Chapter 1

Janet stepped from her shower, grabbed a towel and dried herself. She dressed in a gray skirt and a white blouse, then she used a dryer on her pageboy styled, copper-colored hair. Looking in the mirror she applied a thin line of eyeliner and then some clear lip gloss.

She slipped into a gray jacket that matched her skirt and headed toward the front door of her apartment. Janet picked up her laptop and handbag, slung them over her shoulder and headed for the parking lot. She unlocked the trunk and set her laptop case beside several large cartons, slammed down the trunk and started her motor.

Her drive took her downtown. She parked in the parking structure recommended by her client. Janet opened her trunk and withdrew a collapsible hand truck. Onto it she stacked the cartons, then she slung her laptop over her shoulder and wheeled the truck to the elevators and to the street.

Janet reviewed a sheet with directions. It was about a three block walk to her appointment. She pushed the hand truck into the elevator and selected the fourteenth floor. The elevator doors opened and she pushed the truck through a doorway marked Walnut Street Capital and stopped before a reception desk.

A pleasant-looking middle-aged woman greeted her. “May I help you?”

“My name is Janet Joy,” she replied. “I have an appointment with Kyle McNichols.”

“I’ll let him know you’re here.” She picked up a telephone and punched in an extension. “Kyle? Janet Joy to see you.” She set down the phone. “He’ll be right out, Janet.”

“Thanks ... I didn’t catch your name.”

“I’m Eva.”

“Thanks, Eva. Nice meeting you.”

A young man greeted her. He was accompanied by a short, slim middle-aged man with a long, thin nose, thick-lensed glasses and a pencil mustache. “Janet -- good to see you again.”

“Good to see you,” Janet replied.

“You remember Freddie, our chief operating officer.”

“Yes, indeed,” Janet replied. “Good to see you again, too. We’re pleased to have Walnut Street as a client instead of a prospect.”

“Yes, we were most impressed with your presentation -- especially your willingness to customize,” Freddie remarked.

“I wish all our vendors were so accommodating, and I’m delighted we’ll be doing business together,” Kyle added. “I know you’ll treat us right. Since you’re right here in town -- well, we know where you live.”

“I’m here to train your users ahead of the conversion,” Janet said.

“Kyle will make sure you have our staff’s full cooperation -- won’t you?” Freddie asked.

“Certainly, as well as any supplies or facilities,” Kyle replied. “Come with me, Janet.” He led Janet to a conference room. “We set this up as a classroom per your specifications. We have a projector and screen, and PCs for each attendee.” He handed her photocopied sheets. “This is the class roster. You’ll be here all this week?”

“Yes,” she replied, “and two days next week. We’ll spend the first three days with the front-line users, Thursday and Friday with the back office and Monday and Tuesday of next week training your technology and operations areas.”

“We’ve made attendance mandatory,” Kyle said, “so make sure you get signatures.”

“Understood. We have two sessions, one from nine to noon and the other twelve-thirty to three-thirty. After that we have a one-hour hands-on lab. That leaves a half-hour for lunch.”

“That should be fine,” Kyle replied. “As for logistics -- the restrooms are down the corridor. We close and lock the main door at five. If you find yourself leaving after the main door is closed, there’s another exit in the break room. That one is never locked from the inside, but you need a pass code to open it from the outside. Remember that if you leave via that door, you might not be able to get back in.” Janet nodded in comprehension. “Do you require anything else?”

“I’d like an easel with flip-sheets.”

“We can accommodate that. Come with me.” Kyle led her back to the reception desk. “Eva,” he said, “Janet here is conducting training on our new fulfillment tracking system.” He turned to Janet. “What did you say you needed?”

“An easel with flip sheets.”

“I’ll locate one for you,” Eva replied.

“If there’s anything else you need, Eva will take care of you. Good luck with your students.”

Janet strolled to the reception area. Eva regarded her from behind her desk. “Do you need something, Janet?” she asked.

“Oh, no, Eva. I was wondering where I could find some lunch.”

