the popcorn I stuffed down. We won’t mention the M&M’s.” Mikaela pressed a hand to her stomach.

  Sara wasn’t ready for the date to end. She’d decided to make today a belated birthday celebration. Part of the new her. “Uh…would you be interested in going to Lenox? I’ve been wanting to check out the Apple store, see what the hype’s about.”

  “You had me at Lenox. Pass up a mall? Never.”

  Mikaela ended up dragging her into a number of stores in the mall. Sara soon found that she didn’t care, that she was having a good time. The day was turning into the best birthday celebration she could remember.

  “Here next.” Mikaela stopped and peered at the clever display.

  “It’s a toy store,” she felt compelled to point out. “No kids.”

  Mikaela tapped a palm against her forehead. “Why didn’t I see the sign saying ‘Kids Required to Enter’?”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Come on.” She grabbed Sara’s hand. “Toy stores are for big kids too.”

  Sara’s first impression was of noise. Followed quickly by bright lights and hordes of children. If Mikaela’s grip hadn’t been tight, she would have backpedaled.

  “Isn’t it great?”

  “Great?” She took in Mikaela’s joyful expression. “Great,” she agreed. “What does one do in a toy store?”

  “Play. We’re obviously dealing with a deprived childhood.”

  Mikaela must have decided it was her mission to correct that fault as she dragged Sara up and down every aisle, with frequent stops for demonstrations and sometimes a demand that Sara participate. To Sara it was like being in a foreign country. A far cry from her childhood, where toys had not been a necessity.

  “Thanks for dragging me in there.” Sara turned to give the display window a last glance. She’d come back and next time, she would buy something. “That was fun. You know your toys.”

  “Hey, just because I left childhood behind doesn’t mean I have to act it. No comments.” Mikaela gave her a playful shoulder bump. “I hope I’ll want to play with toys the rest of my life. I think it keeps you young.”

  Sara shrugged. Who was she to argue? “Where to next?”

  “We’ve hit all my highlights. In case you were wondering, those are the places I have no trouble leaving empty-handed.”

  “Has the popcorn worn off? My stomach’s telling me it’s dinner time.”

  “As long as you let me pay. You did pay for the movie, the popcorn and the candy.”

  Sara shook her head. “I owe you for making this the best birthday celebration I can remember.”

  “It’s your birthday?” Mikaela lightly punched her in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have baked you a cake or something.”

  “Technically it was last Monday.” She stuck her hands in her pockets, shrugged. “I didn’t feel like celebrating until now, I guess.”

  “It’s like that sometimes.”

  “Been like that for so long I’m not sure how to act. My aunt wasn’t big on birthday celebrations. She wasn’t big on much when it came to me actually,” she added with a trace of bitterness. “Eventually it was like any other day.” If she didn’t include the dreams.

  “That’s sad. I guess you went to live with her after your parents died.”

  “Yeah.” Sara swallowed hard as memories pushed to the surface. “So, dinner. Where should we go?”

  “It’s your birthday. You decide.”

  “California Pizza Kitchen? I love their barbecue chicken pizza.”

  “Pizza and birthdays do go together. No matter what age you are.”

  “Thirty-four. You?”

  Mikaela batted her eyelashes. “Sugar, don’t you know it’s not polite to ask a woman her age?”

  Sara threw back her head and laughed. Definitely the best birthday ever.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sara was the first person Mikaela spotted when she entered the lobby at work the next morning. Her heartbeat sped up at the smile on Sara’s face, and she took a moment to say hello, then forced herself not to linger. “Slow and easy,” she muttered as she floated to the bank of elevators.

  “Hey, you.”

  Mikaela pre
ssed the elevator button, then smiled a welcome to Marianna. “Hey back. Good weekend?”

  “Wonderful.” Marianna exhaled loudly. “I did absolutely nothing. Of course, that means I have to take care of errands during the week, but so worth it. What about you?”

  “Danced my ass off Friday night. Let’s see, anything else?” She lowered her voice. “Oh yeah, on Sunday I went to the movies with Sara Gordon.”

  “What? That Sara?” Marianna whispered, motioning with her head.

