Chapter Two
Kari schlepped her bag down to her office bullpen. She needed coffee in the worst way. She wondered when she’d gotten so hooked on the stuff. It didn’t help that all the adrenaline streaming through her body since the phone call from her boss was now draining. She was crashing hard. Maybe she could go back to sleep at her desk until her clock-in time. Not that she really punched a card. But this was the FBI building. Those who needed to know knew everything about everybody, including the minute you walked in or out a door.
Even dragging butt, and she had substantial butt to drag, she was glad to be here. She was able to decode messages important to national security. How many others could really say their job was as important as hers?
Looking around the room, she had no idea so many people came into work this early. They were the ones who had children to pick up from soccer practice or band rehearsal. Had a loving spouse to go home to, and whatever else that was wonderful in their lives. She wouldn’t know. Never been there. No T-shirt.
She turned down the aisle toward the kitchen and was startled by a man standing in the center of the corridor. “Hey, Marty. I wasn’t expecting to see you there. What are doing standing in the middle of the hall?”
He grinned. His eyes were as round as plates. “Oh, just lucky, I guess, to not run into you at the corner. You’ve done a great job of teaching me how to be careful.” He was fidgety, seemed a bit afraid of being close to her. “Well, need to get back to work.” He scooted over, his back against the wall and sidestepped until he was a distance away, then hurried on.
She sighed. Yeah, she’d done the proverbial run into a coworker carrying coffee while coming around the corner act. But she hadn’t done that for a long time. Not yet this year, and they were halfway through.
In the kitchen, someone had placed a dozen donuts on the table. Oh my god. She was so thankful. In her rush out the door this morning, breakfast hadn’t happened. Not when the director wanted to see you right away. Maybe she should find an apartment closer to the office. But stuff was so expensive in this part of DC.
Coffee in hand, she sat at the four-person table and plucked a glazed donut from the box. And it was still warm. Oh my god, again. If they did this every morning, she was changing her work hours. The dough melted on her tongue, the glazing sliding onto her taste buds. Pure heaven, and the reason she had a lot of butt to drag around. Oh, well. She’d rather live shorter and be happy than live longer and be miserable.
From the hallway, she heard high-heeled shoe clack on the terrazzo floor. Annie, a lady who worked across the room from her, walked in. Upon seeing Kari sitting at the table, she froze in her tracks.
“Good morning, Annie,” she said.
“Hey, Kari.” The smile on her coworker’s face was faker than shit. Even she could see that. “You’re here early.” Annie poured coffee into a mug designed as a cat face.
“Yeah, had a rush job come in. Didn’t take long, so here I am eating donuts,” she said. Surprising her, Annie took a cream filled pastry from the box instead of running out of the room.
“But they’re freaking good. Still warm,” Annie said. Ahh, Kari thought, the draw of sugar was strong enough to create even the most awkward of meetings. The silence between them was thicker than the lemon goo squirted into the donut Annie held.
Kari noticed the diamond ring on Annie’s hand. “How’s it going with Keith?” she asked. She hoped that was the man’s name.
“Good, good,” Annie said. “Any men on your horizon?” Kari saw the slight cringe Annie made after asking the question. Yeah, the woman didn’t care, just being polite and asking the wrong question to someone she didn’t want to talk to. But Kari had a funny comeback for this. First time for everything.
Kari snorted. “The closest I’ve been to a man was when I wiped spilled tea off the TV when a commercial advertising the Thunder from Down Under tour came on. Then I had to wipe my drool from the screen.”
Annie laughed. “Aren’t they absolutely gorgeous? At least you can look at them. Keith turns the channel as soon as he hears the music for the commercial start, whether I’m in the living room or not.” They both laughed over men and their jealousies. But in reality, she’d love to have someone who would be jealous. Shit, she’d be glad just to have someone. She sighed.
Her coworker’s eyes turned sad, sympathetic. But she didn’t come any closer. “Hey, now,” Annie said, “Just because you haven’t found somebody yet doesn’t mean you won’t.”
“Yeah, I know.” Though she didn’t believe it. “But I’m in my thirties now and ready to do something with my life.” She’d been here since college, day in, day out. The worst part was Kari had never even been in love.
Annie whispered back, “It will happen. You just have to find him, then kick his ass for not finding you sooner.” She glanced at the clock. “I need to get back to my desk. Lots to do today.” She hurried out of the kitchen. That was the longest conversation Kari had ever had with someone from her office.
Kari hefted her bag over her shoulder. Talking to no one in the room, she said. “Yeah, might as well get started. Maybe I’ll leave early and check out the new spa that opened across the block. The pictures online made the place look incredible.”
At the main aisle, she trudged to her desk in the back by the wall. She laid her bag on the desk and noted the message button flashing on her phone. Wow, no one used the phone anymore. All her correspondence was via email or some other electronic means. She couldn’t remember the last time she actually used her office phone. They were too easy to tap into.
She listened to the message and about died. The director wanted to see her again when “she had a moment.” Like she’d ever tell the director sorry, no moments available right now. He probably wanted to ask questions about the message from this morning.
Kari loved her job. She loved solving puzzles and riddles and figuring out mathematical problems. But she felt tired now . . . tired of her mundane life. Maybe she needed some time off. Visit her family in Florida. Go to the beach, get eaten by a shark. She shivered. She had a hard time getting in the ocean knowing how many critters existed that could kill or hurt her.
She might even try one of those online dating services. She was leery of those. There were stories about women being robbed and also not knowing if the picture you saw online was who you’d see in person. But it seemed like a good way to “meet” a bunch of guys at the same time.
The elevator to the director’s floor opened. She needed to pull herself together. It was time for work and not personal catastrophes like her love life. And she had to remember not to touch anything on the director’s desk.