“There’s a cafe in the lobby,” Eva replied. “It’s cafeteria-style. I was going down there myself. Would you like me to walk with you?”

“If it’s no trouble,” Janet replied.

“None at all. Let me call my backup.” She picked up the phone and punched in an extension. “Heidi? It’s Eva. Can you cover while I go to lunch? Thanks.” She set down the handset. “She’ll be right out.”

Janet regarded a framed photograph on Eva’s desk. “Is this your family?” she asked.

“Yes -- that’s my husband Rob and my daughter Monica ... and her fiancé, Jeff.”

“She’s a beautiful young lady,” Janet remarked.

A young woman stepped behind Eva’s desk. “Follow me, Janet,” Eva said.

Janet sized up Eva. She appeared to be in her mid thirties. She wore a skirt that didn’t quite reach her knees and Janet thought her legs looked trim. Eva’s build was medium, and she had bi-color hair: Lightened layers on top and brunette underneath.

They reached the cafe and picked up trays. Janet selected a sandwich, chips and soda and carried her tray to the cashier. Then she found a vacant table and sat. Eva sat across from her.

“How’s the training going?” Eva asked.

“It’s going well. It’s a sharp group ... at least today’s group is sharp. They ask the right questions. Sometimes I give these and I’m looking out over a sea of glassy stares.” She sipped her soda. “I’ll tell you, Eva -- you don’t look old enough to have a daughter who’s engaged.”

“I started early,” she replied. “I was twenty when I had Monica.”

“How old are you, now?” Janet asked, “if I may ask.”

“How old are you?” Eva replied, “if I may ask.”

“Turnabout’s fair play. I’m twenty-eight.”

“I remember being twenty-eight. I had an eight-year-old daughter to care for. I’m forty-one.”

“You look like you’re in your thirties -- thirty-five, tops.”

“I take care of myself.” Eva finished the salad she had selected for her lunch. “I do wonder what it would have been like to be twenty-eight and childless. I don’t suppose you have children, Janet?”

“No. I’m not even married. I spend half my days living out of suitcases. It’s a rare treat for me to have a client in the same city. A child and a husband would tie me down too much.”

“A child and a husband is like having two children,” Eva replied.

“Monica is an only child?”

Eva nodded. “I had complications delivering her, and was unable to have any others. Rob and I considered adopting an infant from Asia but we never could afford it.”

“Maybe Monica will bless you with grandchildren.”

“They say,” Eva replied, “that grandchildren are a parent’s reward for not strangling her teen. I believe it.” She finished the salad she had selected for her lunch. “Ready to go back up?”

Janet regarded her watch. “It looks like I have time for a quick trip to the ladies’ room and then we’ll start our afternoon session. It was nice talking to you, Eva.”

With her latchkey Janet opened the door to her apartment. She set down her laptop case and handbag and then stretched. She filled a pan with water and set it on the stove to boil. In the meantime she stripped off her suit and blouse and slipped into jeans and a tee shirt.

Janet opened a frozen entree and placed the pouch in the boiling water. After the requisite time she retrieved it, split it open and dumped the contents onto a plate. Her cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Janet, it’s Jill. Hi.”

“Hi -- it’s been a while, stranger.”

“Yeah, I know. Kenny’s been home. I mean, he’s been home -- All. The. Time. Finally, he’s on the road again.”

“It was a long dry spell,” Janet remarked.

“When the economy tanked all his prospects dried up. He’s been doing nothing but cold-calling and scrounging up leads. Business is starting to pick up and he has some solid contacts to visit. I hope he can close some sales. We could use some commission checks. We’ve really had to tighten our belts.”

“Oh, I can imagine, Jill.”

“So, are you at your office this week?”

“No, I’m training this week.”

There was a pause. “Oh ... Where?”

“Right here in town. I actually have a client who’s local for a change.”

“I was afraid you were in Albuquerque or Seattle or somewhere.”

“One of our sales guys is close to closing a deal in London,” Janet said. “I might be headed there.”