  “Yup,” Mikaela said with a grin. “She asked moi to go to the movies with her.”

  The elevator door opened and Mikaela joined the throng entering the elevator. “You coming?” she asked an obviously stunned Marianna.

  Marianna glanced in Sara’s direction before squeezing on. “I could have sworn that was you complaining about being ignored on Friday. What gives?”

  “That was then, this is now.” She punched the buttons for their respective floors. “You know how it is. Go to a club, somebody sees you dancing with another somebody and bang, the first somebody has a change of heart.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  Marianna looked around, then lowered her voice. “So did bang mean something else and was it good?”

  “Meet me for lunch and we’ll talk. I believe this is your floor.” She smiled sweetly into Marianna’s glare. “Eleven thirty.” She was still smiling as she stowed her things before seeking that needed second cup of coffee. Her good humor took a dive and she almost turned back at the sight of Christine and Ilene whispering near the coffee machine. Holding her head high, she said a friendly “Morning,” and filled her cup. As expected they didn’t return the greeting, but she could have sworn she felt their eyes boring holes into her back as she took her time doctoring her coffee.

  Crabby Patties, she thought once she was back at her desk. That’s what they were. And with the mentality of a starfish, so maybe she should rename them after that Sponge Bob character, whatever his name was. Deciding to stick with The Two, she got to work.

  At some later point, she jerked in surprise when someone tapped on her desk. Her annoyance quickly faded at the sight of Gerri Xavier. “Welcome back, girl. What did you bring me?”

  Gerri smiled. “Knew you would ask.” She placed a large binder on Mikaela’s desk and dug in the shopping bag she was carrying. “Ta da.”

  She laughed and accepted the gaudiest-looking replica of the White House she’d ever seen. “You outdid yourself.”

  “I know.” Gerri slipped off her coat, moved the binder aside and took a seat on Mikaela’s desk. She was tall and lean, with skin the color of milk chocolate, killer cheekbones and expressive brown eyes. “What’s the haps?”

  “Brannon’s getting forced out and most of the work he should have been doing is getting dumped on Talya. Some of which she dutifully promised to dump on you.”

  “Bring it on.” Gerri rubbed her hands together. “I’m happy to move up on her coattails. Anything else?”

  “Jolene’s retiring in five weeks and yours truly has a good shot at getting her job. Some are grumbling because HR changed the qualifications. Not me because, hey, I meet all the requirements. And some are complaining about that as well.”

  “Bet I can guess who some are. You leave for a couple of weeks and everything changes. Well, I should see what other changes await.”

  “Be sure and get me your receipts in the next few days so I can file for reimbursement,” she called after Gerri and got a nod of acknowledgment.

  By the time Talya arrived at ten thirty, Mikaela had a good handle on the contents and layout of the rest of the handouts for Bill. “How was your meeting?”

  “Despite being called at the last minute and on a Monday morning at that, we accomplished a good deal. Apparently I made too many suggestions because I’m now the chair. Unfortunately for you, it’ll be your responsibility to type up and distribute the notes to the rest of the group by end of day Wednesday. I’m also going to need you to check schedules and set up a date for the next meeting. A month from now would be good. I’ll send you the necessary contacts as soon as I put the rest of this stuff down. Oh, how’s the project for Bill going? Probably should have asked that before I started giving you more work.”

  “Really good. I should have something for you to look at by tomorrow afternoon. Got a brain blast last night and realized I could do a little more to snazz up the layout.”

  “Keep up the good work.” Talya walked toward her office, stopped and returned. “I almost forgot. Block off Friday afternoon on my calendar. I’m thinking of squeezing in a half day. Anything else I need to know right now?”

  “Gerri’s back.”

  “Great. Let’s see if we can work her into my schedule today.”

  Mikaela pulled up Talya’s calendar. “How about two? Your lunch meeting ends at one and the meeting with Brannon’s old section isn’t till three.”

  “Perfect. Put the three o’clock meeting on her calendar as well.”