“Lucky you. I was wondering ... if you aren’t doing anything tonight ... if we could get together...”

“I’d love to, Jill. I have no plans.”

“Ever since Kenny told me he was going out of town, I’ve been thinking about giving you a call. And, since Brian is at summer camp this week, I have time for myself. It’s been for-EVER since we’ve gotten together, Janet. It’s taken for-EVER for Kenny to get his ass back on the road. With Brian at camp, I’m a bachelorette again. I can’t miss this opportunity.”

“I’d love to see you, Jill.”

“I can be there in half an hour. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine.”

Janet canceled the call. She wolfed down her dinner. Then she headed into her bedroom. She stripped off her clothes and looked through her lingerie drawer, selecting a teal-blue camisole trimmed with ecru lace and matching tap pants. She tidied her bedroom and turned down the covers, spraying them with violet-scented linen freshener.

She heard her buzzer and pressed the key for the intercom. “Yes?”

“It’s Jill.”

Janet pressed the button to release the lobby door. Shortly she heard a rap on her door and she opened it. In stepped a woman approximately Janet’s height, carrying a soft duffel. She had dark brunette hair, styled in a short, rounded bob. Her complexion was swarthy, her eyes deep brown and she wore jeans and a sweatshirt.

Janet embraced Jill and they kissed. Jill regarded Janet’s costume. “That’s cute. Is it new?”

“Not very new.”

“I guess it has been a while,” Jill replied. “I have been thinking about this all day. I couldn’t keep my mind on my work. When you said you were training, you could hear my crest fall.”

“Would you like some coffee?” Janet asked.

Jill pulled a paper bag from her duffel. “Here ... Maybe this will help set the mood.”

Janet withdrew a bottle of rosé wine. “Ooh ... Let me put out some cheese and crackers.”

“While you’re doing that,” Jill replied, “I’ll go change.” She carried her duffel into the bathroom.

From a cabinet Janet retrieved a box of herb crackers, opened it and set some on a plate. From her refrigerator she removed a brick of white cheddar and set it on a board along with a knife. She cleared away her dinner setting and placed wine glasses and dessert plates on the table.

Jill emerged wearing a sheer black baby-doll nightgown that was open in the front and tied at the bodice. “You have gone buff since the last time I saw you,” Janet remarked. “Look at those arms.”

“Yeah ... I’ve been taking walks. I’m down to a size eight.”

“You look good. Your legs look especially good.”

“I’ve lost some flab and built some muscle,” Jill replied. “Because money’s so tight I had to cancel my membership at the club ... quit my personal trainer.”

“You had a personal trainer?”

“Yes ... Carlos.”

“Carlos? Is he Latin?”

“Carlos is a Spanish hunk. He’s responsible for how my arms look.” She made a slight smile. “He was giving me a little action on the side, too. With the budget shrinking I couldn’t afford to pay him at the club and with Kenny home I couldn’t pay him with booty. So, he’s history. To compensate I’ve been walking an hour a day, three days a week.”

“You can fit that in with your job?” Janet asked.

“I walk after dinner. It gets me away from Kenny for an hour. The walking really has helped my legs and butt.”

“They look terrific, Jill. I’ve never seen you looking better.”

“I’m feeling good, too. Of course, what are you? You must be size zero, you’re so slim. I don’t think you have an ounce of excess flab anywhere.”

“I wear size two jeans.”

“Must be rough.”

She handed Jill a corkscrew. “Here -- I never could master one of these.”

Jill screwed the in the point, eased the cork from the bottle and filled the wine glasses. They clinked rims. “To friendship,” Jill said.

Janet sipped some wine. “This is nice...” She held the glass to the light to admire the color. “How are you and Kenny holding up?”

“We’re keeping it together for Brian’s sake,” Jill replied. “Those six months when we were separated really got his attention. He’s making the effort.” She reached across the table and took Janet’s hand. “You were there for me ... you gave Brian and me a roof over our heads. I’ll never forget that, Janet.”