  * * *

  At five to three, after much internal debate, Mikaela slipped the toy car she’d brought as a belated birthday gift for Sara into her skirt pocket. Last night it had seemed like a good idea to gift the gently used toy to someone who hadn’t gotten many. Now, in the light of afternoon, she wasn’t so sure and she was way past second-guessing her decision.

  Remembering that Marianna had pointed out that Sara would think of Mikaela every time she looked at the toy, she made her way to the first floor. If Sara didn’t like it, well, she would live with that. Be embarrassed as hell, but live nonetheless. And if Sara liked it, more points for her. Besides, every child should have a toy. Didn’t matter if it was thirty years late.

  When Mikaela made it downstairs, Sara was standing by the back door. “Hey, I…uh, well, here.” She thrust the car at Sara. “I know it’s not much, but you have to start somewhere.”

  Sara’s smile lit up her face. “Thanks. I take it this is from the collection on top of your dresser?”

  She nodded. “I would have wrapped it, but I thought you might not want to bring attention to your birthday. His name is Speedy, and he’s from the movie Toy Story.”

  Sara slipped the car into her back pocket. “I vaguely remember seeing a trailer for that years ago.”

  “You haven’t seen it? We’ll have to rectify that. I owe you a birthday dinner anyway. You could come over for dinner one day this week and check out the movie. I’m a good cook.”

  “You don’t owe me anything, but I won’t turn down a home-cooked meal. Does Wednesday work?”

  “Perfect. Seven okay?”

  “I’ll be there.” Sara pulled the car out of her pocket. “Thanks again for the gift. I promise to treasure it.”

  “That’s all I can ask for.” Mikaela could feel the grin pulling at her face and decided she needed to take things down a notch lest she start to resemble a maniacal clown.

  “So, Wednesday?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  Mikaela might have stood there looking at Sara forever if they hadn’t been forced to move aside to let someone exit.

  “Okay, I’m going that way, uh, back to work.” Mikaela floated across the lobby. Once she hit the up button, she turned around and found Sara watching her. Sara couldn’t know how sweet and yet sexy she looked, holding the toy as if it were a treasure, but Mikaela knew.

  Give a gift, get a gift, she thought and entered the elevator. While it wasn’t a date, Sara had agreed to dinner and a movie. That was a start. A good start that seemed to promise more.

  As she took the elevator to the seventh floor, Mikaela relived the pleasure on Sara’s face when she saw the car. That made all the internal arguing worthwhile. And maybe she should add to the collection now that she knew Sara liked it. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if a little of the shine rubbed off on her.

  Once seated at her desk, she ruthlessly brought her mind back down to earth. After al
l, she had plans with Sara. If she stayed late today, she could finish designing the layout for the handouts, copy the text in tomorrow, get the results to Talya and leave a little early.

  * * *

  “My receipts as requested.”

  Mikaela gave Gerri an absent smile. “Back from the meeting already?”

  “Already? It’s close to five.”

  “Can’t be.” She checked the bottom corner of her monitor to verify. “It is.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing when you lose yourself in work.”

  “I was planning to stay late anyway. How did the meeting go?”

  “I can report that there are now some very disgruntled employees on the eighth floor.” Gerri shook her head. “It’s a mess. Reports that have mysteriously disappeared, locked drawers that no one has the keys to, and with Brannon on vacation, no one seems to know or care what’s going on.”

  “Bet Talya loved that.”

  “No bet. If looks could start fires…Don’t be surprised if that group puts in extra hours for the foreseeable future.”

  “Please tell me some of it got shoveled Christine’s way and my day will be made.”

  Gerri grinned. “You should have been there. She opened her mouth and now she’s in charge of creating a database of the missing reports and coordinating the efforts to find them. That will certainly keep her busy.”

  “But not busy enough to stop running Gossip Central, I bet.” She caught the frown as it flickered across Gerri’s face. “What? Has she said something to you?” When Gerri looked away, Mikaela knew she wasn’t going to like what came next.

  Gerri picked up Mikaela’s stress ball and gave it a couple of squeezes. “Look,” she said, then paused, a pensive expression on her face. “I didn’t want to tell you this and at the same time I didn’t not want to tell you.”

  “I’m sure I’d rather hear it from you than Christine.”